DLA saves Army millions with Italy in-country MRAP demilitarization

The Defense Logistics Agency's property disposal team in Italy is aiming to destroy nearly 90 hulking mine resistant ambush-protected vehicles by the fall and save the U.S. Army big dollars in the process.

Between 2007 and 2012, the U.S. government ordered production of nearly 28,000 MRAPs in more than two dozen styles and configurations. The vehicles were generally praised by service members for their V-shaped hulls that provided extra protection from roadside improvised explosive devices to coalition personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. But as a rapid acquisition program, there was no long-term plan to keep and maintain a costly fleet of that size. Most of the nation's MRAP inventory was later declared excess, with thousands of vehicles approved for transfer to countries like Poland, Croatia, and the United Arab Emirates, and hundreds more loaned by DLA to law enforcement agencies for uses varying from active shooter response to high-water storm rescues. Thousands of additional vehicles that were not repurposed have been dismantled and demilitarized under the watchful eye of DLA Disposition Services.

The 405th Army Field Support Brigade operates from locations across Europe, including a specialized battalion at Leghorn Army Depot in Livorno that supports warfighters in Africa. According to the Army, AFSBn-Africa provides and coordinates the receipt, transfer, storage, and maintenance of Army Prepositioned Stocks and Operational Project Stocks in the European theater to enable commanders with immediate access to combat-ready equipment in support of U.S. Army Europe and Africa requirements. When the battalion identified 88 MRAPs that had been stored at Leghorn for more than 15 years as excess equipment requiring demilitarization, several challenging issues emerged that stopped a disposal plan in its tracks.

Danny Boatner serves as the area manager for DLA's property disposal hub in Aviano, Italy. He said the Army's initial directive was to demilitarize the MRAPs alongside other U.S. Army equipment at a facility in Germany. But that possibility was complicated by the vehicles' designation as "weapons of war" that would require escort by Italian authorities through multiple nations and cost the Army an estimated half million dollars per vehicle, or about $44 million total to ship to their final destination.

"Logistically, it would have been a nightmare and very expensive," Boatner said, noting that an alternate plan for demilitarizing the vehicles on site in Livorno was rejected by local officials due to concerns about potential residue contamination reaching a nearby waterway.

In 2025, Boatner said his team convinced Army leadership to amend their directive and allow for MRAP delivery to DLA's Aviano Air Base site. With the authority to accept the property locally secured, the team simultaneously worked its connections with Italian customs officials and received permission to bypass Aviano and deliver the MRAPs directly from Leghorn to a regional DLA scrap contract holder located in San Stino di Livenza where monitored demilitarization could proceed.

"Our operations staff played a major role in building relationships and clearly communicating our intent to Italian customs authorities," said DLA Disposition Services Aviano Operations Supervisor Angela Sakryd. "This was a case of having the right people in the right positions at the right time."

Boatner said the goal is to complete demilitarization of Leghorn Army Depots' excess MRAPs by October. The current transportation costs are estimated to be less than $3,000 per vehicle, which he called "a huge savings."