THE PACIFIC ISSUE

ENERGY SOURCE

Defense Logistics Agency Energy FALL 2015
2 www.energy.dla.mil 3

Front cover by: Jonathan Stack 

Back cover by: Courtesy Graphic

Commander

Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark McLeod

Deputy Commander

George Atwood

Chief of Staff

Navy Cmdr. Jason Bridges

Public Affairs Officer

Irene Smith

Editor

Jonathan Stack

Writing Staff

Tanekwa Bournes

Christopher Goulait

Elizabeth Stoeckmann

Layout/Design

Jonathan Stack

Address correspondence to:

ATTN: DLA Energy-DCA

8725 John J. Kingman Rd.

Suite 4950

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6222

Commercial: 703-767-4108

Address email to:

EnergySourceMagazine@dla.mil

Energy Source l FALL 2015

Energy Source is an official publication distributed by and for the Defense Logistics 

Agency Energy and energy-oriented clientele. Contents of this publication are not 

necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, Department 

of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency or Defense Logistics Agency Energy. 

Energy Source is prepared by desktop publishing applications. 

Photos not credited are courtesy of DLA Energy sources.

from the commander

Energy Source

Since it was “from whence I came,” the Pacific has been 

one of the principle focus areas during my time as the 

Defense Logistics Agency Energy commander. Given all 

that’s going on in the region lately, I look for that trend to 

continue for the foreseeable future. 

Two years have now passed since we assumed the strategic 

bulk fuel and quality control missions on Okinawa 

from the Army’s 505th Quartermaster Battalion. As 

the only DLA Energy-operated defense fuel support 

point in the Pacific, our Okinawa team supports all 

Department of Defense activities on island, and manages 

U.S. Pacific Command’s war reserves as well. Their 

flawless performance over this entire period is about to 

be enhanced even further with the introduction of new 

Enterprise Business System software designed to help 

manage plant operations.

Guam was the first location to covert to JA/JA1 aviation 

fuel, because of its unique distribution network with the 

island’s major end-user, Andersen Air Force Base. What 

we learned there during the transition set the stage for 

follow-on successes in Alaska, the current conversion in 

Hawaii, and upcoming efforts in both Japan and Korea. 

Guam also has seen significant investment in a new fuel 

pipeline, currently under construction, and new storage 

capacity with our commercial partners. 

Brig. Gen. Mark McLeod, USAF

Defense Logistics Agency Energy

In the rest of the 

theater, we are having 

substantive discussions 

with our partners in 

Australia and Japan to 

establish collaborative 

storage, use and contract 

arrangements which 

will further enhance 

warfighter capability and 

resilience, and also reduce 

overall costs. Additional 

capabilities are also being 

set up in Kwajalein, 

and modernization and 

resiliency efforts are set to 

begin at the Red Hill Fuel 

Storage Facility in Hawaii, 

in fiscal year 2016. The 

one other dynamic that 

is happening as a result of all the great work by our DLA 

Energy Pacific Energy is that the lessons learned in this 

theater are now being applied to all the other combatant 

commands. 

Rebalancing fuel capabilities to the Pacific, which 

began over a year ago with the PACOM fuel wargame, is 

addressing every strategic fuel capability requirement 

in the theater. My thanks to the entire team – from the 

region all the way back to the headquarters – for this 

phenomenal effort supporting the warfighter. 

CONTENTS

Features

4 Untiring Exercise Support

Okinawa Two Years Later

Guam Leads Jet A Conversion

Ulchi Freedom Guardian 

Sections

A Place Of Honor

One Face

Continued Rebalance

ENERGY

WE ARE DLA

8

10

14

20

24

27

20

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4 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 5

DLA Energy Pacific

Untiring Exercise Support

Supporting the warfighter takes 

consistent, coordinated and 

concerted planning in order to 

provide seamless execution, for exercises or contingencies.

When it comes to exercises in the 

Pacific region, it’s 24/7 for Defense 

Logistics Agency Energy.

“We have a constant exercise cycle 

here in the Pacific,” said DLA Energy 

Pacific Operations Associate Director 

Ralph Wells. “We’re usually building up for one, drawing down from 

another ... and often more than just 

one.”

