Security Assistance; and Logistics - Federation of American Scientists

investigate the practicality and long-term benefit of instituting the NATO system in Iraq,both through the MoD and MoI, to standardize the Iraqi materiel management efforts.Iraqi Army Personnel for Class IX Parts ManagementThere was an insufficient number of trained and qualified soldiers available to assume theresponsibility for parts management. This was evident at Taji National Depot and atKMTB. The shortages in Iraqi Army personnel were particularly acute among NCOs andWarrant Officers, as well as enlisted personnel. Taji had not hired civilians to performthe maintenance or parts support mission. Table 3 below shows the manning for TajiNational Depot at the time of our visit.Table 3. Manning for Taji National Depot, May 2008Officers NCOs Junood CiviliansAuthorized 38 409 464 55On Hand 33 80 294 0Trained 33 70 290 0(Source: Commander Taji National Depot Briefing to DoDIG Assessment Team, May 8, 2008)Training for Iraqi Army personnel in maintenance and parts management has beendeficient. A senior official in the Joint Headquarters indicated that the best trainingprovided thus far only made a new recruit an apprentice mechanic. There weresignificant shortages in NCOs and Warrant Officers to supervise and develop apprenticemechanics.According to a senior Iraqi Army official from the IASSI, one problem hampering thetraining of logisticians for the Iraqi military was illiteracy. At least 25 percent of thestudents who reported for each course were turned away because they were illiterate inArabic and therefore incapable of reading the required manuals. This included studentsfrom Kurdish provinces who, though literate in Kurdish, could not read, write, or speakArabic. Through April 2008, IASSI had trained 2460 soldiers in the Supply andWarehouse course, but there was no course on parts requisitioning and monitoring.The new director of Electro-Motive Equipment Branch 30 in the Joint Headquartersinitiated a request, signed by the Iraqi Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, asking for aLetter of Request through FMS to provide 22-24 contracted personnel for partsdistribution and management at Taji National Depot, and for the contractor to providetraining to IA personnel on this issue. At the time of our visit, the Secretary General tothe MoD had not yet signed the FMS letter of request.Information SystemsAt both Taji and KMTB Location Commands, the contractor handling the nationalmaintenance contract had an electronic database system in place to track storage,30 The Electro-Motive Branch, under the JHQ Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, oversees the LocationCommands, and therefore, the vehicle maintenance and repair parts processes.118