Lower than 24 hours after the Federal Emergency Administration Company project dropped, the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution’s Expeditionary Team advance crew crew was on the street to Maxwell Air Pressure Base in Montgomery, Alabama, arriving earlier than dawn Sept. 25. Extra DLA Distribution’s deployable groups, DDXX as they’re referred to as, from San Joaquin, California, arrived the following day to arrange a FEMA federal incident help base in preparation for Hurricane Ian’s landfall.
“The DDXX San Joaquin crew by no means disappoints. I am at all times impressed by their work ethic and can-do angle. When FEMA’s mission assignments drop, they drop all the pieces at a second’s discover to do what they do finest — obtain and difficulty provides to help storm victims,” Military Lt. Col. Ed Strzalkowski, DDXX commander, stated.
Over the following two weeks, together with per week of 24/7 operations, roughly 30 DDXX teammates processed greater than 800 trailers full of greater than 13 million objects, together with water, meals, plastic sheeting, tarps, cots, blankets, hygiene kits and different FEMA-requested provides. The crew additionally processed and staged trailers by commodity, then ready outbound shipments destined for Florida areas hardest hit by Hurricane Ian.
For greater than 15 of DLA Distribution’s 25 years, DDXX has labored with FEMA, U.S. Northern Command and state and native officers to help federal catastrophe response. DLA’s help started with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when FEMA acknowledged DLA’s distinctive functionality for procuring and delivering large-scale commodities, an efficient software in catastrophe reduction efforts. FEMA and DLA subsequently signed a proper settlement designating DLA as a supply for varied provides and companies, together with a deployable depot to handle and function FEMA incident help bases. The settlement offers DLA the pliability to pre-position materials earlier than storms make landfall to make sure speedy motion of vital provides.
The DDXX groups, situated at each DLA Distribution San Joaquin, California, and DLA Distribution Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, stay on standby to help humanitarian help and army contingencies. DDXX has the distinctive skill to deploy on quick discover into austere environments, whereas offering sources which aren’t available in different federal businesses or the non-public sector.