# ASOC team keeps eye on everyday operations, future needs

/ Published Jan. 4, 2024
FORT BELVOIR, Va., 
A hub created four years ago to fuse global support and business operations at the Defense Logistics Agency is living up to its name.

The Agency Synchronization Operations Center coordinates the efforts of DLA regional commands, major subordinate commands, and DLA Headquarters elements to provide oversight and a unified view of operations. Members of the 24/7 center monitor support and anticipate requirements whether they’re for warfighters with urgent needs such as support to Ukraine and Israel, in response to whole-of-government missions like natural disaster response, or to support Defense Department humanitarian efforts.

                231219-D-HE260-1002                            Members of the Defense Logistics Agency’s Agency Synchronization Operations Center pose for a group photo on the ASOC watch floor at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Photo by Chris Lynch            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Chris LynchVIRIN: 231219-D-HE260-1002The center is the vision of former DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams, who said during a ribbon cutting in November 2019 that that the ASOC would enable the agency to provide the best support possible. ASOC Deputy Director Marcus Bowers said Williams’ vision is now a reality, and the ASOC supports all aspects of DLA’s mission.

“The unique knowledge and capabilities built into the ASOC team are the special elements that allow business integration to align and mutually support operations while managing deployment activities and future operations planning,” he said.

The ASOC is staffed by a wide range of commodity experts and desk officers from DLA's six MSCs and DLA Headquarters directorates; DLA national account managers for each service; and liaisons to combatant commands, regional commands, and WOG partners like the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“Any time there’s a critical ask from, say, the joint staff or secretary of defense, the ASOC can get answers very quickly and very succinctly at the expert level. Our goal is to translate incoming requirements and get them to the right people, so we provide a fully coordinated response that gives us a common view of the agency’s operations,” said Nick Staufer, a strategic planner and desk officer assigned to the ASOC from DLA Land and Maritime.

Some may think of the ASOC as an obscure command and control room where employees track data on large-screen monitors and battle captains collect requests for information. While those things do happen in Room 0327 of the McNamara Headquarters Complex, the ASOC isn’t just a “watch floor,” said Marine Corps Maj. Michael Doss, chief of the ASOC’s Current Operations Team.

“It’s so much more than that, and we have four divisions that all work together to synchronize priorities, both from the watch floor and other parts of the building,” Doss said.

**Four teams, one mission**

The ASOC’s four divisions focus on different facets of DLA’s mission: current operations, deployment operations, business integration and future operations.

                231219-D-HE260-1022                            Leaders of the Defense Logistics Agency’s Agency Synchronization Operations Center pose for a picture on the watch floor. Left to right: Marcus Bowers, ASOC deputy director; Army Col. BJ Hill, ASOC director; and Marine Corps Maj. Michael Doss, current operations chief. Photo by Chris Lynch            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Chris LynchVIRIN: 231219-D-HE260-1022The Current Operations Team is operationally and regionally focused. It includes desk officers from DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM, DLA Europe & Africa, and DLA Indo-Pacific, as well as liaison officers to U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command. The group handles requests for information, commonly called RFIs, that arrive almost daily from DLA members and customers looking for data on everything from the location of supplies to whether the agency can fulfill an emergency order.

“RFIs are a major part of the workflow as we push information out and collect it from the MSCs and regional commands. They also pertain to external information that needs to go to the joint staff or our whole-of-government partners, such as the Department of Homeland Security,” said Army Lt. Col. Sims Smith, ASOC information management officer.

The Current Ops Team works from the ASOC floor alongside the Business Integration Team, which includes MSC reps and liaisons from DLA Headquarters directorates all working to fuse business processes with operations.

“DLA has 27,000-plus employees between its headquarters and MSCs, so having all these representatives together at the ASOC essentially gives us full reach-back capability to all of the staffs that support our various supply chains, regardless of where in the world they’re located,” Staufer said.  

The Deployment Operations Team oversees the deployment of military and civilian employees from around the agency by providing training and guidance to Rapid Deployment Teams and Deployment Support Teams. There are three RDTs on rotating standby to deploy at a moment's notice for up to 45 days. DSTs are designed to serve six months in support of servicemembers around the world. Teams have deployed to Kuwait, Romania, Poland, Iraq, Qatar and Jordan.

The Future Operations Team is the ASOC’s newest branch. It was created to mirror the joint staff and bridge efforts between DLA planners and the current operations group. The group focuses on near-term planning plus developing courses of action for crises and contingencies. It also creates orders through the Joint Operations Planning Process for operations to be executed by DLA. As the U.S. government began providing equipment to Ukraine, for example, the Future Operations Team zeroed in on the eventual need for repair parts.

“Knowing those requirements were coming, we translated them into a business case for DLA, and with the approval of DLA leaders, that turned into a workflow with the workforce buying these parts and stocking the shelves so we had the material when it was needed,” Staufer said.

                231219-D-HE260-1038                            This map in the Defense Logistics Agency’s Agency Synchronization Operations Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, depicts operations around the globe. Photo by Chris Lynch            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: Chris LynchVIRIN: 231219-D-HE260-1038Doss added that the ASOC team is about a 50/50 blend of DLA civilians and servicemembers. Much of the military staff is from the DLA Joint Reserve Force, and mobilized reservists typically pull night and weekend shifts.

“We rely so heavily on them. We just couldn’t do it without them,” said Doss, who is active duty.

Army Col. BJ Hill, ASOC director, emphasized the center's value to DLA and its customers.

“If the ASOC didn’t exist, you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody to synchronize the massive amount of information that flows through the agency, much less consolidate it into a refined response,” he said. “We’re the belly button of DLA, and without the ASOC we’d lose our status as a trusted mission partner for our warfighters and the nation.”