GUAM –
The shredder – a German-made VZ 650 Impaktor – had been sitting for weeks at a DLA Distribution site on Guam. The DLA Disposition Services location just down the road needed it to replace a broken unit, but had no way to transport it the approximately mile and a half to its own site.
Site manager Eric Mills had done a little research and discovered that the most recent cost comparison for having the base contractor perform a similar crane-assisted lift and movement was about $11,000.
That wasn’t going to work.
The solution came in the form of U.S. Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 133 personnel, part of one of the “Seabee” units that fall under U.S. Seventh Fleet’s Commander, Task Force 75 expeditionary forces in the Indo-Pacific.
“They are one of our customers,” Mills said. Six Seabees and a chief petty officer agreed to handle the equipment move for DLA as a training event, allowing the sailors to hone their skills on the safe movement of an awkwardly-shaped, uncommon type of object. “They were kind of excited to lift and ship it. It saved us a lot of money and helped them with their mission.”
Once the shredder made it to the site, a manufacturing representative from the company traveled to Guam all the way from Germany to finish the install and set up and provide training in May.
“It will enable us to handle small to medium-sized item shredding,” Mills said. “This will greatly assist us with [demilitarization-required] property and not having to send it off island for action – items like flack vests, helmets, etc. This will assist the warfighter by allowing us to accept their property for processing, vice waiting for current inventory to be shipped off island. It gives us and them more capacity for turn in.”
As for the Seabees, the site recognized their cost-saving contribution with letters of appreciation. Those sailors included:
Chief Petty Officer William Wilson (Section Chief)
Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Dickinson (Crane Supervisor)
Petty Officer 2nd Class Pedro Sandoval (Crane Operator)
Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Klem
Petty Officer 2nd Class Vonell Williams
Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Achille
Constructionman Joe Nuckolls