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TheRight Solution— OnTime, EveryTime January / February 2018

Keyboards

FOR CLASSROOMS

Providing Computers to 

Local Schools Through

the DoD Computersfor 

Learning Program

DLA Strategic Plan 2018-2026

To Serve the Warfighter and Our Nation

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Buying warfighters’ suppliesfrom smaller

companies boosts DLA’s industrial base

and the U.S. economy

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ProvidingSupporttoFederal,State

and Local Agencies Assisting Victims

ofthe Fall 2017Hurricanes

DOD COMPUTERS FOR LEARNING PROGRAM
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY THENATION’SCOMBATLOGISTICSSUPPORTAGENCY

District Technology Supervisor Ryan Stockton of Ohio’s Minford Local School

DistrictshakesthehandofDLADispositionServicesPropertyDisposalSpecialist

CindyAndersonas he preparestoloadup 1,300excesslaptopsthatno longer

met DoD security requirements.The lot,originally valuedat $800,000,allowed

his district to have a dedicated device for every student.

—PhotoCourtesyofMinfordLocalSchoolDistrict

www.dla.mil

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PROVIDING COMPUTERS TO LOCAL SCHOOLS THROUGH

THE DOD COMPUTERS FOR LEARNING PROGRAM

Story by Jake Joy, DLA Disposition Services Public Affairs

t. Kevin School in Warwick, Rhode 

Island, serves about 250 pupils 

from pre-kindergartenthrough

eighth grade. In November 2017, 

its students and staff dedicated 

an academic learning lab outfitted 

with new laptops, docking stations 

and keyboards, and upgraded their 

classroom computers.

Thededicationofacomputerlab 

ataprimaryschool,onitsown,isnot

particularly attention-grabbing. What is 

notableaboutSt.KevinSchoolis thatit 

snagged50unopenedlaptopsandperipheral hardware from nearby Quonset 

AirNationalGuardBase—forfree.

The DoD Computers For Learning 

program,createdby executiveorder 

in1996,allowstheDefenseLogistics

Agency’s property disposal professionals 

toauthorizeandcoordinatethedonation 

of used and excess Department of 

Defense commercial technology to 

educational institutions likeSt. Kevin.

The 321 schools currently enrolled pay 

nothing but the cost of transportation 

and possibly refurbishment, and 

taxpayers get extended use from 

computers that may no longer meet 

DoD’s always-evolving security and 

software requirements.

FromGuamtoSouthCarolina;from 

tiny, 65-student Cascade High School in 

Montana to 2,500-student Tampa Bay 

TechnicalHighSchool in Florida; private, 

public,parochialschoolsandeducational 

nonprofitsservingK-12studentsall

havetheopportunitytotakeadvantage

than $16 million in computers and 

relatedequipmentthroughtheprogram 

inthepastthreefiscalyears.

Likemanyparticipatinginstitutions, 

St.KevinSchool’sCFLawarenesscame 

aboutthroughwordofmouth.AirForce 

Maj.CharleneMarshall,commanderof 

Quonset’s 143rd Communications Flight, 

reached out to the Rev.Robert Marciano, 

aretiredmilitarychaplainwhopastorsat 

St.Kevin.Marshallintroducedhimtothe 

conceptandrecommendedtheschool 

try to acquire some of the 150 excess 

computers that would soon be turned 

overtoDLADispositionServices.

St.Kevin’sPaulaReynoldspursued 

the opportunity and reached out to 

DLA’sComputersforLearningmanager 

JoseAguerotodeterminethestepsto

apply for the excess equipment. 

“[Aguero]wasourmainpointof

contact, and he is a great representative 

ofDispositionServices,andby

extension,CFL,”Reynoldssaid.“He

explainedtheapplicationprocess,

provided step-by-step instructions, and 

emailed complementary documentation 

andlinks.Hewaseasytocontact

bybothemailandphone,andhis

responses to our requests for help or 

information were always thorough and 

timely. Once we received approval, he 

not only helped us navigate the system, 

but he also anticipated what our next 

obstacles would be — especially once 

we began searching for equipment and 

building wish lists.”

Marcianoisgratefulfortheprogram.

of technologytheU.S.militarycanno 

longer use.Participants received more

Elementary students in Drummond,Oklahoma,work in their new computerlab.Their district acquired114 desktopunits 

fromVanceAirForceBaseviaDLA.Older studentsinstalledoperatingsystems,drivers,softwareandnetwork switches

to preparethe machines forreuse.

January / February 2018Cathy Conrady, Drummond Public Schools

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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY THENATION’SCOMBATLOGISTICSSUPPORTAGENCY

“Ihavealwaysknownfirsthand

the goodnessofourmilitaryandour

personnel, given my 36 years of service

as anAirForcechaplain,”hesaid.“ButI

wasevenmoredelightedtosharethat

realitywithourschoolchildren,faculty

andstaffwhenannouncingthegiftof

these computers to our school,” he said.

“Ourprayersandgratitudetoallwho

madethisgiftarealityforourchildren.”

