MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. --
Civilians
and contractors with Equipment Concentration Site 171, aboard Marine Corps
Logistics Base Barstow’s Yermo Annex provide supplemental equipment to Army
units in the area, Feb 5.
“ECS 171 is attached to 63rd RSC (Regional
Support Command) which is in Mountain View,” said Hector Perez, site manager. ”It’s
all under the United States Army Reserve Command.”
Units sent to the National Training Center
at Fort Irwin, Calif., typically get most of their equipment from NTC and ECS
171 provides as much as we are able, explained Perez. The rest is transported
in from their home unit.
“It’s like a rental,” said Perez. “Units
pick up what they need then return it in ‘as good or better condition’ when
they’re finished.”
One such unit is Tomahawk Troop, Regimental
Engineer Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Division, U.S. Army out of Fort Hood, Texas. They arrived Friday to pick up High
Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles and Hemet Wreckers.
“It makes it
convenient,” said Sgt. Roy Balambao, recovery specialist with 3rd Cav’s
Tomahawk Troop. “We bring what we can
and NTC provides some (equipment), but we can just stop here to get whatever
else we need on the way.”
The facility has been operational at the
Yermo Annex since 2006. The staff
consists of 41 contractors and eight civilians who maintain and store a variety
of equipment, offering a local solution to logistical needs. In doing so, ETC
171 saves the Army both, money and time.
The civilian positions fall under the
Military Technician program with the Army. MILTECHs are federal civilian
employees who, as a condition of employment, continue to serve as Soldiers in
the Army Reserve or other reserve component. For example, Perez, who served in
the Army on active duty from 2003 to 2006, and deployed to Iraq during that
time, continues to serve as a staff sergeant with the 63rd Brigade Support
Battalion out of Sloan, Nevada, in the Army Reserve.
“Right now, we support the Army, but in the
near future we expect to serve other branches of service as well,” said Perez.