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News | Jan. 15, 2025

DLA Installation Management teams clear snow during season’s first storm at 4 sites

By Beth Reece

Digging a car out from under 5 inches of snow or shoveling a home driveway are chores even most snow lovers dread, but clearing the parking lots and walkways at Defense Logistics Agency facilities is usually a thankless job employees think little about.

Even before the first flakes fell during the season’s first winter storm at four DLA locations the week of Jan. 5, snow removal crews had readied plows, snowblowers, shovels, salt and sand to ensure employees had a place to park their cars and a clear path to office doors.

Operations centers at each DLA major subordinate command track weather predictions from the National Weather Service and alert leaders and DLA Installation Management staff when snow is on the way. For the recent storm, crews – a mix of DLA Installation Management employees and contractors – pretreated roads and sidewalks throughout the weekend. It’s an extra step that makes moving mounds of snow and ice easier, said Jimmy Parrish, chief of the Installation Operations Division in Richmond.

A man in a safety vest shovels snow off sidewalks as a man with a plow cleans roads in front of a building.
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Defense Logistics Agency Installation Management employees in Columbus, Ohio, remove snow from roads and sidewalks after a winter storm in early January 2025.
Photo By: Arthur Hylton
VIRIN: 230125-D-DM952-4011
“It’s sort of like Teflon on a frying pan. The snow doesn’t literally slide off, but the pretreatment prevents bonding and sticking so we can move more snow on one pass, which speeds up clearing an entire installation and making things safe,” he said.

Although DLA Distribution facilities at New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, only got about 3 inches of snow during the recent storm, local leaders, police and DLA Installation Management members used routine weather calls to stay updated as local road conditions changed and snow and ice removal were needed.

The storm brought 8 inches of snow to Fort Belvoir, where contractors struggled to stay warm in freezing temps and windy conditions as heavy snow fell over a 10-hour stretch.

“We’re especially concerned about the safety of our snow removal team and will rotate folks in and out to make sure everyone is fresh,” Parrish said of the DLA employees who volunteer for snow removal in Richmond.

Amani Webb-Rutledge, a plumber for DLA facilities in Richmond, said she volunteered to help during winter storms because she feels fulfilled helping others.

“The act of volunteering itself is rewarding,” she said. “I don’t have much snow removal to do at home besides clearing snow off my car, but I often help my grandmother by hand-shoveling her driveway.”

Snow removal at Defense Supply Center Columbus is also done mostly by DLA Installation Management employees, who removed about 5 inches of snow as well as ice from installation roads, parking lots and pedestrian walkways before sunrise Jan. 6 and throughout the day.

The possibility of refreezing can also be a concern in the days after the initial cleanup. Ed Mikula, deputy site director in Columbus, said plowing and de-icing usually continue until surfaces are cleared.

“So there’s typically little to no residual snow to create issues,” he said, adding that salt barrels are placed at building entrances so employees can spot-treat walkways if needed. Some DLA Installation Management teams also schedule additional crews to add new salt or sand to areas where snow and ice have melted and refrozen overnight.

Since snow falls less frequently at DLA sites like those in Virginia, even small accumulations can disrupt operations and set residents on edge.

“We always take into consideration that it doesn’t often snow in the Richmond area. This makes our employees and neighbors very uncomfortable walking or driving in snow, so we always go the extra distance,” Parrish said.

Mikula added that snow events in Central Ohio typically occur at night and during the early morning hours, which means employees may work at night and in harsh conditions.