95th

Civil Affairs Brigade Media Release

May 4, 2011

Property Book Officer looks back at time with 95th CA Brigade

By Leslie Ozawa, 95

th CA Bde (A) PAO

“We were crammed in a space, 12 x 12, to support from scratch a brigade that was

supporting the war on terrorism during the surge,” Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Plater

said.

“Two people couldn‟t fit in there with a filing cabinet,” Plater recalled. “Had to go in

there, one at a time. We did that about seven months, then we got a new building. How

did we make it work? Don‟t know. But we made it work.”

Plater recounted how the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade‟s property book office (PBO) got its

start, five months after the brigade was activated in Aug 2006.

95th CA Brigade Commander Col. Jay Wolff congratulates Chief Warrant Officer Jimmy Plater after presenting him with a Meritorious Service Medal on April 7 for his work while at the brigade. 95th CA Bde PAO photo by L. Ozawa

Beginning from a small office in Building 2815 in 2007 on Ardennes Street, the brigade

PBO has moved four times: east, across Bragg Boulevard, to a building that‟s still used to

store the brigade‟s equipment; then northwest, into one of Fort Bragg‟s last collection of

wooden World War II barracks buildings; then about a mile southeast in Feb. 2010 to its

present location at “Mod Village,” four rows of temporary modular buildings below

Butner Road, west of Reilly Road.

Even while packing and unpacking its office in moves around Fort Bragg, the PBO has

purchased and transferred hundreds of line items for the brigade, as it has grown from a

single battalion of seven companies in 2006 to four battalions with four to six companies

each today and with another battalion on the way this October.

Meanwhile, the PBO office has stayed at four, two Soldiers and two civilians: Plater, Sgt.

1st Class Cedric Gray, Mr. Lorenzo Becton and Mr. Don Calvin.

The PBO has a hand in every item that‟s acquired or taken off the brigade‟s books, or as

an item moves inside the brigade, said Plater. Items can range from sophisticated

communication gear and computer servers, to copy machines, trucks, helmets and

ammunition.

Each item poses its own accountability requirements when acquired, depending on the

funding stream-- if bought new by the brigade; bought new by another command but

being distributed to a brigade unit-- or if it‟s a gently used item being transferred to the

brigade from another military unit.

“We have to know what is what, and who provides what,” Plater said. “We work with

five different Special Operations entities that support us with what we receive, from

SOCOM to the Department of the Army.”

While matching serial numbers on paper with the corresponding items on the shelves, in

offices, in storage areas, in motor pools and yards -- wherever a line item sits -- is part of

the property accountability process, the heart of the PBO operations is managing the

paper trail and databases of the thousands of items accountable to the U.S. government.

“On the front end, we check the legality, make sure equipment is properly authorized,”

Plater said. “On the tail end side of it, we have to make sure it is closed out, on any open

contract that the vendor gets paid. Only thing we don‟t do is personnel, but anything to do

with property and services, we get on it, 100%, from birth to death.”

Plater said that unlike other Special Operations Force units, the PBO operations here is

concentrated at the brigade level. None of its battalions have a corresponding PBO office,

so his PBO team of four works closely with battalion and company supply officers and

Soldiers.

“We have to set them straight,” Plater said. “But we can‟t do it without command

emphasis from the brigade commander and his staff. They‟re the ones who support us

and make ensure the CSDP program is implemented and enforced.”

Plater explained that every Army unit has a Command Supply Discipline Program

(CSDP), which is overseen by its commander.

“He tells us whether we‟re going to have an excellent supply or not,” Plater said.

“If you go to him and say, „Hey, you‟re messing up,‟ and he doesn‟t do anything about it.

Well, that‟s the kind of program you have.”

“Or you say, „Hey you‟re messing up,‟ and he goes and says, (snapping fingers), „Hey,

get it right!‟ With the commander we have now, that‟s the kind of commander he is. He

empowers us to do our job. Good supply discipline begins at the top.”

Since giving this interview, Plater has closed the books on his time with the brigade.

While still on Fort Bragg, he is now with the Special Forces Command. Gray, the PBO

Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge, who has been at the brigade since January 2006,

will also soon be reassigned.

“The civilians, they are going to provide the continuity,” Plater said. “Without the two

being here, our mission would come to a screeching halt, without question. They are that

vital to what we do,”

Gray added, “Like most things in life, you don‟t notice it until it‟s gone.”