DLA saves the Army millions by demilitarizing MRAPs in Italy

U.S. defense logisticians in Italy are moving to dismantle and demilitarize 88 Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles that have sat for more than 15 years at Leghorn Army Depot in Livorno, aiming to complete the work by October and avoid tens of millions of dollars in potential shipping and escort costs, according to Defense Logistics Agency officials.

The United States bought nearly 28,000 MRAPs between 2007 and 2012 in multiple configurations to counter roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Much of that fleet was later declared excess; many vehicles were transferred to foreign partners such as Poland, Croatia, and the United Arab Emirates, others were loaned to U.S. law enforcement for missions ranging from active-shooter response to flood rescues, and thousands have been dismantled under DLA oversight.

The 405th Army Field Support Brigade’s Africa battalion, based at Leghorn, determined the 88 vehicles required demilitarization, but an early disposal plan quickly ran into obstacles. Danny Boatner, the area manager for DLA’s property disposal hub in Aviano, said the Army initially directed that the MRAPs be processed at a facility in Germany. That option would have required escorted movement by Italian authorities across multiple borders at an estimated cost of about $500,000 per vehicle — roughly $44 million in total. “Logistically, it would have been a nightmare and very expensive,” he said. A proposal to do the work in Livorno was declined by local officials over concerns that residue could reach a nearby waterway.

Boatner said that in 2025 his team secured a change in direction allowing delivery to DLA’s Aviano Air Base site. At the same time, DLA worked with Italian customs officials to permit direct shipment from Leghorn to a regional scrap contractor in San Stino di Livenza, where the vehicles can be demilitarized under monitoring. “Our operations staff played a major role in building relationships and clearly communicating our intent to Italian customs authorities,” said Angela Sakryd, DLA Disposition Services Aviano operations supervisor. “This was a case of having the right people in the right positions at the right time.”

Current transportation costs are estimated at under $3,000 per vehicle, which Boatner called “a huge savings.”