Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services employees have been serving in Afghanistan in support of U.S. forces deployed there and noted significant milestones for DLA in the past few weeks.
Steen Crawford, who normally serves as operations monitor for DLA Disposition Services’ West region, recently assumed those duties in Afghanistan.
“This is my fifth deployment, and I am considered an old hand now,” Crawford said. “This tour, I have the opportunity to work the entire area, share the knowledge I have from previous deployments and bring along my experience in working operations on a day-to-day basis in DSD West.”
Recent data Crawford collects shows an increase in operations at Bagram Airfield, where the site registered more than 100,000 turn-in documents recorded in 2020. Each document can vary from a few items to large quantities of material being turned in at the site. Crawford noted the level of activity is on par with a large site, yet the Bagram team operates with a much smaller number of personnel.
Greg Dangremond recently arrived in Bagram from Battle Creek, Michigan, where he serves in the Resource Management directorate. Dangremond has taken over for Dave Miner as area manager for Afghanistan since Miner’s rotation back to the United States. Since his arrival, Dangremond has noticed that the site’s support for Army Corps of Engineers work is bringing some unusual arrivals to the inventory.
“During my last tour, I saw a lot of property come through the gate, but seeing a building enter our yard, piece by piece was definitely a first for me,” Dangremond said. “This clearly demonstrates DLA Disposition Services’ ability to tackle literally any mission in support of the warfighter. Not only do we provide them with disposal solutions, but we also return the scrap value of materials we process to the Defense Working Capital Fund.”
Dangremond praised the support of the DLA civilian employees and the contracted workforce who perform the jobs critical to the disposal requirements of U.S. forces there and their coalition partners. Those jobs include rapidly demilitarizing and mutilating property before responsibly releasing the scrap material.
Among these newly arrived professionals is Sean Mock, deployed from DLA Disposition Services at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, who said he increased daily removals at Bagram from six trucks to eight trucks, and again last week from eight trucks to ten trucks.
“I couldn’t believe when I pushed out 1 million pounds of scrap the first week I was on the ground,” Mock said. “Now, I am pushing towards 2 million pounds per week, and we are confident that we can meet any challenge that warfighter has for us”.
Craig Barrett, DLA Disposition Services’ Central region deputy, noted that beside their benefit to the Defense Working Capital Fund, scrap revenues also stimulate the Afghan economy.
“Most importantly, we’re supporting the warfighter and in so doing the local trucking and scrap industries are benefiting, the manufacturing industry has more materials, and, we do it in an environmentally responsible way,” Barrett said.