Army Pre-Positioned Stocks (APS) Ready for Action

Our expeditionary Army is designed to move fast and hit hard. To speed our forces to the fight, the Army Sustainment Command ASC maintains combat-ready equipment and materiel, strategically prepositioned around the world and ready for issue to Soldiers at a moments notice. Theory was put to the test in 2003 when APS were issued to troops in Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the first war in which frontline troops were equipped largely by APS. Troops stationed in CONUS were flown to Southwest Asia SWA and matched up with forward-based APS equipment. The APS programs primary mission is to reduce the initial amount of strategic lift required to support a predominately CONUS-based force projection Army and to sustain Soldiers until traditional lines of communication are established. To meet the mission, stocks are forward-positioned in six countries and afloat aboard ships. Working through its global network of Army Field Support Brigades AFSBs and battalions, the ASC stores, maintains, issues, and resets APS equipment. AFSBs coordinate the reception and issue of APS units and secondary items during the theater opening phase. AFSBs also perform repairs and modification work orders on equipment in theater as required. The Armys Global Pre-positioning Strategy requires that simultaneous support be provided to more than one contingency in more than one theater. Expert planning and management of the four categories of APS is called for to meet this need. These categories are prepositioned unit sets, operational project OPRJ stocks, Army War Reserve Sustainment AWRS stocks, and war reserve stocks for allies WRSA.