JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash –
The Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services site at Joint Base Lewis-McChord recently supported the U.S. Army's "Rapid Removal of Excess" effort, a significant initiative aimed at streamlining the disposal of surplus military property.
Army Col. Jeremiah O'Connor, commander of the 404th Army Field Support Brigade at JBLM, highlighted the program's dual purpose.
“The intention behind R2E is not just to get rid of old equipment, but to rebalance equipment across the Army,” he said.
The R2E program addresses a crucial logistical challenge: units with excess or obsolete equipment can quickly turn it in, enabling redistribution to units in need. O'Connor noted that approximately 80% of the turned-in material is directed to DLA Disposition Services.
Army Lt. Col. Brianna Maier, who leads a field support battalion at JBLM, also oversees the service’s local Modernization Displacement and Repair Site, a key component in this process. The MDRS functions as a hub for receiving, accounting for, and repairing excess equipment.
Maier said 2E’s impact on Army units is “essentially right-sizing what they have on their property books, to be able to focus their training, their readiness, and their people on the right equipment for mission support.”
“As we were preparing for R2E, the DLA team here was phenomenal,” Maier said. “We explored ways to build efficiencies in this process because at the end of the day, it's to rapidly remove the excess from the units, not to be bogged down with all the behind-the-scenes processing of the equipment.”
Assisting Maier’s team in preparing for and executing R2E was the DLA Disposition Services team at JBLM, led by Area Manager Lew Castro.
Castro said when his team received the initial notification for R2E, he tasked Steven Biacco and Robert Montgomery, disposal service representatives, with engaging units and reminding them of turn-in requirements and providing training. He said Biacco worked with units on the base while Montgomery concentrated on MDRS.
“It’s worked out,” Castro said. “We were trying to get the guidance out there from both ends, MDRS and the units. So far, so good, not a lot of issues that couldn't be worked out within a few minutes ... that is definitely a plus.”
Another step Castro and his team took was to embed a team at the MDRS site consisting of five military reservists and Montgomery.
“Their job was to provide turn-in guidance to MDRS. Since they're taking the property from the units ‘as-is,’ we wanted to make sure that they're tracking on the turn-in guidance to us,” Castro said. He added that they reviewed the 1348 Disposal Turn-in Document that MDRS created and then verified the property to ensure the kind, count, and condition match the paperwork.
With all that done by his team with MDRS, it streamlined the process at the DLA site, and it minimized the impact of the R2E property, Castro said.
“We have a good relationship with the MDRS team, and they really want to do it right.”
Castro commended both the MDRS team and his own DLA Disposition Services employees, saying they have achieved something to be proud of.