RAF Mildenhall offers ‘cagslist’: Money-saving, supply-gaining opportunity for Air Force workcenters

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Most offices, at some time or other, will have either excess equipment or supplies they want to get rid of, or a need for the same.

Until now, those needing items such as printer cartridges, monitors or even a refrigerator for their office had to spend valuable - and limited - funds to get them, leaving even less money for other necessary office supplies and equipment.

But now, thanks to the 100th Air Refueling Wing Commander's Action Group, there is another solution - 'cagslist.'

Unique to RAF Mildenhall, cagslist is a website developed to provide RAF Mildenhall members an opportunity to advertise government-purchased equipment. The site is open and available to anyone with an Air Force equipment account, including other U.S. military bases in England.

"If (items are) just lying around the office and people want to get rid of something, they can make it available to others on base," said Capt. Adam Dalson, 100th ARW CAG.

"The idea behind it is if there is, for example, somebody in one office that needs to buy some computer monitors, before they go running up another charge on their government purchase card, they can look at 'cagslist' and see if anyone has posted anything which matches their requirements," Dalson, from Fairfax, Va., said. "If they have, the office can call dibs on it, call the people up and go and pick it up."

Capt. Jeff Lehnert, 100th ARW CAG, explained that cagslist is specifically focused on items that have been funded using a government-purchase card.

"There are specific items that are not allowed to be traded, such as anything purchased by a larger funding scheme (defense working-capital-funded), trade equipment or items specifically purchased for a particular career field, such as night-vision goggles or aircrew helmets," he said.

"Some equipment, such as information technology items with a serial number, requires special paperwork to pass it from one equipment custodian to another but can be advertised," Lehnert said.

Dalson added that the site can be used for items as small as sticky-notes or highlighters, or larger items such as an office television or refrigerator.

"A few months ago, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force announced that as an efficiency measure, unit-purchased supplies would be shared locally before they were sent back or got out-of-date," Lehnert, from Byron Center, Mich., said.

He explained that items such as printer cartridges have an expiration date, so if too many are purchased they could expire.

"Therefore, share them before they become obsolete - don't just have them sitting around," he said.

Dalson said in every office there are extra items that people don't need.

"People change offices and leave the old stuff there; new people come in and don't clean out the drawers - so who knows what's in there? This is a way to find a more suitable home for that stuff," said Dalson. "If you don't need it, we can also help people to find more appropriate ways to divest it."

Just two work-days after RAF Mildenhall's cagslist site had gone 'live', it had already found new owners for more than $180,000-worth of items (based on prices at the time of original purchase).

The CAG captains said popular items advertised so far on the site include refrigerators and items such as fencing and wire.

"As long as items are purchased by a government-purchase card, they can be listed," Dalson said. "It's easy to use, you can upload photos to it and it only takes a short while to upload item details."

Military, Department of Defense and Ministry of Defence civilians can access the site via the 100th ARW SharePoint page (only available using government computers) and search for 'cagslist.'

For more information, contact the CAG at DSN 238-3050 or e-mail 100ARW.CAG@mildenhall.af.mil.