By 1st Lt. Jon Hatcher
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq - The “Sabers” with the 289th Quartermaster Company, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), support Joint Base Balad, but few people know that the 289th QM Company also provides support at Victory Base Complex, Iraq.
The 289th QM Company is responsible for providing military oversight of Iraq’s only operating Central Issue Facility, located at VBC. Master Sgt. Tammie Jones, the accountability officer with the 298th QM Company, and a Brewton, Ala., native, Sgt. Itza Valdezmunoz, the non-commissioned officer-in-charge with the 298th QM Company, and an Albuquerque, N.M., native, work hard to continue supporting customers while meeting other mission requirements.
“Currently we are working on drawing down operations,” said Valdezmunoz. “We have sent 25 percent of our inventory to Kuwait.”
The VBC facility oversees more than 600,000 lines, valued at more than $25.5 million. Each month, 10 percent of the inventory has to be inventoried. This is a daunting task that cannot be taken lightly. The inventory is spread out across a large warehouse and 170 containers.
“The equipment that was sent to Kuwait is being used to stand up a CIF there in Kuwait,” said Jones.
The equipment that is at VBC is used to assist units that need uniform upgrades, size changes, issues, or replacement for catastrophic battle loss. Jones and Valdezmunoz anxiously await their return to 289th QM Company and the rest of JBB once they close the last CIF in Iraq.