Photo By Cameron Porter | A contractor shows a group of personnel from the 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron...... read more read more
MANDA BAY, Kenya – When the 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron at Camp Simba in Kenya identified a potential power distribution issue on the east side of its camp, representatives from the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program stepped in to assist.
Army Cpt. Branson Monico, a 405th AFSB LOGCAP planner for the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility, said there’s four generators supporting the east side of the camp with European spec power, 220-240 volts. The west side of the camp is powered by U.S. spec 110-120 volt power.
“The Air force is close to maxing out their power distribution bus bar on the east side of the camp. They have four generators, and power is close to maxing out,” Monico said. “If anything happens, like a generator goes down or they over-calibrate the power, that could kill it and they’ll have to start shutting down facilities.”
Over 600 U.S. military personnel work at Camp Simba. Most of them are Air Force and from the 475th EABS, but there are also U.S. Marines based there as well as Army Soldiers. It’s important that the power requirements supporting all these personnel is resolved before it becomes an issue, and LOGCAP has been tasked to help.
LOGCAP is working a letter of technical direction in order to conduct a project to access the feeder pillars and the distribution lines and cables that run throughout the east side of the life support area, Monico said. They need to conduct the assessment, redistribute the power and possibly bump up the power output.
“I got with the contractors, and we did a joint site assessment,” Monico said. “We walked the site and went to each feeder pillar, which is basically the distribution panel with all the power cables, in order to pinpoint the work that needs to be completed.”
“As the requiring activity, the 475th EABS will get all their requirements laid out – what is needed to support this project and what they want the contractor to do. From there, they’ll send their letter of justification to LOGCAP, and LOGCAP will submit a letter of technical direction to direct the contractor to do the work on this site,” said Monico.
“We’re basically the middle man between the requiring activity and the contractor,” he added.
“With LOGCAP, we can revise the contract at a moment’s notice and get a generator replaced immediately, if need be – 48 hours by air, for example, or a couple of weeks by ground,” said James Wilkerson, a 405th AFSB LOGCAP support contractor and senior logistics management specialist based in Africa.
Being able to provide immediate flexibility based on changing requirements supporting the requiring activity is what LOGCAP brings to the table – quality services, more flexibility and quicker response times, he said.
“By having that flexibility, it helps to reduce logistical burdens,” said Wilkerson.
The Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LOGCAP, is an Army strategic sourcing preferred source for base operations support and sustainment services. LOGCAP services can include everything from laundry and food service to recreation, maintenance, power generation, information technology, medical services, physical security, and more.
During a LOGCAP executive summit last year, U.S. Army Materiel Command’s commanding general emphasized that LOGCAP remains the contracted capability of choice for the Army and multiple joint partners for emergent and contingency operations. Currently, 405th AFSB LOGCAP supports thousands of deployed U.S. forces in Europe and Africa with base life support and more.
The 475th EABS provides base operations and communications support for 13 mission partners enabling Special Operations Command Africa missions in Kenya and Somalia. Together, with African and international partners, they help provide a secure, stable and prosperous Africa.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging AMC’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.29.2023 05:18 |
| Story ID: | 441412 |
| Location: | KE |
| Web Views: | 239 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, 405th AFSB LOGCAP supports Camp Simba in Kenya with power upgrades, distribution, by Cameron Porter, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
