Drawdown

Written by PETER BUXBAUM

MLF 2010 Volume: 4 Issue: 2 (March)

 

The continuing drawdown of U.S. troops and equipment from Iraq, anticipating a withdrawal of combat elements in 2011, is providing the Army with a bumper crop of logistics challenges. The Army Materiel Command, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., has specific processes and facilities in place to smooth this transition.

The withdrawal from Iraq is, of course, taking place simultaneously with a buildup in Afghanistan. The AMC, which is the executive lead for the disposition of equipment coming out of Iraq, must first receive a determination from the U.S. Army Central Command, whether theater provided equipment being drawn down from Iraq is needed elsewhere within the area of responsibility of the U.S. Central Command.

“We are in support of U.S. forces Iraq and the Army Central Command as they conduct this responsible drawdown from Iraq,” said Lieutenant General James Pillsbury, deputy commanding general of the Army Materiel Command.

The AMC commanding general, General Ann Dunwoody, is fond of describing the equipment being withdrawn from Iraq as baseball hurtling southward, Pillsbury related. “We’re the catcher’s mitt,” he added. “We’re here to help ARCENT with all equipment coming south. All equipment not needed in central command, we take off their hands and either distribute the equipment, repair or dispose of it, depending on a lot of variables.”

The first step in the process is for a decision to made whether a given piece of equipment, for example, a truck, is going to be removed from Iraq.“The truck has been over there for a given number of years on TPEL, or theater provided equipment list,” Pillsbury explained. “If it is being drawn down because it is no longer needed in Iraq, then that truck is brought to the attention of decision makers within Army Central Command.”

It is then up to ARCENT to see whether it is needed elsewhere within CENTCOM’s purview, such as in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, or for Army prepositioned stocks in Kuwait. If the truck or other equipment is to be transferred within Central Command, it is almost certain to be shipped first to Kuwait for servicing.

Ninety percent of equipment shipped to Kuwait will go through one of three theater provided equipment refurbishment (TPER) sites, which work on light, medium and heavy tactical vehicles respectively. The TPERs were originally set up to service equipment that was left in theater by redeployed units for use by later arriving units.

Each is operated by a different contractor. The light tactical vehicle TPER, which deals with up-armored HMMWVs and armored security vehicles, is managed by LSI. The medium tactical vehicle site, which fixes 2.5 and 5 ton vehicles, is operated by Honeywell, while Oshkosh refurbishes Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and Heavy Equipment Transporter System at the heavy tactical vehicle site.

“ARCENT takes a good technical look at the equipment at the TPER sites to make sure it goes to the right location,” said Pillsbury. “If it is relatively clean and was not ridden too hard in Iraq, it might go through the equivalent of a 3,000 mile check. But more than likely, those vehicles have been over there a long time, so they will go through the refurbishment lines in Kuwait.”

“Oshkosh has always been dedicated to supporting our U.S. forces in theater through the expansion of maintenance facilities, increased in-country personnel and timely response to urgent needs,” said Andy Hove, an Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president who heads up the company’s defense operations. “Continuation of this work affirms our ability to cost-effectively support these vehicle fleets, while providing the warfighters in the field with the vehicles they need in a timely manner.”

Through Oshkosh’s remanufacturing and recapitalization services, heavily used vehicles are returned to Oshkosh, stripped to their frame rails, and completely rebuilt to like-new condition, Hove said. “Recapitalized vehicles are considered to have zero miles and zero hours, at a significantly reduced cost compared to new vehicles,” he added. “These vehicles are put through the same road tests, performance tests and inspection procedures as new vehicles before being delivered with the same bumper-to-bumper warranty provided for new HEMTTs. In fact, vehicles we recap come with 100 percent of the performance, reliability and life cycle cost advantages of a brand new vehicle at less than 75 percent of the cost.” The company provides a 100-day turn around for the recapitalization of its vehicles.

If the equipment drawn down from Iraq is determined not to be needed by CENTCOM, it is transferred to the Army Materiel Command to be shipped back to one of its depots in the continental United States. Nearly all of the equipment making its way back to CONUS will be transported by ship, with the arrangements made by the United States Transportation Command.

