Troop movements on par with Iraq pullout

Photo By Sgt. Jason Adolphson | Honolulu native Pfc. Luke Failauga, 19, an automated logistical specialist from the 593rd Sustainment Brigade, attaches a Radio Frequency Identification Tag onto a conex at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Feb. 10. The tags are used by the Army to track items as they are transported throughout the world and are a key component used in the Responsible Drawdown of forces in Iraq.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

02.13.2010

Story by Spc. Jason Adolphson 

1st Theater Sustainment Command

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — The U.S. military is moving mass amounts of equipment out of Iraq at par with the presidential plan to withdraw the majority of U.S. troops out of Iraq by Aug. 31.

The 1st Theater Sustainment Command distribution management center is playing a key role in the move, which is comparably the largest military logistics movement since World War II.

Warrant Officer Brian Gaines, 1st TSC, DMC, said the 1st TSC and its supporting units are working to meet President Barack Obama's deadline to pull an estimated 1.5 million pieces of equipment out of Iraq.

"We're having unit's turn in equipment and coordinating with [United States Forces-Iraq] to pull that equipment out — that's anything from paperclips to tanks," Gains said. "This won't affect existing operations because we're pulling the excess equipment troops can't take with them when they leave."

Deployed units are identifying equipment for movement and placing that information into databases to schedule available convoys from Iraq to Kuwait, said Master Sgt. Larry Velasco, 1st TSC, DMC, supply and services supervisor.

"Once the equipment reaches Arifjan, it's staged for onward movement [to wherever military officials determine its needed next]," Velasco said.

There are many modes for tracking equipment, but Gaines says he prefers the use of one particular tool. "The system of choice is the frequency identification device, [also known as an RFID tag]," Gaines said.

The small electric device contains a small chip and an antenna. The chip stores all of the equipment's identifiable information, which can be scanned much like a bar code, and the antenna serves as a tracking device.

The RFID Tag identifies convoys and the equipment they carry, to include identification of palletized equipment loaded onto a particular pallet.

"The end result is high in-transit visibility that can be monitored from afar," Gaines said. "[The troops] are doing a spectacular job with everything going on. We're seeing impressive numbers with only minor setbacks."

Velasco said the tags make it possible to have more structured and controlled movements than in the past.

"We couldn't track or determine the status of a shipment as accurately before," Velasco said. "And you can't determine what's what in a stockyard and where it is so easily using a spreadsheet."

"It's the way of the future for shipping equipment," he said. "We're identifying and tracking it from start to finish."

The 1st TSC provides Joint Command and Control capability of logistics and select forces in support of Combat Operations across the Full Spectrum of Conflict; redeployment of rotating forces; and sustainment of operating forces in the U.S. Central Command area of operations.

• Date Taken: 02.13.2010
• Date Posted: 02.13.2010 19:37
• Story ID: 45323
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW