One Marine’s trash, another Marine’s treasure

Cpl. Wayne Edmiston

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (Feb. 15, 2007) -- The Marine Corps is known for its ability to make a piece of equipment last. With proper maintenance, it has kept some pieces of equipment in our Corps for more than 40 years. Now Marines, in cooperation with civilian contractors, are able to recycle equipment here for future Marines to use while deployed and in training.

At Marine Corps Logistics Command (Forward) - Iraq, two Marines and 23 civilian contractors from Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. are responsible for receiving, documenting, tracking, repairing and then forwarding older but still usable vehicles and equipment to units in the United States, according to Maj. David H. Rosenberg, the commanding officer of MCLC (Fwd) - Iraq.

Throughout the past few years, the Marine Corps has analyzed the assets it has in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and discovered an excess of equipment in theater, ranging from articles and weapons to engineering and communications equipment.

The Marine Corps tasked MCLC to get this equipment back in the hands of the Marines who need it, sparking the creation of the MCLC (Fwd) – Iraq retrograde lot aboard Taqaddum

As of Feb. 8, 2007, 10,859 pieces of equipment have been received to be recycled.
Much of the gear will be sent to units in the rear, such as combat schools and recruit depots for training, but some will once again tread the desert terrain here.

“Some of the gear is ‘condition code A’, meaning ready to be reissued,” said Rosenberg. “A lot of it is going to be reissued to the [Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward)].”

Tom Herzog, the program’s civilian manager, has been an employee of Honeywell Inc. for 15 years. He said the task assigned to the lot is a daunting one and credits its success to his employees and the Marines.

“You should have seen this lot five months ago,” Herzog, a former Marine of four years, said. “There was a lot of organization and our team has worked well with the Marines. The project was supposed to take two years, and now we are a couple months ahead.”

This process also affects the wallet of the individual taxpayer in the United States.

“We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars the Marine Corps is saving versus having to replace all this gear,” said Rosenberg.

The process is painstakingly detailed to ensure Marines get quality gear to train on and operate.

“When the gear comes in we record it and send that information back to the rear so they can give us specific instructions on where they want it,” said Paula McGuire, a material specialist who has been with Honeywell for 18 years, and a Crawford, Ark., native. “When the list comes back on where they want it, we order the trucks and get it ready to be shipped back.”

Before MCLC (Fwd) - Iraq sends it back, it first requires a limited technical inspection, and maintainers at the lot make both minor and major repairs.

“We make sure the gear we are giving back is serviceable,” said Larry Williams, a material handler with Honeywell, and a former Marine of 12 years.

Getting it ready to ship back is a process in itself, especially when dealing with large equipment such as tanks or trucks, according to Gilbert Salinas, a Blount Island, Fla., native, and heavy equipment operator at the lot.

The procedure requires the expertise of multiple people and a lot of hard work.

“It’s a process that if you do it time and time again you get better at it,” Salinas said. “It’s all about making sure everything is loaded, buttoned down and tightened up.”

The process involves a chain of multiple stops along the way, starting here in Iraq, then to the detachment in Kuwait and on to Blount Island, Fla., the headquarters of MCLC.

In the end, Marines, while training, gain a new asset to better prepare them to join the fight, something some of the civilian employees here are familiar with.

“This is just a continuation of our service – most of us are former military, and the majority of us are former Marines. We are ‘semper-fi’ and are always Marines,” Williams said.

Salinas, also a former Marine, said he is proud to help ease the workload of operational units in Iraq.

“Let Marines do what Marines are trained to do,” said Salinas. “If contractors can do something to alleviate some of the manpower pressures, than let them do it.”

Ellie