Photo By Staff Sgt. Terri Barriere | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Carrie Masters, Regional Logistics Center-South...... read more read more
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KABUL, Afghanistan - Weapons need ammo, vehicles need fuel, and personnel need equipment.
Having the correct supplies and equipment - when and where it’s needed - could mean the difference between life and death, making logistics arguably one of the most critical components of any successful mission.
It’s this thought that keeps the staff at the Regional Logistics Center-South at the top of their game each day.
As an Afghan Logistics Battalion, RLC-South serves as the main supply hub, warehouse and logistics training site for Afghan Uniform Police, Afghan Border Patrol and Afghan National Civil Order Police forces serving in southern Afghanistan.
The RLC is Afghan led and maintained with U.S. coalition force advisement and mentorship.
“The operational warehouse gives them the ability to supply their customers more efficiently and effectively,” said U.S. Army Maj. Andrew Harmon, senior advisor for RLC. “The key is to show them how it can work so that they gain confidence in the system while gaining the capacity to run it themselves – which they are basically doing now.”
Harmon said before the depot was set up, the supply system was merely unorganized containers. To rectify the situation, his five-man advisement team came up with a system that made it easier for their Afghan colleagues to both understand and sustain, using a paper based inventory method based on their own numbering system.
In addition to taking inventory, the advisors also taught their counterparts how to arrange things by size, set up a locator system inside the warehouse and develop and understand the concept of serviceable and unserviceable items.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Joseph Davies, RLC advisor, said these skills have helped catapult the Afghan led team toward success in only a matter of months.
“We haven’t just taught them about logistics and supply, we’ve taught them how to run their own warehouse,” he said. Though the overhaul of the warehouse brought notable changes to RLC operations, the advisors also work side by side training their Afghan counterparts in other areas of logistics as well.
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Carrie Masters, non-commissioned officer in charge of RLC-South weapons and ammo, said it’s her responsibility to advise the two members of the team who will soon become the one safe guard in place for the two most critical resources – weapons and ammunition.
“Weapons are very strictly managed, they have to inventory and report serial numbers once a month due to the sensitive nature of the items and how easily they can be stolen,” she said. “That’s a pretty big responsibility.”
Masters said it’s her job to make sure her two mentees know how to properly manage their property books, get their customers what they need and work the system and process from start to finish, Afghan to Afghan.
“It’s ultimately an Afghan process,” she said. “It’s ok to mentor and we want them to learn so badly, but they have to lead themselves to success. They are only going to succeed if they know how to do it and have the tools to do their jobs correctly.”
Masters said she has total faith in the process and the Afghans they mentor.
The team marks a past visit from Deputy Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak prior to the warehouse becoming operational as their starting point.
“He came down a while back and asked the RC commander what equipment he had and the commander didn’t know,” Harmon recalled. “We know now the commander would not only be able to tell him what he had, he’d know how much he had, where it was and if anything needed to be ordered.”
Harmon said this kind of progress has also significantly increased the unit’s level of productivity.
“In the eight months I’ve been deployed, we’ve seen tremendous progress in the Afghans taking the lead, taking ownership of their processes, doing their own inventories, doing their own stocking and having more accountability,” he said. “Just yesterday, we issued more than 2,000 uniforms in under 30 minutes, whereas before it would have taken us maybe three or four days to find the material – if we even found it at all.”
As the deadline for transition approaches, the advisement team is focusing their efforts on maintaining the progress that’s been made and ensuring their Afghan counterparts have all the tools and knowledge they’ll need to keep the processes in place.
“Before this depot was empty, there was no organization, but we worked hard every day to get it in order and now to keep it in order,” RLC officer in charge, Afghan Maj. Abdul Tawab said. “My personnel are good, I feel very good with them in charge, whenever anyone needs anything we can find it very easily. I don’t think we will have any problems in the future. I think me and my personnel will be able to control our depot.”
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2012 03:42 |
| Story ID: | 83375 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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