THE RECONSTITUTION OF THE USAREUR FLEET

In August 2004, the 94th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy) had a serious problem. The Germany-based unit recently had been notified that it would be deploying to Iraq during the upcoming winter and would be shipping its vehicles in December.

There was just one issue. Approximately half its vehicles were still with the 21st Theater Support Command (TSC) in Kaiserslautern, Germany, undergoing general support (GS)-level repair from the last Iraqi deployment. Maj. Elizabeth Halford, the executive officer for 130th Engineer Brigade, called the 21st TSC for help.

Less than three months later, the 94th had its vehicles back, not only in time to ship them to Iraq, but in time to train and certify the battalion for its upcoming deployment.

"It was a great example of cooperation within U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) to get soldiers ready to go back into battle," Halford said. "They rebuilt our equipment and got it back to us faster than I thought possible."

In the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, it became clear that vehicles working so hard and for so long in the harsh conditions of the Iraqi countryside would require repair upon their return to Germany.

Gen. B.B. Bell, the USAREUR commander, made it clear to his senior logistician, Maj. Gen. Bennie E. Williams, the commander of the 21st TSC, that the 21st TSC's mission was to reset the USAREUR vehicle force and prepare it for further deployments to Afghanistan and return missions to Iraq. The USAREUR fleet was to be combat-ready and fully operational upon arrival downrange.

"Speed and quality are the critical factors in a task like this," Williams said. "We have to get badly damaged vehicles repaired and back to their operators in time for the next round of deployments. We must ensure the capability, reliability and sustainability of each vehicle undergoing repairs and return all vehicles to their operators in better condition then they were originally."

In its first year, the 21st TSC's general support repair and return (GSRR) program has taken apart more than 2,100 vehicles and put them back together, replacing part after part, in order to ensure soldiers redeploy with the best equipment possible. Accomplishing this mission has necessitated a carefully laid out and executed plan of action, requiring the cooperation of units within and outside the 21st TSC.

To meet the ambitious timetables required by the ongoing deployments, leaders realized that they needed a preassessment of vehicles coming back from Iraq. Senior German mechanics employed by the 21st TSC's General Support Center-Europe (GSC-E) continue to volunteer for this ongoing and vital mission in Kuwait where the preassessment teams operate.

These teams work hand in hand with representatives of USAREUR and the 21st TSC's 1st Transportation Movement Control Agency (TMCA) to make this happen. Europe-based units serving in Iraq move their vehicles to holding areas in Kuwait while waiting for ships to return the equipment to Germany.

Each team, about 15 mechanics strong, checks the equipment thoroughly, identifying what will need GS-level repair. The teams evaluated more than 6,300 vehicles from the 1st Armored Division alone. Of these, more than 1,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment were identified as requiring GS-level work, so the GSC-E divided the workload among its own repair shops and other government and private contracted facilities throughout Europe.

After assessments are completed, the 1st TMCA liaison officer helps arrange for shipping to repair facilities in Europe and works closely with Surface Distribution and Deployment Command representatives at each port.

They ensure the right vehicles are loaded in the right order so that the ship back in Europe is downloaded as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The ships are normally off-loaded in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Minor repairs on the off-loaded vehicles are made by another GSC-E team of mechanics as a method of hurrying the vehicles on toward their final destinations. Customs military police and truck drivers from the 21st TSC's 37th Transportation Command inspect the vehicles to ensure European transportation laws are obeyed and prepare to haul GSRR vehicles that cannot be shipped commercially.

Movement control teams from the 1st TMCA keep in close contact with the 21st TSC headquarters and liaison officers in Kuwait, so they can accurately arrange for trains, military and commercial line-haul trucks and river barges to send the off-loaded equipment to the right locations, either back to the unit's original home-station or to the GSC-E's facilities for GS-level repair work.

The number of vehicles needing repair, the capacity and capabilities of each repair facility and the overall deployment-driven timeline are the components of a complex work-loading plan. Depending on the types of repairs needed, 21st TSC directs the vehicles requiring GS-level work to organic maintenance activities in Kaiserslautern, Mannheim, Pirmasens and Vilsek, Germany, and to outside Army Materiel Command (AMC) and contracted facilities elsewhere in Europe. The reconstitution mission of the GSC-E is to ensure that all GS-level repairs are accomplished within 180 days of the equipment reaching the port of debarkation.

Toward this end, the capabilities of GSC-E's maintenance and supply personnel have focused on reconstitution and other contingency priorities. The capability dedicated to the GSRR mission consists of 617 mechanics and approximately 150 temporary hires that have been approved in support of the ongoing contingency missions, while being complemented by hundreds of mechanics in AMC repair facilities and contracted companies. This has enabled the GSRR operation to work around the clock when necessary to keep the repairs on track and to keep USAREUR redeployments on schedule.

