Moving out – U.S. withdrawal from Iraq kicks off massive logistics operation
I hope someone captures the process on film.. It will make a great documentary for logistics and military transport professionals. It can even make for a great case study at institutions that teach logistics and transportation.
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq—Everything from helicopters to printer cartridges is being wrapped and stamped and shipped out of Iraq. U.S. military bases that once resembled small towns have transformed into a cross between giant post offices and Office Depots.
“We’re moving out millions of pieces of equipment in one of the largest logistics operations that we’ve seen in decades,” President Barack Obama said in a speech Monday hailing this month’s planned withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq.
The orderly withdrawal is a far cry from the testosterone-fueled push across the berm separating Kuwait and Iraq, when American Marines and soldiers pushed north in the 2003 invasion, battling Saddam Hussein’s army while sleeping on the hoods of their vehicles and eating prepackaged meals.
Each handover involves a painstaking process of inventorying everything on the base that the soldiers aren’t taking with them. Every item is assessed to see if it can be moved and if so, whether it is needed anywhere else in the country. Many of the materials – water tanks, generators, and furniture – are eventually donated to the Iraqi government. As of July 27, $98.6 million worth of equipment has been handed over, most to the Iraqi army and Interior Ministry.
More than 400 bases are being closed down or handed over to the Iraqi military. By September, the American military will have fewer than 100 bases in the country, down from a high of 505 in January 2008.
The drawdown has not been without hiccups. The military was embarrassed by a report in the Times of London that contractors did not properly dispose of environmental waste removed from U.S. military bases.
But U.S. commanders say they are addressing problems and are confident they will be able to meet the president’s deadline.
Demartino said that while going through shipping containers, buildings and offices at Joint Base Balad, soldiers have been stunned at the materials hoarded over the years in nooks and crannies all over the base.
The biggest surprise was the thousands of printer cartridges tucked away by soldiers worried they would one day run out.
FILE – In this July 3, 2010 file photo, Iraqi truck drivers use hand signals to help guide a U.S. military mine-resistant armored vehicle (MRAP) onto a flat bed truck set to leave Iraq at a staging yard at Joint Base Balad, north of Baghdad, Iraq. Everything from helicopters to printer cartridges are being wrapped and stamped and shipped out of Iraq in one of the most monumental withdrawal operations the American military has ever carried out as U.S. forces flow out of the country. The move is reversing, over the course of months, a U.S. military presence that built up over seven years and dug in so deep it once seemed immovable. More than 400 bases are being closed down or handed over to the Iraqi military, some closer to small towns with elaborate dining facilities serving tacos and crab legs and gyms with rows of treadmills.
(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
