Photo By Staff Sgt. Matthew Gunther | Stan Depalma, the assistant manager for the New York Army National Guard Central Issue...... read more read more
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WATERVLIET, N.Y. --Before a POUCH, CANTEEN National Stock Number 8465-01-525-0585, valued at $11.09, makes it onto the belt of a New York Army National Guard Soldier, along with the CANTEEN 1QT W/M1 CAP National Stock Number 8465-01-115-0026, priced at $7.75, that goes inside, it’s counted and issued by the team at the Central Issue Facility in Watervliet, New York.
Everything a Soldier needs to go to the field and that goes on their Army clothing record, is shipped out from a 25,000 square foot building located at the Army’s Watervliet Arsenal.
The seven people who work at the Central Issue Facility, called CIF for short, ensure Soldiers get what they need to do their jobs, said Deborah Holser, the New York National Guard’s Supply Management Officer.
Prior to 2005, Army National Guard companies maintained a stock of the clothing, helmets, packs, canteens and other stuff a Soldier needed—collectively known as OCIE for “organizational clothing and individual equipment”-- in a supply room.
That meant the supply sergeant could issue stuff to a Soldier right away. But it also meant that if a Soldier in Buffalo needed a small helmet, and there were none in the supply room, then it took a very long time to find one, explained Dave Nichols, the CIF manager who is a retired Master Sergeant.
The active Army had long ago consolidated the issue of Soldiers gear to Soldiers in multiple units in one location at big posts. In 2005 the Army National Guard decided to follow suit and established a CIF in each state, Holser said.
Nichols and his team know what gear is in the field and what gear is in the warehouse.
They know 740 M-9 pistol holsters have been issued and 175 are in stock at the warehouse and that that New York Army National Guard owns 8,704 sleeping pads and 1,134 of those are at CIF.
“It used to be there was $100,000 worth of equipment in each supply room and now it is $11 million here,” Nichols said.
“If somebody in Buffalo needs a small helmet and it is sitting in CIF, we get it to them. If it is sitting in Long Island they never got it,” Nichols said.
The total value of the OCIE tracked by CIF on March 1, 2020 was $35.7 million. The inventory on hand at CIF was worth $11.3 million.
Of the 710,029 clothing record items owned by the New York Army National Guard, CIF had 82,482 items on hand. Those items ranged from 7,762 helmet covers valued at $17.67 to one disinfection kit costing $13.
The basic OCIE issue for each New York Army National Guard member is called the “New York Menu,” explained Codi Dowen, the program analyst who monitors those items.
Because New York gets cold in the winter, that basic list includes items like cold weather jackets and Primaloft insulated clothing, she said.
Depending on their military job, Soldiers can get additional items in their basic issue, Dowen said.
Aviators, for example get special fire-retardant gloves and fire-retardant flight suits and expensive flight helmets. Fuel handlers are issued special gloves and overalls. Light infantrymen get extra-large MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment.) packs.
When a Soldier joins their unit the supply sergeant sends CIF the information on the Soldier, his or her sizes and their military occupational specialty. CIF draws the equipment each unit needs and packs it together,
Teams from CIF will go to the Combined Support Maintenance Shop C in Henrietta, New York outside Rochester to issue gear to western New York and southern tier units.
Downstate and Long Island units draw gear at Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill in the Hudson Valley.
As new equipment comes into the system, for example packs with the current Operational Camouflage Pattern versus those with the older Universal Camouflage Pattern, or newer pattern combat helmets, CIF replaces older equipment when possible.
As Soldiers leave the New York Army National Guard, their OCIE is returned to CIF for reuse. The experts there inspect the gear and make sure it is serviceable.
They’ll make two bad packs into one good pack if they can and ensure that the one man tents, officially the “improved combat shelter” have all the poles they need.
“Nothing is worse than being a new Soldier in the field, opening your tent and realizing your tent poles are broken,” said Ed Laboda, a supply technician.
Ideally, CIF would also issue each Soldier with their own Improved Outer Tactical Vest, but there isn’t enough money to provide a vest for all 10,500 Soldiers, Holser said.
Instead, battalion sets are issued to units so they can be used for training or for an emergency, Nichols explained.
Normally, CIF is authorized about $2.5 million to purchase equipment, but for the current fiscal year only $700,000 is available, Holser said.
Because the OCIE issued to Soldiers belongs to the New York National Guard, when troops deploy on an overseas deployment, their New York gear stays behind.
They turn in the OCIE they were issued and draw equipment designated for their mission, explained Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth Panetta, who monitors that process.
This ensures deploying Soldiers get the latest gear and exactly what they need, he said. The gear they will not be using can be used by troops staying in New York.
The New York CIF team takes a lot of pride in making sure Soldiers have what they need, Nichols said. All of them have worn a uniform and appreciate what Soldiers go through, he added.
That dedication has been recognized by the Army, Holser said.
The National Guard Bureau Command Logistics Review Team gave the New York CIF an outstanding rating in 2019 and the First Army Inspector General gave the facility a commendable rating in February 2021.
“The team here is one of the best in the nation,” Holser said.
| Date Taken: | 03.11.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.11.2022 13:24 |
| Story ID: | 416301 |
| Location: | WATERVLIET ARSENAL, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 264 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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