National Guard Lockers Cut Uniform Losses

When they weren’t on duty, members of the North Carolina National Guard used to keep their uniforms and equipment at their homes. There were no lockers in the armories, and it seemed simple enough for soldiers to store their gear at home. But when soldiers went AWOL, or left the service, or moved away, their valuable uniforms and equipment often went with them. Adding to the loss, each instance of missing gear required a costly formal investigation. Altogether the Guard was losing $4 to $5 million in uniforms, equipment, and investigation costs.

The simple solution proposed by a Special Projects Team: Install lockers in the armories. When soldiers leave, for whatever reason, their uniforms and equipment stay behind in the locker. The savings would add up quickly. But this raised another question – was there sufficient room in the Guard’s seventy-seven armory buildings to install lockers? As the team analyzed the available storage space, they came up with some unexpected locker locations involving firing ranges and shipping containers. Read the full story at http://1.usa.gov/1IzWO3k .

Photo © Burlingham – Fotolia