For example, during the month of 

August, Energy Pacific had been active 

across half the globe with exercises: 

ramping up for Amphibious Landing 

Exercise in the Philippines, wrapping up a second Philippines exercise, 

provisioning Red Flag Alaska, monitoring Pacific Pathways and augmenting both Pacific Sentry in Hawaii and 

Ulchi Freedom Guardian in South 

Korea. 

“The operational tempo in the Energy Pacific ensures we focus on the 

warfighter and directly implement the 

director’s strategic goal to place the 

By Elizabeth Stoeckmann

Marines disembark an MV-22 Osprey on the flight deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown during a 

personnel transfer for Amphibious Landing Exercise 2015. Regardless of where the warfighters are operating or exercising in 

the Pacific area of responsibility, DLA Energy Pacific provides fuel when and where they need it. Photo by Navy Petty Officer 

2nd Class Amanda Gray
Energy’s Operations Center at the 

McNamara Headquarters Complex, 

Fort Belvoir, Virginia, learned this 

first-hand during their deployment 

to Hawaii, he added. 

Similarly, Energy Pacific supported 

UFG through training and fuel 

coordination. This exercise served 

as the capstone event for all service 

components to demonstrate their 

ability to defend the Republic of Korea in mutual cooperation with their 

Republic of Korea counterparts.

“DLA Energy’s role in the largest 

computer-aided exercise in the 

world is to leverage multiple capabilities to simultaneously support 

joint force requirements,” said DLA 

Energy Pacific at Korea Commander 

Army Lt. Col. Wheeler Manning.

“The significance of Pacific Sentry 

and UFG are tied together as they 

build upon each other and they 

provide the combatant commander 

and sub-unified commanders the 

opportunity to make hard decisions, 

test assumptions and practice plans 

in an exercise environment,” said 

DLA Energy Pacific Commander 

Navy Capt. Christopher Bower.

Exercises specifically allow the organization to strengthen relationships, 

inform new customers of its capabilities and services offered, and 

most importantly, allow improvements to be made to better support 

the warfighter, he added.

“Regardless of where the warfighters are operating or exercising in 

the Pacific area of responsibility, 

they need fuel,” Bower said. “Energy 

Pacific works tirelessly to get them 

a quality product when and where 

they need it.”

In this manner, he said the region 

lives DLA Energy’s vision – supporting combatant commanders, 

providing fuel around the world, 

and deploying side-by-side with its 

customers. 

6 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 7

DLA Energy Pacific

warfighter first,” said DLA Energy Pacific Director of Customer Operations Ron Nelson. “We routinely communicate 

with our customers, and we know their mission success 

heavily depends on fuel being available when promised.” 

In order to provide the best possible support, Energy Pacific leaders said they send a customer operations representative to the final planning exercise workshops to foster 

relationships and explain capabilities and constraints to 

better develop a support and sustainment plan of action to 

assist for a successful exercise.

“Energy Pacific strategically engages with the customer 

throughout the entire planning and execution process by 

interacting with U.S. participating forces, international 

and industry partners, or reaching back to headquarters,” 

said DLA Energy Pacific Operations Chief Stewart Clarke. 

“These efforts all help to align Energy’s initiatives for better results.”

While Energy Pacific works directly with the customers for 

exercises planning, they also deliver fuel from its defense 

fuel support points or international partners.

Specifically, Red Flag Alaska included more than 80 different aircraft from seven participating countries. The 

training focused on simulated combat integration of international forces in a realistic threat environment designed 

to improve interoperability. Over 1,400 sorties were flown, 

using more than 2.4 million gallons of jet fuel provided 

by DLA Energy’s DFSP partners at both Eielson Air Force 

Base and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. 

Also, Orient Shield, a component of Pacific Pathways, 

has the option to obtain fuel from a DLA Energy international partner such as the government of Japan through a 

fuel exchange agreement. Focused on developing tactical 

interoperability under field conditions, this battalion-level 

exercise involves the Army and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. In 2014, for example, this agreement supplied 

30,000 gallons of jet fuel.

Besides fuel, Energy Pacific also provides personnel to augment on-the-ground staff for exercises or contingencies. 

In one instance, during Pacific Sentry, Energy Pacific assisted the U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Petroleum office 

in the Logistics, Engineering and Security Cooperation 

directorate in identifying procedures and developing preparatory roles.

