Had a very similer experience back in January when I recovered my first MV from Barstow. The only difference was that when I checked the brakes, the pedal wnt to the floor. Had a broken brake line on the front rear axle. Went to Kragen in Barstow, bought a new brake line, installed bleed brakes and drove her home.
Tim is actually a very nice guy. I have been to Barstow several times, as recently as yesterday morning, and have talked to him quite a bit. He mentioned the subject of cutting locks during our conversation, and had a very good reason for doing so. It seems that the military doesn't always check out the equipment very well, and GL has found some very inappropriate stuff in trucks, containers, etc. If the truck has a lock on it, the military has not done an inspection. If something goes out that isn't suppose to go out, GL gets blamed.
We also discussed the use of forklifts to load/unload vehicles (pickups, CUCVs)(driveshaft & body damage), a subject that was a hot item on this forum not too long ago. The complaints to GL must have worked real well, because he said that his boss had stated that she would write up anyone she saw using a forklift to lift a vehicle.
Congradualation on the recovery DUG!