Equipment being assembled, inventoried, and palletized at one of the warehouses located at the US Army Installation Supply Support Activity, U.S. Marine Corps- Camp Kinser, Okinawa for air shipment to Laos in support of the Humanitarian Assistance Pr...

OKINAWA, Japan -- The Logistics Readiness Center-Torii Station, a subordinate element of the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, manages the Humanitarian Assistance Program for the Pacific Command.

LRC-TS's current HAP project is the shipment of a blood bank system (BBS) to Laos. The government of Laos is hosting the Association of Southeast Asian States Summit involving 300 various events in Fiscal Year 2016 and has requested the BBS as part of its medical support. The total value of the Laos project is nearly $1 million.

LRC-TS has received approval to ship the BBS from Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The system will be shipped to Vientiane, Laos, via Thailand.

Alfred Budris, LRC-TS director, said "this will be a complex operation" due to customs and clearance formalities.

Since it began operations in 1990, LRC-TS has shipped materiel valued at more than $90 million to 40 countries. It currently has 2,576 stock line items, totaling about 161,000 items, valued at nearly $11 million. LRC-TS's warehousing facilities receive items for the HAP program, then catalogue and store them in preparation for shipment when needed.

The maintenance facilities include a paint shop, and can overhaul various pieces of equipment, including trucks, forklifts, road graders, generators and bucket loaders.

HAP operations are directed and funded by the DSCA in support of friendly nations and allies to provide basic humanitarian aid and services to populations in need of help.

Torii Station, Okinawa, Japan, is home to one of three Humanitarian Assistance Program sites, established in 1990 by the Department of Defense.

The other two sites are located in Albany, Georgia, and Vicenza, Italy.