Pearl Harbor, Hawaii –
Three sport utility vehicles that once supported American forces will be returning to the road overseas as part of a Foreign Military Sales case with Moldova.
According to a recent field report, the three 2008 Ford Escapes provided are valued at more than $30,000. Property Disposal Specialist Gilbert Delagente at the DLA Disposition Services site at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, described the transaction as his most challenging shipment since joining DLA Disposition Services as an RTD specialist.
“The vehicles were on a FMS freeze since December 2014,” Delagente said. “When I finally received the approval to process the shipment, there were numerous issues.”
Delagente explained that Moldova’s lack of a port of debarkation was a challenging issue, but he was able to overcome it with help from local transportation personnel at DLA’s Distribution Depot and the Fleet Logistics Center. The experts from DLA and the Navy were able to find an alternate port in Romania.
Vehicles received by the Moldovan National Army from the U.S. government through technical assistance programs are used to strengthen operational and peacekeeping capabilities and used to replace old remaining transport units, according to the Ministry of Defense. The ministry also noted that Foreign Military Sales personnel and contact persons were always helpful in resolving any administrative and logistic issues linked with the departure and receiving of vehicles, technical assets and spare parts.
Once part of the Romania, Moldova became part of the Soviet Union at the close of World War II and became independent from the USSR in 1991, according to the CIA World Fact Book. It lies northeast of Romania and occupies an area slightly larger than Maryland.