**Editor's Note: This is part two of a series of articles regarding DLA Disposition Services Anniston. The first story appeared in the March 26 issue of TRACKS.

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- DLA Disposition Service's Centralized Demil Division is tasked with an important job -- making sure sensitive property or equipment don't wind up in the wrong hands.

"The items we destroy can be as small as an aircraft bolt or as large as a tank," said Gail Haas, deputy chief for the demilitarization center located at Anniston Army Depot.

Most items made specifically for the military contain components which must be destroyed once the property or equipment is no longer required. For military bases and units located throughout the Eastern United States, that means coordinating disposal and destruction through the Centralized Demil Division located at ANAD.

The demilitarization center utilizes two contractors -- one which handles all rolling stock, anything on wheels, and one which destroys everything else.

To render the various items unusable for their intended purposes, shredding, which grinds small items into even smaller, indistinguishable pieces; torch cutting; and shearing with large, scissor-like blades attached to a crane are used.

"The shears can cut vehicles in half," said Haas.

Not everything received at the demil center is destroyed however. Though, the center is each item's last hope for finding a home before it's cut into thousands of pieces.

Equipment which may have some life left in it, or may be of use at another military organization or with law enforcement is listed in a database for a short window of time. If it isn't requisitioned, it is then demilitarized.

Though contractors do the work, DLA employees are there at every step of the process to ensure the property is properly labeled, sent to the appropriate location for destruction and, once it has been reduced to scrap, to verify none of the pieces are recognizable or are able to be used for its intended purpose.

Any pieces identified as too large or too recognizable must go back through the cutting process until they are completely reduced to scrap.

The center has also adapted to the needs of war fighters overseas. To reduce the amount of items no longer needed which are shipped back to the continental U.S. from Southwest Asia, the men and women of DLA Disposition are often called upon to deploy with mobile demilitarization centers.

"We do the same operation there as we do here, to support the troops with their excess property," said Haas.

Once in theatre, these employees team with Soldiers, Sailors and Marines to ensure all items slated for destruction are properly broken down.

This often requires training. As a result, reservists regularly learn demilitarization operations at Anniston DLA Disposition site, training to use the plasma cutters and other equipment necessary to properly dispose of military property, while ensuring it cannot be used by the nation's enemies.

The demil center actually has two locations on ANAD. One, collocated with DLA Disposition's reutilization organization and one located in the heart of the installation's Nichols Industrial Complex.

There, a shredder known as Captain Crunch is called upon to destroy all weapons slated for demilitarization.

Serialization is vital to the small arms demil mission. Each weapon must be checked to verify its history -- from the time it came off the assembly line -- to ensure the correct weapon is being destroyed. Once that is done, notations are made in the Army's system that the weapon bearing that number no longer exists.