Wagonmasters Save Taxpayers Millions
15th Sustainment Brigade Story by Sgt. Matthew Cooley
"Army and Air Force personnel came together for the kickoff of the 15th's program to rid Multi-National Division – North's units of unneeded equipment while saving the military time and money," Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Adkins, the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)'s clean sweep representative for the 15th Sust. Bde., said.
"The 15th Sust. Bde., which is in charge of sustainment operations in MND-North, actually began operation clean sweep at their home station, Fort Hood, Texas," Adkins said.
"We brought our program from Fort Hood to Iraq to support responsible drawdown," Adkins explained.
"The program also helps units to reduce their footprint," he said, which should make it easier for them to leave Iraq when the time comes.
"We're getting ahead of the waterfall," Adkins said. "[Clean Sweep] takes weeks out of the process ... of moving."
"The Clean Sweep team is made up of smaller teams that are assigned to individual companies. These teams help the company commanders to identify items that the unit didn't bring with them and aren't essential to the current mission," Adkins said.
"Basic supplies, components of items, repair parts, local purchase items – anything a unit has that's not required for their mission," he said.
"Everything here was used at one point in time, but [the] mission changes and it becomes excess."
"The extra equipment is separated by whether or not it is working or serviceable and then sent to Kuwait for further processing or to another unit in Iraq that requested the particular item," the chief explained.
Adkins also mentioned that the team processed 7,000 items during its first week on Q-West alone, though there was no way of knowing how many items will be placed back into the supply system or how much money will be saved when the operation is complete.
"We never know how much excess a unit has moved in on until we open the containers," he said.
Even Soldiers at the lowest levels have a basic understanding of the importance of Clean Sweep.
"[We] make sure it gets back to the states and gets put back to use," Spc. Cody Sharp, an A Company, 2nd Battalion, 198th Combined Arms Brigade, force protection Soldier, and Thompson Falls, Mont., native, said.
"Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-198th, a Mississippi National Guard unit, had $270,000 worth of excess to turn in," according to Spc. Phillip Sword, an Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-198th supply specialist and Blue Springs, Miss., native said.
Much of the excess was left by the previous unit and is no longer needed.
"We fell in on this ... and now we're trying to clean the place up," he explained.
"This makes it easier for another unit to close down this [base] when they come in."
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