Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services personnel assisted a Navy replenishment vessel while executing their first Contingency Operations Readiness Exercise in the U.S. Territory of Guam in June.
A goal of COREX is to demonstrate how prepositioned equipment can be deployed by a team of military and civilian reverse logistics specialists to provide disposal solutions anywhere on the globe for warfighters.
USNS Tippecanoe Yeoman-Storekeeper Lawrence Goodson and Petty Officer 1st Class Marci Pollard of DLA’s Disposal Support Unit 1 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington examine Goodson’s documents as he turns in excess property to the temporary DLA Disposition Services COREX field site in Guam.
One of the first customers to stop into the temporary COREX field site to dispose of excess property was Lawrence Goodson, a yeoman-storekeeper aboard USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199). Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Marci Pollard of Disposal Support Unit 1 out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington assisted Goodson with his turn in.
Pollard said she and Goodson talked while they went through his documents and reviewed used items he was turning over.
“He was interesting,” Pollard said. “He was retired Army logistics and encouraged me and gave me some advice.”
The USNS Tippecanoe is an underway replenishment oiler the conducts replenishment operations at sea for both U.S. ships and those of partner nations.
A “replenishment at sea” with the USNS Tippecanoe and other fleet oilers can take several hours. The two ships involved cruise alongside one another while fuel and other supplies are transferred from the oiler to its customer.
“No matter if it’s an active duty ship or a member of the Military Sealift Command, DLA Disposition Services helps remove equipment no longer needed,” Goodson said.
Pollard said she was glad to be part of a team that – even while conducting an exercise – could support the Tippecanoe with prepositioned equipment so the ship could better meet its mission of keeping the Navy’s fleet fueled.