While military units can specify local

or regional schools to receive their used

or excess equipment, the schools must

waituntiltheendofa standard14-day

property screening cycle to secure those

items.Duringthose14days,military

units, DoD contractors andcustomers

from a handful of special categories can

alsorequisitiontheitems.Butwhatever

remainsavailableattheendofthose

twoweeks,theschoolsmaytake.

“The laptop computers given to St.

KevinSchoolhavebeenatrueblessing,”

saidPrincipalDavidIrving.“Theteachersareabletousethislabinavarietyof

ways.Whetheritisastudenttypinga

sciencelab reportor a student practicing

hisorhermultiplicationfacts,thesecomputersareputtogooduseeveryday.”

TommyGentry,of Georgia’s IrwinSchool District,loads 45

desktop computers donated from Moody Air Force Base

with DLA’shelp.

Near the start of the 2016 school 

year, Cindy Anderson, a property 

disposal specialist at DLA Disposition 

Services in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, 

received word that nearly 6,000 DoD 

laptops and roughly 2,500 desktop 

computers would not be compatible 

with mandatory operating systems 

updatesandhadbeendeclaredexcess. 

Anderson said some of the units 

ultimatelywenttolawenforcementand 

other qualified customers, but one of 

herfirstcallswastoAguero,togetCFL 

participantsinterested.Aguerosentan 

email informing all the schools of the 

opportunity and received responses 

fromparticipantsinavarietyofstates.

Amongthefortunaterecipientswas 

the MishawakaSchool Districtin Indiana, 

which gathered up 1,200 laptops and 

500 desktop units originally valued

at $900,000. Ryan Stockton, district 

technology supervisor for Ohio’s Minford 

Local School District, quickly rented a

22-foottruckanddrovesevenhoursto 

pickup1,300laptops,valuedatmore 

than $800,000. The district expressed

Computer maintenance students in Mart,Texas, re-image 

and test diagnostics on 56 used military laptops they 

receivedfromaDLAdispositionsiteinOklahoma.

thanks to DoD,theagency andCFL,and 

shared a district newsletter article that 

explained the impact of the donation to 

their local students:

“Minfordwillnowbeabletoachieve 

the coveted 1:1 status,” the district 

explainedinthenewsletter.“Thatmeans 

theywillhaveenoughdevicesthatany 

student in their district will be able to 

have computer access any time they 

needitwithnowaitandno restrictions. 

Thisisahugedealinanever-changing 

educationlandscapewheretechnology 

istightlywovenintoeverythingwe

do.Withoutequitableaccess,itisvery 

difficult to implement and integrate 

technology to its fullest potential. That 

barrierisnowbrokeninMinfordandata 

minimal cost.”

Schoolsroutinelyfindvalueinnot 

justthenewbutinusedtechnology 

as well. Hard drives are regularly 

removedfrommilitarycomputers

before disposition. That was fine for the

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DoD Photo

Photo Courtesy Mart Intermediate School District
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Drummond School District in Oklahoma. 

“Installing operating systems, drivers,

softwareandnetworkswitches,”in114 

donated desktop computers made its 

highschooltechnologystudents“pretty 

goodattroubleshootingproblemsand 

they caught on fast,”said Larry Conrady, 

a technology manager forDrummond.

A few hundred miles away, in the 

tinyCentralTexastownofMart, district 

TechnologyandLibraryServicesDirector 

John Luedke picked up 56 computers 

originally worth $178,000 from DLA’s 

McAlester, Oklahoma, site. Luedke 

teachesabasiccomputermaintenance 

class and said the machines would 

benefit the end users after they gave 

students hands-on learning as they 

cleaned and prepared the units for use.

“Wenormallyimageourcomputers 

andthenrunseveraltestsonthemand 

then ... check them out to students,” 

Luedkesaid.“Thisprogramis theonly 

way that I could possibly put a nice 

laptopinthehandsofmy students.My 

techbudget is low,butI feel thatwitha 

littleextraeffortandthinkingoutsidethe 

box sometimes, my students will have 

more opportunities for success. This 

programis a godsend.”

Forschoolsinterestedinsigning 

up for CFL and screening available 

property,thefirststepis tonavigate 

totheComputersforLearningtabon 

theDLADispositionServiceswebsite.

Once inside, instructions for signing 

a memorandum of agreement and

sending it to the agency will allow the 

schooltocreateanaccessaccountfor 

DLA’s online property-screening tool. 

Comprehensive instructions on account 

registration and website access are 

providedonceapplicantsareenrolled.

CFL advocates point out that any 

military unit can coordinate with its 

chainofcommandandthenmakesure 

schoolsintheirlocalarealearnhowto 

takepartintheprogram. LL

Editor’s Note –

Parts of this story were originally written by 

PaulaReynoldsandotherteachersandofficials 

atSt.KevinSchool.

TO LEARNMORE ABOUT

THEDODCOMPUTERSFORLEARNINGPROGRAM,

visit: www.dla.mil/dispositionservices/offers/reutilization/CFL

Students at St. KevinSchool in Providence, Rhode Island, test new laptop computers donated from a command at nearby 

Quonset Air National Guard Base. Computers for Learning allows DLA to help public, private and parochial schools and 

educational non-profits acquireused and excessDoD informationtechnology free of charge.

January / February 2018Photo Courtesy St. Kevin School