BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The U.S. Army Reserve’s 773rd Weapons of Mass Destruction – Civil Support Team, based out of Kaiserslautern, Germany, is unique among its peers. Of 57 federally-funded WMD-CSTs, it’s the only non-National Guard unit of its kind and the only one operating in a foreign country.
In early 2024, an Army Structure Memorandum directed the unit’s inactivation no later than September 2025. Once disestablishment efforts got underway, unit leadership reached out to Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services for help with turning over excess property and finding new homes for still-usable material.
“DLA was instrumental in supporting the unit’s inactivation efforts,” said Army Maj. Anthony Gonzalez, 773rd WMD-CST commander. “As good stewards of Army funding and equipment, it is always beneficial to find another DOD unit that can utilize the equipment.”
DLA Disposition Services’ Nicholas Lulay supported the unit’s excess property turnover effort. The former Navy petty officer deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan for DLA while still in uniform, has served in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Washington state since taking a federal civilian position with DLA in 2013, and began his new role in as a disposal services representative in Kaiserslautern about five months ago.
“I enjoy that every day is different, and I get to provide frontline assistance to the warfighter,” Lulay said. “Anything that we can do to make their mission easier is a win for me.”
Lulay said he familiarized himself with the 773rd while conducting a customer visit alongside Air Force Maj. Nathan Kaiser, the DLA Disposition Services Europe and Africa deputy director of military operations. They were especially impressed with the good condition of the unit’s Dismounted Reconnaissance Sets, Kits, and Outfits, or “DRSKO” system and decided to market it to regional units for reuse, rather than consider the estimated $14,000 it would cost to ship it back stateside.
The DRSKO is originally designed to support mobile dismounted reconnaissance and hazardous material technicians. Gonzales said it proved essential for the 773rd during combatant command exercises like Slovakia-hosted Toxic Valley and African Lion, hosted by Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia.
“We figured we would actively advertise and see if anyone in country could utilize it,” Lulay said. “We did not want to see it go to waste.”
Servicemembers constantly change billets, transfer to new installations, and are thrust into new roles. Promoting excess property as a potential supply source requires constant outreach, and DLA personnel regularly visit units to provide basic education on agency reverse logistics services like property turn-in, hazardous waste disposal, demilitarization, and property reuse.
In November, the Air Force 435th Air Ground Operations Wing at nearby Ramstein Air Base received a reintroduction to DLA property reuse potential and, soon after, began compiling a want list and actively screening for property online and in person locally.
“Through the growing partnership between the 435 AGOW and DLA Disposition Services personnel at Kaiserslautern, a communication of ‘wish list’ items benefitting or enhancing our organization led to the identification of the DRSKO kit and the impact it would have on our ability to meet the mission,” said Capt. Astin Moore, the director of logistics, engineering, and force protection for 435th.
Moore said acquisition of the DRSKO system allowed several Air Force organizations to directly fill required unit type code items that had gone vacant, while also fulfilling items currently listed on their Unfunded Requirements List at no cost.
“The ability of the Kaiserslautern disposition facility personnel to listen to and understand our needs 100% contributed to the acquisition of the DRSKO kit,” Moore said. “They have directly contributed to the acquisition of over $2.6 million worth of mission generating assets, greatly enhancing the Wing’s ability to meet requirements in a timely manner and significantly increase our commander’s consideration of used/excess property. Their customer service, professionalism, and willingness to support has been nothing short of amazing.”
In fiscal 2024, military units reutilized more than 61,000 line items originally valued at $1.4 billion from DLA’s used and excess property stocks. Of the excess property that military units declined to reutilize, equipment originally valued at $90 million was subsequently transferred to other federal departments, 15,000 items originally worth $182 million were donated to State Agencies for Surplus Property and their qualified recipients, and commercial sales of scrap and usable property auctioned to the public returned $83 million to DOD that helps cover the service-level cost of the department’s property disposition mission.