Once I found out the DRMO process, I equipped every officer, Sgt, and Lt with M1949 sleeping bags, PASGT helmets with suspension, blankets (for covering dead bodies), steel folding e-tools, woodland cammie BDUs, one generation old desktops, goretex full-length cammie hooded jackets, and a host of other equipment we couldn't get through NMSP HQ. I could have had a pair of M-113 APCs, but had no way to transport them. The acquisition of near-new gear for free infuriated my chain--of-command; they made a special rule that I had to get permission from them to get more free stuff. Too late; my command area remained the best equipped in the state for years after I left. For free.

In my post-NMSP years, I got an unused UPS capable of powering our consolidated dispatch center completely for 72 hours. Also free, but the city and county appreciated this transaction. 😀