{"id":519121,"date":"2025-07-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=519121"},"modified":"2025-07-08T09:18:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T09:18:34","slug":"belgian-ln-major-changes-at-zutendaal-since-aps-2-mission-began-there-in-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=519121","title":{"rendered":"Belgian LN: major changes at Zutendaal since APS-2 mission began there in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Mark Machiels is a logistics management specialist in plans and operations at the Zutendaal Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite\u2019s headquarters in Zutendaal, Belgium. Machiels started working there in 2017 as a Belgian local national employee with the U.S. Army. Pictured here, Machiels poses for a photo in Grafenwoehr, Germany, during Operation Assure and Deter in 2022.
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ZUTENDAAL, Belgium \u2013 When Mark Machiels started working at the Zutendaal Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in 2017, the Belgian local national (LN) employee with Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux (AFSBn-Benelux) said APS-2 operations at the worksite had just recently been established, and he was one of the first people to be hired there to support the new mission.<\/p>\n

Originally hired as a supply technician \u2013 the only options were supply or mechanic at that time \u2013 Machiels said initially there were just 30 or 35 people working at the Zutendaal site. Now, there are nearly 200 \u2013 a mix of Belgian LN employees who work directly for the U.S. Army, contractors, Army civilians and Soldiers.<\/p>\n

But Machiels said he didn\u2019t remain a supply technician for long. Being one of the first employees at the site, he was exposed to every aspect of APS-2 from the beginning. He quickly learned nearly everything there was to know about APS-2 operations and was promoted just as fast.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old Belgian national from Zonhoven, Belgium, went from a Grade 5 supply technician to team leader for storage and warehousing to quality assurance specialist to readiness and property book officer to where he is now \u2013 plans and operations at the Zutendaal APS-2 headquarters, a Grade 11 position.<\/p>\n

As a logistics management specialist in plans and operations, Machiels said he manages the site\u2019s operations calendar, and he works with the site\u2019s three divisions \u2013 maintenance, quality assurance and supply \u2013 to help ensure the team is fully synched. He also develops various courses of action to assist the site director and the AFSBn-Benelux commander in making informed decisions.<\/p>\n

Machiels is also responsible for drafting weekly situational reports and storyboards. Once blessed off by the site director, these reports and slides are sent to AFSBn-Benelux for incorporation into the battalion\u2019s products before being sent to the 405th Army Field Support Brigade (405th AFSB), U.S. Army Sustainment Command (ASC) and higher.<\/p>\n

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\n Mark Machiels, a logistics management specialist in plans and operations at the Zutendaal Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite, said he\u2019s seen a lot of changes at Zutendaal since he started there almost eight years ago. Pictured here (kneeling in front), Machiels poses for a photo with his team in Romania during DEFENDER 23.
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\n As a logistics management specialist in plans and operations at the Zutendaal Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite, Mark Machiels is responsible for managing the site\u2019s operations calendar and drafting weekly situational reports and storyboards for higher. Pictured here (third from left), Machiel poses for a photo with his team in Poland during DEFENDER 24.
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\u201cFor example, when it comes to developing courses of action, or COAs, we still have some of our facilities that are under renovation at the moment so there have been a few big moves, including entire shops and large quantities of equipment,\u201d Machiels said. \u201cWe worked with the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux team and with our own division chiefs and their operations specialists in developing multiple COAs. Once developed, we presented those options to both the USAG Benelux site manager and our site director for decision before execution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Machiels, who speaks five languages fluently, said the evolution at Zutendaal since he started there almost eight years ago when AFSBn-Benelux took mission command of the site is extraordinary. Besides facility renovations and upgrades, as well as workforce growth, a lot has been accomplished in a relatively short amount of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still remember when I first came to the site, there were warehouses here that we literally had to dig out because the doors couldn\u2019t be opened. That\u2019s how dilapidated things were. The buildings and facilities hadn\u2019t been used in a long time,\u201d Machiels said. \u201cI remember the buildings were so dark, we couldn\u2019t see anything. We needed to carry flashlights with us to see the equipment and read the identification plates and stuff. Now, there are so many improvements to the warehouses and the maintenance facilities. Lighting, safety control measures, air quality, humidity control, fire suppression systems \u2013 so much has been upgraded and modernized.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Zutendaal APS-2 worksite maintains equipment designated for a sustainment brigade and separate reporting units, plus three operational projects. The site encompasses 80,000 square meters of warehouse space in 28 warehouses as well as 500,000 square meters of outdoor storage. Zutendaal is one of six APS-2 worksites across Europe under the command and control of the 405th AFSB. The 405th AFSB\u2019s APS-2 program enhances U.S. Army Europe and Africa\u2019s readiness and capability to support the warfighter while simultaneously promoting stability and security in the region.<\/p>\n

The 405th AFSB is assigned to ASC and headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa \u2013 providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website<\/a> and the official Facebook site<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Machiels is a logistics management specialist in plans and operations at the Zutendaal Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite\u2019s headquarters in Zutendaal, Belgium. Machiels started working there in 2017 as a Belgian local national employee with the U.S. Army. Pictured here, Machiels poses for a photo in Grafenwoehr, Germany, during Operation Assure and Deter in 2022. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519123,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519127,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519121\/revisions\/519127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/519123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}