Posted by DRMO is on March 03, 2004 at 13:24:43:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Military band instruments posted by What is... on March 03, 2004 at 12:33:01:
..the Defense Reutilization Management Office; and overarching agency within the DOD (Department of Defense) which handles supplies and equipment rendered obsolete or excess. Much of it, for obvious reasons, is trash best used as scrap. Some, such as chimical defense overgarments past their shelf life date get bought up by enthusiatic outlet stores and marketed as hunting outfits, other stuff is brand new pieces of gear that was originally stored as a reserve stock and has now been rendered redundant by the introduction of a new design. Brand new whatevers. Some stuff is so beat that you have difficulty discerning what it was in the first place. A lot of the electronic gear is probably OK but absolutely useless except as a curiosity; originally a componoent in one of endless sets of radio/radar/COMSEC you-name-it- applications the lone piece is simply a commplex apparatus in search of a function which has no applicability. All classified/ military weaponry type items are supposed to be demilitarized (mortar tubes, rifles, other items seemingly at random....). In my youth a a LT in Germany we "demilitarized" much of the gear by driving over it with an M88 ( a large tracked vehicle designed to act as a wrecker for tanks). We had to cut it out though; running over the jeeps (deemed a rollover hazard and to dangerous to sell- go figure) tore up the rubber pads on the tracks.....
Henry