Private suppliers fill in where Pentagon pulls out; TroopsDirect sends necessities to Afghanistan

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Washington Times:

With the Afghanistan War in its 12th year, U.S. troops find that the Pentagon’s enormous logistics system has not mastered the job of getting things like soap, toothpaste and protective gear to all on the battlefield.

A congressman and a private support group say that the ongoing withdrawal of troops and closing of supply depots promise to make the shortfalls worse.

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Aaron Negherbon, who founded the nonprofit TroopsDirect, said his organization has shipped more than 180,000 pounds of essentials to troops since 2010, giving a new meaning to the idea of a CARE package.

These are not cookies and candy being shipped from his Northern California headquarters. The items are as fundamental as the powdered chalk used to highlight a buried improvised explosive device (IED) so troops can avoid it.

“These are Americans, and they’re out doing God’s work,” Mr. Negherbon said. “We believe that if [a bomb disposal] unit needs a kit that can render an IED safe, when they don’t have it, well they should have it immediately. That’s what TroopsDirect is all about.”