BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Keith Archibald retired from the Army after 33 years of service. He began his military career as an enlisted legal specialist and retired as a lieutenant colonel in logistics. Today, he serves as the senior Army instructor for a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program and uses surplus military property from Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services to supplement student supplies.
“We are a workforce readiness program,” said Archibald, referring to his JROTC unit at Desert Oasis High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. “We teach first, as our mission, to motivate young people to be better citizens, but we also teach workplace readiness skills.”
There were 145 students in the program this year, Archibald said.
“The Army equipment that I received has really been beneficial to our program,” Archibald added. He noted that he did not think he could stretch his budget to equip all those students the way he did without DLA’s help.
Archibald's JROTC unit recently returned from a leadership camp at Fort Irwin, California. His students were able to carry their gear in Army rucksacks that matched their uniforms, instilling a sense of pride instead of having to use school bookbags.
Archibald said he searches DLA’s used property website on his own time and has expanded his search beyond equipment for his students.
“He noticed excess musical instruments and spoke with the school’s music director, discovering that the band needed a few items as well.
"We have picked up 10 operational, working instruments,” Archibald said. “We're talking brass instruments, a couple of electric guitars, and a bass.”
One of his JROTC students, who plays the trumpet in the band, commented on the instruments. The student said the instruments received from DLA Disposition Services were higher quality than what the school had before.
Archibald, who is not a musician himself, said he can't tell the difference but loves to hear the students play.