At the repair sites, the value of the preassessment teams can be fully appreciated. The preassessments enable the 21st TSC to most efficiently plan the workload and to preorder repair parts in advance through the 21st TSC's 200th Materiel Management Command.

To expedite the repair parts process, the 200th works closely with GSC-E, AMC, Combat Equipment Group-Europe and others in order to resource the 21st TSC's repair activities as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Thus far, the 21st TSC has assessed more than 17,450 vehicles and has identified some 3,400 GS repair candidates for the GSRR program (approximately 20 percent of the total deployed USAREUR fleet).

Once the equipment is repaired, the 1st TMCA again makes arrangements for shipment from the maintenance activity, whether that involves a contractor or a GSC-E facility, back to the gaining unit. This is done in close coordination with GSC-E, synchronizing the shipping to speed the equipment to its destination so that a minimum amount of time elapses and unit readiness is not unnecessarily affected.

A closer examination of the 94th Engineer Battalion's situation provides an example that shows how this complex process works.

When the soldiers of the 94th returned to their home stations in Germany in December 2003, they knew they were going to have problems with their equipment, much of which had been damaged in Iraq through combat and normal wear and tear because of the grueling construction, demolition and other engineering work they regularly performed.

Unfortunately, the 94th's equipment would not return until March 2004, and 70 percent of the vehicles needed GS-level maintenance repair in the GSRR program. To make matters worse, the 94th commander was told in August 2004 to prepare the unit for a return deployment to Iraq the following February. This meant that he had to integrate and train new personnel (about one-third of the battalion) on combat engineer operations in time to certify for deployment during their mission readiness exercise in mid-November.

Of course, he could only do this if he had his engineering vehicles and equipment. The battalion's equipment, including bulldozers, cranes and special forklifts, were unique to USAREUR, complicating the issue of getting replacement vehicles. It was also determined that all the trailers would need their wooden surfaces redecked and to do this properly required finding and obtaining an exotic, strong wood, known as purple heart.

The 21st went into round-the-clock operations to get this battalion ready, repairing vehicles and equipment at a rapid rate and then delivering the equipment to the battalion, rather than forcing the battalion to pick up the repaired vehicles. Purple heart wood could only be located in Guyana, South America, but it was quickly acquired and shipped to Germany where the 21st worked with the 94th to redeck 27 trailers in just five days (just in time to be shipped to Iraq). In the end, the battalion received its equipment in time to train and pass certification and then return to Iraq.

In order to allow USAREUR units to focus on deployment and advanced individual combat skills training, the 21st has instituted several programs to assist deploying units and also assumed a number of stay-behind missions.

The 200th Materiel Management Command's main focus is to monitor the available equipment in theater and get the required equipment to the right unit at the right time. The 200th developed the deployment database, which lists the critical equipment shortages for every deploying unit in Europe. Using this database, the 200th then works to find the equipment to fill every shortage. During USAREUR's recent deployment of the Southern European Task Force to Operation Enduring Freedom, the original unit shortages were more than 25,000 individual pieces of equipment. Working nonstop, the item managers at the 200th were able to fill more than 24,800 of those shortages.

The GSC-E has assumed the direct support (DS) maintenance missions from main support battalions and the forward support battalions of the 1st Armored and 1st Infantry Divisions during their deployments. This enabled these units to close out maintenance jobs and take block leave before their deployments. The GSC-E also established DS maintenance support teams for redeploying units whose normal support units were not available because of deployments and other operations. Since November 2003, the 21st TSC has completed more than 4,000 DS jobs in support of the deployed units.

The 21st TSC augmented the maintenance capacity of USAREUR's units via contract for local national civilian mechanics as required, augmenting some 65 motor pools throughout Germany during fiscal year 2004.

In addition to providing maintenance support, the 21st TSC has also modified more than 250 five-ton trucks by installing a cab reinforcement kit and .50-caliber machine gun mount to provide USAREUR soldiers with greater convoy protection.

Part of the comprehensive support provided by the 21st TSC is a six-month warranty that is given on all repairs done on each vehicle. The GSC-E has a customer complaint team that investigates all customer complaints, and all validated complaints are dealt with through cost-free repairs or parts replacements.

The 21st TSC has combined all these programs as part of its commitment to keeping USAREUR soldiers driving, moving and fighting from vehicles that are in the best possible condition for combat operations.

Maj. Halford summed up her association with the 21st TSC during her unit's reconstitution experience: "As a customer, there is a new level of trust with the 21st. We know that even if something sounds as if it's too good to be true, if the 21st said they'd do it, it'll happen."

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