Navy Customs Inspectors in Kuwait Serve 100,000

[RAMESES the Great]

Navy Customs Inspectors in Kuwait Serve 100,000
By Journalist Seaman Joseph Ebalo
Navy News Service
May 19, 2005

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait - U.S. Navy customs agents assigned to Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Forward Oscar (NAVELSF FWD OSCAR), Bravo Company, tripled the volume of inspections by previous commands by inspecting their 100,000th service member at Camp Doha, Kuwait, May 15.

Members of NAVELSF FWD OSCAR, a command made up of about 400 Navy Reservists, volunteered to support the Navy and the U.S. Customs Department by conducting inspections of equipment, supplies, and Department of Defense personnel serving in Iraq and Kuwait.

"The mission of NAVELSF FWD OSCAR is to protect our homeland from foreign contaminants like bugs, soil and plants, and illegal materials like weapons and contraband," said Senior Chief Storekeeper Sharon Leslie, passenger processing center supervisor. "Our job is very important, because we want to prevent any diseases or bacteria in the Middle East from spreading to the U.S."

Marine Cpl. Rudolph Roberson Jr., supply noncommissioned officer-in-charge, Charlie Company, 103rd Engineering Battalion, was the 100,000th customer served by Bravo Company.

Roberson, a former Navy quartermaster, received a backpack from NAVELSF FWD OSCAR Bravo Company senior enlisted personnel filled with command coins, gift certificates, candy and other goodies.

"I was really surprised to receive this honor," said Roberson. "I feel like, on top of being able to go home to Philadelphia to see my wife Ja-net and my daughter Jazmin, I won a great prize," he said.

According to Leslie, in one four month period, U.S. Navy Customs agents accounted for nearly six times the overall inspections conducted on service members preparing to re-deploy.

Bravo company has more than 180 Sailors certified as customs boarder clearance agents (CBCA) to conduct searches of personnel traveling home on leave, re-deploying to a different region, or transferring stateside.

"We have to go through every piece of luggage to make sure our job is being done right," said Quartermaster 1st Class Robert Travis, CBCA, NAVELSF Forward Oscar, Bravo company. "That means using a computer to check out all unmarked or suspicious compact discs, searching shampoo and toothpaste containers for hidden contraband, and emptying out all pockets of every clothing item, including uniforms," said Travis.

In addition to Camp Doha, NAVELSF FWD OSCAR Sailors are forward deployed to Bellad, Iraq; Kuwait Naval Base; Camp Arifjan, Kuwait; and Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait.

NAVELSF Bravo Company Sailors say they stay focused on their mission of helping service members and protecting their homeland.

"We have a great job, because we get to see troops happy and on their way home to their families," said Fire Controlman 2nd Class Jeffrey Oberts, CBCA, NAVELSF Bravo Company. "There is a huge sense of pride in being part of the process that gets our people home."