KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Soldiers from the 21st Theater Sustainment Command's 240th Quartermaster Company, 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade hosted a professional development session for officers and senior noncommissioned officers from the Air Force's 86th Logistics Readiness Group Feb. 27 at Smith Barracks in Baumholder, Germany.
The 18 Airmen, ranging in ranks from lieutenant colonel to master sergeant, started their development session with a tour of the 240th QM Company maintenance facilities. During a walk through the motorpool maintenance bays, they received a briefing on petroleum, oil and lubricant operations, water purification and supply transportation. They also learned about the Army's mobile purification systems for water and petroleum.
"The Army seems to be big on transporting petroleum in bulk and being able to keep their products mobile. All of our fuel and refining products are on our base. We support a base, the Army supports regions," said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Nathan D. McCoy, the Ramstein Airbase fuel superintendent and a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "I like the Army mobile (petroleum) lab concept and what they bring to the fight. As we move into more joint operations, both the Air Force and Army will benefit from each service's unique capabilities."
The 240th QM Company also showcased several vehicles and pieces of technology for their Air Force counterparts. The highlights included a 600-gallon-per-hour reverse osmosis water purification unit, a mobile fueling tank, a mobile refrigeration unit and a palletized load system vehicle. The Soldiers of the 240th QM Company also demonstrated their expeditionary transportation capabilities by loading the refrigeration unit onto the PLS within a matter of seconds.
"This company (240th QM Company) has a very broad scope of capabilities. From a logistics standpoint, we cover a wide variety of areas," said Capt. Michael D. Murphy, the 240th QM Company commander and a native of Fort Worth, Texas. "It is very beneficial for our Air Force counterparts to see how our Soldiers and their equipment operate."
The professional development session concluded with a tour of the 240th QM Company Supply Support Activity, giving insight to Army supply and warehouse operations. As the visit came to a close, service members from both branches expressed a desire to continue inter-service exchanges like this one.
"This visit built a stronger bridge between the Air Force logistics community and the Army," said Air Force Capt. Kenneth Negron, the material management flight commander for the 86th Logistics Readiness Squadron and a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina. "These opportunities give us a better understanding of how we might operate together. In the future we would like to have some Army logisticians come out to Ramstein Airbase and see how we conduct our operations."
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