“The strategic movement of fuel around the world’s largest 

ocean is no small feat; it takes organization and collaboration to make the provisioning appear seamless,” said 

DLA Energy Eastern Pacific Subarea Petroleum Officer Air 

Force Maj. Tyson Daw.

Hence, the civilians and reservists who came from DLA 

An amphibious assault vehicle, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, departs the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown during 

PHIBLEX15. DLA Energy Pacific has a constant exercise cycle in the Pacific focusing 

on the warfighter and the director’s strategic goals. PHIBLEX15 is an annual bilateral 

training exercise conducted with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Photo by Navy 

Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Gray

A Republic of Korea Air Force F-16D Fighting Falcon taxis prior to launch at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Aug. 4. DLA 

Energy Pacific provided more than 2.4 million gallons of jet fuel in Red Flag-Alaska 15-3, a Pacific Air Forces commanderdirected field training exercise for U.S. and partner nation forces, providing combined offensive counter-air, interdiction, close 

air support and large force employment training in a simulated combat environment. Photo by Air Force 1st Lt. Elias Zani
DLA Energy Pacific

8 www.energy.dla.mil 9

The Defense Logistics Agency Energy supported 

Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2015 before and during 

the cooperative South Korean exercise through 

training and fuel coordination.

Energy Source l FALL 2015

Ulchi Freedom Guardian 

By Christopher Goulait DLA Energy Pacific at Korea provided U.S. and Republic of 

Korea forces familiarization training prior to Ulchi Freedom Guardian and fuel support throughout the multinational training exercise that took place Aug. 17 - 28.

Servicemembers augmenting forces involved in the exercise learned from DLA Energy Pacific at Korea’s subject 

matter experts to get up to speed on their fuel-related duties. After training, augments provided additional capacity 

and talent to sustain continuous operations, manage distribution, perform quality analysis and monitor inventory 

processes, explained Air Force Capt. Andrew Gill, plans 

and operations officer for DLA Energy Pacific at Korea.

“Familiarization training includes DLA Energy’s role in 

the Korean theater, defined objectives, command relationships vital to our mission and our responsibility to ensure 

United States Forces Korea can ‘fight tonight,’” Gill said.

Once the Ulchi Freedom Guardian kicked off Aug. 

17, DLA Energy’s role shifted to fuel coordination.

“At first glance, our role appears deceptively 

simple: ensure warfighters have the right fuel in 

the right amounts at the right place at the right 

time,” said Army Lt. Col. Wheeler Manning, commander of DLA Energy Pacific at Korea. 

Fuel movements across the theater are coordinated to use every means of distribution available, 

including ocean tankers, pipelines, tank trucks 

and contingency contracts, Manning said.

“DLA Energy Pacific at Korea maintains a methodical balance between the science of forecasting requirements and the art of anticipating 

changes in demand signals to effectively manage 

bulk fuel operations,” he added.

Though similar to another annual Koreancentered exercise, Key Resolve, Ulchi Freedom 

Guardian is unique in scope, Gill said.

“Ulchi Freedom Guardian serves as the capstone 

event for all service components to demonstrate 

their ability to defend the Republic of Korea in 

mutual cooperation with their ROK counterparts,” he explained. “It’s the largest computeraided exercise in the world, and combines the 

intricate details of wartime planning with simulated real-time battle tracking for operational 

mission support.”

A high turnover of service members, with many 

only serving for a year in Korea, also sets Ulchi 

Freedom Guardian apart. This requires ongoing mission analysis to validate plans and shape 

future mission support during each exercise, Gill 

said.

DLA Energy’s role in this exercise is important 

because of the capabilities of the organization and 

the people that make that possible, Manning said.

“No other organization has the tools, experience 

and expertise that DLA Energy brings to the 

table,” he said. “DLA Energy has the unmatched 

ability to leverage multiple capabilities to simultaneously support joint force requirements.”

The agency’s worldwide contracting and distribution network gives USFK the latitude to synchronize actions for the respective forces operating 

across the peninsula, Manning said.

The DLA Energy Pacific at Korea team also plays 

a role.

