AA&E ICG MeetingJune 2, 2009

AA&E Retrograde Assessment

Jared AndrewsLMIjandrews@lmi.org

June 2, 2009 2

AA&E Retrograde Assessment

• OSD (Transportation Policy) Sponsored Assessment

• Objectives:

– Evaluate policies and procedures for ensuring in-transit safety and

security

• Safety Issues - Packaging, Blocking Bracing, Unnecessary Exposure

• Security Issues - Protective Services, Accountability/Oversight, Visibility,

etc.

– Assess worldwide distribution of AA&E retrograde

– Identify needed changes to policy, business processes, and systems

• Assessment will be finalized and published by 30 June 2009

June 2, 2009 3

Who we met with

• Conducted meetings and interviews with:– Services– USTRANSCOM– JMC– Defense Ammunition Center– DoD DEMIL Program Manager for Ammunition (PEO Ammo)– DLA DEMIL Program Office (Operates the DRMOs)– USCENTCOM

• CDDOC• 401st and 402nd Army Field Support Brigades

– Combat Support Associates (CSA)– SDDC

• 595th Transportation Terminal Group (Kuwait)• 596th Transportation Terminal Group (Sunny Point/MOTSU)

– Munitions Depots (McAlester, Tooele, and Blue Grass)– MSC

June 2, 2009 4

How big is the retrograde program?

Number of JMC-managed munitions containers retrograded to CONUS between September 2007 and August 2008

Alaska 100

Italy 183

Korea 1,129

SWA 809

June 2, 2009 5

Theater Overview – USEUCOM and USPACOM

• Mature, established processes with experienced civilian

workforce to ensure safety and security

• USEUCOM

– Drawdown of forces has resulted in the reduction and redistribution

of AA&E inventories, retrograde requirement has stabilized

• USPACOM

– Large War Reserve stockpile in Korea from Cold War build up

• Approx. 225,000 short tons of munitions require DEMIL

• US/Korea building new DEMIL facility, but due to capacity constraints,

USPACOM estimates 3 ships per year through 2016 are required to clear

the backlog

June 2, 2009 6

Theater Overview - USCENTCOM

• Austere, resource-constrained, dynamic, high-risk theater

• Political and military conditions focusing on the eventual

drawdown in Iraq, with subsequent needs for retrograde and

reset

– Large amount of AA&E being redistributed from Iraq to Afghanistan

• No significant amount of retrograde occurring or planned for

Afghanistan

– All AA&E shipments to and from Afghanistan move by military air

June 2, 2009 7

Iraq Weapons Retrograde

• Units redeploying from Iraq leave equipment sets behind for arriving units to “fall in on”– Has significantly decreased amount of weapons being retrograded

• TACOM instituted the Small Arms Readiness Evaluation Team with Repair (SARET-R) program – Aimed at returning unit-owned weapons as a consolidated package to

the unit home station following redeployment

– All SARET shipments are currently airlifted from Iraq

• Theater-provided weapons are handled differently – Managed through the Retrograde Property Assistance Team (RPAT)

program

– Move via secure convoy to the Theater Storage Area (TSA) in Kuwait where they are consolidated and shipped to Afghanistan via air, or to the US via MILAIR or ocean liner service

June 2, 2009 8

Iraq Munitions Retrograde

• In 2007 Army sent a munitions assessment team to Iraq to identify

retrograde requirements and need for packaging materials

– Results of assessment better than expected

• smaller amount of munitions at FOBs than expected

• majority of excess munitions throughout Iraq still in their original packaging

• EOD and Quality Assurance Specialist Ammunition Surveillance (QASAS)

personnel are doing excellent job working with forward units to collect and

dispose of unserviceable munitions

– Highly motivated soldiers, but more ammunition training required at

forward locations

– JMC has deployed experts to assist with identifying remaining packaging

requirements

• Significant packaging materials sent to theater

June 2, 2009 9

Iraq Munitions Retrograde

• DAC has a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with

ARCENT to send a mobile training team twice a year to

SWA

– Provide HAZMAT certification training to military, civilian, and

contractor personnel

– Two instructors in theater for about 90 days

– Teach about 10 classes

June 2, 2009 10

Iraq Munitions Retrograde Process

Retrograde shipments moved via military convoy from Iraq to the TSA/ASP in Kuwait– Containers not marked/placarded so as not to attract undue attention

At TSA/ASP, Combat Support Associates (CSA) processes and containerizes the ammo. CSA:– Provides 100% re-inspection of all inbound containers, repackages (as

required), stuffs containers, blocks & braces, documents contents (including Dangerous Goods Declaration)

Containers then move to port via military convoy and loaded on vessel for voyage to United States

June 2, 2009 11

Iraq Munitions Retrograde Observations

• Up until mid- 2008, a significant number of munitions shipments were arriving at the TSA with deficient packaging, blocking, and bracing

• Incident in 2006 where a container was improperly blocked and braced at a forward location in Iraq for shipment to the TSA

– Third Country National (TCN) was injured when opening the container

• Since mid-2008, condition of shipments arriving at TSA has improved significantly, seeing very few safety issues

– Improvement attributed to greater availability of packaging material and CSA’s efforts to report packaging deficiencies back to the shipping units and bases

June 2, 2009 12

Iraq Munitions Retrograde Observations Cont.

• MOTSU and MOTCO Observations

– Act as pass through point—rarely open containers

– Did not identify any issues with blocking and bracing

– Recent cases where the contents and Net Explosive Weight (NEW)

listed on the Dangerous Goods Declaration (DD Form 2890) do not

match the contents and NEW listed on the vessel manifest

• Depot Observations (Tooele, McAlester, and Blue Grass)

– Occasional issues with documentation

– Occasional issues with blocking and bracing but nothing very serious

from a safety perspective

June 2, 2009 13

Over Ocean Security

• Somali pirates have captured majority of attention but pirate

incidents have also occurred in waters off of South America, India,

Vietnam, and in the South China Sea

• Armed security teams are used on vessels transporting munitions

in SWA and other high-risk areas

• Crews are vetted through El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC)

• Two issues identified: Sovereign Immunity for retrograde to

Germany and Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology

June 2, 2009 14

Conclusions / Recommendations

• Overall, retrograde AA&E is moving safely and securely– USCENTCOM has quickly developed robust processes and procedures– CONUS ports and depots are seeing very few issues

• DoD should increase its efforts to ensure that forward units in Iraq receive necessary training and have adequate packaging materials on-hand

• USCENTCOM, JMC, SDDC, and CSA should work to correct the documentation issues (i.e. DD Form 2890 not matching vessel manifest)

• DoD should continue to pursue and utilize organic and commercial DEMIL capabilities in OCONUS to reduce in-transit exposure time

• MSC should continue to:– Ensure status reporting is turned off for vessels carrying sensitive

cargo– Work with Germany to resolve SI issue