Herlong, Calif. (Aug. 27, 2012) The smoke around Sierra Army Depot cleared just in time to welcome Maj. Gen. Michael J. Terry, Commanding General, US Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command on Aug. 27, 2012.
This is Terry's first visit to SIAD since assuming command of TACOM LCMC in June.
Lt. Col. Christopher Dexter, depot commander, began the day by introducing Terry to his senior leaders and tenant activities. Terry then recognized 11 depot employees who were key figures in battling the two fires in the local community, one which came within close proximity to the depot boundary (see story on page 8), with commanding general coins and 2-star notes.
Discussions began by Terry asking key leaders if they knew why Sierra exists today. At the end of the command briefing given by Dexter and Mr. Donald Olson, deputy to the commander, Terry had learned why Sierra is here today.
Dexter then took Terry on a tour of the depot beginning with the End of First Life Center. Mr. Michael Winters, supervisor, talked about what Sierra's responsibility is once all the combat tactical wheeled vehicles arrive on depot. Winters talked about the parts pull portion of the mission and then proceeded to demonstrate the pilot program for the new Passive RFID program, Asset Pulse.
The group then traveled to Retrograde and Redistribution where Terry listened to Mr. Joshua Chandler, supervisor, described how SIAD is the Army's largest facility dedicated to equipment/asset retrograde and reutilization/redistribution. Chandler continue to tell Terry how SIAD offers a unique capability to receive, identify, classify, bring to an accountable record, store, manage, and rapidly ship assets world-wide.
Olson added these reclamation activities clearly provide a readiness and operational value to the Army and the nation through management and controlled redistribution to meet urgent demands.
A brief overview of the Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) was given by Mr. Archie Zapanta, supervisor. Zapanta quickly walked Terry through the receipt of OCIE assets and then through the repair of the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts (ESAPI) and talked about the savings to the Army.
Next stop was at the Non Standard-Equipment operation. Mr. Riley Junk, supervisor, briefed Terry on the process and how the Depot uses Property Book Unit Supply Enhanced (P-BUSE) as well as a the Army War Reserve Deployment Systems (AWRDS) to bring material to record and make the assets visible to potential users. Riley stated this allows assets to be redistributed to any location in the world in a timely manner. Riley talked about how SIAD supports the Army G-4 initiative to provide critical distribution of excess NS-E to individual states, under the National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property (NASASP) program.
Dexter moved the tour onto the next area of interest, and the newest mission, Add on Armor rekitting. Ms. Susan Getty, director of Containerization and Assembly, walked Terry through the staging area and then moved inside to where the kitting was being conducted and prepped for shipment. Terry was pleased to see how Getty and her employees took the initiative to design the layout of the warehouse to accommodate the flow process of the Add on Armor.
Getty proceeded onto the area where Water and Fuel Assembly was being performed. Terry was able to see a Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit that was reassembled and being prepped for shipment.
The last stop on the tour was through the Water System Reset operations. Mr. Tim Kaarbo, supervisor, highlighted the areas where significant cost savings were achieved by implementing employee suggestions. Terry once again praised the employee(s) that are taking the initiative to come up with new ideas that have tangible savings associated with them.
Throughout Terry's travels around the Depot, he stopped and talked to employees working the production lines, always asking -- "How long have you worked for the government? How long have you worked at Sierra?" He was pleased to see the diversity of the workforce demographics. He also told employees that what they are doing really is important to the Soldier on the receiving end and to keep up the good work.
By the time Terry departed the Depot, he had his answer as to why Sierra exists today --Supporting the Soldier!
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