“Organizationally, DLA Energy brings incredible 

capabilities to bear, but its true strength lies in its 

incredible workforce,” Manning said. “Composed 

primarily of active duty military, prior-service 

Department of Defense civilians and Korean 

national workers, DLA Energy Pacific at Korea is 

able to harness their passion, insight and inventiveness to create a team that is more than simply 

the sum of its parts.”

Marines parachute out of an MV-22B Osprey on Oshima Island, Okinawa, Japan, 

during exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian. DLA Energy supported the exercise 

through training and fuel coordination. Photo by Marine Lance Corporal Hernan 

Vidana 
DLA Energy Pacific

10 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 11

Leading the way, Defense Logistics Agency Energy 

Pacific at Guam can brag about being the ideal test 

location for Jet A conversion on a living paradise 

island in the Pacific Ocean.

The 30-mile island was chosen as the first location in the 

Pacific to convert to JA/JA1 because of its unique, small 

and closed-fuel distribution network that provides aviation 

fuel to the island’s major end user, Andersen Air Force 

Base. 

Meanwhile, over the last couple of years, DLA Energy 

fuel procurement actions have converted from buying Jet 

Propellant 8 fuel to the more common and commercially 

available Jet A aviation fuel.

“The differences are simple,” said Joy Griffith, DLA Energy 

Pacific at Guam deputy director. “Essentially Jet A performs about the same as JP8 with the same additives 

and saves everyone money.”

Specifically, JP8 is a grade of aviation fuel produced to 

military specifications that includes several additives such 

as fuel system icing inhibitor, static dissipater additive and 

corrosion inhibitor.

Unlike JP8, Jet A is a commercial grade of aviation fuel 

that is predominately made and used by commercial aircraft in the continental U.S.

Similarly, JA1 is the same fuel as 

Jet A, but predominately made 

and used by commercial aircraft 

outside the continental U.S. 

Therefore, other than the 

inclusion 

Guam Leads Jet A Conversion

By Elizabeth Stoeckmann of additivies, JA1 is the closest to meeting the military 

specifications of JP8, Griffith said.

Also, JA1 has the same freeze point as JP8 which is minus 

47 degrees Celsius, while the freeze point of Jet A is only 

minus 40 degrees Celsius. Therefore, when JA1 is additized with FSII, SDA and CI it is routinely called JP8; 

hence, this is not the case with additized Jet A. 

“Overall, there are many driving factors behind a fuels 

acquisition conversion,” Griffith said. “It’s always been and 

always will be about cost savings and quick acquisition of a 

more readily available product.”

Not to mention, JP8 and JP5 are considered exotic 

fuels that are made primarily for Department of 

Defense use, she added. 

Griffith explained these fuels are more expensive and take 

longer to acquire because the commercial refineries have 

to stop their routine production processes in order to execute the unique and segregated production runs for these 

exotic fuels. 

As a result, this cuts into their production efficiency of Jet 

A/JA1 for their largest customer base – the commercial 

airline business – which, in turn, cuts into their profit margin that they then try to make up via higher costs for the 

exotic fuels, she added.

“The fuel conversion from JP8 to Jet A with additives is 

the beginning of an era of fuel efficiency and financial 

Sailors watch as an F/A-18F Super Hornet comes in for a landing on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier 

USS Ronald Reagan while off the coast of Guam. Over the last couple of years, DLA Energy fuel procurement actions 

have converted from buying Jet Propellant 8 fuel to the more common and commercially available Jet A aviation fuel. 

Photo by Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Burke
DLA Energy Pacific

12 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 13

responsibility for the fuels 

community,” said Navy 

Cmdr. Tony Giles, DLA 

Energy Pacific at Guam 

commander.

In fact, several years ago, 

DLA Energy calculated $40 

million in savings over 40 

years could be realized by 

simply purchasing Jet A/

JA1 instead of JP8, he said.

“Granted these savings 

most likely didn’t take into 

consideration the additional cost to DLA Energy for 

the purchase, transportation, storage and injection 

of additives,” Giles added. 

“However, the flexibility and responsiveness to 

procure and get fuel to the 

warfighting quickly is far 

more valuable than any 

cost savings.”

Aside from the fiscal 

responsibility, being the 

first at something doesn’t 

always make it the easiest, 

said the Guam team.

