REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — The Army is executing the largest transformation in the last 40 years to ensure the service maintains the capability to deter adversaries, campaign effectively, respond to crisis and, if deterrence fails, to respond and win decisively.
To support Army modernization efforts, Gen. Randy George, Chief of Staff of the Army, charged Army Materiel Command to pilot a new program aimed at increasing equipment on hand readiness through focused fielding, lateral transfers and divestiture.
The Rapid Removal of Excess, or R2E, pilot has been underway at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and Fort Stewart, Georgia, since October, where Soldiers from active units across both installations have been turning in items ranging from small electronics and general supplies to military vehicles.
“All of this was driven by Gen. George — the R2E pilot is a critical part of the effort to unburden Soldiers from excessive equipment accumulated over 20 years of war,” Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, AMC deputy commanding general, said. “It will go a long way toward setting conditions for Regionally Aligned Readiness and Modernization Model and future modernization.”
Previously, equipment needed to be in the appropriate condition before it was transferred laterally from one Army unit to another. However, Army units are often challenged by time constraints and competing funding requirements.
To enhance synchronization of resources for the pilot program, AMC worked with property book managers at Fort Liberty and Fort Stewart to identify excess equipment and book appointments for turn-in. The Modernization, Displacement and Repair Sites will accept equipment as is — whether a vehicle has a broken window or electronic instrument has an inoperable battery — and turn it over to AMC. The equipment will be either be repaired at a depot, turned over to Defense Logistics Agency or supplied for foreign military sales.
“Divestiture is critical to maintaining unit readiness at home and overseas,” Eric Cowan, AMC divestiture team lead, said. “AMC, as the lead materiel integrator for the Army, is taking on the burden to get equipment up to appropriate condition and get it to the units that can use it.”
After the first two weeks of the pilot program kicking off, units turned in more than 50% of the expected equipment at centralized MDRS locations on both installations. AMC is leveraging data throughout all stages of R2E to track equipment and make informed decisions, but most importantly, to ensure the program is positively contributing to unit readiness and overall Army modernization.
“We are already identifying lessons learned to improve for the potential continuation of R2E at other large Army installations,” Cowan said.
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