CHIÈVRES AIR BASE, Belgium –
After 21 years at the Main Exchange on base working his way up from warehouse associate to services business manager, Gus Elius made a bold move last March when he left the Exchange and accepted a job offer with the 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Logistics Readiness Center Benelux.
Now a supply technician working at LRC Benelux’s property book office, also known as PBO, Elius said he’s always up for a challenge and though he enjoyed working in the retail business and serving the Chièvres community in that capacity for over two decades, he was ready for a change and a new challenge.
Elius is responsible for taking care of all cyclic and yearly property book inventories at LRC Benelux and U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, as well as things like clearing customers from their hand receipts when they’re out-processing. He said the work experience he gained at the Exchange helped him when he transitioned to LRC Benelux.
The PBO at LRC Benelux conducts cyclic inventories on a quarterly and annual basis as well as monthly inventories on all sensitive items. The PBO also assists with all the Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss, or FLIPL reports, when a property book item is lost or damaged. Elius, as a new PBO supply technician, is learning all these various duties, now. For example, he’s still being trained on all the intricacies of the FLIPL process.
When comparing his time at the Exchange with LRC Benelux, Elius said it’s different.
“I worked for AAFES in the retail business since 2001. Now, my new assignment (with LRC Benelux) is quite different,” said the 44-year-old Belgian local national employee. “Our primary customers at AAFES is Soldiers and Families. Now I’m supporting organizations and commands. Working at LRC Benelux has more of a mission focus and feel with direct support to USAG Benelux.”
One thing Elius said he appreciated while working at the Exchange and appreciates even more at LRC Benelux is teamwork.
“The most important thing for me is the teamwork. We have to help each other, and we have to have good supervisors. LRC Benelux has both,” said Elius, who has lived in Ath, Belgium, his whole life – just a 15-minute drive from the Chièvres Air Base.
Having only been with LRC Benelux for about 10 months, Elius said there’s still a lot to learn, and he’s still growing within the organization and his position.
“I’m learning more and more each day, and that’s a good thing,” he said.
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, and transportation as well as clothing issue facility operations, hazardous material management, personal property and household goods, passenger travel, non-tactical vehicle and garrison equipment management, and property book operations. 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.