For example, the contractor-owned, contractoroperated Defense Fuel 

Support Point Guam II 

received its initial fill of 

JA1, September 2010, but 

Guam didn’t start regular 

JA1 tanker receipts and additization operations until 

spring 2013. Thus, timing 

was the factor.

“Unfortunately, the drawback to being first is there’s 

no simple template for 

quick execution,” Griffith 

said. “So dealing positively 

with the start-up operation 

is key to future conversions.”

DLA Energy Pacific at 

Guam leadership held 

strategic planning meetings to identify challenges, discuss 

lessons learned and create a roadmap for future efficient 

and effective fuel execution to the warfighter.

After careful planning through the year, DLA Energy 

Pacific’s second conversion location, Alaska, successfully 

converted to JA1 procurement and additization operations.

“Their conversion appears to have gone much smoother 

than Guam’s,” Griffith said. “Early in the process, they 

identified and decided to have their [contractor-owned, 

contractor-operated] DFSP contractor perform and be 

responsible for all additization operations to include the 

acquisition, storage and injection of the additives.”

As a result of the positive experience in Alaska, they 

learned an important lesson: since Guam had both 

contractor-owned, contractor-operated and governmentowned, government-operated DFSPs involved in the 

additization operations on the island, it added complexity 

to the planning and decision-making process. Thus, the 

Alaska team reported it’s really essential to know who will 

perform the additization and where (location) upfront. 

“And if the ‘who’ and ‘where’ is a [government-owned, 

government-operated] DFSP, early and frequent collaboration with that service partner is essential,” Griffith said. 

“In this situation, the service partner’s buy-in and support 

are critical for timely input and progression of projects 

to install injectors and additive storage facilities that are 

needed to support the overall conversion.”

Meanwhile, another conversion continues to make progress in the Pacific.

Hawaii is DLA Energy Pacific’s third location to convert 

to JA1, and is currently involved in collaboration with the 

Naval Support Systems Command Energy about additization operations and the necessary facilities at DFSP Pearl 

Harbor. 

While still in the conversion process, they are learning 

that early determination of the quantity of each additive 

needed and how much will be kept on hand at the injection 

location, i.e. the establishment of a mandatory inventory 

level.

“The determination of this inventory level is essential for 

accurate creation of the facility project for additive storage,” Griffith said. 

In calculating additive levels, a thorough analysis of each 

additive’s supply chain must be accomplished in order to 

determine each additive’s order and ship time – shorter 

order and ship time equates to quicker resupply thereby 

requiring less on-hand stocks, she said.

Guam continues to refine these additive inventory levels 

as actual order and ship times of additives differ from the 

initially programmed factors. 

“Because of Guam’s lessons learned in their JA1 conversion, the upcoming conversions for Japan and Korea 

should have minimal surprises,” Griffith added.

The conversion from military-specification jet fuel to a 

commercially available jet fuel dates back to more than 

10 years, when some of the first studies were piloted in a 

seamless effort to meet warfighter requirements and provide cost savings to the services.

An Air Force fuels 

facilities operator 

inspects a sample of 

fuel at Andersen Air 

Force Base, Guam. 

Guam was chosen 

as the first location 

in the Pacific to 

convert to Jet A 

jet fuel because of 

its unique, small 

and closed-fuel 

distribution network 

providing aviation 

fuel to the island’s 

major end user, 

Andersen Air Force 

Base. Photo by Air 

Force Senior Airman 

Katrina Brisbin

An Air Force fuels distribution operator assists members of U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat 

Squadron 25 complete a fuel receipt during a hot refueling on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. 

Defense Fuel Support Point Guam II received its initial fill of JA1, September 2010, but Guam 

didn’t start regular JA1 tanker receipts and additization operations until spring 2013. Photo 

by Air Force Airman 1st Class Marianique Santos
14 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 15

DLA Energy Pacific

Two Years Later

Defense Logistics Agency Energy officially assumed strategic bulk fuel and quality control missions on Okinawa, Japan, from the Army’s 

505th Quartermaster Battalion in 2013. 

As the only DLA Energy-operated defense fuel support point in the Pacific, DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa’s mission is to support all Department Defense 

activities on Okinawa and to manage U.S. Pacific 

Command war’s reserve fuel objective on Okinawa.

