Vehicles return from Iraq for redeployment to Afghanistan

One of the final deliveries of heavy equipment has arrived back in the UK from Iraq enabling some of it to be refurbished and sent to support operations in Afghanistan.

The MOD logistics ship 'Anvil Point' docked at Marchwood military port on Southampton Water in the early hours of Friday 24 July 2009 with its cargo of vehicles, stores and equipment from Operation TELIC (Iraq).

Among the vehicles on board were several Mastiff armoured personnel carriers lashed to the upper decks, which will be refurbished now they are back in the UK and made available to commanders for operations in Afghanistan.

Providing the manpower at the Marchwood military port is 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, part of the Royal Logistic Corps, whose personnel comprises of port operatives such as crane drivers, stevedores, railway operators and boat handlers, among many other trades.

Since the end of Operation TELIC and the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq over 4,000 containers of kit and over 600 vehicles have made their way back to the UK and into the system for redistribution wherever they are needed.

The logistical challenge is huge involving a massive operation in Iraq and Kuwait to document and track each piece of valuable equipment.

This gruelling task was undertaken by the Joint Force Logistic Component (JFLogC) using a innovative tracking system that works through a combination of identification stickers and electronic 'guns' that read the stickers' information; and 'bricks' containing electronic information, attached to equipment, that are tracked by mobile electronic data sensors.

The system used by the MOD is a modified 'off the shelf' purchase, saving considerable research and development costs. It has the added advantage that it is compatible with the US military version.

The system can be set up at the roadside at the end of a convoy route in under five minutes and can register over 100 containers as they are driven past at 50mph (80km/h). That information can then be used to tell exactly what is in every one of those containers and where they are going.

Captain Richard Hall, the Theatre Drawdown Unit Technical Officer, explained:

"Consignment tracking is widely used by civilian companies to track stock as they export and deliver it to their customers. Recently the Armed Forces have harnessed this technology to our advantage.

"Knowing where our stock is saves us money; we have a large logistic focal point here in Kuwait, and smaller ones at key Middle Eastern air and sea ports. We also have series of similar nodes in the UK at the delivery locations and ports of entry."

All the data sensors on the equipment are connected, via satellite, to a central computer server in the UK which can be accessed by users all over the world. This gives total visibility of where items of equipment and vehicles are but, most importantly, when they are going to get to their destination.

Corporal Mark Wright, who is responsible for making sure that the data bricks are secured to every piece of kit, said:

"You can see Total Asset Visibility readers at most ports, airports and border crossings. They look similar to a small satellite dish, and these scan the bricks as the consignment physically passes by, and then relay the information to a central server.

"We can't have soldiers deployed across the world to zap the barcodes, so this is a way of capturing the information automatically, saving on manpower and money."

The technology means that as the Anvil Point docked in Southampton the 17 Port and Maritime Regiment personnel quickly and easily unloaded the cargo and organised it for onward transit - and possible return to front line operations.

The majority of kit has been shipped from Iraq to the UK on one of four civilian roll-on/roll-off ships, operated on a long-term lease by the MOD to transport military supplies and equipment.

In total there will be eight ships' worth of military hardware returning from Iraq when the operation is complete.

MOD auctions off surplus kit to Iraqis

As the UK withdraws all its equipment from Iraq, auctions are being held to sell off kit that won't be brought back to Britain to businessmen in the Middle East.

As the UK withdraws all its equipment from Iraq, auctions are being held to sell off kit that won't be brought back to Britain to businessmen in the Middle East.



While equipment that can be used again is being returned to Britain in good order for refurbishment and redistribution to troops elsewhere, surplus kit, from scrap metal to pick-up trucks, that would cost more to return to the UK than it is actually worth, is being sold off locally.

The auction operation benefits both the expanding Iraqi economy, with good deals on scrap, vehicles and furniture, and the British taxpayer, who stands to recoup in excess of £1m as well as reap savings in dismantling, decommissioning, transportation and storage costs.

Head of Overseas Disposals for the Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Authority, Scott McCulloch, has made numerous visits to Basra to get the best return on surplus equipment for the taxpayer.

He said:

"The amount of money we save is very important, not only is the price paid quite significant but it’s a big saving when you look at shipping and storage costs in the UK. Overall it’s been a huge saving to the UK taxpayer."

Military matters: A luggage mountain two and a half miles high - The Times

Deborah Haynes, Defence Correspondent

The Iraq mission is over for Britain’s combat troops, but hundreds of support soldiers are still hard at work destroying, selling or transporting out of the country six years of military kit, in a quiet reverse of the 2003 invasion.

It is the biggest logistical challenge that Group Captain Richard Hill, Deputy Commander of the Joint Force Logistic Component, has ever faced.

“Having the opportunity to bring the whole headquarters to do a theatre extraction and drawdown, that’s very interesting and rewarding,” he told The Times from a US camp in Kuwait, where the military removals force is based.

