Afghan equipment worth billions

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The Combined Security Transition Command (CSTC-A) CJ4 Director, COL Ron Green, and his National Depot Deputy Director, LTC Neal Daniels, visited the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) National Depots on 5 May 2010 to get “eyes on” the billions of dollars of vehicles and other equipment staged to field the ANSF.

The first stop was Todd Maritime Service Inc. (TMSI), a vehicle lot and warehousing activity that functions as an overflow storage area for both Army and Police assets. Current operations at TMSI have recently expanded to include receiving vehicles, which has increased our receiving capacity to match the increased push of trucks to Kabul from the Port of Karachi.

The second was Depot 1 which houses most of the Afghan National Army’s (ANA) Class II equipment such as uniform items, as well as Class VII major end items like radios and weapons. The Depot 1 team is doing an outstanding job of receiving, storing, and shipping equipment despite the need for increased manning and the high turnover rate amongst ANA personnel. The overarching issue seen at the National Depot level is the amount of materiel coming in far exceeds the amount leaving the depot. Long term fixes to this issue are increasing visibility of current stock, matching stocked items to ANSF units that require them, and projecting incoming materials to create more efficient logistics storage and distribution process.

The next two visits were to Coprin Lot and Depot 2, the ANSF’s primary vehicle receiving, storage, and staging locations. Coprin Lot, a contractor run operation, manages the Afghanistan National Police (ANP) vehicles, whereas Depot 2 deals with ANA assets. Both lots house maintenance operations in addition to the receipt, storage and distribution of vehicles. Depot 2 also runs the contract operation of radio installation for new vehicles; ensuring Afghan forces have the level of communication equipment they need to provide national security.

The last stop of the day was to 22 Bunkers, the ammunition and weapons storage facility for ANP. New construction of bunkers and small arms storage facilities are a couple ongoing projects that will not only increase the storage capacity at this location but also ensure the ANP are trained and armed to maintain a secure Afghanistan.

Across all depots, our main concerns were mentoring the ANSF on logistics processes, overcoming space limitations, validating that all equipment being stored or staged is still required by Tashkil (authorized equipment listing), and pushing out required equipment to the units. Takeaways from our whirlwind trip to the National Depots were to re-focus on pushing equipment out to the ANSF units and to begin the process of proactive staging, receiving, and storing of equipment. With the huge lead time needed on ordering equipment, many times items are no longer required by Tashkil for the unit when it makes it to the Depot. With that challenge, another arises: what should be done with the items that are no longer needed? They are taking up space and costing us money, when space is certainly one of our limiting factors. The long-term solution for the depots is to be able to identify equipment as it arrives – by which unit it will be issued to and what date it will leave the depot. COL Green’s team, paired with their respective ANSF counterparts, have a clear way ahead toward the immediate goal of fielding the ANSF and toward the ultimate goal of ANSF-run logistics depot operations.

Category: Blog - Logistics