In business, getting supplies to your warehouses and manufacturing facilities efficiently is important. But in the military, it can mean the difference between life and death.
The US Army’s 861th Quartermaster Company Detachment — nicknamed the “Army Riggers” — specializes in getting much-needed supplies to troops in forward positions using air drops. It’s the most efficient and safest way to get everything frontline soldiers need while reducing the risk of engagement with enemy combatants that would be required by driving convoys through hazardous areas.
The unit has one of the most important tasks in the military, according to US Army Master Sgt. Wade Shoemaker, of Nashville, Tennessee, the unit’s non-commissioned officer in charge.
“Our mission is to provide supplies via aerial delivery throughout the US Central Command area of responsibility,” Wade recently told the Department of Defense’s Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) website.
The unit is based at William F. Lyell Army Reserve Center, just outside Nashville. Its members train on the packing of supply bundles that can be dropped via parachute from cargo plans to supply military units in remote areas. The bundles contain everything from food and water to fuel and building supplies.
The bundles are built in an area known as “the pit”, where specialized packing materials – including skid boards, spreaders, and barrel bottoms — are loaded with supplies according to a predetermined protocol.
It’s vitally important that every bundle be rigged exactly the same way, regardless of who is packing it, according to US Army Specialist Steven Payne, of Frankfort, Kentucky, a member of the unit.
“If everyone rigged it according to their specific preference, the person responsible for inspecting would find it difficult to set a baseline for what is and what is not acceptable in the rig,” Payne said.
Once the loads have been palletized, they are surrounded in energy displacement materials, which are specialized packaging supplies designed to absorb the immense impact caused when the load hits the ground.
Every load that is bundled by the unit is one less load that needs to be transported overland, according to Shoemaker.
“The benefit of airdropping is it reduces exposure,” Shoemaker said. “The soldier’s aren’t exposed to hostile fire or other hazards as if they had to convoy it there. They’re not on the roads. They’re not encountering improvised explosive devices.”
The members of the unit are highly trained and in emergency situations can get supplies rigged, loaded onto an airplane and en route to the forward position in just a few hours.
Since June, the unit has rigged an estimated 236,000 pounds of supplies, including nearly 800 pounds of care packages that were airdropped to ground forces in combat zones.
Bahrns is proud to support the US Armed Forces and salutes the men and women of the US military who put their lives on the line to protect our citizens every day.