Ten High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles were handed over to the Nepal Army during a ceremony Feb. 5 at AM General's military Humvee factory in Mishawaka, Indiana.
The vehicles are part of a foreign military sales case facilitated by the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command and will be shipped via freight-forwarder to Nepalese United Nations peacekeeping operations in the South Sudan in central Africa.
Matt Starner, the USASAC country program manager for Nepal, attended the handover ceremony along with the Defense and Military Attaché from the Nepal Embassy in Washington, D.C. The visit included an overview of AM General and Humvee vehicles as well as a factory tour, to include survey of Nepal's Humvees, before signing the vehicles over to Nepal's attaché.
In addition to the vehicles, the country will also receive 10 trailer-mounted generators, individual soldier equipment and two years of Humvee spares.
"Providing the equipment enhances the Nepal Army's capability to conduct PKO activities for their U.N. missions," Starner said. "This equipment will aid in protecting their soldiers from any threats encountered."
Funding for the case was provided through the Global Peace Operations Imitative, a program financed with peacekeeping operation funds specifically allotted by the Department of State to support United Nations operations.
Case requirements for Nepal's mission required that materiel be delivered to their Army while in theater. This was a unique challenge for Starner while coordinating the logistics of equipment delivery. Typically when items are transferred, it is sent directly to that country.
"Logistically, planning to move the equipment was difficult due to resource limitations and transportation options to reach the landlocked African nation (of South Sudan)," Starner said. The delivery location change created additional procedures for the U.S. government to ensure accurate receipt of materiel, which is usually verified in country upon arrival by the receiving country's security cooperation officer. In this instance, the items had to be reviewed and accepted prior to shipment at the handover ceremony.
"In addition, since materials must be shipped together as much as possible due to the logistical constraints of getting them into Africa, I decided we should create a consolidation activity at DLA Distribution in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to aggregate smaller shipments via the freight forwarder all at one time," Starner said. He relied on support from personnel at USASAC's New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, office to help facilitate the shipment consolidation.
Starner credits the success of overcoming the shipping challenges to proactive communication between USASAC and all of the parties involved in each step, including the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, Defense Security Cooperation Agency and Defense Contract Management Agency.
"All stakeholders took ownership of their respective parts of the process to make them a success," he said.
Starner believes by the U.S. partnering with Nepal to build military capacity and capability to perform peacekeeping operations will continue to strengthen the countries' relationship.
Nepal previously received 10 Humvees in 2010 for a similar peacekeeping mission. The country also received Acrow roadway bridges in 2014 through Foreign Military Financing for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief within their region, which included advanced assembly training.
"With recent program success and past interactions with the bridges case, it is likely that the U.S. government and Nepal will continue to work together to solve unique challenges," Starner said.
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