# DLA Director promotes agency to military logistics professionals

/ Published Oct. 20, 2016

Defense Logistics Agency Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch wants more military logisticians, especially those in the prime of their careers, to think of DLA as a desirable and career-enhancing place to serve. He promoted the idea in remarks before an audience of mostly Air Force logistics professionals at the Logistics Officer Association Symposium at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Oct. 12. 

“My goal is to create opportunities and to make DLA a place where logistics readiness officers want to go and are sent regularly as part of their development. It’s very important to me,” Busch said. “We are creating additional command opportunities, and we will return joint-qualified officers with command experience to the services.”

Busch’s goal extends to non-commissioned officers as well. “If you are fortunate enough to get an NCO back at the E-7 or E-8 level who spent time at DLA, you have an NCO that is superbly trained to operate at a level above his or her peers,” he said.

Currently, 1,122 military personnel, including 590 reservists, serve at DLA out of more than 26,000 employees.

Busch spoke of his own experience as an aircraft maintenance officer and coming to DLA for the first time as a lieutenant colonel. At first, he felt disappointed to have been assigned to DLA, but he quickly shifted his attitude. 

“When I got to DLA, I realized how little I knew about the scope of what DLA does and what the joint logistics enterprise is at a national level,” he said. 

Busch delivered an overview of the agency, describing its mission, its divisions and its place in the overall Department of Defense logistics enterprise. 

One of the highlights of the presentation occurred when Busch described DLA’s support to U.S. government agencies and partner militaries. He showed the group recent photos of DLA support to the U.S. Forest Service during wildfires in the Western United States and to the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the recent floods in Louisiana. 

He also described DLA’s support to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of State during the refugee crisis in Iraq and Syria. He showed photos of DLA activities in Haiti in support of victims of Hurricane Matthew and of the agency’s work in Iraq, supporting the Kurdish peshmerga in their fight against the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Busch concluded by discussing leadership in the joint environment. He stressed the ability to be flexible when working with other services. 

“Working in the joint environment is not about being rigid in the ways of your service,” he said. “The joint environment is about being flexible in doing things differently and being part of the team.”
The Logistics Officer Association was founded in 1982 as the Maintenance Officer Association, serving mainly Air Force personnel. In 1999, the MOA membership voted to become the Logistics Officer Association and expanded its scope to include supply, transportation, logistics plans and contracting. Although its membership is still heavily Air Force, LOA welcomes members from all the services to its nearly 80 active chapters.