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News | April 13, 2020

Agency locates 47,000 excess N95 masks for Coast Guard responders

By Jake Joy DLA Disposition Services Public Affairs

Personnel at the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services at Letterkenny site in Pennsylvania were recently tasked with a high priority retrieval and shipment of about 47,000 N95 masks deemed excess that had been routed to the agency’s sales contract holder for public auction prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Healthcare providers and defense personnel battling the coronavirus pandemic continue to face a critical shortage of the masks, named for their ability to filter out 95 percent or more of airborne particles. The personal protection respirator devices are manufactured specifically for those who will be in close contact with patients suffering from suspected or confirmed contagions.

On the afternoon of March 24, Letterkenny Site Manager Todd Shuman said he received word from agency Sales Contracting Officer Jack Rose that the site needed to pull the masks from the contractor’s warehouse for placement back into DLA’s accountable records. Contracting Officer Representative Ralph Keller immediately provided necessary data to the sales office and prepped the masks for pick up. By 11 a.m. the next morning, the final pallet had been transported back to Letterkenny, where site personnel Mike Mione, Josh Kiner and James White repackaged and prepared the shipment that was sent the very next day to a Portsmouth, Virginia-based Coast Guard command preparing to support coronavirus response airlifts throughout the Washington, D.C., region.

DLA Disposition Services continues to route used and excess military items like generators, personal protective equipment, cots, tents and vehicles to government organizations and law enforcement as pandemic response efforts grow in scope.