BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
Defense Logistics Agency Document Services Procurement Specialist Christian Prout found himself involved in one of the largest projects of his career following the signing of Executive Order 14165, “Securing Our Borders,” as the Department of War launched a large-scale mission to help secure the southern U.S. border.
Army Brig. Gen. John Dreska, director of J3/4 Plans and Readiness at the Pentagon, reached out to Prout about the design and acquisition of a yet-to-be-determined number of signs for the Joint Task Force-Southern Border’s new initiative.
“The order that Prout received was just two PowerPoint slides containing simple English and Spanish statements,” said Document Services Director of West Operations Tyson Johnston.
Prout received no guidance on design, materials, size, mounting, or delivery, which required him to draw on his production expertise to design mock-ups of bilingual warning signs using professional formatting, standardized typography, and field-ready dimensions.
“I designed the sign and provided that to the Pentagon, which was reviewed by their legal team and approved. A few small changes were made before full production,” said Prout.
Once the border wall sign was approved, Prout coordinated with representatives from Army North, the 10th Mountain Division, Joint Base San Antonio, and the Government Publishing Office. Each organization had its own priorities, approvals, and barriers, which he navigated as each step of the process moved forward.
“The signing of NSPM-4 initiated the first order of 4,000 signs with an accelerated timeline, which was accelerated further to meet White House requirements to expedite delivery,” said Prout.
Once the first batch of 4,000 signs was authorized and funded, Prout began to work with vendors for production of the signs, pushing them to meet deadlines, and working through unforeseen problems.
By late May, a second order brought the total to 6,000 signs. Then in June, a third request increased the count to 12,000. Each order required proof approvals, funding validations, vendor coordination, and shipment scheduling. By July, 12,000 aluminum signs, each bearing bilingual warnings designed to meet legal standards for border posting, had been produced and shipped to Army and Air Force units along the southern border.
In August, a new request arrived from the Air Force detachment at Joint Base San Antonio. They needed an additional 8,000 signs for deployment in the Rio Grande sector. This time, they wanted a lighter-gauge aluminum to reduce handling weight.
“Christian again displayed his agility, adjusting specifications, recalculating costs, and ensuring the new signs would integrate seamlessly with the earlier designs, while working with the vendor to modify packaging and add separators between stacks after the customer expressed concern about shipping damage,” said Johnston.
By the close of fiscal 2025, Prout had overseen the design, production, and delivery of roughly 16,000 signs, with another 4,000 in final production.
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