thedrifter
03-12-03, 02:53 PM
March 12, 2003
Supply center keeps food, equipment moving
By Bill Bergstrom
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Fielding orders for more hot-weather boots, camouflage bandages and meals ready to eat, the center that coordinates supplies for U.S. troops is stepping up shipments to the Middle East.
The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia last year arranged purchases of $7.8 billion worth of food, clothing, medical supplies, hardware, lumber and other goods for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.
The need for those items is increasing sharply this year as President Bush amasses troops, planes and ships in the Middle East to back the threat of war against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
“Anything a soldier eats, anything they need to be cared for, anything they wear, or use for constructing buildings and things like that, comes from the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia,” center spokesman Frank Johnson said.
None of the boots, bandages, food items, hardware, tents, flags or lumber are actually at the supply center. Some items are stored at and shipped from warehouses like the center’s Defense Distribution Center at New Cumberland, Pa.
Workers at the depot, just south of Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River, were assembling orders Tuesday of supplies from tank treads to toilet paper to be trucked to military cargo planes at Dover Air Force Base, Del., or to various ports for shipment.
But more often, supplies are shipped direct from manufacturers to the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine units that order them, as the military adopts the just-in-time delivery concept that big manufacturers and their suppliers have switched to in recent years.
The Defense Department also wants to avoid having big inventories of costly parts and supplies sit idle in warehouses.
“What we have been trying to do for the last 10 years is avoid a lot of depoting, because it is ungodly expensive,” Johnson said.
Similarly, the center deals with suppliers around the world that buy perishable products like bread and dairy products locally. “If it takes a week to get there, it’s stale,” Johnson said.
Buying where the troops are provides fresh food and rewards allies. “They are letting us use Kuwait as a standup area. If we can buy from the local economy, we will,” Johnson said.
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Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger
Supply center keeps food, equipment moving
By Bill Bergstrom
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Fielding orders for more hot-weather boots, camouflage bandages and meals ready to eat, the center that coordinates supplies for U.S. troops is stepping up shipments to the Middle East.
The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia last year arranged purchases of $7.8 billion worth of food, clothing, medical supplies, hardware, lumber and other goods for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.
The need for those items is increasing sharply this year as President Bush amasses troops, planes and ships in the Middle East to back the threat of war against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
“Anything a soldier eats, anything they need to be cared for, anything they wear, or use for constructing buildings and things like that, comes from the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia,” center spokesman Frank Johnson said.
None of the boots, bandages, food items, hardware, tents, flags or lumber are actually at the supply center. Some items are stored at and shipped from warehouses like the center’s Defense Distribution Center at New Cumberland, Pa.
Workers at the depot, just south of Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River, were assembling orders Tuesday of supplies from tank treads to toilet paper to be trucked to military cargo planes at Dover Air Force Base, Del., or to various ports for shipment.
But more often, supplies are shipped direct from manufacturers to the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine units that order them, as the military adopts the just-in-time delivery concept that big manufacturers and their suppliers have switched to in recent years.
The Defense Department also wants to avoid having big inventories of costly parts and supplies sit idle in warehouses.
“What we have been trying to do for the last 10 years is avoid a lot of depoting, because it is ungodly expensive,” Johnson said.
Similarly, the center deals with suppliers around the world that buy perishable products like bread and dairy products locally. “If it takes a week to get there, it’s stale,” Johnson said.
Buying where the troops are provides fresh food and rewards allies. “They are letting us use Kuwait as a standup area. If we can buy from the local economy, we will,” Johnson said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Sempers,
Roger