[K3CAL] Final Fate of Surplus Tower Trailers

[N3AE]

All, 

You may recall a post about a bunch of surplus 100 ft trailer towers that were being sold by the federal government. There was a bit of outrage in the amateur radio community because the terms surplus sale demanded that these towers be cut up for scrap (de-militarized in the surplus-world parlance). I asked WHY they had to be de-militarized but never got an answer. Requirements to de-mil are perfectly justified for items like comm sets, weapons, etc, but a lattice tower available as a stock number from US Tower? 

One amateur was sufficiently upset that he wrote a letter to his congressman, who turns out to be the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee for National Defense. The congressman's reply is below. Sometimes writing your Representative DOES stir up the pot. 

OBTW ... according to the surplus property web site, these towers were sold 'as scrap' to someone for $6500 total. Maybe this will not be repeated in the future thanks to W4ABC. 

N3AE 

--------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:29:03 -0400 
From: Jon Pearl - W4ABC < jonpearl at tampabay.rr.com > 
To: Tower Talk < TowerTalk at contesting.com > 
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Towable towers available from the government 
Message-ID: < 52211CAF.1060706 at tampabay.rr.com > 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed 

...and here's the *answer* that I received, today: 

August 30, 2013 

Thank you for letting me know of your concerns regarding the way in 
which the Department of Defense (DOD) disposes of certain surplus assets 
by auctioning them to the public. As the Chairman of the Appropriations 
Subcommittee on National Defense, you can be sure that I share your 
interest in this regard and appreciate knowing your thoughts. 

The Defense Logistics Agency(DLA)Dispositions Services is charged with 
disposing ofthe U.S. military'sexcess property. According to the DOD, 
the excess property "is first offered for reutilization within the 
Department of Defense , transfer to other federal agencies, or donation 
to state and local governments andother qualified organizations." In 
2008, $2.2 billion worth of property was reutilized.DLA Disposition 
Services maintains a Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO)to coordinate 
transfers to state, local, and federal; more than 11,500 agencies in all 
50 states participate in this program. In 2011, over $500 million worth 
of equipment was transferred to law enforcement agencies. Property that 
has not been transferred or donated can be made available for purchase 
by the public. Of course, assets with military characteristics must be 
demilitarized prior to being made available to the public. 

In an effort to be of all possible assistance to you, I have taken the 
liberty of contacting Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, to share with 
him your thoughts. The Secretary has assured me that your views will be 
given serious consideration. This is a matter under careful scrutiny by 
the Congress and you can be sure that I will continue to monitor any new 
developments that occur. 

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding this matter 
of mutual concern. It is my hope that you will continue to keep me 
apprised of your interest in legislative issues important to you. 

With best wishes and personal regards, I am 


Bill Young 
Member of Congress 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/k3cal/attachments/20130905/55acd28f/attachment-0001.html>