Courtesy Photo | During a building inventory conducted by the 96th Sustainment Brigade on Camp Taji, an...... read more read more
By Capt. Amy Flores
13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — During the past year, the military has stepped up the withdrawal of both troops and equipment from Iraq, including the retrograde of live munitions. This is quite a daunting task as, over the years, ammunition storage points throughout Iraq have accumulated millions of dollars worth of ammunition.
Identifying, handling and safely moving ammunition around Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan requires a great deal of safety precautions, said Denise Batchelor, quality assurance specialist ammunition surveillance joint munitions command. She also stated that these responsibilities are primarily handled by Joint Munitions Command Ammo Logistics Assistant Representatives and Quality Assurance Specialists Ammunition Surveillance located at the Ammunition Transition and Holding Points.
As a Sustainment Brigade with control over Multi National Division — Baghdad and Multi National Forces — West, the 96th Sustainment Brigade provides oversight of five such ATHPs and one ASP, according to Capt. Gabriel Flores, 96th SBDE class V officer, from San Antonio, Texas.
"As part of the ongoing responsible withdrawal mission, the military is retrograding a particular anti-tank weapon—the M136 AT4 Anti-Tank Rocket, which is the Army's primary light anti-tank weapon; a recoilless rifle used primarily by Infantry Forces for engagement and defeat of light armor," said Flores. "It is a lightweight, self-contained, anti-armor weapon consisting of a free-flight, fin-stabilized, rocket-type cartridge packed in an expendable, one-piece, fiberglass-wrapped tube. Since U.S. occupation of Iraq began roughly 10 years ago, we have shipped thousands of AT4s into theater," he said.
"As the military started to retrograde these items, they discovered that there is a show-stopping shortage of the particular pins used to safely secure the AT4s for shipment. These Transport Safety Pins, which are required by regulation to move the AT4s, have been absent in theater since about 2008, and so far this year, the orders through U.S. Army Tank-automotive & Armaments Command have not produced the correct-sized pins—bringing the overall movement of this high-value weapon to a screeching halt," said Flores.
An inventory of Camp Taji real estate revealed a warehouse on the Iraqi side filled with over 500 expended AT4 tubes. Upon receipt of this news, Flores began planning with Batchelor to rectify the situation. In a combined effort to remove the expended tubes of these serial numbered U.S. munitions from the Iraqi property, as well as salvage as many Transport Safety Pins as possible, they planned a mission with the brigade's ammunition handlers, the Taji explosive ordnance team, the Taji mayor cell and the military advisor teams from both the Air Force and Army.
According to Flores, the first mission was conducted in November and the team successfully retrieved over 200 empty tubes and 60 transport safety pins.
"During this operation, the Soldiers and QASAS recognized that there were some live anti-tank rockets and rocketry of possible Russian origin in the warehouse," Batchelor said. They safely segregated those items until EOD could properly dispose of them.
After the area had been cleared, the team returned to complete the mission of clearing the expended AT4 tubes, over 50 Dragon AT missiles and assorted ordnance of unknown origin. According to Flores overall, the ammunition specialists from the 96th SBDE recovered more than 300 transport safety pins. "Because they are such a high-demand item, they were hand delivered to the AMC Ammunition Manager in Balad for distribution throughout Iraq in order to retrograde AT4s in accordance with the responsible drawdown plan," Batchelor said.
With each anti-tank missile valued at over $1,100, according to Flores, being able to successfully transport over 300 of them for future use, as opposed to demil, (destroying the ammunition) and the costs associated with the demil, "has saved the U.S. military an estimated one million dollars! Who says it doesn't pay to recycle," Flores said.
"The Camp Taji QASAS team sings the highest of praises for the 96th SBDE's efforts in accomplishing this mission," Batchelor said.
Not only were they able to recover hundreds of pins, directly impacting the movement of ammunition throughout Iraq, but they safely identified, secured and turned in live ammunition that was found on the Iraqi side of Camp Taji.
"This act alone prevented the munitions from falling into the wrong hands—giving the terrorists one less chance for using our ammunition against us," Batchelor stated. "I hope we will someday be able to find out how these AT4 tubes came to be in this warehouse. I am sure there is some history there, but for now I am very grateful to all those who helped get them back into our ATHP."
"It is evident that the 96th Sustainment Brigade Class V team sets the mark for being subject matter experts in ammunition—far exceeding expectations placed on them as a brigade staff," Batchelor said.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2010 21:10 |
| Story ID: | 43925 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 558 |
| Downloads: | 305 |
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