U.S. Begins Packing Its Afghan War Gear for the Movers

[alp227]

Source: NYT

It has taken the United States years to amass the mountains of gear piled up at huge bases like Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan. It is the job of logistics experts like First Lt. Rachel Opperman, 23, to bring it all back home.

As the war here draws to a close and the American military begins to reduce its forces, it also has to send back most of its equipment, an immense logistics effort already under way and spanning half the globe.

Lieutenant Opperman, a Marine from Pittsburgh who is known here as the Queen of the Sort Lot, runs one of the big receiving yards, a dusty, 12-acre lot that is taking in superfluous equipment as bases shrink, close or are transferred to the Afghan forces all over the southwest of the country.

One recent morning here, Marines ranged slowly in the 100-degree heat under her direction, packing piles of supplies into 5-foot-by-5-foot boxes. Forklifts shifted the boxes onto pallets electronically tagged so their journeys could be tracked to Marine bases or depots in the United States and Japan, bringing order to the chaos of a staggeringly complex 24-hour reverse supply chain operation.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/world/asia/in-afghanistan-us-packs-war-gear-for-the-movers.html?pagewanted=all

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. What a waste of money. That whole war is a freaking racket.

The main thing we accomplished was transferring hundreds of billions of dollars from American taxpayers to sleazy contractors, corrupt war lords, and Kabul power brokers.

Two billion a month during the surge. Maybe it's down some now, only $1.5 billion a month.

[Monk06]

2. The preppers and RW militias in the US can't wait to get their hands on all that 'war surplus' swag

The 2nd amendment clearly states the possession of an APC fully loaded
is a god given right.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. Bet they'd like to employ it against US

Do you know about Operation Northwoods? You should.

[JaneQPublic]

4. Why would they go to all the trouble and expense...

...to haul all that military gear home just to unload it to military surplus stores? If they didn't need it, they could dispose of it much easier just by blowing it up where it sits in Afghanistan.

The fact is that the military services have all sorts of personnel who specialize in the maintenance and upkeep of every sort of military gear. They all have precise schedules for servicing, testing, and inspecting each piece of equipment so it's ready for use at a moment's notice.

Just because one war draws to an end doesn't mean the U.S. military will be holding a Going Out of Business Sale.

[JaneQPublic]

5. +1 (nt)

[sarcasmo]

6. All war is a racket.