From Challenger tanks and Lynx helicopters to socks and boots, everything has to be accounted for. The 1,000-strong team dealt with equipment needed for combat missions in Afghanistan first, including Mastiff armoured vehicles and devices to counter the threat of roadside bombs.

British Forces have amassed mountains of gear since they rolled over the border from Kuwait in March 2003. If every ISO container was stacked on top of each other it would stand more than two and a half miles above the desert.

The majority of the equipment, including computers, tables, chairs, Land Rover Discoveries and tents, ended up at the Contingency Operating Base, a sprawling camp just outside Basra city, where thousands of US troops are now located after some 4,000 British forces pulled out.

In an operation dreamt up last summer and put into action earlier this year, the military assesses every item to decide what needs to be brought back to Britain or a British base in Germany, what can be left behind and what should be destroyed.

The 5,000 ISO containers, stacked up like Lego bricks at the Basra base, are central to the mission. However, it transpired that many had deteriorated over the years under the burning Iraqi sun. So, in a novel attempt to recoup cash, the logistics team filled some of these cast-offs with other unwanted items — such as army towels and rolls of barbed wire — and sold them though a private contractor at auction to local Iraqi businessmen.

The rest of the damaged ISO containers were sold for scrap metal. The military also flogged other piece of kit, such as a number of the Land Rover Discoveries and pick-up trucks, because it would have been more expensive to ship them back. In total, the troops raised more than £1 million through the sell-off.

The remainder of the gear, anything from generators to air-conditioned dog kennels, is bound for home. Night after night, long lines of convoys make the 185-mile journey from Basra to the Kuwaiti camp and then on to the port, laden with ISO containers packed with kit as well as trucks laden with combat vehicles.

Up until May 11, the convoys were run by the British military, but as troop numbers decline — there are only about 50 military personnel left in Basra — the remainder of the gear is hitching a ride with US convoys.

Even some helicopters are driven out by road. Warrior armoured vehicles are stripped down and loaded up. They are destined for Britain for a complete overhaul.

Members of the logistics team in Kuwait go through the containers, assessing the kit before it is loaded into cargo ships — private roll-on-roll-off ferries rented by the Ministry of Defence.

In the latest departure, MV Hurst Point is due to dock in Marchwood next week after setting off from Shuaiba port in Kuwait at the start of the month. The ship is carrying 200 ISO containers packed with gear and 51 armoured vehicles.

Sergeant Justin Crocker, 28, from Wales, helps to load the vehicles on to the boats. “We just make sure that they get on the boat without any accidents,” he said, adding that each vessel takes about eight hours to load. Soldiers have to unload and check the kit inside the containers in temperatures up to 60C/140F.

“It is interesting. I have never done a tour like this,” Sergeant Crocker said. “It is a bit of a weird tour for us.”

In a symbol of the Iraq exit, British Forces handed back the sand-coloured stone building that served as their headquarters in Basra for the past six years to the Iraqi authorities on Monday. It is one of the last British-occupied buildings in the south to be returned.

“I am not a sentimental chap,” said Group Captain Hill, who attended the handover. “It was the final act as far as the Iraqis were concerned of the British Forces’ extraction from Iraq.”

The building, which is situated close to Basra airport, is expected to be converted into a hotel or a conference centre.

British Challenger main battle tanks return home from Iraq

After six years of service in Iraq, seven 72-tonne Challenger Two main battle tanks started their three-week sea voyage back to the UK this week.

The Challenger tanks, 51 armoured vehicles and 162 containers full of other British military equipment that has been used in Iraq left Kuwait's Shuaiba Port onboard the container cargo ship MV Hurst Point on Wednesday 3 June 2009.

Since the end of UK combat operations in Iraq, a specialist logistics headquarters, the Joint Force Logistic Component or JFLogC, has been in Kuwait and Iraq co-ordinating the massive effort to inspect, pack and return six-years-worth of military hardware to the UK.

The number of military shipping containers that need to be shipped home is so great in fact that if every one sent out of Iraq was stacked in a Jenga tower it would rise over two-and-a-half miles (4km) above the desert.

Good order and value for money are the watchwords for the JFLogC which has instigated a number of innovations to make sure equipment from simple stationery to the 72-tonne tanks leaving this week can be reused as quickly as possible on return to the UK.

JFLogC's Commander in Iraq, Brigadier Paul Stearns Royal Marines, said: "Withdrawing equipment after operations is not something we've always given our fullest attention to. Today's military equipment is at a premium, it is high spec, high quality and high value. It's vital we get it to its next home fully refurbished or put on the shelf ready for use again as quickly as possible. The taxpayer has invested a lot of money in our equipment and my team are acutely aware of this. It is my job to protect that investment."

Logistic soldiers ship out equipment from Iraq

The operation to remove all UK vehicles and equipment from Iraq continues, with this week seeing a massive haul being shipped out of Kuwait to be returned home.

The civilian roll-on/roll-off cargo ship MV (Motor Vessel) Eddystone left Shuaiba Port on Monday, 25 May 2009, carrying everything from quad bikes to armoured vehicles and helicopters. The ship is bound for Marchwood military port in Southampton.

