Perseverance helped Mid-America deliver excellence
 By Jeff Landenberger
  Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services’ Mid-America region operates 16 sites in 12 states with approximately 200 people. When region Deputy Director Marc Wilson looks back at 2021, he said the biggest lesson learned was perseverance. Ensuring the safety of the workforce is always the priority, but with the added threat of COVID, Wilson said the team had to come up with new solutions to balance the mission. **The team from DLA Disposition Services at Colorado Springs receives their site of the year award for 2021 from DSD Mid-America Deputy Director Marc Wilson.




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            The team from DLA Disposition Services at Colorado Springs receives their site of the year award for 2021 from DSD Mid-America Deputy Director Marc Wilson.

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                    Photo By: Colorado Springs
                    
                    VIRIN: 211115-D-DO441-555**Wilson joined DLA Disposition Services in 2013 and moved into his current position in June of this year. “It’s been really tough for us to get the mission happening when there have been so many complications,” Wilson said. He highlighted trucking as one of those complications. “We have had so many dropped trucks this year because carriers are finding more lucrative business elsewhere. It’s just been tough, from an operational standpoint to get the mission done,” Wilson said. “But I am very excited. We went up almost 100,000 receipts over the prior fiscal year, almost a 25% increase. It was a huge deal and our people on the ground got that done. They persevered and I have learned a lot watching them work.” Two of many success stories that stood out from the past year for Wilson were the disposal of a crashed Air Force B-1 Lancer and bombing range support. The damaged Lancer had taken up an entire hanger for a few years. Wilson said this year, DLA was able to dispose of it and free up that hanger for the Air Force. **DLA Disposition Services Mid-America saved the taxpayers close to $100 million this year when excess military equipment was sent to ranges and used as targets. This eliminates the need to demilitarize the equipment and at the same time gives military units realistic targets. Here An M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 main battle tank, assigned to Cold Steel Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, fires a M865 target practice cone stabilized discarding sabot with tracer.




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        211209-A-TU755-1005
            DLA Disposition Services Mid-America saved the taxpayers close to $100 million this year when excess military equipment was sent to ranges and used as targets. This eliminates the need to demilitarize the equipment and at the same time gives military units realistic targets. Here An M1A2 Abrams SEP V2 main battle tank, assigned to Cold Steel Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, fires a M865 target practice cone stabilized discarding sabot with tracer.

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                    Photo By: Capt. Evan Cain
                    
                    VIRIN: 211209-A-TU755-1555A**Mid-America was also able to support target ranges and save taxpayers close to $100 million at the same time.
“By us sending things out to the range that we would potentially have to pay to [demilitarize] - where folks can actually use it as a real hard target – that simulates something they would encounter on a battlefield,” Wilson said. Looking ahead to next year, Wilson said the region team is always looking ahead for what’s next. He said he is a firm believer that if you are not moving forward and learning, you become stagnant. He acknowledged that while the region has some of the best property processing metrics from across the DLA Disposition Services enterprise, the team will keep looking for areas where they can improve.