[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Click on the Helm
and I'll guide you
to the start of
today's thread.


USO CANTEEN FREEPER STYLE MISSION STATEMENT
Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

Please Thank someone in the military for ensuring our Freedom.
Take a moment and Thank a Service Man or Woman.
Just Click on the graphic to SEND a message to someone in the military.

[Mudboy Slim]

Good morning, Mr. YatchClub...MUD

[tomkow6]

Hey, Tonk! Did ya hear? Snippy's gonna let me run the Canteen one day!

I think she told me I could run it the second Wednesday of next week! I CAN'T WAIT!

[JohnHuang2]

G'morning, friend

[JohnHuang2]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Click for current time
in Afghanistan

[Kathy in Alaska]

Duty ~ Honor ~ Country

Click above to visit "A Day in the Life of President Bush"

[Kathy in Alaska]

A PRAYER OF PROTECTION

The light of God surround you
The love of God enfold you
The power of God protect you
The presence of God watch over you
Wherever you are,God is,
And all is well.
Amen.

.

Bless This House

Bless this house O Lord we pray;
Make it safe by night and day;
Bless these walls so firm and stout,
Keeping want and trouble out:
Bless the roof and chimneys tall,
Let thy peace lie over all;
Bless this door, that it may prove
ever open to joy and love.


Bless these windows shining bright,
Letting in God's heav'nly light;
Bless the hearth a'blazing there,
with smoke ascending like a prayer;
Bless the folk who dwell within,
keep them pure and free from sin;
Bless us all that we may be
Fit O Lord to dwell with thee;
Bless us all that one day we
May dwell O Lord with thee.

.

(Click on praying hands above,
or on banner at the top to hear the music)

[MoJo2001]

THank you, Mr. Tonkin for ensuring my freedom!!! *HUGS*

[blackie]

USS Tarara ... Bump!

Be Well - Be Armed - Be Safe - Molon Labe!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Third-country nationals build the frame for a floor that will be used as the foundation for Force Provider tents. (photo by Bob Whistine)

Tent cities spring up across Kuwait

by Bob Whistine

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - (Army News Service, Feb. 25, 2003) - Six tent cities in Kuwait now have space for 15,500 soldiers and officials said more requests arrive daily.

Camp sizes in Kuwait range from 500 to 6,500 personnel, officials said. Dining facilities have increased their capacity to feed up to 10,000 per day with projected increases to reach 20,000 per day.

Joyce Taylor of the U.S. Army Materiel Command's Program Management Office for the Logistic Civil Augmentation Program, know as LOGCAP, arrived in Kuwait in September. She then helped develop plans to construct six Force Provider modules to provide bedding for nearly 3,500 personnel.

Today the number has more than quadrupled for soldiers housed and it continues to grow, Taylor said, explaining that both Force Provider and Festival Tent communities have been built under the LOGCAP contract.

Force Provider modules provide climate-controlled billeting, dining facilities, hygiene services and morale, welfare and recreation, or MWR facilities capable of supporting more than 550 personnel.

Force Providers are containerized for shipping by land, air and sea. A typical camp requires about five to 10 acres of land, officials said. Site preparation takes about three to four days, they said, with an entire camp becoming fully operational in 14 days or less.

"I believe the most important aspect of a Brown and Root contract to construct Force Provider units is that it drastically reduces the military logistics footprint on the battlefield," said Lt. Col. Rod Cutright, the senior LOGCAP planner for all of Southwest Asia.

"We can quickly purchase building materials and hire third-country nationals to perform the work," Cutright said. "This means a small number of combat-service-support soldiers are needed to support this logistic aspect of building up an area."

More than 1,800 Brown and Root contractors support the LOGCAP missions in Kuwait, Cutright said, along with nine officers from the Logistic Support Unit, or LSU.

Force Provider modules come complete with water and fuel storage, power generation and distribution, and wastewater collection systems. The basic building block is the Tent Expendable Modular Personnel, or TEMPER, each of which has an environmental control unit, officials said.

Force Providers have been used in Haiti, Bosnia, Guatemala, Honduras, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) and various locations in Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Missions for Force Providers include: theater reception; intermediate staging base; rest and refit and base camps for military operations such as humanitarian/disaster relief; and peacekeeping missions.

Modernization plans for the Force Provider include increasing its efficiency while decreasing the logistical footprint, operations and maintenance costs, according to officials of the Assistant Product Management office.

The APM office was tasked to develop, build and assemble a total of 36 modules by fiscal year 2005. Thirty-one modules were already completed by June, officials said, adding that five are still in production. Current storage plans call for 12 to be kept aboard preposition ships; eight in CONUS; one at Fort Polk, La., to be used for training and testing; six in Europe, six in the Pacific; and three in the Central Command area of responsibility.

All modules will be under AMC management, officials said. Production will be completed at the Defense Distribution Depot, Albany, Ga.

"Last year there were no Force Provider units here," said Taylor in Kuwait. "Now there are 10 modules, which means we are now supporting over 6,000 coalition forces."

"I get a great deal of personnel satisfaction in knowing I'm supporting the soldiers by meeting their personal needs like a place to sleep, a shower and a place to eat," Taylor said. "My job is to provide them a better life support system that allows them to go out and do the job they are trained for."

(Editor's note: Bob Whistine is the AMC-Logistic Support Element Public Affairs Officer.)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Housing the Force

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Dannenberg, a heating and ventilation superintendent deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, checks the status of an air conditioning unit being assembled while expanding a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. The 320th ECES extended a dining facility 1,160square feet to make way for continued troop arrivals at a forward deployed location in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Silny, a structural journeyman deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, aligns floor mats prior to assembling a tent to expand a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

[Kathy in Alaska]

Housing the Troops

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Silny, a structural journeyman deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, aligns floor mats prior to assembling a tent to expand a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

Tech. Sgt. Greg Tesch and Airman 1st Class Noah Bolten, both heating and ventilation technicians deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, move an assembled tent into place to expand a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

[Kathy in Alaska]

Housing the Forces

Tech. Sgt. Greg Tesch, a heating and ventilation craftsman deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, pulls cables prior to unhooking an air conditioning unit while expanding a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

Airman 1st Class Noah Bolten, a heating and ventilation apprentice deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, applies a tent fly cover for protection from the weather during a dining facility expansion on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

[Kathy in Alaska]

Housing the Force

Senior Airman Larry Norsworthy and Tech. Sgt. Mike Markley, both structural technician deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, put tent straps together while expanding a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

Airman deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, lay matting for a tent floor prior to assembling a tent to expand a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen

[Kathy in Alaska]

Housing the Force

Airman deployed to the 320h Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron, connect a tent together to expand a dining facility on Feb. 22, 2003. The 320th ECES extended a dining facility 1160sq/ft to make way for continued troop arrivals at a forward deployed location in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Hannen