History
The People
The most vital part of any military organization is its people. At Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., a totally integrated workforce of military and civilian men and women strive together to accomplish the base’s mission of supporting those crucial organizations that provide support to Marines around the world. From the administrative clerk to the equipment operator, from the budget clerk to the management analyst, from the mechanic to the musician—they all work as a team to reach the singular goal of being the best. These are the individuals who make MCLB Albany function, and in a real sense, they are the base.
Albany's First Inhabitants
Native American artifacts—some 200 to date—have been unearthed on base. The artifacts indicate that a Native American hunting camp once stood on the high ground at the east end of the base.
The discovery of these artifacts provides another link in the historical chain of Native American inhabitation of this part of Georgia. University of Georgia archaeologists believe that the flint knives, scrapers, drills, agricultural tools, arrowheads and spearheads found here date back some 8,000 to 10,000 years. These items are evidence that Native Americans also used the site where MCLB Albany is located as a center of resupply, or as a supply base. The artifacts were also used to place the Native American site here in the early Archaic or Paleo cultural periods.
Of special interest was a piece of black flint found at the site. Black flint comes from North Georgia, so it is thought that South Georgia Native Americans, through early trade, made this a very early example of commerce in the southeast. Trading is thought to have begun during the Archaic cultural period.
History of the Command
The base was commissioned on March 1, 1952, as the Marine Corps Depot of Supplies. Marine Brig. Gen. Raymond P. Coffman assumed command and a small contingent of Marines established headquarters in temporary buildings. Construction continued rapidly, and by early 1954, the station was sufficiently complete with warehouses and administration buildings to assume supply support for Marines east of the Rocky Mountains and in the Atlantic area.
On July 29, 1954, the command was renamed the Marine Corps Supply Center Albany. The MCSC managed and controlled supplies at storage and issue locations in the eastern half of the United States, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Depot level rebuild operations began at the base in October 1954.
Today, one of MCLB Albany’s most important tenant facilities is Maintenance Center Albany. The only other facility of this kind is located at MCLB Albany’s sister installation, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
The MCSC Albany was redesignated Marine Corps Logistics Support Base Atlantic on April 1, 1976, because the Marine Corps Supply Activity at Philadelphia and its inventory control, financial management, procurement and technical support functions were relocated to the Albany installation. On Nov. 1, 1978, the installation was renamed Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany. The full spectrum of logistics support functions required to support the Marine Corps’ ground weapon systems and equipment was now performed at this base.
On Jan. 17, 1990, the commandant of the Marine Corps designated the commanding general at MCLB Albany to also take on the responsibilities of commander, Marine Corps Logistics Bases. The reorganization placed control of MCLB Albany, MCLB Barstow, Calif., and the Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., under this single commander.
From the beginning of the historic buildup of U.S., Arab and other allied air, ground and naval forces against Iraq during 1990 and 1991 until Operation Desert Storm ended, MCLB Albany and its personnel were deeply involved in the greatest surge of activity in the history of the base. Between Aug. 10, 1990, and March 31, 1991, MCLB Albany personnel provided exceptional support to the Marine Air-Ground Task Forces sent to the Persian Gulf area.
During the first phase of activation of Prepositioned War Reserves, MCLB Albany’s Materiel Division (today, the Marine Corps Logistics Command’s Fleet Support Division and the Defense Logistics Agency’s Defense Distribution Depot Albany) shipped more than 9 million pounds of goods and equipment on more than 300 tractor trailers to airports and seaports embarking to Saudi Arabia. The division’s support continued throughout the crisis as its personnel established around-the-clock operations and worked nearly 50,000 overtime hours packing goods that included 4,800 supplemental items and other high priority requisitions for U.S. military personnel.
MCLB Albany also provided medical support throughout the crises. Two doctors, eight medical corpsmen and one independent duty technician from the Naval Branch Medical Clinic deployed to the Persian Gulf. Also, the Air Force Medical Logistics team had four Air-Transportable Hospitals (that were assembled here) prepositioned in the Persian Gulf area. Two additional ATHs, along with 895,000 pounds of additional medical materials and equipment that were assembled here were also sent to the Gulf War area. Beans, bullets and band-aids—MCLB Albany provided the men and women in the Persian Gulf area with all their necessities.
The Publications Branch sent 29,000 publications and technical manuals to reconstitute the Maritime Prepositioned Force in Saudi Arabia—a job that continued for nearly a year after the war ended.
Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom were the catalysts for the most expansive organizational and cultural change in the history of the command. The pressing requirement for immediate capabilities to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices in Iraq spurred the Marine Corps Logistics Command and its Maintenance Centers to action. Prototype armor kits were invented, tested, manufactured and installed within weeks of the urgent request from the operating forces, well ahead of schedule and under budget. This record-setting response earned Maintenance Center Albany the Robert T. Mason Award for depot maintenance excellence in 2005. Maturing versions of armor kits were soon being applied to HMMWVs, cargo trucks, bulldozers, road graders and tow trucks. When the commercial version of the armored HMMWV arrived in theater, Marine Corps Logistics Command’s maintenance centers provided critical support, working side by side with Marines in Iraq to ensure proper final assembly. Despite the massive armoring effort, however, the IED threat persisted; answering to this situation was Maintenance Center Albany’s invention and production of prototype mine rollers. These devices, mounted on the front of large cargo trucks, were immediately sent forward to the Marines, along with teams from Albany to train and assist in installation and employment.
The proactive nature of the maintenance centers continued to support the Marine Corps at home, as well. As all deploying units were sent through a standardized training package at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif., teams from Maintenance Center Barstow, Calif., helped maintain and repair the equipment necessary to prepare Marines for combat duty in Iraq. Meanwhile, Maintenance Center Albany developed the HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer which simulates the results of a close IED blast and trains Marines to safely exit an overturned vehicle. These efforts and many like them were recognized by Maintenance Center Albany again winning the Robert T. Mason award in 2007.
As the size and diversity of LOGCOM’s capabilities in the Iraqi theater increased, the decision was made to establish a formal command presence in the region. MCLC (Forward), under the command of a colonel and encompassing a variety of organizations, was created on Jan. 23, 2007. Its people and capabilities range from continental United States to Kuwait and Iraq, and most recently a presence in Afghanistan was established. MCLC (Forward) is responsible for equipment maintenance, rotation and retrograde, as well as sustaining stocks of critical warfighting supplies. MCLC (Forward) has been a tremendous operational success, proving its immense value to Marines in the field and positioning the command as a global organization.
OEF and OIF also presented timely opportunities for internal organizational change to LOGCOM. Re-aligning from its traditional role, the command is now committed to being an organization capable of global reach with integrated logistics chain support. It serves as a vital operational logistics broker that connects strategic logistics resources to tactical logistics requirements, thereby enabling the operating forces to focus on warfighting. Additionally, the command provides total lifecycle management capabilities to support the acquisition and sustainment of the Corps’ equipment. LOGCOM is now present in every geographic region and stands ready to innovate, develop and execute meaningful logistics solutions to meet operational needs.
MCLB Albany is proud to be the home of LOGCOM and MCA.