Fort Hood, Texas –
Defense Logistics Agency personnel helped Army units at Fort Hood, Texas, save 4,300 man hours in document preparation and screening in a recent two-week event, in which 859 vehicles turned in 400,000 pounds of scrap metal.
The $12,000 from the sale of the scrap will be reinvested in DLA operations at Fort Hood.
In addition, a wide range of items was recycled, from steel furniture and brake shoes to tent poles and radiators. As a result, personnel at Sierra Army Depot in California filled 16 containers with serviceable repair parts for reuse by the Army and the Department of Defense, which should help other units save significant costs.
“As everything has built up over the years … we have accumulated military equipment and items,” said Lt. Col. Charlie Slosson of Army headquarters. “Units need to look at how we account for those items … and increase the readiness across the board.”
Capt. Michael Smith, surge event officer-in-charge for the 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, coordinated with Sierra Army Depot to accept serviceable equipment for the Army’s property records and for DLA Disposition Services to accept items to be reutilized.
“There is a myth that if something is tan or [olive drab] green that the recycle center cannot accept it,” Smith said. “The center can take select items as long as it does not have to be demilitarized and is unserviceable.”
Partners from Fort Hood Recycle, Sierra Army Depot and DLA Disposition Services were on-site to help identify recyclable and reusable items.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Karen Parsons, 62nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 11th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, and her soldiers disposed of a 20-foot container and a tricon container’s worth of materials.
“We didn’t have to do any paper work on some items, which made it so much easier,” Parsons said. “It is a bit of a process to be able to turn it into the [supply support activity] and would take more manpower.”
“Traditionally, all of the property would have to be identified and would be time consuming to turn into DLA,” said Andre Robinson, property disposal supervisor for McAlester (Oklahoma) Army Ammunition Plant.
“The dollars this generates for the installation improves the quality of life for Fort Hood soldiers and civilians,” Slosson said. “Other installations and their MWR programs can benefit as well, and to be able to defray those costs and put on more events for our soldiers is important.”
Army Staff Sgt. Treana Harrison, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, was also happy to contribute to the installation’s recycle program.
“Knowing that we can recycle these items makes me feel good that we are giving back and allowing opportunities for our families to do things on Fort Hood,” Harrison said.
“This is something that can be replicated easily,” Slosson said. “We are trying to put the emphasis back where it belongs — and that’s on the commanders to adjust their property books routinely, rather than as an operation.”
A version of this article appeared April 13 in the Fort Hood Sentinel.