|
Posted on 01/28/2005 10:31:35 PM PST by snippy_about_it
|
|
 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
|
| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
|
 LADS by Jonathan Given {Excerpt:} The Laundry Advanced System (LADS) is well on its way to replacing the Army’s current field laundry on a basis of one-LADS to four-M85s. So far, LADS has been fielded to the 259th Quarter-master Company, Fort Bragg, NC; 157th Quartermaster Company, Fort Hood, TX; 16th Quartermaster Company, Fort Lee, VA; and the 229th Quartermaster Company, Fort Polk, LA. Also, the US Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Lee, VA, and the US Army Ordnance Center and School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, have received LADS and training devices to support their missions.  The LADS has performed extremely well. In addition to deployments within the continental United States to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, LA, and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA, nine LADS recently were deployed to Jordan and Egypt as part of Exercise Bright Star. Also, eight LADS currently are deployed to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Southwest Asia. The increased reliability of the LADS combined with its increased efficiency have provided some notable results. The former M85 laundry system processed about 30 tons of laundry in six months during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s. The LADS processed about 130 tons of laundry in less than three months during Exercise Bright Star in Egypt alone. To date, 24 LADS have been fielded out of a total of 146 to be built. There will be fieldings of the new M871A3, a 40-foot semitrailer, and all LADS will be "retrofitted" to this configuration. Benefits of configuring the LADS on the M871A3 include on-board fuel storage, fuel/water separator and quick-connect fuel fitting, and a storage locker for equipment and spare parts. Capabilities The LADS processes up to 400 pounds of laundry per hour, dry-to-dry. Soldiers’ clothes are washed, extracted and dried all in the same laundry drum. This system eliminates the need to transfer clothes between different pieces of laundry equipment. The LADS reuses and recycles water to reduce the water consumption from 24,000 gallons per day to 400 gallons per day. The wastewater is reduced from 20,000 gallons per day to 40 gallons. Lessons From the Field  Soldiers frequently complain about wrinkled clothing from the LADS. Some wrinkling is unavoidable. The laundry is processed in mesh bags to minimize lost clothing and to expedite the processing of soldiers’ laundry. Industrial laundries use mesh bags and acknowledge the decrease in product quality as an acceptable exchange for decreased processing times and reduced labor costs. Wrinkling can be kept to a minimum by removing the laundry from the bags immediately after it is finished instead of leaving the laundry in the mesh bags for hours. Supervisors need to properly manage laundry-processing personnel. Use available personnel to receive and bag the bulk of the available laundry before starting the LADS. As each laundry cycle is completed in the LADS, have personnel available to take the laundry out of the bags and prepare the laundry for return to customers. It is important to note that supervisors and preventive medicine personnel should observe the mesh bags for overstuffing. The bags provided with LADS are specifically designed to allow the clothing room to move inside the bag. The maximum for each mesh bag is about seven pounds of clothing (three pieces of uniform and three complete sets of undergarments). Each customer’s clothing should be split into two bags for the 15 pounds of laundry allowed. Each mesh bag has a cloth tag for writing an alphanumeric identification with indelible marker.  The identification tag on the mesh bag is used to match the customers’ clothing back to the customers. If the mesh bags are overloaded, the clothes will not get clean, they will not dry, and they will get very wrinkled. Supervisors and preventive medicine personnel should be very concerned about this. Aside from the health and laundry quality issues, the increased weight of one or more overstuffed mesh bags will generate drum-balancing problems during extraction cycles. The failure to spend time properly filling the mesh bags will ultimately cause delays in the laundry cycles. Each LADS is issued with 300 mesh bags (100 each of green, white and blue). That quantity sup-ports five complete loads (dual-drum loads) for more than five hours of operation. Operators should be able to process the cleaned clothing and return the used mesh bags to the laundry receiving point in that time. The multiple colors provide the flexibility of combining different units’ laundry in the same laundry drum. The different units are identified by the different colors.  There have been some complaints of clothing shrinkage. In all investigated cases, it was discovered that a few articles of clothing were processed in a single drum for the complete laundry cycle (40 minutes of dry time) at a very high heat (up to 160 degrees Fahrenheit). Smaller loads require reduced drying temperatures to avoid shrinkage. Drying temperatures can be modified at the beginning of each laundry cycle (160 degrees F to 110 degrees F in 5-degree increments). The default drying temperature is 160 degrees F. This is adequate for a full load of laundry of correctly filled mesh bags.      |
LOL. I don't know where to begin. Excellent commentary as usual. Is this stuff always in your head or do you have to think about it?
Very well thanks. I enjoyed the lunch very much, but had to beg off the movie, my knee is especially painful these days and sitting is just torture.
Ramona loved the surprise. :-)
Evening Mayor.
What's "consideration" worth in American dollars? ;-)
When I was in they startched the crap out of our fatiques. They'd almost stand up by themselves.
You get some weekends off?!?!?!?!?!
Slacker. ;-)
Thanks PeterPrinciple.
Good story.
He just tried pizza now?!?!?!?!
Didn't you ever explain to him pizza is one of the major food groups?
I always manage to find ways to make new mistakes.
As for the "public schools"--in my elementary days, a man from Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge would show patriotic films of America's history, and the Pledge of Alegiance began every school day.
When I was going to High School, they had a Memorial Day and Veterans Day Service during the school day on Veterans Day and on the day before Memorial Day (because we were off that day) before they did the "let's get a three day weekend" bit. Kids don't get the schooling required to have respect for those who came before us and founded this Country and kept it Free.
Too bad we can't deport the NEA to enemy countries and let them ruin the youth there.
They were starching our Stateside fatiques, no starch in the Jungle fatigues, Thank God!!
There will be a settling of accounts with our schools.
I can't envision what it will be, but it will come.
Lots of good teachers, it's the NEA and the adminisrators that should be hung.
I really hope things will work in Iraq, but I'll believe it when I see it.
BTTT!!!!!!
If I told you, I'd have to tell the IRS.
LOL!
Back when they actually used schools to teach Reading, Writing and Arithmetic and not do Social Engineering.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
