| Operation Interdependence® is the brainchild
of retired chief warrant officer Albert
R. Renteria.The idea began to formulate
during Renteria’s tour of duty in the 1991
Gulf War. There, Renteria served as an active
manpower officer. Among other responsibilities,
he was charged with the task of supporting
the requirement to assign personnel to receive
and distribute “civilian care donations”
(goods donated by civilians and U. S. companies,
for use by individuals stationed abroad).
While supporting this requirement, he was
exposed to the challenges of dividing and
delivering these items to individuals, without
compromising the manpower required for the
particular mission’s needs. |
|
Albert
R. Renteria
Founder
|
Over
the ensuing years, he thought carefully about
possible solutions for maintaining the level of
necessary personnel during vital overseas operations,
while at the same time balancing the desires of
U. S. Citizens to reach out and support their
overseas men and women. Even after retiring from
26 years of service in the Marine Corps in April
2000, Renteria continued to ponder this issue.
By
June of 2001, Renteria had worked out many of
the details of a possible solution. His idea was
to develop a cooperative delivery system, using
the U.S. Postal Service, to connect civilians
as directly as possible to service people. Committed
to preserving the level of manpower for the deployed
forces by cutting them out as “delivery middlemen,”
the idea of Operation Interdependence® began to
develop momentum.
Renteria
joined the Tri-City
Council of the Navy League in July of 2001.
There he volunteered his time participating in
various activities aimed at both supporting the
different branches of the military, and raising
awareness among the citizens, of the military’s
role in American society. Renteria found, in the
members of this organization, support and encouragement
for his civilian-to-military delivery system® idea.
He assumed the presidency Tri-City Council between January
1, 2002 and December 30, 2002 and also served as National Director and the Pacific Southwest Regional President of the Navy League in 2003.
The
Declaration of Interdependence,
a document acknowledging the new and special relationship
between military and civilians that Renteria sought
to promote, was written by Mel Epstein exclusively
for Operation Interdependence®.
Shortly
thereafter, on January 9, the first C-Rats®
were sent abroad. Operation Interdependence® continues
to grow both in terms of the number of participants
and the awareness and enthusiasm of the military
and public. For more information:
Click
here to see photos of Marines receiving C-Rats®.
Click
here to see photos of Civilians packaging
their C-Rats®
for delivery overseas.
©2005 Operation Interdependence®. All Rights Reserved.
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