CAMP KOSCIUSZKO, Poland – It’s not unusual for a Soldier or Army officer to retire and continue serving as an Army civilian employee, but doing so in Poland is much less common. Alan Manzo was an Army Reserve officer on an Active Duty for Operational Support (ADOS) tour to Europe with the 405th Army Field Support Brigade before officially retiring with 31 years of service in August of 2023.
As an ADOS Reservist, Manzo was the lead 405th AFSB representative at the Powidz Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in Poland while it was still under construction. Upon retiring, Manzo returned to his hometown of Helotes, Texas, and a year later came back to Poland as an Army civilian employee assigned to Logistics Readiness Center Poland, 405th AFSB.
Now, Manzo works in the property book office of the Supply and Services Division, LRC Poland. He said his office, including him, is made up of three Army civilians and three contractors. While that may seem like a robust property book team to some, Manzo said because of their mission in Poland and the number of sites and forward operating bases they support, it’s not.
“We are responsible for equipment all over Poland in support of the rotational units, here,” he said. “In total there are 11 forward operating bases that we’re responsible for. We’re talking about U.S. Army Garrison Poland, we’re talking about equipment still under the old legacy Area Support Group Poland before USAG Poland existed, and we’re talking about equipment internal to LRC Poland.”
“Day to day, it’s maintaining accountability for property scattered all across Poland that’s used in support of the rotational units, and it’s reducing waste and saving the Army money by turning in the excess equipment, life-cycle replaceable equipment and inoperable equipment,” said the retired colonel who served 16 years on active duty and 15 years in the Army Reserve.
Manzo said he and his team work directly with USAG Poland leadership and the 19 directorates, staff sections and offices within the garrison to ensure 100 percent accountability is maintained on all the garrison equipment all the time. The property book team from LRC Poland works with the Directorate of Public Works; the Family, Morale Welfare and Recreation Directorate; Directorate of Human Resources; Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security; the Resource Management Office; Information Management Office; Public Affairs Office; and others.
“It certainly can be a challenge at times, but overall it’s just fantastic working we all these professionals as we do our very best to support the warfighters,” said Manzo, who added that his team of property book experts is operating at about 40 percent of their authorized strength, and the garrison they support doesn’t have property book specialists or a property book section.
“It's a total team effort, and everyone just kind of says, ‘hey, you know what? Let's just get this done.’ No one here says, ‘that’s not my job.’ Instead, we all come together as a team and take care of it,” said Manzo who holds a Master of Science degree in education from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a master’s in business administration from Wayland Baptist University, also in Texas.
“Sometimes that might mean we’re unloading food trucks that just arrived or putting stuff on a dolly and moving it across the compound or driving out to one of the forward operating bases to help one of the staff sections with their property book inventories,” said Manzo, who served for 2.5 years in combat, one tour each in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"If they need assistance, we’re here to support them. We’re a team. We’re a big family,” said Manzo, who come November will be married for 29 years. Manzo and his wife have two sons, he said, a senior at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado who just got accepted into flight school, and another at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut who’s a sophomore.
LRC Poland is one of eight LRCs under the command and control of the 405th AFSB. LRCs execute installation logistics support and services to include supply, maintenance, and transportation as well as clothing issue facility operations, hazardous material management, personal property and household goods, passenger travel, non-tactical vehicle and garrison equipment management, and property book operations. When it comes to providing day-to-day installation services, LRC Poland directs, manages and coordinates a variety of operations and activities in support of USAG Poland.
LRC Poland reports to the 405th AFSB, which is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and headquartered in Kaiserslautern. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website and the official Facebook site.
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