Hector Chavez, who was in charge of inspecting government driver’s licenses and VIN numbers, talks to Command Sgt. Maj. Michael S. Cordery and WSMR Executive Director Vincent Liddiard. Next to Liddiard is Daniel P. Toole, G-4 Director who oversaw the event.

White Sands Test Center Holds Government Vehicle Rodeo

The White Sands Test Center held a Government Owned Vehicle Rodeo Oct. 10 to assess accountability for dispatching, driver’s licensing, maintenance check and condition of assigned government vehicles.

Daniel P. Toole, G-4 Director who oversaw the event, said the event was created to do a snapshot in time on how they are looking on the status of their vehicles, their drivers, dispatching and the maintenance checks for the vehicles coming through the Rodeo.

“The key to success (for this event) is participation,” Toole said.

He said they had 86 vehicles scheduled to come through the Rodeo Oct. 10 and 11 with four vehicles coming through every 30 minutes.

The vehicles went through five stations where they were being checked for the following: Station 1 checked for driver’s licenses; Station 2 checked for property dispatch; Station 3 checked for PBO where they did an inventory and made sure the vehicle was on their property book; Station 4 was a maintenance status check to make sure the vehicle is being properly maintained; and Station 5 was where they checked vehicle license plates and to see if there was any damage to the vehicle.

Employees with G3, G4, PBO, and DPW/DES assisted in the event.

Toole issued the checklists at the Check in Tent and Lucas Jaques, General Engineer, did the final check out.

“This is a command driven event and (WSMR Commander) Brig. Gen. Eric Little is supporting and emphasizing this event to get accountability for all the vehicles we have under his command,” Toole said.

Command Sgt. Maj. Michael S. Cordery said holding events such as the vehicle Rodeo are important to ensure that we are giving our employees the right equipment.

“And that they are safe and functional in order for them to accomplish the task we are asking them to do,” Cordery said.

“I think the crew here is doing a great job,” said WSMR Executive Director Vincent Liddiard. “There is a process and they have identified in a logical step how to get through each of the stations.”

He said all the operators and the equipment that comes through gets what they need in a timely fashion.

“I think the core important part here is that we are maintaining safe equipment to take care of our people,” Liddiard said.

Toole said this is the first event they’ve held like this one and they plan on making it an annual event.

“This event supports the monthly maintenance checks that are reported to the WSTC Commander Col. Shawn Smart. She does a monthly maintenance check of all the vehicles in the fleet.”

By Miriam Rodriguez

WSMR Public Affairs