As the responsibility of the Joint Force Logistics Component (JFLOGC), transporting all kit destined for re-use by the Armed Forces is in full swing as UK combat operations in Iraq have come to an end.

JFLOGC is a deployable headquarters, currently stationed in Kuwait. It is responsible for co-ordinating the efforts of around 1,300 personnel working in Iraq and Kuwait to recover six-years-worth of accumulated equipment and send it home in good order.

Soldiers from the Royal Logistic Corps' 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, based at Marchwood, have been in Kuwait for nearly a month loading a series of massive cargo vessels permanently leased by the Ministry of Defence, one of which is MV Eddystone.

Major Darren Osborne, from the JFLOGC, said:

"By the time the equipment gets to us it's already been inspected and repaired where possible. This has been a well thought out operation, seven months in the planning, and it's far in advance of any other operation I've been in.

"Everything's going back in better order than it would, with minor faults identified and repaired if possible, and can go through the refurbishment process if needed."

A new database has been created to determine exactly where up to 20,000 different types of stores will be distributed around depots in the UK and Germany and in what state it should leave Iraq.

Inspections are identifying faults which can be repaired before kit leaves Kuwait, saving time and making it available sooner to troops. A record of all documentation, including inspection records for every piece of kit, will also be kept as a full audit trail.

MV Eddystone will be arriving in the UK in June 2009 where its cargo, including Mastiff armoured personnel carriers and four Lynx helicopters, will be unloaded by the same soldiers who loaded it on.

The ship's master, Captain Paul Hamlin, said:

"The process has gone remarkably well, particularly the quality of work and support from the loading troops who have done a very good job."


The ship's crew is all-British and are sponsored naval reservists, which means they can be required to serve in war zones.

This is the seventh visit so far of a roll-on/roll-off vessel during the UK withdrawal from Iraq and several more visits are expected before the end of June.

The British Army has finished combat operations in Iraq and the military are currently bringing their personnel, kit and equipment home although some personnel, notably from the Navy, may be staying on to train their Iraqi counterparts.

Bringing UK kit home from Iraq

With British combat operations in Iraq now completed, the task of moving the thousands of pieces of equipment and vehicles that have been used throughout the operation back to the UK has begun.

Brigadier Paul Stearns, Commander of the Joint Force Logistic Component (JFLogC), has the responsibility to bring the British military's kit home.

To achieve this mammoth task, Brig Stearns heads a team of around 1,000 logistic specialists split between the Basra Contingency Operating Base (COB) and the Kuwait Support Facility in Camp Buehring.

Their job is to conduct, coordinate and check the work being done to return the kit.

Brig Stearns said:

"The tax payer has spent a lot of money over the last six years to give the Armed Forces the right kit to do the job. The important thing for us is to make sure we preserve that investment and get it back on the shelves, ready to use again, as quickly and efficiently as possible."

Asked to put the size of the task into perspective, he said:

"Think of the biggest Halfords store you've ever seen; they have about 10,000 product lines, we stock nearly 13,000 different items.

"To move all the vehicles, equipments and containers back to their various depots would take the entire Eddie Stobart fleet of 1,850 trucks and trailers.

"We've got to take all of them back to the right locations in the UK and Germany, in the right order and in the right condition."

A key part of the logistics team, which consists of both military and civilian personnel, are personnel normally based at the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Pauline Blaylock is one of the 20 civilians who have been working in Iraq since March. Her role is to ensure containers are intelligently packed so their contents end up in the right location back home. She said:

"I was involved in sending a lot of the equipment to Iraq in 2003, and now I'm doing the reverse job at this end getting everything back."

"We're taking our time and getting it right. It's been successful so far and we're working well with the military, but we're really going to ramp up over the next few weeks."

The operation to return equipment from Basra will take advantage of a number of innovative processes. Key amongst these is The Compendium. This is a list of the tens of thousands of items, stored in more than 19 separate locations in Basra, containing details of how each is to be prepared for storage and where it is to be sent from among dozens of different storage sites across Britain and Germany.

Teams also now check the quality and state of equipment before it is packed and some of the most advanced tracking methods available follow the movements of each item of equipment back to the shelf in the warehouse.

Anything too old to use, or that would cost more to ship back than to replace, is being sold to civilian contractors, eg furniture and non combat vehicles.

But the bulk of equipment will be heading home through Shuaiba Port in Kuwait on journeys undertaken by one of four Ministry of Defence owned RoRo vessels.

Brigadier Stearns said:

"We have a long and enduring relationship with Kuwait and we're very grateful to the authorities and people of the country for allowing us to use their excellent infrastructure."

The end result will be millions of items, from Chap Sticks to Challenger Two main battle tanks, being ready for use again in the shortest time. The Brigadier added:

"We have the time and resources to do things differently and this means we're packing once and packing right."

The JFLOGC is also responsible for ensuring that the 400-plus Service personnel who are planned to remain in Iraq to continue training the Iraqi Forces will be correctly equipped to operate under the new command structure.