Interior Ministry Logistic Team Tours Balad Air Base Warehouse Operations
BALAD – A team of logistic leaders from Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, responsible for supplying the rapidly growing 480,000 member agency, recently toured Joint Base Balad to view a large-scale warehouse operation.
The Iraqis toured the warehouse with their coalition logistics counterparts from the Ministry of Interior Training Team, directed by British Brig. Gen. Max Marriner.
“We wanted to give the Iraqis an opportunity to see first-hand the visual structure and operational tempo of a warehouse operation that is well-run, large and multi-faceted,” said Sam Blanchard, Logistics Program coordinator and advisor, who organized the trip for the group. The Balad warehouse contains more than 200,000 end-items for supplying the large air base operations and for meeting other air force requirements.
Lt. Col. David Sanford, commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron , briefed the Iraqis on the various warehouse functional areas. The team visited Warehouse operations, such a
Blanchard said the tour gave the Iraqi leaders valuable information on shelf-life rotation, safety measures, storage practices, accountability requirements and shelving configuration.
“All of this should help the Iraqis develop their warehouse operations for maximum capability and efficiency,” he said. “They need this type of operation for supporting a viable law-enforcement organization with the goal of providing a safe and secure Iraq.”
The Ministry of Interior has almost doubled in size in the past three years, creating a logistical challenge for supplying this growing force of police officers, he said.
“After this visit, our Iraqi counterparts have a new vision for the MoI warehouses in both their operational procedures and layout,” said Lt. Col. Kreg Custer, chief of the MoI-TT Logistics Capacity Branch.
Custer said the trip gives the Iraqi logistic managers “solid ideas and options for redesigning space to ensure maximum storage capacity and providing enhanced procedures to streamline processes for moving materials and supplies to the provinces and units that need them to carry out their missions. Both are essential to enhancing the logistical capacity of the MoI.”
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