Interview with MAJ Jose Martinez, Part I

• Main Author: MAJ Jose Martinez
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute 2008
• Subjects: Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); Iraq War; 2003-; Afghanistan War; 2001-; Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF); Water purification; 202nd Quartermaster Detachment; 559th Quartermaster Battalion; 800th MP Brigade; Camp Bucca; Contractors; Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit (ROWPU); Um Qasr; WATEK; Camp Arifjan; Kuwait; Ammunition; US Army Central (USARCENT); Fort McPherson
• Online Access: http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll13/id/1098

Major Jose Martinez, a quartermaster officer, deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in April 2003 as the commander of the 202nd Quartermaster Detachment (Water Purification) of the 559thQuartermaster Battalion-the only active duty water purification battalion in the Army. Martinez drew an entire company of equipment out of prepositioned equipment and moved along Route Tampa to the port of Um Qasr, in the British sector, and began water purification operations. In Um Qasr, he supported US Army, USMC and British forces, but his primary mission was to provide water for the 800th Military Police Brigade located at Camp Bucca who detained between 2,000 and 10,000 enemy prisoners of war (EPWs). Using eight reverse osmosis water purification units (ROWPUs), Martinez purified about 16,000 gallons per hour. Maintenance was the biggest problem because the equipment was old, neglected and required very specialized mechanics to repair. Shortages of maintenance personnel and parts forced him to rely on a civilian contractor called WATEK out of Fort Story, Virginia, to maintain the equipment. On this deployment Martinez only spent about three months in Iraq before being pulled back to Kuwait for redeployment. On Martinez's second deployment, which began in February 2006 and is the subject of his second interview, he worked on Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, for the ARCENT G3's Training and Exercise Cell. As the theater ammunition officer, he supported ARCENT by working with a contractor responsible for much of the ammunition system. The contracted system had been in place for two or three years. He would forecast training ammunition requirements for all of the units in the theater, including Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar and the Horn of Africa. He explained that his biggest challenge was ARCENT having two staffs-one in Kuwait and one at Fort McPherson, Georgia-often made getting staff actions approved very difficult. Martinez redeployed after spending 12 months in theater.