“Unlike most DFSPs which receive its supply of 

petroleum via commercial pipelines direct from 

the refineries, tank and rail trucks belonging to the 

DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa DFSP receive fuel 

replenishment via tanker ships using our deep-sea 

piers and tanker discharge facilities,” DLA Energy 

Pacific at Okinawa’s Commander Air Force Major 

Mata Robinson said. “These critical facilities allow us 

to supply our warfighters and ensure [PACOM] war 

By Irene Smith

reserve fuel objectives on Okinawa are met.”

Okinawa’s strategic location and close proximity to 

mainland Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and 

Korea plays a role in supplying fuel to the warfighter. 

“Being a DFSP with bunkering capability on the 

island, we’re able to provide greater flexibility for 

transiting [the Navy’s] Seventh Fleet ships to refuel in 

this particular region of [PACOM’s] area of responsibility,” Mata said. “We fuel the warfighter.”

He said they do this by safely providing the highest 

quality fuel to customers and partners. 

“We pump a monthly average of 5 million gallons of 

Okinawa

A Military Sealift Ship is moored at one of the two deep water piers at the White Beach Port Facility Okinawa. DLA Energy 

Pacific at Okinawa's strategic location and close proximity to mainland Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Korea plays 

a role in supplying fuel to the Navy's Seventh Fleet ships. Photos courtesy of DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa
16 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 17

DLA Energy Pacific

JP8 jet fuel to Kadena Air Force Base,” Mata said. 

“We deliver a monthly average of 200 thousand gallon of JP5 jet fuel to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and Marine Corps bases throughout the island,” 

he added. “We also provide bunker support that average 500 thousand gallons of F76 marine diesel fuel to 

transiting Navy and contracted ships.”

The Okinawa DFSP is operated and manned with DLA 

Energy personnel, a first of its kind for DLA.

“Since the mission transfer and assuming DLA Energy 

Okinawa’s new role, civilian and military positions have been added while 

retaining local national personnel,” 

Mata said. “We are currently the largest DLA Energy entity in the Pacific.”

DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa real 

estate assets include two deep-sea 

piers and two tanker discharge facilities. The command oversees six fuel 

terminals with 56 million gallons of 

bulk fuel capacity, 78 miles of pipelines, pump houses, truck fill stands, 

maintenance facilities and a state-ofthe-art petroleum laboratory.

“The piers and tanker discharge facility already exist and have been in 

use since the 1980s,” Mata said. “The 

operations of these facilities were 

essentially absorbed by DLA Energy 

Pacific at Okinawa from the 505th 

Quartermaster Battalion in 2013 to 

continue the mission of providing bulk 

fuel support to U.S. military and other 

Department of Defense agencies on 

the island.”

Since DLA Energy officially assumed 

strategic bulk fuel and quality control 

missions on Okinawa, Japan, a three 

phrase Sustainment, Restoration and 

Modernization process is underway 

to improve the fuel facility and equipment on Okinawa.

Ed Guthrie, deputy director for the 

Okinawa office explained how the 

SRM projects and materiel improvements were necessary to improve the 

aging fuel infrastructure. 

“Since assuming the bulk fuel mission 

from the Army, we have renovated and 

reopened the petroleum laboratory and established a 

new maintenance contract, which will add a recurring 

maintenance contractor to the team in Okinawa for 

facility sustainment,” Guthrie said. “The maintenance 

contract will enhance our in-house maintenance 

crews and allow for quicker resolution of maintenance issues on the fuel systems as well as decrease 

the maintenance/repair times of the facilities and 

equipment and maintain the fuel support capability 

for DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa to meet warfighter 

demands for petroleum support.” 

The first improvement phase was the $4.2 million 

sustainment, renovation and modernization project 

on the petroleum lab.

“The lab had been out of commissioned for six years,” 

Guthrie said. “The HVAC system and all the support equipment were well past their life expectancy. 

In January 2015, we held a ribbon cutting ceremony 

reopening the lab.”

Phase Two is a $17 million SRM improvement to the 

command structures in facilities in the Chimuwan 

compound and 17 other facilities within the six tank 

farms and maintenance facilities around the island.

