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    S and T Troopers sustainers of New Dawn

    S and T Troopers Sustainers of New Dawn

    Photo By Staff Sgt. Garrettgarrett Ralston | Cpl. Alaciel Maldonado and Spc. Chien Chou, Stock Control operators with Supply and...... read more read more

    BABIL, Iraq- The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which is the last of the Army’s armored cavalry units, requires a unique and extensive logistics network in a deployed environment. The subordinate squadrons are often separated by hundreds of miles and rely upon daily shipments of supplies to ensure the success of complex missions. The challenges of managing the regiments supply system and its massive budget are entrusted to one platoon of Troopers within its ranks.

    The soldiers of the Supply Support Activity platoon, Supply and Transportation Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 3d ACR, are responsible for the receipt, shipment, storage, and turn in of virtually every class of supply, a recycling process that demands accurate accountability of materials to balance a tremendous budget.

    “The mission of the SSA is to sustain the force and to keep the readiness level of the regiment high,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andre L. Charlton, the SSA’s technical officer said.

    By the regiments design, being larger than most brigade size elements, the SSA’s focus is widespread, and the processing of supplies and their movement is an arduous task.

    “Our SSA is unique because it supports the entire regiment and all of its attached units within the area of responsibility,” said Charlton.

    The SSA is made up of several sections that all work in conjunction with each other. The process begins with the Receiving section. Materials are unloaded from incoming shipments and then divided up. Some items are retained for storage and others are processed to fill orders from individual units.

    “We receive a steady flow of parts and sometimes entire shipping containers full of parts and supplies in a single day,” said Sgt. John H. Velazquez, Receiving Section non-commissioned officer in charge. “After we process the parts and assign material release orders for them, they are divided up for storage in the warehouse or sent to the customers.”

    The storage section is responsible for organization of the SSA’s authorized stock list. These are the repair parts that are kept on hand for issue to units and are stocked according to their demand. The SSA employs 10 soldiers to maintain 3,436 of these demand lines worth $11,507,874.

    Items that are not maintained for internal storage are prepared for shipment to any of the 52 customer units supported by the SSA. Small boxes and entire shipping containers are processed and placed on trucks to be delivered to operating stations over the regiment’s footprint. Some parts which require rapid delivery are carried on an aircraft to expedite the repair of certain equipment. All of these shipments are prepared and sent out daily.

    At the same time these parts are coming in and being shipped out another separate but equally important process is being carried out.

    Many parts that are used and no longer serviceable are required to be turned in for remanufacture and redistribution. The SSA’s turn in section is staffed by six soldiers whose job it is to receive, inspect and ship the parts to locations back in the United States.

    “On average we process around $30,000 worth of unserviceable parts in a day,” Sgt. Clarence J. McCall, turn in section NCOIC said. “It can be as much as $500,000 if we get a lot of parts in at once.”

    The turn in section processes many serviceable parts as well that are used to fill orders or becomes money that is rolled back into the units’ budget.

    Each section throughout the SSA is monitored by the Stock Control section which compiles all the daily processes into reports which are generated for local records. These records are used to forecast demand loads and provide figures for budget decisions.

    “We are the heart of the mission,” said Velazquez. “Without us the mission can’t be accomplished, and we are always on standby to provide our support.”

    “We are the centerpiece of the regiment,” said Charlton. “We are the mechanism of its sustainment and for the size of our mission and our level of responsibility there is no other platoon that works as hard as we do.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 09.27.2010
    Date Posted: 10.14.2010 11:40
    Story ID: 58098
    Location: BABIL PROVINCE, IQ

    Web Views: 46
    Downloads: 3

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