FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Oct. 2, 2017) -- Soldiers from the 900th Contracting Battalion at Fort Bragg were recently activated to support more than 300 active-duty forces from the 82nd Airborne Division and 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command in support of Hurricane Irma disaster relief efforts.
A contracting team composed of Lt. Col. Jason Miles, Staff Sgt. Eliud Temblador and Staff Sgt. Dele Adeleye headed to Florida with a 3rd ESC site assessment team in order to provide heavy lift capabilities in support of Florida National Guard forces that were providing assistance to victims of Hurricane Irma.
"While riding through the storm, the site assessment team encountered obstacles such as downed trees, power lines and flooding in many parts of southern Georgia and throughout Florida," said Miles, the 900th CBN commander. "There were limited commercial businesses, hotels and gas stations operating in the state of Florida. Sixty-five percent of the state was without power based on the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Irma."
Once on ground the contracting team conducted contracting assessments and analysis at Jacksonville, Orlando and Lakeland, Florida. The team coordinated its efforts with Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Joint Task Force partners from Task Force Victory in order to be an effective force multiplier and provide non-organic capabilities to Soldiers and civilians on ground.
Task Force Victory consisted of 110 vehicles and 300 Soldiers from 82nd AD and 3rd ESC tasked with providing commodity distribution for organic forces and FEMA operations. The task force provided lift capabilities as well as assistance to help load supplies onto private jets headed to help victims in Key West.
The team contracted for industrial evaporative cooling fans for the Airport Hangar in Lakeland. This acquisition improved the living condition of more than 200 Soldiers occupying a 100-degree hangar. The team also contracted for emergency vehicle recovery for one of the 82nd Airborne mobile kitchen trailers that broke down on the highway in Florida.
The team continued to provide contingency contract support for the 82nd AD and 3rd ESC Soldiers until movement back to home station.
The 900th CBN is subordinate to the 419th Contracting Support Brigade at Fort Bragg. The brigade is one of two that along with two field directorates make up the Mission and Installation Contracting Command. Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, the MICC consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, preparing more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
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