The Humanitarian Assistance Program located at the Livorno, Italy Army Depot, was called upon to provide generators in response to U.S. Government disaster relief efforts in Slovenia.
"The Livorno HAP maintenance team had less than 24 hours to prepare and ship 10 generators to the country after blizzards crippled a quarter of the power grid leaving many without heat," said Janine Wick, HAP Warehouse manager.
Under Wick's direction the maintenance team was alerted early Feb. 9 and worked late into the night and early the next morning to pull and prepare generation equipment for a Monday shipment.
"We were here ready to work within 30 minutes from the call we received asking for support in preparation for shipment of the generators," said HAP mechanic Luca Passarelli.
The HAP mechanics were recognized Feb.18 by Lt. Col. Mark Gray, commander, 405th Field
Support Battalion-Italy in a ceremony held in the HAP Warehouse.
"Being able to recognize the hard work that the men and women of this unit do every day is one of the favorite parts of my job," said Gray. "The employees of the HAP-EP are in the business of helping those in need and last weekend, they performed magnificently well in that calling."
The determination of the maintenance team, made up of Alessandro Vanni, Luca Passarelli, and Antonio D'Achille paid off, and by the next morning the last generator was ready to ship.
Wick said, "I am proud of the team's accomplishment, especially with such a short timeline and high potential for mechanical dilemmas which can delay the preparation process."
According to Vanni the team was strongly motivated by the mission they are requested to accomplish.
"Knowing that we work to provide humanitarian assistance to people in need is an incredible morale boost," said Vanni. "We are very proud that this mission was accomplished smoothly and timely. This highlights the capabilities of our unit".
"To be called in on a weekend, work in the elements and perform a difficult and technically challenging job like preparing 20 generators for shipment and then to do it with a smile on their faces-it was remarkable to see," Gray said.
While the HAP team was working on equipment, the Vicenza based 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) deployed cargo vehicles to Livorno to pick up and deliver the cargo to its final destined in Ljublijana, Slovenia. After loading, the 173rd drove overnight to deliver the much needed equipment to the Slovenian authorities. An additional 10 generators were sent later.
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