BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- The 10th Sustainment Brigade manages containers throughout Afghanistan daily to ensure equipment is retrograded in a timely and efficient manner.
The container management operation consists of tracking, delivering, receiving and repairing containers, if needed.
Sgt. 1st Class Jean Lacroix, 10th Sustainment Brigade ground movement noncommissioned officer in charge, oversees the operation in Bagram. Even with the challenges he has faced, he remains optimistic.
"I foresee a huge improvement as we reduce forces within our footprint," Lacroix said. "The less we have, the easier it will be to control and manage (containers). With the retrograde focus, we are increasing repair operations to facilitate the process."
The importance of the container management mission is theater-wide.
Personnel and equipment will be redeployed and retrograded in a phased approach during 2014, managed by commanders on the ground and the military chain of command. This phased approach will allow the U.S. to maintain a robust capability to support the Afghan National Security Forces through the remaining International Security Assistance Force mission while sustaining our force protection posture.
In order to accomplish the mission, containers must be properly accounted for, which has been an issue the 10th Sustainment Brigade has been working on since its arrival in January. Ensuring that Soldiers understood the container accountability processes took time. However, the challenge provided an opportunity to educate units and empower Soldiers to do their part.
Lacroix said customers have increased their understanding of the importance of effectively managing containers, which has increased the brigade's inventories from 70 to 94 percent.
"The challenges we face are few," Lacroix said. "But the main challenge we have right now is accountability."
He added that there may be a need for assistance in getting a system in place to help units understand container management.
Lacroix oversees a class held on Tuesdays that teaches customers how to properly manage their containers within their geographical location and add them to the Integrated Booking System-Container Management Module. The class can help units meet their goals by supporting the brigade's effort to reduce rolling and non-rolling stock while also sustaining the current campaign and organizing equipment for future needs.
The identification of containers that may not be needed at the unit level can be the key to increasing efficiency in the mission.
"The commanders must ensure their container control officers conduct their inventories every month," Lacroix said. "When the inventory is done, some containers might get identified as empty, and they can be used to support the retrograde mission."
Items from several containers also may be consolidated to empty some out. Some containers may just need to be repaired to be useable.
"We only have one thing in mind," Lacroix said. "We need to have containers that are seaworthy."
Containers must be able to travel via sea without water getting inside and ruining the cargo.
Materiel and equipment recovered from Afghanistan will increase the readiness of U.S. forces at home and prepare them for future operations.
In the past, Soldiers assigned to the 514th Support Maintenance Company were able to repair approximately 30 to 40 containers a month. The need for more seaworthy containers arose, and a contract was awarded to assist with the mission.
"We established the first NATO Support Agency contract in Regional Command-East and Capital," Lacroix said. "We embedded the contractors to fix containers so units have them available to retrograde equipment."
The process to get a container repaired is fairly simple. Units may contact Lacroix to schedule a date for containers to get picked up. He then takes the container to the yard to ensure the repairs get done to seaworthy standards. If a container cannot be repaired, it is used for scrap metal and spare parts.
Once the containers are repaired, Lacroix has them inspected by a U.S. Coast Guard Redeployment Assistance and Inspection Detachment team. The RAID team inspects the containers to ensure they are serviceable.
When the containers are ready to be used, they are distributed to units after they fill out a transportation movement request.
One of the biggest customers at BAF is the supply support activity. Retrograde items get sent to an SSA where they are taken care of before being placed in a container.
"We clean the items, get them inspected by customs and seal them inside a seaworthy container so they can be shipped back to the depots in the USA," said Capt. Nicholas Penna, 10th Sustainment Brigade supply support activity accountable officer. "We generally prepare about 20 containers a week."
Penna gets his containers from Lacroix to accomplish his mission. Although there has been a shortage of containers, he said he expects that to be a thing of the past due to the new contract.
The 10th Sustainment Brigade supports the entire Afghanistan theater, and Soldiers continue to assist with the retrograde mission in a deliberate and efficient manner.
"Redeployment and retrograde are responsible, measured processes to reposture our military resources in coordination with the government of Afghanistan," said Col. Willie Rios III, 10th Sustainment Brigade commander. "The Afghan forces still need assistance, but they are able to do the job. We will continue to provide support until the transition is complete."
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