An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Jan. 10, 2011

Guard mobile redistribution team supports Iraq drawdown

By Courtesy Story

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq - Citizen-Soldiers with the 224th Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), are making a difference, in a collaborative effort, on the “War on Excess” with its Mobile Redistribution Team (MRT) on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq.

The MRT was created as a key component of Operation Clean Sweep and the Responsible Drawdown of Forces.  The MRT assists units with the removal of non-mission essential, non-property book, non-theater property equipment excess.

“The fixed redistribution site has been operational since October and was established in support of Operation Clean Sweep II,” said Capt. Vanessa Marrero, a support operation effects officer and MRT officer-in-charge with the 224th SB. “The MRT can operate as contact teams consisting of two to four Soldiers or up to 10 Soldiers depending on the type of mission.”

These Soldiers have the capability to identify the proper disposition of equipment; MOS’s [military occupational specialty] include, but are not limited to, automated logistic specialists, vehicle repairers, transportation management coordinators, supply specialists, and ammunition specialists.”

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Keith Glenn, the MRT fixed site and mobile team officer-in-charge with the 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 224th SB, has the primary job of oversight of the MRT fixed site yard and its daily operations.

“It’s taking items out of hidden areas and putting them back into the system,” Glenn said. “It’s reducing the actual footprint of the material. We’re trying to consolidate, and it is a collaborative effort. You’re reducing transportation dollars, transportation assets; here we have consolidated our efforts and expedited equipment from the COB’s.”

The MRT yard can process around $2 million of supply on a weekly basis with about 500 items, said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Pierce, the operations noncommissioned officer for the fixed site with the 632nd Maintenance Company, 110th CSSB. The MRT yard Soldiers work together and are from various units in the 224th SB.

“Currently there are 43 military [MRT personnel] and 13 civilians,” Pierce said. “The Soldiers outside [in the yard] do all the paperwork, they evaluate each item that goes into each multipack [tri-walls/white boxes constructed above a pallet], and from there it goes into my office, then my guys will fed-log [the system will assign a dollar value to the item] it. If we cannot find it, we will look up manufacturer’s data, de-militarized codes, recovery codes or class codes, and then the Soldier will place it on the multipack to ship it to the SSA [supply support activity] or wherever its destination is.”

Besides saving the government money, removing excess equipment and supplies from Iraq, the yard places many serviceable items back into the Army’s supply system or back to the units from which it originally came.

“When we run into serial numbers items, we run them back through RPAT [Redistribution Property Assistance Team], and they go through the theater provided equipment property book and validate the serial numbers,” Glenn said. “And if there was ever a commander looking for that equipment or there was a Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss done, they actually try to contact that commander and get the property back to him, or reimburse him the dollars that were taken from him.”

 

 

Related Articles
Sgt. Alex Beglau and Sgt. Geoffrey Machado, both assigned to 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, engage targets while Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Graham, Staff Sgt. Michael Kissee and Staff Sgt. Tyrone Morris spot and score from behind at Boardman Training Area, Ore., Sept. 5, 2025. The range officers evaluated competitor performance during the inaugural Oregon State Sniper Qualifier.
Oregon Guard Members Train for Sniper Competition
By Maj. Wayne Clyne, | Sept. 8, 2025
RAYMOND REES NATIONAL GUARD TRAINING CENTER, Ore. – The crack of precision rifles echoed across the high desert as Oregon's best sniper teams gathered for an unprecedented competition designed to elevate the state's...

Soldiers from the 642nd Quartermaster Company prepare meals for troops at Logistical Support Area Lincoln on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Aug. 27, 2025. The dining facility supports hundreds of service members operating as part of Joint Task Force-DC’s security mission in the nation’s capital.
Supply Hub Launches for Guard D.C. Safe and Beautiful Mission
By Spc. Carrol Walter Hughes IV, | Sept. 8, 2025
WASHINGTON – A new logistics center is supporting National Guard members on duty in Washington as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission.Logistics Support Area Lincoln, or LSA, located on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in...

Brig. Gen. Alan R. Gronewold, the Adjutant General, Oregon, shakes hands with Soldiers of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) during their demobilization ceremony at the Salem Armory Auditorium, September 6, 2025, in Salem, Ore. The 41st IBCT returned home from a year-long deployment to Kosovo as part of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission.
Oregon Guard Welcomes Home its 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team From Kosovo
By Staff Sgt. Emily Simonson, | Sept. 8, 2025
SALEM, Ore. - The Oregon National Guard welcomed home the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, or IBCT, in a demobilization ceremony Sept. 6 at the Salem Armory Auditorium.The 41st IBCT returned in July from a year-long...