“These buildings were built in the 1980’s and had 

outlived their usefulness,” Guthrie said. “The buildings are being renovated to include improved communications and electrical upgrades to bring the 

building back to full use. The design phrase began in 

April 2015 with construction planned to begin in early 

fiscal year 2016.”

Phase Three is a $10 million planned upgrade of all 

the fuel systems in the six geographical areas, including the fuel terminals and four maintenance operation terminals.

“Once that gets done we will have built a state of the 

art, 21st century fuel system, Guthrie said.”We’re doing all this without military construction. 

Prior to the transfer of mission, a business case analysis was conducted and it was determined to be more 

cost effective to operate the organization with DLA 

employees, he said.

“The DLA expansion in Okinawa strengthens DLA’s 

capability to support the warfighter in the region,” 

Guthrie said. “Since DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa 

assumed the bulk fuel mission, it allowed for a better evaluation of all terminals, including the ability to 

increase the storage capabilities in Okinawa, should 

there ever be a need.” 

A Landing Craft Mechanized vessel undergoes repair work, including propeller 

restoration, installation of fuel gauges and parts, sandblasting and new primer 

(anti-rust) paint at the Shin-Itoman Ship yard in Okinawa. As the only DLA 

Energy-operated defense fuel support point in the Pacific, DLA Energy Pacific at 

Okinawa’s mission is to support all Defense Department activities on Okinawa 

and to manage U.S. Pacific Command war’s reserve fuel objective on Okinawa. 

A Japanese shipyard worker checks on the installation of a new fresh water pump and two hydraulic pressure pumps on 

a landing craft mechanized vessel at the Shin-Itoman Ship yard in Okinawa. Defense Logistics Agency Energy officially 

assumed strategic bulk fuel and quality control missions on Okinawa, Japan, from the Army’s 505th Quartermaster Battalion 

in 2013 and is the largest DLA Energy entity in Pacific with 125 authorized personnel including 103 local national personnel. 
18 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 19

DLA Energy Pacific

The significant expansion in mission and size of DLA 

Energy Pacific at Okinawa, especially with the DFSP 

management business unit, has led to infrastructure 

upgrades and improvements, notably the tanker 

discharge operations at the Tengan Petroleum Handling Facility. 

“The tanker discharge facilities consist of a single 

point mooring buoy and a three-legged mooring 

system,” Mata said. “At Tengan, we offload JP8 and 

JP5 fuel from medium to large tanker vessels which 

is then stored in our tank farms in the Chimuwan 

and Kuwae district of Okinawa.” 

Mata added the current three-legged-mooring system will be demolished and the land returned to the 

Japanese Fisherman’s Union.

“DLA Energy plans in conjunction with the Japanese 

Facilities Improvement Program to upgrade our 

single point mooring system from one to two single 

point mooring systems.”

A single point mooring system is a floating buoy that 

is permanently anchored offshore to allow handling of liquid cargo such as petroleum products for 

tanker ships. It is used in areas where a dedicated 

facility for loading or unloading liquid cargo is not 

available.

The benefits to using a single point mooring are the 

ability to handle extra-large vessels and single point 

mooring doesn’t require ships to come into port, 

saving fuel and time, Mata said. 

Guthrie explained how the planned improvements 

to the White Beach pier in Okinawa will support the 

rebalance of fuel assets in the Pacific. 

“The project that will install a second single-point 

mooring system is a Japanese Facilities Improvement Program project backed up with a sustainment, 

restoration and modernization military construction project to procure a third single point mooring 

buoy,” Guthrie said. 

The DLA project point of contact, Jerry Vesey, has 

been working closely with Japanese Facilities Improvement Program engineers on the project, as 

well as with the supporting Sustainment Restoration 

Modernization military construction engineers at 

DLA headquarters and is being worked through the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha.” 

The upgrade is projected to begin in 2017. 

Guthrie noted that DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa 

has been tasked to evaluate and submit projects to 

add to the already existing additive injecting system 

to allow DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa to receive 

Jet A1 petroleum product more readily available in 

the commercial supply chain in the region.

“This is a new initiative bringing in Jet A,” Guthrie 

said. ”We will inject the additives as the product is 

being pumped to the warfighter.”

