BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Good working relations between the U.S. Navy and Defense Logistics Agency property disposal specialists in Japan recently saved the service at least $75,000 earmarked for equipment disposition.
In 2020, the security office for Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, needed to rid itself of deteriorating sky watch towers and a mobile small arms firing range that had been unusable for over a decade at the Navy’s forward base in southern Tokyo Bay.
Initial attempts to rid themselves of the large items through various on-base support offices proved cost prohibitive, with work order quotes coming in as high as $200,000, stalling the effort. In March, CFAY’s assistant security officer reached out to the base financial officer for advice on possible alternatives.
“Because of the relationship created between DLA Disposition Services and the installation financial officer … they were able to advise CFAY security on our forward collection disposal programs,” said DLA Disposition Services Sagami Operations Branch Chief Mc Keisha Inniss.
Luckily for the CFAY security team, DLA’s property disposal customer outreach efforts had provided installation leaders enough familiarity to make a support request simple. Just one email to Mainland Japan Area Manager Peter Parker, and DLA’s property disposal crew immediately tackled the effort. The scrap team and local commercial scrap contractor made quick work of demilitarizing the mobile range on site, and nearby Naval Air Station Atsugi subsequently reached out for disposal of its own mobile unit, Inniss said.
Disposal Support Representatives regularly reach forward to installations where DLA Disposition Services does not maintain a full-time presence to ensure warfighters in remote locales receive the same level of assistance as those co-located at bases with full-service property disposal sites.