Broward County contacted the United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs about their Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program, which looks for civil-military projects that improve military readiness and address the needs of the American public. CWO Donovan Motley said that the cleanup of Osborne Reef easily met those requirements: "This project allows these military divers and Army LCU crew members' real-world training in 'wartime' salvage ops. And perhaps, more importantly, it exercises interoperability with federal, state and county agencies and these skill sets could have the most significance in the aftermath of a Katrina-type natural disaster." Beginning in June 2007, the United States military and Coast Guard began “DiveExEast 07" to ascertain the best and most efficient processes for the cleanup effort. Barring unforeseen operational commitments and engagements, military divers hope to use this project as a training platform for several years and "recover the maximum number of tires possible from day one." Coastal America, an office of the United States federal government was tasked with coordinating the cleanup of the reef; they were instrumental in finalizing the deal wherein the Florida government would allocate (equivalent to about $M in ) to cover transport and recycling of the tires. Ken Banks with the Florida DEP estimated the project to take three to five years, and while that timeline won't allow for the removal of all two million tires, it should mitigate the majority of the damage they're causing to the corals and coastline, though Banks predicted it could take decades for the reefs to rebuild. Summer 2007 saw US Navy, Army, and Coast Guard divers based out of a Coast Guard base in Dania Beach, Florida working to clean the reef. The joint team first worked to remove the tires from where they were doing the most damage, abutting against natural reefs in the area. In 2007, the recovery effort brought approximately 10,000 tires ashore. In 2008, recovery stopped after 26 days on May 24 after retrieving 43,900 tires. That year, Florida spent approximately on the cleanup, some of which constituted transport for the tires to a shredding facility in neighboring Georgia whereafter they were burnt as fuel at a paper mill. Key members of the 2008 cleanup effort were US Army Captain Russell Destremps and his 86th Engineer Dive Team; on August 10, 2009, they were presented with the 2008 Coastal America Partnership Award and a letter