The Camp Lemonnier (CLDJ) logistics department's Consolidated Hazardous Material Reutilization and Inventory Management Program (CHRIMP) reduced its' inventory of hazardous material (HAZMAT) by more than half since taking control of the program in early 2016.

The program's mission is to ensure tenant commands have sufficient supplies, save the Department of the Navy money, and enhance mission readiness.

CHRIMP Leading Chief Petty Officer, Chief Logistics Specialist Erika Zetrenne, a Navy Reservist from Flint, Michigan, was tasked to get CHRIMP moving in the right direction.

"A major challenge we faced was the fact that not a lot of tenant commands knew what CHRIMP's mission was, or even what the acronym meant," said Zetrenne.

Through collaboration with environmental and the Camp Lemonnier Public Affairs team, Zetrenne and CHRIMP personnel developed a plan of educating and advertising to the various tenant commands of CLDJ.

"We utilized public service announcements, galley advertisements, and a public affairs video production," said Zetrenne. "In doing so, we were able to greatly increase the awareness of what CHRIMP is and more importantly what its' mission is."

It was not just an aggressive advertising campaign which assisted in CHRIMP's success. In July 2016, CHRIMP technician Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Felipe Segura, also a Reservist from Chicago, created the Virtual CHRIMP Store.

"Anyone from CLDJ and any of our tenant commands can login and see what HAZMAT items we have available for free issue," said Segura.

As part of the Virtual CHRIMP Store, customers can also find the point of contact information of the items listed, an authorized use list, and all forms and regulations related to the respective HAZMAT.

Through these many efforts, the CHRIMP team has greatly reduced the on-hand inventory of all HAZMAT at their disposal.

"We have reduced an inventory of 85,000 line items down to 23,000, and saved the Navy over $18,000 through issuing material to tenant commands, supporting ships, and properly disposing of expired HAZMAT materials," said Zetrenne.

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For more news from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, visit www.navy.mil/.