'Tidal Wave'

As equipment returns from Iraq, the Army is expecting a significant increase in equipment reset requirements -- particularly for trucks, according to a service official.

James Dwyer of Army Materiel Command said in a March 17 presentation at a conference sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement that recent Iraqi elections and increased activity at Iraq ports indicate assets will soon be arriving back in the United States for reset.

“We thought we’d see a whole lot of trucks by now -- a lot of those have come down out of Iraq and gone right over to the surge for ((Operating Enduring Freedom)) -- so we intend to see kind of a tidal wave coming now,” said Dwyer. “I think we’re going to see some assets show up; first it’s going to happen probably in the summertime, but most of that will carry over to next year.”

According to Dwyer, Army depots are operating at about 65 percent capacity. Given this rate, “we’ve got plenty of room to handle the surge,” he said.