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News | Dec. 14, 2018

Agency usable excess property sales begin in Africa

By Jake Joy DLA Disposition Services

DLA recently made history with its first known sale of usable excess military property in Africa.

 

A one-time rolling stock online auction of 35 items, including a fire truck, cargo trucks, passenger vehicles and forklifts – all located at Camp Lemonnier, in Djibouti – netted almost $49,000 from a winning bidder based in the U.S.

 

“We are already planning another,” said Kathy Wigginton, the current DLA Disposition Services site lead in Djibouti. She said more equipment is awaiting sale, including boat and water tank trailers and generators. “We have more equipment coming in soon. We’d like to do another 25-30 line items so it makes it worthwhile for the buyer.”

 

The sale concluded back in September, but because of special challenges related to clearing customs in Djibouti, Sales Contracting Officer Danniel Schneider said a few final items – rolling generator units and a pickup truck – have yet to leave the country. He said the winning bidder has done business with DLA in the past and has already resold most of the lot. 

 

DLA Disposition Services currently rotates a civilian and a military disposal specialist through the austere site in tiny Djibouti, which sits between Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea along the Gulf of Aden and near the mouth of the Red Sea. Camp Lemonnier, where the command’s lone site in Africa is located, is a U.S. Navy-managed base that serves as the home for Combined Task Force – Horn of Africa. About 4,000 service members and contract personnel conduct anti-terrorism and anti-piracy missions throughout the region from Camp Lemonnier and tiny forward bases in the area. The installation was established in 2003 and continues to grow.