Courtesy Photo | Soldiers with the 289th Quartermaster Company, 352nd Combat Sustainment Support...... read more read more
By: 1st Lt. Samuel Malone
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – Sgt. Allan Cranford, the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of hazardous material from the 289th Quartermaster Company, 352nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command and a native of San Luis Sonora, Mexico, and his team of "Sabers" cut down the amount of hazardous material here as the military continues its reposturing in Iraq.
“Hazmat” is any substance that poses a danger to life, property or the environment if improperly stored, shipped or handled. Someone must possess a great deal of knowledge of many different materials and substances to handle it correctly. They also have to understand what resources are available to them to get the information they may not have.
Working hand-in-hand with the 289th QM Co. Material Redistribution Team yard, Cranford and a team of nine Saber hazmat soldiers’ mission is to dispose of hazardous material the units cannot get rid of on their own because they lack the knowledge or resources.
With the reposturing of U.S. forces in Iraq and the deadline on the horizon, units are getting worried about the time they have left to dispose of these items.
This is when they contact the MRT yard and ask for instructions on how to properly turn these items in. If units cannot dispose of it themselves, then the MRT will coordinate a time to bring the materials to the yard. Once the hazmat team has the material or substance, they store it safely and properly until it is shipped out. The hazmat team will use their vast amount of resources to determine the proper route of getting it out of Iraq.
In any given week, the hazmat yard receives different types of materials, including new and used cleaning products, gallons of oil, and chemical lights, some used and some brand new. Gas tanks filled with anything and everything, and batteries of all different sizes also show up in the yard.
The difficult part is ensuring the safety of everyone and everything, all while storing these items at different locations in the yard. This is where Cranford’s education comes into play. He has designed the yard with protective barriers and weather protection devices to keep everything within regulation. Safety officers at all levels have been very impressed with his work.
Safety officers are not the only ones impressed, however.
Command Sgt. Maj. Arthur Coleman Jr., the III Corps command sergeant major, came to check out the 289th QM Co.’s hazmat yard. Cranford gave Coleman a VIP tour of the hazmat and explained the importance of how and why they sorted and segregated everything. Coleman was very impressed with how the hazmat team arranged the items in their yard, and the care and discipline the soldiers show when handling the material.
The decrease of resources and increase of hazmat turn-in have Cranford worried as the end of the year approaches. He also worries about units sending hazmat items to the yard without properly inventorying them, which may put soldiers in the MRT and hazmat yard at risk.
“It is not a pleasant surprise to find unexpected hazmat items in a container,” Cranford said. “All the unit has to do is contact us and we will help them get rid of it the correct way.”
Every officer-in-charge and non-commissioned officer here wants to leave their mark by improving their site from the time they arrived until the time they turn over responsibility to the incoming or replacement unit.
The 289th QM Co. has done this with every mission site they run, especially the hazmat yard.
Cranford only hopes that the next unit handles it with as much discipline and care as the Saber team does now.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2011 05:25 |
| Story ID: | 70035 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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