1st Marine Logistics Group Public Affairs
Story by Lance Cpl. Khoa Pelczar
08.10.2010 HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Marine Corps Community Services specialists with Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), surpassed the record for sales during a Warrior Express Services Team mission in northern Helmand province, Afghanistan, July 16-30.
The MCCS Marines sold more than $75,000 worth of merchandize during a two-week period, breaking the previous record of $70,000 – the highest sales record for Iraq and Afghanistan. The two MCCS specialists, Sgt. Logan J. Senf and Sgt. Charles D. Mitchell IV, brought the mobile Post Exchange, or PX, a container full of snacks, beverages, hygiene items and other goods, to serve the Marines of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment as part of a WES Team mission.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Khoa Pelczar A Marine with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, picks out his merchandise inside a mobile Post Exchange, or PX, during a Warrior Express Services Team mission in northern Helmand province, July 16-30. A WES Team consists of a disburser and Marine Corps Community Services specialists. They provide service members who conduct missions at remote forward operating bases and combat outposts a chance to get cash to buy a few things from a mobile PX. A mobile PX is a container attached to a logistics vehicle that is filled with snacks, beverages, tobacco products, hygiene items and supplements.
The MCCS Marines regularly travel to remote combat outposts, or COPs, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, bringing
health and comfort items via a mobile PX to sell to the troops since they don’t have everyday access to a PX. They make sure every battalion within the area of operation has access to the PX at least once a month, explained Master Sgt. George P. Page, MCCS staff non-commissioned officer in charge, H&S Company, 1st MLG (FWD).
“The MCCS Marines are doing a phenomenal job,” said Page, 42, from Mount Clemens, Mich. “The Marines that broke this record, they are bouncing from COP to COP, patrol bases to patrol bases, making sure that all the Marines have access to the PX.”
Before Senf and Mitchell took control of the mobile PX, sales averaged around $20,000 per mission, Page explained. But by surveying the Marines they served during each mission, they stocked the mobile PX with more products they believed Marines wanted to buy and sales started to instantly improve.
“I love my job,” said Senf, 23, from Blanchardville, Wis. “We get to go out there where most people don’t have anything at all and bring them everything that we possibly can to improve their lives. It’s pretty cool to be able to make them a little happier.”
The warfighters deployed to remote FOBs and COPs appreciate when the WES Team comes to their area.
“You show up and it’s kind of like being Santa Claus,” said Mitchell, 33, from Carlsbad, Calif. “It’s something that they’re really looking forward to. Seeing them so happy and excited to see us, you just can’t put a price on it.”
More images available here.