BATTLE CREEK, Mich. –
The Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services Resource Management Directorate took on a lot this past year, including notable efforts like headquarters realignment, the navigation and application of COVID-19 restrictions and a leadership change installing Christopher Judd as the new director.
Through it all, People and Culture Division Chief Nina Ekblad said it was a productive year with lots of accomplishments that could be highlighted from across the directorate.
A few wins that stood out were the development of a Rigging and Signaling course that welcomed its first iteration of students, a three-day virtual summit held for the command’s 24 newly named equipment specialist billet holders, and the successful execution of a Contingency Operations Readiness Exercise that included dozens of uniformed and civilians training at field locations more than 7,400 miles apart.
“The Rigging and Signaling course was developed to give our operators the tools they need to operate more efficiently and – more importantly – safely,” said Brian Davidson of the Expeditionary Site Support Team in Battle Creek. “The intent is that when a truck rolls through the gate, we will unload it the right way rather than just getting it done.”
He said the initial feedback from the first students was positive. The course will be offered again later in fiscal 2022, with slots for up to 12 students.
The command created a new career series – 1670 Equipment Specialist – and 24 new positions were created to serve as its material handling equipment subject matter experts at locations around the globe. To get the new equipment specialists on the same page regarding their responsibilities, a three-day summit was held as a virtual event in mid-October.
In his remarks to summit attendees, DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon said that he will be relying on the equipment specialists to help ensure safe operation of all the material handling equipment and the maintenance and training on these critical pieces of equipment.
Under the guidance of Air Force Lt. Col. Harold Hobgood the Warfighter Support & Plans Division Chief for Resource Management his personnel played a critical role in the 2021 Contingency Operations Readiness Exercise, the organization’s annual field training exercise to assess mission essential tasks and test readiness of its expeditionary capabilities. COREX resumed after last year’s cancellation due to COVID.
This year’s exercise expanded its focus to global capabilities by simultaneously planning and executing the exercise in two locations: Michigan’s Fort Custer and a Navy installation on the U.S. island territory of Guam.
“Mission success started from the Resource Management team preparing for this event several months prior, planning out every detail of the event, training the workforce on how to use equipment and set up the Expeditionary Site Set kit,” said Chris Milazzo, who served as Lead Expeditionary Training Mentor and part of the team that oversaw the planning and execution of COREX ‘21 in Guam.
“DLA Disposition Services was able to successfully deploy our Expeditionary Workforce to Guam, consisting of military and civilian employees, in support of our COREX ‘21,” Milazzo said. “The mission was to erect a strategically located Expeditionary Site Set and be fully capable of receiving all types of property from customers within 96 hours.”