KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- The Honorable Alan F. Estevez, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics & Materiel Readiness, and other Department of Defense logistics leaders visited the 4-401st Army Field Support Brigade Kandahar Airfield Redistribution Property Assistance Team on May 20, 2013, to receive an update on current retrograde operations.
Estevez--who manages logistics policy and processes to provide superior, cost effective, joint logistics support to the Warfighter performs logistics program oversight to manage the over $190 billion Department of Defense logistics operations--was accompanied by U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Brooks L. Bash, the Director for Logistics, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Robert R. Ruark, J-4, Logistics and Engineering, U.S. Central Command; and. Maj. Gen. Gustave F. Perna, U.S. Army Materiel Command's Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics/Operations.
Col. Mark A. Paget, 401st Army Field Support Brigade commander, emphasized the quick turnaround time of the KAF RPAT retrograde process.
"It takes approximately 8.7 days for a piece of equipment to go through the KAF RPAT cradle to grave process and be staged for transportation CONUS," Paget said. The remaining 30+ days is the time it takes to arrange transportation for the equipment, but the 401st team is very efficient at preparing the equipment for shipment, he added.
Lt. Col Stanley Sliwinski, commander of the 4th Battalion, 401st Army Field Support Brigade explained how the new facility has streamlined operations and enabled the battalion to more than double its retrograde capabilities.
"This new facility truly is a one-stop-shop for Class VII retrograde," explained Sliwinski. "With these new facilities, we, in partnership with the 3rd Sustainment Brigade, have the ability to relieve a convoy of up to 52 vehicles of all classes of supply at one time in one location. It's truly a one-stop-shop for the Warfighter," Sliwinski added.
As part of the briefing, 1st Lt. Douglas Windel elaborated on the current retrograde process, providing a detailed overview of how a unit is relieved of property accountability prior to their redeployment.
"The new process is much simpler than the old one. The unit checks in at the Honeywell customer service counter, which has computer terminals for the Warfighter's use to correct paperwork. Honeywell checks the packet and the Wholesale Responsible Officer will schedule an appointment within 72 hours," Windel said.
"When the unit brings the equipment, they check in with our customer service center, and then pull the equipment into their assigned bay. The equipment is then ammo inspected, inventoried, signed for, ammo inspected again, de-installed, ammo inspected again and then an Electronic Location Identification Label, ELID, is placed on it, he added.
The visit concluded with the group being briefed on the non-rolling stock process by 1st Lt. Daniel Edomwandagbon.
"The non-rolling stock is categorized and placed in the relevant lane for shipping," Edomwandagbon said. "In the new facility we are not exposed to the weather, which keeps the equipment clean, secure and damage free. Also, there is more room to process, pack, wrap, and ship non-rolling stock," he said.
Social Sharing