Trucks that have been transported stateside will usually find themselves at the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, or at the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pa., which are considered centers of excellence for the maintenance of wheeled vehicles.

“At that point, the truck would go through a reset line to bring it up to the standards we have been developing ever since 2003,” said Pillsbury, “and then that truck would be dispersed to a unit with a hole in it because of our reliance on theater provided equipment.”

Equipment “holes” have come about because units deployed to Iraq earlier were asked to leave their equipment behind for use by later arriving warfighters in order to save on transportation costs. The result has been that some units have experienced a shortfall in some of their equipment inventories after the units were redeployed back home. AMC’s processes are being used to redress equipment shortages these units are experiencing with equipment being withdrawn from Iraq.

Tracked vehicles, such as Bradley Fighting Vehicles, M88 armored recovery vehicles and tanks will go for maintenance at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. “A few will go back to the original equipment manufacturer,” said Pillsbury.

Aircraft will normally go back to their original posts, camps, and stations. Those that require depot capabilities will go to the Corpus Christi Army Depot. “We have some very robust reset operations at several posts, camps and stations,” said Pillsbury. “Blackhawks are reset at Fort Campbell and Fort Stewart, OH51s at Fort Bragg, and Apaches at Fort Campbell and Fort Hood. We have a pretty good operation going for reset throughout CONUS.”

Vehicles arriving at depots will have already been stripped of their basic issue items such as tire jacks and shovels, which are unit property. Radios will have also been removed from the vehicles and sent to Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania, where they undergo a separate reset operation. Once that is accomplished, the radio and other electronic systems are reintegrated into the vehicle and checked out, with the goal of delivering the vehicle to its unit at the 180-day mark.

“At that point, the unit commander gets a complete system so the unit can begin training for its next mission,” said Pillsbury.

The 180-day delivery timeframe relates to a breather period granted to returning soldiers, during which time they are not expected to work on resetting their equipment. “One thing our commanding general is concerned about is the amount of quality dwell time our soldiers have,” said Pillsbury. “During the first 180 days when a unit is back, we don’t ask soldiers to do anything as it relates to the resetting of their equipment. In fact, AMC sends teams to units’ arms rooms to do a depot level look at the situation and to clean and all small arms, communications equipment, and chemical, biological and radiological equipment. At the same time, it takes control of the vehicles and sends them to the appropriate depot.”

A slightly different situation pertains to aircraft. “Aviators are required to maintain their proficiency,” said Pillsbury. “There will be some training done for air crews during that six month period.”

Pillsbury considers AMC’s considerable efforts in facilitating the drawdown of equipment from Iraq to be a “team sport,” with several defense agencies as well as civilian contractors playing a role. The U.S. Transportation Command is the key player in the distribution aspect of the operation. “They’ve done a marvelous job in making sure there is a sustained flow of equipment as they go from Iraq through Kuwait and onto ships—or in a small number of cases, planes—coming back.”

The Defense Logistics Agency is in charge of selling or scrapping equipment that cannot be repaired economically. “That equipment is demilitarized,” said Pillsbury, “and then sold as scrap or otherwise disposed of by DLA.

“We could not do what we do without our Air Force brethren,” he added. “Air Force company grade officers and noncommissioned officers have been tasked to work in our yards in Iraq to receive equipment from units as part of Redistribution Property Assistance Teams, or RPATs.”

The RPATs are the first stop in the disposition of theater provided equipment. “The Air Force is a huge player as far as getting equipment into the RPAT yard, making sure it is accounted for, and getting it ready for shipments down south to Kuwait.”

Many contractors are also helping the Army Materiel Command to get the job done. In addition to the three contractors running the refurbishment sites in Kuwait, AMC also relies on local Iraqi contractors to provide heavy lift to get equipment on its way.

“General Odierno has ordered us to hire Iraqis first,” said Pillsbury. “There are contractors all over the battlefield.” ♦

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