Reserve unit takes on new joint distribution center

Photo By Staff Sgt. Engels Tejeda | Sgt. Billie McCanik (right), the bulk yard NCOIC for the 485th Quartermaster Company, is able to dedicate her time entirely to helping customers such as Kellog Brown and Root's Robert Bugg now that the Joint Distribution Center has relived her Soldiers of extra work.  

TALLIL, IRAQ

04.25.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

LSA ADDER, Iraq - Logistical distribution just got a whole lot faster at Logistical Support Area Adder, thanks to a new joint distribution center (JDC) that the 485th Quartermaster Company built in March.

Already partially operational, the new five-acre facility allows a task force of Soldiers and Kellogg, Brown and Root employees to take over cargo processing at Tallil. Essentially, every pallet of building materials, office supplies, petrol excluding fuel, medical supplies, and repair parts is processed at the center, whether they arrive in Tallil by air or ground transportation.

The staff sorts through the shipments and distributes them to their respective owners. The staff also sorts through retrograde gear (supplies that units return because they are damaged or in excess).

The 485th Qm. Co., a Reserve unit from Ada, Okla., used to handle the sorting process, but was overwhelmed because the mission requires handling the supplies of a multiple organizations.

"Before, it took up to seven days to process a shipment," said Staff Sgt. Robert Workman, the center's NCOIC and a member of the 588th Maintenance Company who is working with the 485th. "Now we will get them out of here in less than 72 hours."

The JDC strives to process all shipments within 36 hours, so customers can pick up shipments that arrive in the morning the next evening. The process is more efficient than when the 485th Soldiers handled it because the new task force can dedicate their time entirely to the JDC. Chief Warrant Officer Donna Spence, the JDC's OIC, said that about 35 KBR employees will be augmenting the Soldiers as the center's staff. She expects to process more than 500 pallets of supplies, mostly mechanic parts, every month.

Sgt. Billie McCanik, the bulk yard NCOIC for the 485th, is in charge of distributing shipments to local customers in Tallil. Before the JDC opened, her Soldiers had to stop their mission anytime a shipment came in and go sort through it.

She said that the JDC not only allows her troops to focus on their customers, but also gives her the time to train her Soldiers.

"We no longer have to deal with missions from the flight line or missions that require us to prepare air drops," McCanik said. "Now we can just focus on helping our direct customers and on training on our specific job."

Spence and Workman spearheaded the JDC project, which took approximately 30 days to build. At least four other units from the 485th Combat Support Battalion participated in the project's development.

• Date Taken: 04.25.2006
• Date Posted: 04.25.2006 08:45
• Story ID: 6104
• Location: TALLIL, IQ