Thread: Army to eliminate local Reserve unit

Army to eliminate local Reserve unit
Work contracted to Halliburton unit

By Mark Fischenich
The Free Press

MANKATO —
A Mankato-based Army Reserve unit will cease to exist Aug. 20 after its duties were absorbed by a subsidiary of Halliburton.


The 44 members of the 216th Quartermaster Company (Force Provider) unit have known for several months that the end was coming, and many have retired or moved to other units, said Unit Administrator Steve Peterson. A deactivation ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 20 at the reserve’s local headquarters on Pohl Road.

“Mankato, instead of having two Army Reserve units, is going to have one,” Peterson said.

The unit came into existence in 1995 as a result of the first Iraq War — Operation Desert Storm — to provide temporary housing for soldiers when they were offered rest and relaxation time, Peterson said.

“The concept really involves opening a tent city,” he said.

The unit provided the key people needed to oversee setting up the massive facility. The actual equipment was pre-positioned on ships all over the globe. And the manpower to actually set up and run the tent city was assigned from military units or civilian companies when needed.

“The concept worked well,” Peterson said, explaining that federal officials ultimately decided their work could be contracted out after the system proved itself. “We did it so well, we worked ourselves out of a job. And that’s OK. As things evolve and change, that’s what happens.”

During its 11 years, the unit served a task force working along the Mexican border on immigration and drug enforcement operations and was also involved in exercises near Ft. Polk, La. The publication Soldiers Online described the unit’s tent facilities, including a massive mobile kitchen, laundry facilities, a chapel, television and game room, weight room, flush toilets and individual showers.

The tents were climate-controlled, and an officer described the facility — which could support 550 soldiers — as a great place for soldiers to recuperate from the rigors of the field and prepare for a return to battle. The facility was also equipped to serve as a tactical operations center.

The Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root is running the facility now, along with many other support operations for the military in Iraq and Kuwait. The company was paid more than $7 billion by the U.S. government last year for the wide-ranging logistics services it’s providing for the American military in Iraq, according to research by the Washington Post.
Controversy about the company’s massive contract resulted in the Army ultimately deciding to split the work between three companies later this year.

While the privatization trend eliminates 44 jobs from the Mankato economy, the Mankato-based 367th Engineering Battalion, Company B, is being reorganized. That may result in the addition of a number of positions, which will partially offset the loss of the quartermaster unit, Peterson said

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/l ... ndarystory

Oh goody! Halliburton gets another contract!

Originally Posted by Virginiamama

Oh goody! Halliburton gets another contract!

Yep, no surprise there. Dick and Co gets more American Tax $$$

Originally Posted by jp_48504

Originally Posted by Virginiamama

Oh goody! Halliburton gets another contract!

Yep, no surprise there. Dick and Co gets more American Tax $$$

Well Jp didn't you hear. Dick needs a new shotgun. He had his other taking away from him.

I forgot about that. I understood he lost a very valuable flask as well.