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Never fear, gear is here

  • Published
  • By Airman Ryan Throneberry
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Those who have given service to this country throughout history have needed equipment to get by. As times have changed, the equipment has improved, but the need for the gear remains the same. As modern-day Airmen prepare for their duties here and abroad, the equipment they carry could mean the difference of life and death.

Airmen with the Individual Protective Equipment Element have the important task of providing fellow wingmen with essentials for deployments and more.

More than 5,000 personnel, within five major wings rely on the members of the IPEE with the 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron here to provide them with gear for contingency response, real-world deployments and training.

There are 14 Airmen and one civilian in the office who process approximately 150 transactions daily and maintain a 99-percent inventory accountability rate at all times.

Mobility-bag assets, weapons, gas masks and training assets worth $38 million cumulatively are kept in the 40,000 square feet warehouse. This helps support Airmen who are training and deploying year round.

The Airmen at IPEE main job is to maintain and inspect the highly valuable equipment under their watch. Staff Sgt. Heikell Perez, IPEE supervisor, makes sure this part of the job is accomplished.

"Put simply, we enable the Air Force mission," said Perez. "How would you like to go outside the wire with a weapon you've never fired before or a gas mask that hasn't been inspected for leaks?"

IPEE provides that continuity for Airmen preparing to mobilize. Once an Airman is notified of a deployment, he or she is able to practice and re-qualify with a weapon. The deployer will take that same weapon down range.

"From sight-in to deployment, that weapon stays with them the whole way," said Perez. "It allows them to feel more comfortable and familiar with the weapon, which is important."

The weapon vault in the warehouse physically stores more fire arms than the security forces squadron.

Senior Airman Aldrine Estrella said the armory houses more than 3,500 small arms including M-16s, M-9s and M-4s with a net worth of $1.9 million.

"Taking inventory on all these weapons is time consuming but necessary," said Airman 1st Class Kevin Jenkins.

This bi-annual process ensures their high inventory accountability rate will stay that way.
IPEE is not only about the weapons, though. They also divvy out the 'bread and butter' materials for a mobilizing Airman in a mobility bag. A mobility bag is a must-have item for all deploying Airmen. It contains everything they need from a helmet to a sleeping bag.

Another aspect of IPEE's work is testing all gas masks in their inventory. Every MCU-2P gas mask must be tested after two years to ensure it has not been damaged or cracked. In order to ensure the entire inventory is serviceable and ready for use either on base or down range, 20 potentially life-saving masks are tested daily to keep the inventory on a rotating basis.

Preparing Airmen and ensuring their safety is the name of the game for the 87th LRS.

The personnel in IPEE spend their day making sure all the equipment is good to go.

They enable the Air Force mission by making sure Airmen have the gear they need, when they need it. Time might tell how valuable this gear could be.