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1st Theater Sustainment Command


News Stories

1st TSC removed millions worth of old equipment from books

By Barbara Gersna | 1st Theater Sustainment Command | September 12, 2022

FORT KNOX, Ky. --

FORT KNOX, Ky. –Old, unserviceable, outdated, or broken equipment should be removed from property books and turned into the Defense Logistics Agency.

Rather than storing this old equipment, property book officers are encouraged to remove these items from their books. These items are placed back into circulation or recycled after being sent back to the nearest DLA.

Now that DLA has offered an improved method for disposing excess property, and the S4 Property Book Manager of Special Troop Battalion, 1st TSC Chief Warrant Officer 2 Derik Rodriguez Torrez said the process operates much smoother.

Safes, computers, old weapons, components racks, and desks - these are some of the items that the 1st TSC returned to DLA. Five Humvees and close to 3.5 million dollars of equipment were removed from the books since November 2020. All of these items were picked up and shipped by DLA to the facility near Columbus, Ohio.

The DLA is the Department of Defense’s combat logistics support agency, and they are available to assist in completing necessary documents, arranging for disposal, and training personnel in disposal turn-in procedures.

“In the past the supply sergeants were trying to fill a 5-ton truck to drive to the nearest DLA facility which is a four-hour drive one way,” Rodriguez Torres said.

The chief believed that it was a whole day wasted in time, money, and 1st TSC resources, and he was determined to find a better way to turn in old equipment.

“We just have to have enough equipment to fill at least one truck, which is 24 pallets, and they do all of the rest,” the chief said.

“The Army produced an order directing excess equipment be turned in, so we started working on it when I arrived here in 2018,” Rodriguez Torres said.

“Additionally, Lt. Col. James Crocker was the Special Troops Battalion commander then, and he asked me to help him get rid of all of the excess equipment. Some of it was brought here when 1st TSC moved to Fort Knox from Fort Bragg in 2017,” he explained.

“EPICS focuses on resources, policies, procedures and programs, regardless of being old or new,” according to Sgt. Maj. Sheila Parrish, G4 senior enlisted advisor, 1st TSC. And that is what we practice.

“Part of it is to ensure that large assets on the ground are not wasted and are turned in to be redistributed or recycled,” she said.

We ensure that we can handle any sustainment operations or logistical support on ground, both in theater and here at the main command post at Fort Knox,” she concluded.

“Serviceable equipment sent back to the DLA goes on the shelves and anyone can order from their inventory,” Rodriguez Torres said.

“DLA really is one of the best agencies out there and everything they do is free for the unit,” he concluded.