SHORTCUTTING COLD STORAGE


and Kosovo. Because he became aware of the plan for the excess aircraft before they were transported to a depot, he was able to divert many of them to Redstone Arsenal, where USASAC coor- dinated sustainment maintenance and shipped them directly to U.S. allies at a fraction of the costs, all funded by partner nations.


Not only did U.S. taxpayers net a huge savings, said Williams, but so did partner nations that avoided the costs of reconstituting the aircraft out of storage and preparing them for flight operations.


Williams called the cost avoidance a no-brainer. But it was a game changer, he said, to gain approval from the Army and AMC to participate during the planning for most Army force moderniza- tion and divestiture actions.


ARMY SURPLUS


Excess M1117 Armored Security Vehicles travel in July from Kaiserslautern, Germany, to Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. (Photo by USASAC)


Te cost of transporting, storing and demilitarizing excess equip- ment at U.S. depots is astonishing, numbers that taxpayers would find hard to comprehend, he said.


When the Army retired the OH-58 Kiowa, a highly successful helicopter that saw service from Vietnam to Operation Desert Storm and beyond, most of them were scheduled to be moth- balled at the U.S. military’s aviation boneyard, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.


“Te scenario was to take 300 Kiowas—about $3 billion worth of aircraft—spend Army funds to fly them to the desert and put them in storage for eventual demil,” Williams said. “It costs $35,000 each to bubble wrap them for extended storage and an [unknown] figure for final demil. Tere were also about $250 million worth of Kiowa spare parts—some of them brand new transmissions, engines and blades. Te cost to cut up these spare parts was another $4 million, so you can see the projected costs. But wait, I had partner nations who wanted these aircraft and the spare parts right away.”


BETTER OFF ALOFT Williams identified 110 of the Kiowas and divested them through USASAC’s excess defense articles program to Greece, Tunisia


“Tink about it. If I’m aware that the Army is getting a new rifle in 2025, my question is where are the current rifles going? What are the cascading plans and costs?” said Williams. “Because, by the time the military gets rid of an item, they have been talking about the current item and its replacement for six to eight years or more. In that time, I can check partner nation demand signals and have everything lined up before the rifle ever leaves the unit arms room. We can coordinate the money, training and spare parts, support and sustainment—everything we need to success- fully execute a case.”


BLIND NO MORE But without visibility, Williams said that the EDA is behind the game every time, at a huge cost to the U.S. Army and taxpay- ers. “Not to mention missed opportunities to build cost-effective partner-nation capacity."


Williams now sits in on the biannual Army Modernization and Equipping Conference and the monthly total equipment


TITLES, EXPLAINED


Title 22 funds are appropriated to the State Depart- ment, and are often transferred to DOD to execute security assistance programs including foreign mili- tary sales and the Excess Defense Articles program.


Title 10 funds are appropriated to DOD and are intended for operations and maintenance of the U.S. military.


108


Army AL&T Magazine


Fall 2021


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