TOOELE, Utah -- Tooele Army Depot is used to supporting the Army Materiel Command and the warfighter. However, the command usually does that in major outloads of ammunition at home and abroad.
In November, a 17-mile outload started but is one of the most vital movements for TEAD in recent years.
TEAD has begun moving low level explosive items to former chemical storage sites at Deseret Chemical Depot for long term storage. These moves will free igloos at TEAD for the storage of training and warfighting materials. It will continue in concert with the destruction of the remaining chemical munitions until all sites are filled with conventional ammunition. That should be about six years from now.
This project was the brainchild of the ammunition leadership in 1999 as they watched the igloo storage space disappear at TEAD due to increasing requirements.
The heavy movement of ammunition to TEAD resulted in the highest occupancy rate in the country which severely limited TEAD's ability to store and ship "go to war" stocks.
The reoccupation of an entire chemical storage area had never been attempted. Although delayed by the 2001 attacks on our nation and the conflicts starting in 2002, the drive to store slow moving items at DCD continued to be a TEAD goal.
In 2005, and again in 2006, the commanding general and deputy commanding general of AMC were briefed on the storage possibility and both supported the plan. The rest is history.
Recently, Col. Anne L. Davis, commander, TEAD, and Col. Frederick D. Pellissier, commander, Deseret Chemical Depot, signed a historic memorandum of understanding allowing the transfer of ammunition and the occupation of former chemical sites by TEAD to begin.
"This move has been a joint effort between the employees of TEAD and DCD. I'm very pleased with the dedication of all those involved in making this move a success. This move will definitely enhance TEAD's storage capabilities while having no negative impact on DCD's chemical demil mission," stated Davis.
"The use of Area 10 provides TEAD increased ammunition storage capacity so we can better support the Global War on Terrorism and provides a substantial cost savings to AMC," stated Pellissier.
The space is needed to support the Army's requirement for storage. As a result of Base Realignment and Closure 2005 closures, reductions in demilitarization program funding, and the return of OCONUS retrograde stocks, projections show the total available covered storage space occupancy will exceed 85 percent during the period of fiscal year 2007 through FY11. Beginning in FY10, the demand for covered storage space is anticipated to exceed 100 percent of available covered storage space.
Impacts that result from occupancy rates above 85 percent can include:
A,A* Negative effects to the warfighter mission.
A,A* Reduction in new production and retrograde receipt capability.
A,A* Re-warehousing cost increases (due to multiple handling).
A,A* Outside storage.
A,A* Reduction in inventory accountability.
The present occupancy level for TEAD's explosive storage structures is 94 percent. Re-warehousing conventional ammunition presently in storage will lower overall occupancy levels at a rate of 0.1 percent per DCD igloo filled.
"The critical shortage of explosive storage space throughout Joint Munitions Command impacts our ability to support the warfighter to perform our mission as a power projection platform. Augmenting our storage posture by the use of DCD igloos helps us to be better equipped and postured to support the warfighter," stated Keith Siniscalchi, Director of Ammunition Logistics and Engineering.
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