BY STEVE GEARY, EDITOR AT LARGE
DEFENSE
specialreport
packed with pride
There’s no magic in the
process, or the buildings,
or the technology used at
the military’s sprawling
distribution complex near
Harrisburg, Pa. It’s the ethic
that pervades the DDSP
that makes the operation
something special.
IT’S NOT TOO OFTEN THAT A SUPERVISOR IN A DISTRIBUTION CENTER
puts his life in the hands of the workers on the line.
Once a month, Master Sergeant Sean Wilson does just that.
Wilson is team leader and master rigger—a certified parachute packing specialist—on a line at the Defense Distribution Depot Susquehanna
Pennsylvania (DDSP), the military’s sprawling distribution complex near
Harrisburg, Pa. His crew packs parachutes for military use. And once a month,
Wilson takes one of those parachutes—selected randomly by somebody outside the team—boards an aircraft that takes him thousands of feet above the
base, and jumps out.
Wilson’s trust in his team, and the team’s commitment to ensuring that every
parachute is reliable, stands as testament to the ethic that pervades the DDSP
complex. At this facility, the phrase “good enough for government work”
means something far removed from the pejorative it has become over the
years. The phrase entered our lexicon during World War II, when something
that was “good enough for government work” met the most rigorous of standards: You could literally stake your life on it. And that’s precisely the standard
that employees at DDSP hold themselves to today.
Making a difference
DDSP is the headquarters location of the Defense Distribution Command,
which is the physical distribution arm of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA),
