KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - The 3rd Battalion, 405th Army Field Support Brigade recently completed a resupply operation in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development's U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

Recent disasters in the Pacific region depleted USAID relief supply stocks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, prompting the agency to call on the Italy-based battalion to replenish stocks.

"Our battalion maintains USAID's emergency relief supply under an interagency agreement," explained Lt. Col. Roger McCreery, battalion commander. "In addition to preparing USAID relief supplies for shipment directly to a disaster area, we also maintain their stocks and can ship them to the two other USAID warehouses in Dubai and Miami. In this case, because USAID had airlifted a large amount of supplies in support of relief efforts throughout the Pacific region, we sent USAID supplies from our facilities in Italy to replenish disaster relief stockpiles in Dubai."

The battalion prepared 15,360 hygiene kits and 36,000 10-liter collapsible water containers for shipment. According to information provided by Alberto Chidini, who oversees the USAID mission for the battalion, each hygiene kit includes laundry detergent, shampoo, soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush, as well as other personal hygiene supplies a family might need in the event of a disaster.

Recent disasters in the Pacific Rim include a tropical storm in the Philippines; tsunamis in Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa; an earthquake in Indonesia; flooding in Laos; and a typhoon and flooding in Vietnam.

Located at Leghorn Army Depot, Italy, the battalion is responsible for storing and maintaining USAID emergency humanitarian assistance commodities under an interagency agreement between the U.S. Army and the U.S. State Department.