CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- The Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Materiel Command visited the 401st Army Field Support Brigade here, Dec. 9-13, to speak with brigade leadership and assess the readiness of Army Prepositioned Stocks-5.
Lt. Gen. Edward Daly, deputy commanding general, AMC, toured APS-5 facilities to assess progress of the program's transition from Care of Supplies in Storage (COSIS) to combat configuration.
"I see tremendous improvements from the last time I was here," Daly said. "It's a big success and tremendous work by everyone here. They've done a great job making sure that we can execute the issue of that equipment very quickly -- 96 hours or less."
A vehicle that is combat configured includes all of its corresponding basic initial issue, combat enablers, and Soldier technologies mounted on and inside the vehicle. The vehicle also contains high performance fluids and receives more frequent routine maintenance.
As a result, APS-5 vehicles are maintained at a higher state of readiness and require less movement and fewer man hours throughout the process of issuing large equipment sets to gaining tactical units.
"The value for me in seeing it here with my own eyes is tremendous," Daly said. "It allows me to say with confidence that our Army is ready to execute any mission given to us and we can do it at the speed of war with a responsiveness that is unparalleled and has never been seen before."
Combat configuration of APS-5 equipment reduces the amount of time it takes to issue that equipment by a projected 78 percent.
"It's not just about materiel readiness but also our ability to apply these principles that employ our combat systems anywhere in the world to support a mission at the tactical and operational point of need," Daly said. "That's what makes all of this tangible."
Daly tasked the 401st AFSB with configuring an entire Armored Brigade Combat Team equipment set for combat during his previous visit to Kuwait in June, 2017.
"When I put this monumental project on this team, I only gave them the general intent and only six months to get it done," Daly said. "Implementation has been absolutely critical and the dedicated people here have done it, and they've done it ahead of schedule in less than six months."
During the transition, the Army Field Support Battalion-Kuwait also relocated the combat configured ABCT to a newer warehouse. The warehouse is one of nine new facilities that opened in 2016, which feature climate and humidity control, better visibility, and state of the art fire suppression and ventilation systems.
Storing the combat configured equipment in the newer warehouses will save money over time and extend the service life of critical combat equipment, said Lt. Col. Mike Jordan, commander, AFSBn-Kuwait.
"It feels extremely gratifying to see the innovation, creativity, and effort by every member of the battalion to increase the readiness, speed of assembly, and speed of issue of Army Prepositioned Stocks," Jordan said.
"Not only are we delivering materiel readiness to the warfighter faster than it's ever been done before, but we're providing cost savings to the American taxpayer at the same time," Jordan said. "It's a testament to this entire team's professionalism and expertise."
Daly also led a logistics roundtable discussion that included key Army logistics leaders, toured the APS-5 Watercraft set at Kuwait Naval Base, and visited the Army Field Support Battalion-Afghanistan at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.
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