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NEWS | June 19, 2020

Forward support mission expands Tobyhanna portfolio

By Ms. Danielle E. Weinschenk,

Author’s note: This article is the first in a four-part series on Tobyhanna Army Depot’s forward support missions.

Tobyhanna Army Depot’s newest mission extends its maintenance capability to military units in a tactical environment across the world.

The Field Logistics Support Directorate (FLSD) was formally established in October 2019.  FLSD has three major missions that provide forward support, meaning the work takes place outside of Tobyhanna’s gates: Depot Maintenance Forward, which allows for sustainment and depot-level maintenance at five sites across the world; Regional Support Centers, which provide field-level maintenance and support at nine locations worldwide; and technical field support, which includes deployments, onsite hardware and software repair, facilitation of Language Labs and new equipment training.

Overall, the FLSD mission is supported by nearly 900 personnel at 38 locations worldwide. These missions complement the work done back at the Depot, increasing Tobyhanna’s presence as a worldwide service provider.

The new Directorate is led by Rob Lantka, who recently returned to Tobyhanna after years of working for the Army G4 in Washington, D.C. Lantka’s main duties include establishing vision and priorities, interfacing with other senior leaders and synthesizing command-level directives to ensure the organization can complete its mission. The Northeastern Pennsylvania native says he’s glad to once again be a member of Team Tobyhanna.

“I was looking for an opportunity to move back into leadership and – back home,” he said. “While there are many challenges, I am thrilled to lead such a complex and diverse organization.”

Day-to-day operations are handled by Joseph Fantanarosa, the organization’s new Operations Manager.

“Joe brings 20 years of experience to our team. He has a wealth of knowledge in depot level maintenance activities, including maintenance support for Army night vision and electro-optic equipment as well as tactical intelligence collection systems,” said Lantka.

Looking forward, Lantka says the organization continue to support its customers located around the world in this challenging environment and will seek opportunities to expand Tobyhanna’s capability wherever the Army needs it most.

“We will continue to provide readiness to the Warfighter through these unique and adaptive missions.”

Check back next week for the second part of this series, focusing on the Regional Support Center mission.