Photo By Sgt. Aaron Ellerman | Pfc. Richard Womack, an automated logistic specialist with the 349th Quartermaster...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Imagine having a garage sale, operating a recycling center, and doing spring-cleaning. Now combine all those jobs and times it by a few thousand, and you basically have a retro-sort yard (RSY).
The idea is simple: organize materiel and get it to where it needs to go, saving money and avoiding costs through the re-utilization effort. It may be a simple idea but the actual process is complex and tedious, as the soldiers work diligently processing what amounts to more than a decade’s worth of operational supplies.
The first step in the retro-sort operation is receiving the materiel. The RSY receives containers coming in from all over Afghanistan from multiple sources including units turning in their excess equipment before returning home. Soldiers working at the RSY have to sift through the material in the containers and separate useful items from the rubbish.
“When you open the containers up you never know what you’re going to find in there,” said Spc. Brenda Ochoa, an automated logistics specialist with the 349th Quartermaster Company.
The next step is to sort and categorize the materiel according to its classification.
The soldiers sort every type of materiel that comes into to RSY; some items however go directly to other facilities immediately after being sorted.
“We process mainly class II and IX items and deliver other items such as any classified or sensitive items we may find to other operations handling that specific type of supply,” said Ochoa.
Class II and IX items consists of individual equipment, tentage, organizational tool sets and kits, hand tools, unclassified maps, administrative and housekeeping supplies and equipment, repair parts and components to include kits, assemblies, and subassemblies (repairable or non-repairable) required for maintenance support of all equipment. These items are further processed by the RSY.
Some supplies go into the RSY's free issue stock, where units can come and browse the inventory and pick up any needed items.
Many, if not all, of the materiel arriving to the RSY is dirty and has to be scrubbed down to eliminate any debris. This part of the process is often the most time consuming.
“It’s very tedious work. You have to make sure you clean in between all the cracks and crevices of everything, and there are some things that come in that have pretty many cracks and crevices,” said Ochoa.
Not only does the materiel being shipped have to be cleaned but the shipping containers also need attending to.
“Everything has to be thoroughly cleaned and can’t have any dirt or bacteria on it that could be potentially harmful to the agriculture of the U.S.,” said Spc. Richard Womack, an automated logistics specialist with the 349th QM Company.
Once the items and containers are cleaned, they are ready to be checked by customs agents and shipped out to a variety of locations.
“Customs usually comes to inspect twice a day, and we can usually ship out one or two shipping containers of goods per day,” said Womack, a native of Mount Shasta, Calif.
The materiel is shipped to a variety of locations where it is put back into the military’s inventory, put into immediate service, repaired, or used for parts.
The soldiers at the Kandahar RSY process around a million pieces of materiel a week helping to avoid shipping costs by ensuring no unnecessary materiel is shipped back to the U.S.
Army equipment is made to last for many years and, through the retro-sort process here, the Army is being a good steward of taxpayer dollars, making sure the items are seeing maximum usage.
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.26.2014 13:11 |
| Story ID: | 121193 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | MOUNT SHASTA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 439 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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