BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services Mid-America region experienced many changes and transitions in 2023. From new warehouse procedures to saying farewell to the top of the leadership team, it was a year of change and accomplishments.
“We had 30% less safety mishaps than last year,” said Heath Buswell, deputy director of the region. “Our San Antonio site was the first site in the field to go live with Warehouse Management System in the agency and our total Reutilization, Transfer, Donation for 2023 was over $169 million of acquisition value.”
Buswell said it’s fitting that the first item processed at San Antino with WMS is connected to logistics – a plain bearing rod end used by helicopters to deliver property to units. It is now on display at major sub-command headquarters in Battle Creek.
Buswell said region leadership prepared the San Antonio team for WMS by dividing its personnel into two groups. Each group received a three-week training session.
“We learned some great things with the new system,” Buswell said. “We were able to find holes in the processes and provide the process owners with corrections and better screenshots could be put inside those [standard operating procedures].”
“We set the bar for processing property with WMS and continued to get better and better as the sites rolled out,” Buswell said. “Regionally, right now every single one of our sites is in full swing of WMS, so we're very proud of the team and the work that they've done.”
He acknowledged that change can be hard to accept, especially a new system. But in his travels throughout the region, Buswell said most have embraced the change and he believes that WMS will be huge for Mid-America and the entire agency.
Another highlight for Mid-America was the Army Materiel Command divestiture. The Army had approximately 3700 humvees that they were paying storage fees on and wanted to divest of in a timely manner. The team at DLA Disposition Services Red River, Texas, was able to assist. Almost 200 of the humvees went to ranges to become targets, a few were reissued through other programs, but the vast majority were sent to a commercial sales contractor and netted the agency more than $3 million.
Another highlight for Mid-America directly involved Buswell. Kathy Atkins-Nunez, the director of Mid-America, announced her retirement after 39 years with the agency and Deputy Director Tim Dauten was selected to become the new major sub-command operations director.
Jessie Parisano, the region director for Europe and Africa, was selected to take over Mid-America. The transfer was a bit of a homecoming for Parisano, who had previously served as deputy director of the region. Buswell was chosen as the new deputy.
Buswell said colleagues are happy for Atkins-Nunez being reaching retirement. He expressed that she did a great job, but region personnel are sad to see her, and all her experience go. She continuously mentored employees, especially warehouse supervisors and subordinate supervisors, giving them the tools to be more successful.