Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Carden | Spc. Jeremy Wininger, an ammo supply specialist with the 60th Ordnance Company, 298th...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq— Due to the responsible drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq, the corps support area here, which once handled ammunition storage and transportation for all of Iraq, is undergoing a transformation to an ammo supply point, responsible for only north and central Iraq.
Soldiers with the 63rd Ordinance Company, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) oversee the transition while maintaining the operational tempo that makes the Joint Base Balad ASP one of the busiest in the world.
“You have the big push, the influx of ammunition coming in from the outer forward operating bases,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Richard Mantooth, the accountable officer of the ASP with the 63rd Ord. Co. and a Biloxi, Miss., native. “This is basically the filter for theater right now.”
During the transition from CSA to ASP, the ammo yard is undergoing another change—the 63rd Ord. Co. is handing over operations to an element of the 60th Ord. Co., attached to the 298th Maintenance Co., 13th CSSB, 3rd Sust. Bde., 103rd ESC.
The personnel changes are greater than a simple unit replacement; it is also a change in troop levels.
“Previously, the 63rd (Ord. Co.) operated with two medium-lift platoons,” said Warrant Officer John Jordan, the incoming accountable officer of the ASP with the 60th Ord. Co. and a Huntsville, Ala., native. “The 60th (Ord. Co.) will be taking over with one heavy-lift platoon,” “So it’s trying to do more with less, because of the drawdown.”
Classification on ammunition platoons is based upon how many tons of ammunition can be moved in a day. Heavy-lift platoons utilize 60-ton cranes and forklifts, while medium-lift platoons have no crane section but more forklifts, Jordan said.
“It’s just depending on what you need to move and how fast you need to move it,” he said.
Soldiers from the 60th Ord. Co. were sent to JBB from Camp Liberty in Baghdad, where they were responsible for transforming an ASP into an ammunition transfer holding point, designed to supply ammo to a single combat brigade, Mantooth said.
Ordnance Soldiers handle all aspects of the ammunition process, though the focus lately has been on ammunition turn in as units are redeploying stateside due to the ongoing responsible drawdown.
“(When) a unit needs to turn in ammo, they have to put it back in the system, to take it off their books,” Jordan said. “They’ll come here and all the good stuff is easy; it’s all the stuff that’s opened, that’s unpacked, that’s dirty, it has been sitting out in the elements for weeks, months, years in some cases, that’s hard.”
All ammunition that is being turned in is prepared by the unit turning it in, so it can be inspected and sorted by the ammunition specialists at the ASP. Items that are fit to be re-inserted into the Army’s system are serviced and reconditioned at the ASP. It is then repacked into approved serviceable containers, Jordan said
The ASP here handles almost all types of munitions in the Army inventory, Mantooth said.
Each type of ammunition has certain safe handling criteria the ammo specialists follow to reintegrate it safely into the Army’s inventory. This requires specially trained individuals that can inspect the myriad of ordnance and correctly repack it according to Army regulations, and can transport it safely to the next location, Jordan said.
Different work crews specialize in specific areas of the ASP. Separate teams are assigned to control unit turn-ins and amnesty, and inventorying and repacking ammunition to be reused, while other teams work in the bunkers to control and maintain the ever-changing inventory, Jordan said.
Ammunition specialists also manage the residue yard, where the ammunition cans and packing materials are sorted and sifted through for reusable items.
With the responsible drawdown, managing the retrograde of ammunition remaining in Iraq falls upon the units like the 60th and the 63rd Ord. Companies.
“We don’t want to horde ammunition,” Mantooth said. “We have a number—50,000—that’s from the president. So we’re trying to keep ammunition that fits 50,000 troops rather than the 170,000 plus that we might have had on ground.”
With the bulk of the ammunition being turned in coming through the ASP at JBB, sorting through it can be daunting, Mantooth said.
“Over the years, people stored stuff; they wanted to hold on to things because they weren’t sure what they were going to run into,” Jordan said. “We’re getting that stuff turned in, repackaged and reconditioned (to save the Army money) or destroyed as necessary.”
Ammunition turned in at the ASP is re-integrated back into the Army’s supply system in one of four different ways.
“We have four phases;” Mantooth said. “Cross-leveling it to Afghanistan to support the surge … retrograde to go south to Kuwait … demilitarization—destroying ammunition, which can be more cost-effective to destroy particular items. (We also) have military cells here in Iraq where we sell ammunition to the Iraqis, in order for them to sustain the taking back of their country.”
Jordan said regardless of the final disposition of the ammunition, his Soldiers meticulously check and verify all steps of the turn-in process, ensuring that all items are secure and safe.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2010 18:59 |
| Story ID: | 52992 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 537 |
| Downloads: | 367 |
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