BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services site at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, recently issued a mobile command center to the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
Nicknamed “Big Blue,” the vehicle has an original acquisition value of $1.3 million, but NAWCAD acquired it for free by using DLA Disposition Servies as its supply source.
When equipment is no longer required or declared excess, military units turn it over to DLA for reutilization or proper disposal.
“In this instance, it was a full platform decommissioning of the Sentinel Program at U.S. Northern Command, and these vehicles were excess property under no mission with no command,” said Robert Stephens, an agency reutilization, transfer and donation specialist at the San Antonio property disposal site.
Stephens said that mobile command center arrived in like-new condition, “We were really hoping that she would go to somebody that would really put her to work, I don’t think she had a dent in her at all.” and it wasn’t long before NAWCAD requested it.
Military units using DLA for reutilization save millions of dollars every year through the RTD program. A wide range of property is received daily, from non-descript office furniture to specialized, high-value items like Big Blue.
David Springer, an electronics technician with NAWCAD, will be using the command center once it has been updated for a new mission.
“We’ve also gotten a couple of 18-wheelers and trailers from DLA, so we can now move our own equipment and cut back on the cost of hiring contractors to move our stuff across the country,” Springer said, adding that his Class A license will allow him to personally drive one of the vehicles.
“The program is amazing; we get to reutilize things other organizations don’t need anymore,” Springer said, which saves Navy and taxpayer money. Adding that his command has save close to $4 million now, thanks to DLA Disposition Services.
Big Blue will be used by Springer and his co-workers to test and evaluate naval aircraft.
“Every new airframe that the Navy develops has to go through lots of testing on the ground before it even goes to the fleet,” Springer said, adding that Navy’s needs continually evolve.
Springer explained that the newer Ford-class aircraft carriers operate with different catapult and arresting gear systems than the older Nimitz-class ships, which translates to more testing, more evaluations, and more field deployments for Big Blue.