Photo By Senior Airman Jennifer Gonzales | Heavy machinery crowds a storage room in Sanem, Luxembourg, June 30, 2020. The...... read more read more
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What started as a storage solution for the U.S. Air Force became an opportunity to aid allies during COVID-19.
The 86th Materiel Maintenance Squadron’s Central Regional Storage Facility in Sanem, Luxembourg, has been experiencing an overflow of war reserve materiel for years. Stopgap measures provided a temporary fix to the situation, however, the overflow continued.
“Our current facilities don’t have the square footage to store all of the incoming acquisitions, and while we’re in the planning stages for multiple storage sites, the military construction planning process isn’t something that can or should be rushed,” said 2nd Lt. Rachel Hammes, 86th MMS officer in charge of plans and programs.
The Central Regional Storage facility was one of two sites set up through an international agreement in 1978 between Luxembourg and the United States to provide maintenance and storage for Air Force equipment. Today, it remains the only one operated by the military. The infrastructure was 100 percent financed by NATO and constructed to NATO standards, according to the 86th MMS.
“We use that facility to store the United States Air Forces in Europe’s war reserve materiel, which not only supports exercises across the theater, but real world operations in four combatant commands,” said Maj. Morgan Cowle, 86th MMS commander. “The location itself has the benefit of being centrally located in theater, with Luxembourg employees from the Warehouse Services Agency and the Central Regional Storage Facility whose technical expertise and professional pride is unmatched.”
Despite the challenge, the Air Force quickly aided Luxembourg, a long-time NATO ally, when their government requested assistance with COVID-19.
With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg erected a temporary field hospital next to their main facility to accommodate more COVID-19 patients.
In response, the Air Force provided power generators and refrigerator units to the Luxembourg Army to supplement the temporary hospital in the country's ongoing fight against COVID-19.
J. Randolph Evans, U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, expressed his gratitude to the staff in the emergency facility and the hospital who are fighting against COVID-19 during a visit to Centre Hospitalier in April.
"The frontline healthcare workers here at the Centre Hospitalier and healthcare facilities worldwide are shining examples of human compassion and strength and I join all Luxembourgers in my sincere gratitude for their tireless efforts,” Evans told reporters. “The important work being done at this facility once again proves the strength and worth of the continued cooperation of Luxembourg, the United States, and our NATO Allies. United together, we will prevail over COVID-19."
Our NATO allies and partnerships with host nations remain paramount. While everyone is encouraged to practice physical distancing, there’s also a need for comradery, no matter the distance.
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2020 12:41 |
| Story ID: | 375503 |
| Location: | RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Web Views: | 200 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, COVID-19: Synergy with NATO allies, by SrA Jennifer Gonzales, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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