Name: David Meert
Job title: Supply Support Activity Accountable Officer
Assigned: Logistics Readiness Center Benelux, 405th Army Field Support Brigade
Location: Chièvres Air Base, Belgium
Experience: I’ve been working here for a long time. Initially I started working here when it was the Directorate of Logistics, U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, and I continued working here after it transitioned to LRC Benelux and fell under the command and control of the 405th AFSB. I worked for a private Belgium company for about five years before accepting a job offer with the U.S. Army here 19 years ago.
Hometown: Hensies, Belgium
Family: I am married to my wife, Marie, for 12 years, and we have a daughter and a son. Our daughter, Mahe, is 7-years-old. Our son, Louis, is 9-years-old.
Q: Can you explain your responsibilities as an LRC Benelux Supply Support Activity accountable officer?
A: As the SSA accountable officer I am responsible for managing all the inbound cargo dedicated to the Army here in the Benelux. It’s all Army cargo – mostly supplies and equipment – but no personal property. We receive the cargo and distribute it to all the supported units and organizations within the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux area of responsibility. The USAG Benelux area consists mainly of units and organizations in Belgium and the Netherlands. We rarely support units and organizations in Luxembourg. Another important responsibility we manage is the turn-in of excess, obsolete, unserviceable or life-cycled equipment from all the units and organizations here in USAG Benelux. We account for all this equipment and ship it to the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services in Kaiserslautern, Germany. My job is to track and account for all this cargo – both inbound and outbound.
Q: Why is your mission as the accountable officer at LRC Benelux so important?
A: We receive a lot of cargo and we return a lot of cargo, and it’s key for all the units and organizations – it’s key for their mission readiness and for them to be able to perform their missions. For example, we have a runway here at Chièvres Air Base, and at the runway they received a new snow sweeper. Our mission included not just assisting with the new snow sweeper but also the turn in of the old one. In this case, this equipment was critical in order to maintain the runway so it can remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our support directly affected their readiness. But it can also be something as simple as paper, for example. If a unit doesn’t have the correct size and type of paper they need to print out some important documents, they may have an issue and the mission could fail. Whether it’s something highly significant like the snow sweeper and the runway or it’s something seemingly less important like paper – the support we provide is key and essential to mission readiness and success.
Q: What do you enjoy about your job, and what motivates you?
A: I’m able to work with a lot of subject matter experts and professionals who provide important services and support to the USAG Benelux area of responsibility. It’s a real pleasure to work with these professionals every day. I love this job because I learn something new every day. Our mission is wide and varied and often a lot of work. For example, in the past we had two European Infrastructure Consolidation missions we were supporting where we were responsible for the drawdown of two military installations – one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands. It was a huge mission. I can tell you that we had more than 60 semi-trailer trucks full of equipment that we had to haul to DLA Disposition Services, and I was responsible for the accountability of all that equipment during the process. It was a big mission but also very rewarding.
LRC Benelux and 405th AFSB: LRC Benelux is one of seven LRCs under the command and control of the 405th AFSB. LRCs execute installation logistics support and services to include supply, maintenance, transportation and food service management as well as clothing issue facility operations, hazardous material management, personal property and household goods, passenger travel, and non-tactical vehicle and garrison equipment management. When it comes to providing day-to-day installation services, LRC Benelux directs, manages and coordinates a variety of operations and activities in support of USAG Benelux. LRC Benelux reports to the 405th AFSB, which is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging U.S. Army Materiel Command’s materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.