CHABELLEY AIRFIELD, Djibouti – When the 435th Air Expeditionary Wing command team wanted the base life support services at Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti, to be more flexible and more efficient, they turned to the 405th Army Field Support Brigade and its Logistics Civil Augmentation Program for support.
Even though the official transition of the airfield’s base life support, or BLS, to the 405th AFSB’s LOGCAP won’t occur until March 2022, work to provide over 20 BLS services via a robust and clearly defined proposal has been initiated, and an initial LOGCAP contractor assessment was conducted in November.
Some of the essential services LOGCAP will provide are utility operations to include power generation and distribution, food services via a full service dining facility, bulk water, facilities maintenance, and fuel and petroleum operations.
“With LOGCAP, the end user has a single focal point for any contractual issues,” said James Wilkerson, a 405th AFSB LOGCAP Africa support contractor. “If there are any issues with the contract, they’ll come through me first as the LOGCAP strategic planner.”
“One of the advantages of LOGCAP, if a service is already turned on – for example you’re providing maintenance on 10 buildings and suddenly you need to add two more to the list – we can quickly extent existing services within a 24-hour notice,” said Wilkerson, who served 21 years in the Army and retired as a senior noncommissioned officer. “We can easily and quickly execute a letter of technical direction to increase or decrease services.”
“That alone provides much needed and required flexibility to the end user in the field,” said Wilkerson, who is located in Djibouti, Africa, at Camp Lemonnier and assigned to Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa.
As an example, a generator blows up and the commander in the field needs a new generator immediately. He or she can’t wait six months for a new generator going through the normal supply channels because the mission is being impacted.
“With LOGCAP, we can revise the contract at a moment’s notice and get the generator replaced immediately – 48 hours by air, for example, or a couple of weeks by ground,” Wilkerson said.
Being able to provide immediate flexibility based on changing requirements supporting the command is what LOGCAP brings to the table – quality services, more flexibility and quicker response times, he said.
“By having that flexibility, it helps to reduce the logistical burdens,” said James Wilkerson, a 405th AFSB LOGCAP Africa support contractor.
The Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LOGCAP, is an Army strategic sourcing preferred source for base operations support and sustainment services. LOGCAP services can include everything from laundry and food service to recreation, maintenance, power generation, information technology, medical services, physical security, and more.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.
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