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    140 MCT returns from Afghanistan

    JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, UNITED STATES

    06.23.2012

    Story by Staff Sgt. Daniel Balda 

    593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command

    JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Twenty soldiers from the 140th Movement Control Team, 593rd Special Troops Battalion, 593rd Sustainment Brigade, were welcomed home during a ceremony held, June 23, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

    The soldiers were deployed Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

    The 140th MCT operated the largest ground transportation node in the entire Afghan theater, said Capt. Reuben Joseph, the 140th MCT company commander.

    “We ran (Entry Control Point) 3,” said Cpl. Ray Jennings, a motor transport operator assigned to the 140th. “Everything that came into the base by land; fuel, water and food was our responsibility. We had to make sure it came in a timely and safe manner. Then we had make sure the paperwork was correct, the cargo was offloaded in the proper place and then had to notify the customer and make sure it was picked up.”

    During a six-month period, 1st Lt. David LaSala, the deployed soldiers’ officer in charge, estimated the detachment processed approximately 500 vehicles a day. They oversaw the busiest transportation node of any NATO base in country. As a result, the soldiers of the 140th processed more vehicles than all other movement control teams in Afghanistan combined, LaSala said.

    In addition to accomplishing the mission they were presented with, the 140th also had to be quick to adapt to new policies and procedures. One of those was the National Afghan Trucking contract. The NAT carriers relied heavily on the MCT to maintain accountability of their vehicles in order to get paid for completed missions. To prevent money from being wasted, the soldiers had to become familiar with the intricacies of the contracts to be able to report tracking information correctly and quickly. The unit was credited with saving the Army $4.3 million, LaSala said.

    “We had to make sure that Bagram had everything they needed to function on a daily basis,” Jennings said. “I feel very proud to have been a part of this group. I think we knocked (the mission) out of the park. If we hadn’t done as well as we did, I feel that operations on Bagram would have come to a grinding halt.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 06.23.2012
    Date Posted: 06.27.2012 12:26
    Story ID: 90682
    Location: JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US

    Web Views: 186
    Downloads: 0

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