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1st FSSG Marines provide supplies to those on frontlines

Marine Corps News

Story Identification #: 200412111387
Story by Sgt. Enrique S. Diaz

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Dec. 11, 2004) -- While infantry Marines continue to rid Fallujah of insurgents, Marines with the 1st Force Service Support Group here are providing crucial, behind-the-scenes support to those on the frontlines.

Within several defunct hangars and open lots on this former Iraqi air base is the Supply Management Unit - a central logistical hub for the 31,000 Marines, sailors, and soldiers of the I Marine Expeditionary Force operating throughout Iraq's Al Anbar Province.

From ammunition to paper clips and everything in between, the SMU orders, receives, and prepares supplies for shipment to Marines on the frontlines.

Logistics Marines assigned to the SMU provide their brothers-in-arms with the supplies necessary to sustain combat operations and the tools to rebuild the city of Fallujah. SMU Marines also send truck loads of blankets, rations, cots and water to Marines in the city in efforts to aid the displaced civilians of Fallujah.

Since preparations for combat operations in Fallujah began in October, more than $41 million of supplies have been delivered to the Marine units operating in support of Fallujah operations.

To date, the SMU has filled more than 22,000 supply requisitions over a two month period, all in support of Operation Al Fajr.

At the SMU's storage site, rows upon rows of containers stretch out in a scene befitting a war movie, with literally tons of supplies ready for immediate delivery.

Outside the hangars, a sea of water - bottled water - is stacked high upon pallets in vast rows, just one example of the abundance of provisions stored at the base.

Throughout the lots, hangars, and loading areas are the 60 supply Marines who keep the logistical nerve center alive, each one feverishly doing their part to support Marine forces in Iraq.

To keep up with the fast-paced security and stability operations in Iraq, SMU Marines often work well past their regular twelve hour shifts to ready that next shipment of supplies for delivery or account for the thousands of pieces of gear coming and going through the unit's warehouses and lots, according to Gunnery Sgt. Daniel M. Montano, the SMU's operations chief for storage.

In preparation for Operation Al Fajr supplies were loaded onto convoys daily and sent to the units on location.

SMU Marines work day and night shifts to provide Marines on the frontlines with the supplies they need, according to Montano, a 35-year-old Grants, N.M., native.

Through the SMU's order and delivery system, Marines receive, organize, and then either store, or prepare equipment and supplies, for delivery to units throughout the Al Anbar Province, ensuring Marines are have what they need to accomplish their mission.

Similar to Sam's Club, a popular wholesale retail store found throughout America, the SMU has almost everything needed aisles apart from each other. Only here, you don't need a credit card.

A wide variety of items such as uniforms, repair parts, armor kits, vehicle lubricants and fuel, food and water are provided courtesy of the SMU. Even armaments for the 21st century warrior such as high tech communication systems and state of the art optical sighting systems can be found at the SMU.

Marines at the SMU use a satellite-based system to track supply loads as they move across the Al Anbar Province, from Baghdad to the Jordanian and Syrian borders.

The company employs radio frequency identification tags, or "RFID tags" - fastened to supplies being shipped - that emit a signal that is automatically registered at electronic checkpoints throughout the delivery route as the provisions pass by on truck.

"When you have visibility (by tracking each item), it gives people confidence that they are going to get their supplies," said Maj. Macon R. Robinson, the officer-in-charge of the SMU.

The precise tracking also provides total accountability of the gear during its journey from the states to the warzone. Prior to its inception, supplies could not be accurately tracked during its journey stateside to the several areas it may have stopped at on its way to Iraq.

The Marine Corps uses the technology at the battalion level to make unit-specific delivery in theater, said Robinson, a 40-year-old San Diego, Calif., native. Keeping orders separated to a specific unit level reduces the possibility of any loss or delay in delivery, according to Robinson.

Prior to the inception of RFID, complications were part of the delivery process.

"People knew their gear was shipped, but they didn't know where it was, so they would lose hope and reorder," said Cpl. Kiley C. Morales, a 19-year-old Julian, Calif., native, who tracks the supplies and equipment with the RFID tags.

"We're here to support everybody, we just need to make sure they get their gear and that's what this tag allows us to do," said Staff Sgt. Cedrick Alderson, the staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge at the SMU's receiving facility.

Although combat operations in Fallujah are winding down, rebuilding of the war-torn city has just begun. Already, 25 containers filled with lumber have been sent to Marine and Navy units to assist in the process.

Whether the next challenge for the Marine Corps is the rebuilding of Fallujah or another assault on a rebel stronghold, the SMU will be here doing its part to stabilize Iraq.