CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - With the Responsible Drawdown of Iraq underway, things are heating up at Third Army's Maintenance Facility at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Soldiers and civilian contractors are working around the clock to repair damaged rolling equipment from the north, and pushing it out to other operations in theater.
Sylvester Smith, supervisor of the truck repair department at the Maintenance Facility, says his department alone pushed out over 165 pieces of equipment in February, up from 117 pieces in January and 80 in December 2009.
"My department alone services and repairs anything from fuel tankers, trailers, HETs, light, medium and heavy trucks and Humvees," said Smith. "Most of the equipment we fix here is battle damaged from Iraq and is needed elsewhere."
Third Army's Maintenance Facility's retrograde process helps get mission critical equipment to the troops on the ground, allowing them to do their jobs.
Jim Redpath, mechanical engineer, Maintenance Facility, and native of Scottland, who has experience working at Army Installations in Germany, admits he gets a lot of purpose helping meet Third Army's mission.
"We all enjoy working together here to see a finished product," said Redpath. "There is a feeling of accomplishment when a battle damaged vehicle arrives here from the north, gets repaired and rolls off the lot ready to help operations elsewhere."
The bonus of the retrograde program at Camp Arifjan is that it allows Third Army to provide an increase to Theatre Provided Equipment while minimizing the flow of traffic into a country.
Third Army's retrograde effort works with many aspects of the U.S. military, including the transportation, communication and intelligence staffs to meet the logistical integration of equipment coming into of Afghanistan from the Responsible Drawdown.
According to Lt. Gen. William G. Webster, commanding general of Third Army, "This is an enormous task, unprecedented in modern military history, but we have a well thought out plan and the synergy and cooperation of our many teams involved that will ensure we anticipate and are prepared to meet all requirements for U.S. CENTCOM and our Army."
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2010 10:49 |
| Story ID: | 47537 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 232 |
| Downloads: | 215 |
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