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# Okinawa-based crane operator honored

By Jake JoyDLA Disposition Services Public Affairs

                BATTLE CREEK, Mich.  –              
Takashi Shimabukuro has served as a Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services material handling equipment operator at the agency’s property disposal field office on the Japanese island of Okinawa for the past 33 years. 

For his expert warfighter assistance as a tracked crane operator responsible for demilitarizing and destroying unwanted equipment and vehicles, Shimabukuro was recently named Employee of the Quarter for the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

“I enjoy the challenge of taking something that seems impossible to mutilate and then figuring out a way to demolish those items quickly and safely,” he said. “I like to see the results of all the training that I have had over the years. I enjoy seeing that the training – especially of heavy equipment operation – is called upon almost daily to clear DEMIL-required and mutilation-required property.” 

Shimabukuro said he enjoys working with his site colleagues – from management on down to those he interacts with daily and he credited his team with the willingness and ability to step up and pitch in whenever extra effort is required.

“All my coworkers are good at their jobs,” Shimabukuro said. “To be honest, any one of us could have been nominated, however, I think I may have stood out the past few months because I have been asked to give my expert opinion on several bulk turn-ins and was able to perform site visits to help the customers before, during and after they turned their property in.”

Shimabukuro’s visits to Army and Air Force vehicle maintenance units and his inspections of trucks, busses and material handling equipment allowed the services to clear items from its inventory that it had been trying to remove for several years, according to Shimabukuro’s supervisor, Property Disposal Specialist Hunter Higgins.

He also worked directly with more than 200 customers during the quarter, mutilated 36,000 pounds of equipment and saved the agency thousands of dollars in disposal costs by engineering an efficient method of removing metal fittings from almost 100,000 pounds of thick rubber hose.

“His work ethic is truly phenomenal,” Higgins wrote. “A true professional who sets the example for others to emulate.”

Shimabukuro’s additional training for Japanese scrap contract firms was credited with increasing site productivity, improving safety and helping material quickly flow through the system.

“I am honored to be a part of an outstanding organization,” Shimabukuro said. 

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