Seabees Establish Steady Supply Lines
Navy Newsstand
Story Number: NNS030902-04
Release Date: 9/2/2003 7:20:00 AM
By Journalist 1st Class (FMF) Lisa Keding, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 Public Affairs
CAMP HOPE, Iraq (NNS) -- "If they need it we can get it," said Builder 3rd Class Brandon Twing, a tool room clerk assigned to the Material Liaison Office (MLO) at Camp Hope, Iraq.
He is one of seven Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7 Headquarter's Company assigned to MLO, which also is the Central Tool Room (CTR) for the battalion.
What they can obtain is various types of tools, construction supplies and equipment to support the building projects and operations of the battalion, which has been deployed to the Middle East since March.
Establishing reliable supply lines is not an easy task in Iraq or Kuwait, which is where members of the battalion's MLO/CTR department have been acquiring materials over the last few months. They buy equipment from Iraqi and Kuwaiti suppliers, and obtain supplies from other coalition forces with the use of government request forms.
"These crews have never stopped working because of lack of materials," said Steelworker 1st Class (SCW) Brett Fortin, MLO's leading petty officer. "We started from scratch in some of the places we've gone. In An Nasiriyah, we had maybe 30 bundles of lumber. Within a few weeks, we had over $500,000 worth of material."
The crew has worked through language barriers and an entirely different way of doing business with Arab cultures. "In Iraq, supply items rarely have a set price, and I find myself bartering for many of them," said Fortin.
"I would use a calculator to show suppliers the amount we were willing to pay in U.S. dollars. Sometimes I would bring examples of supplies I would need, like nails or wood," Fortin said. "Other times, I would use hand gestures to work through the language barriers."
"Fortin bought over $80,000 worth of material in An Nasiriyah alone, sometimes with an interpreter. But many times, he just learned as he went," said Chief Steelworker (SCW) Michael Clodfelter, Headquarters Company chief.
Fortin and Clodfelter used their experiences with the Iraqis to help other coalition forces stationed in Iraq. Members of the South Korean military accompanied the pair in the town of An Nasiriyah in Southern Iraq. "It was their first experience with dealing with the Iraqis," said Clodfelter. "We showed them how to purchase materials and who we purchased from."
"Long days and long hours have gone into making this all happen," said Fortin. During the first few weeks in Kuwait, these MLO/CTR Seabees worked until 11 p.m. Other times, the crew would work until two or three in the morning, inventorying and organizing supplies as they arrived from other camps in the region. Members of the team would go on convoys once a week to drop off or pick up equipment. The convoys ran as long as six to seven hours each way in hostile environments, with temperatures lingering around 120 degrees most days,
The team relocated to Camp Whitehorse in Southern Iraq from Kuwait, when more than 200 members of the battalion moved there to support projects in the town of An Nasiriyah.
Fortin bought most of the supplies out in town himself while in An Nasiriyah. Fortin has been buying supplies from one Iraqi contractor since the group moved to Camp Hope in North Eastern Iraq last month.
"None of these projects would have been completed without the support of the MLO staff," said Clodfelter. "Their teamwork and dedication has been instrumental to the success of our mission in Iraq and Kuwait, and other forces in the coalition."
"The team has met every need of their own battalion, but also is responsible for supplying three other forward-deployed units in Iraq," said Fortin. He added that with a one to two day turnaround time for most supplies, these Seabees have been successful in their efforts to support their unit's goal of maintaining a forward deployed, self-sustaining unit.
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