“We ensure the high quality on-specification fuel 

through our quality assurance and quality surveillance program,” Mata said. “Our quality assurance 

program ensures fuel quality before delivery at the 

refinery and ensures quantity upon delivery. Our 

quality surveillance, on the other hand, ensures that 

fuel is on-specification through testing and sampling. The testing is done in our state-of-the-art 

laboratory which can perform C through B2 level 

testing in accordance with Military Standard 3004.” 

Mission growth has led to personnel growth, he said. 

The rebalancing of assets in the Pacific region has 

increased some operational tempo, but the overall 

mission for DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa has allowed personnel to get facility projects processed 

and executed to some degree. 

“The majority of our Japanese employees only 

speak, read and write Japanese, so documents and 

forms have to be translated in Japanese to include 

our standard operating procedures, work order 

forms, manuals, and emergency response procedures,” Mata said. “The communication barrier also 

presents a challenge in daily command and control 

of our operations. Because of 

this, we have established a control center or control 

room to act as the nerve cell of the daily operations. 

Control room personnel on-duty consist of both 

English and Japanese speaking controllers. We’ve 

also implemented a weekly in-house English class 

program that is made available to our local national 

employees taught by fellow team members who 

speak English.” 

“Since DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa came to life, 

the organization continues to improve relations with 

our warfighter customers, Guthrie said. “We do this 

through site visit exchanges to better familiarize 

them in what DLA Energy Pacific at Okinawa does 

to support the warfighter’s petroleum energy needs 

as well as improve facility capabilities to meet any 

future demands our customers require in Okinawa.”

A newly renovated 

LCM craft is part 

of DLA Energy 

Pacific at Okinawa 

Defense Fuel Support 

Point capabilities. 

The Okinawa DFSP 

provides JP8, JP5 and 

F76 to the Kadena Air 

Force Base, Marine 

Corps Air Station 

Futenma, U.S. Navy 

Command Fleet 

Activities Okinawa 

at White Beach and 

the U.S. Army 10th 

Regional Support 

Group
Energy

20 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 21

Continued Rebalance

Efforts to rebalance fuel and its infrastructure in the 

Pacific theater have momentum with the Defense 

Logistics Agency Energy after years of planning 

and focus set the stage for action.

From a 2009 study to today’s changes in storage capabilities, DLA Energy has been enhancing fuel support in the 

Asia-Pacific region.

“The rebalance has been happening for a while now and 

it’s been happening in a couple of different ways,” said 

DLA Energy Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark 

McLeod. “From a logistics standpoint, we’ve been working for several years to rebalance assets in the Pacific.”

In 2009, U.S. Pacific Command, DLA Energy, U.S. Transportation Command, military service components and the 

Air Force’s Space Applications Program offices took part 

in a study assessing PACOM’s operations. Results of the 

study led to a business case analysis to optimize PACOM 

bulk petroleum support and recommended DLA Energy 

turn to commercial alternatives to rebalance war reserve 

petroleum stocks in the Pacific.

“Rebalancing assets in the Pacific means positioning 

supplies of fuel in the correct locations in the area of 

responsibility to support warfighter requirements, and 

also having a plan to move assets from other locations 

as necessary to meet those requirements as conditions 

change,” said DLA Energy Pacific Commander Navy Capt. 

Christopher Bower.

Fuel may also be physically relocated, as in the case of 

a contractor-owned, contractor-operated facility in the 

By Christopher Goulait Philippines, or a mechanism to exchange fuel stocks on the 

open market to meet requirements may be used, Bower 

said.

Adding to efforts from the 2009 study, was a wargame 

under DLA’s leadership for PACOM in the fall of 2014.

Does PACOM have the capacity to do the job? Is there 

enough fuel? Is the fuel in the right locations? Are our 

strategic reserves and infrastructure enough to support the 

Pacific rebalance? Questions like these were central to the 

wargame, McLeod said.

“We found some interesting things through that process, 

but to answer those questions in a nutshell: Yes, but we 

can definitely do better,” he said. “Going through these 

wargame scenarios and taking a look at other locations or 

capabilities, can help enable us to make the warfighter be 

more resilient.”

“The wargame taught us that we have plenty of fuel all 

around the world, and through our commercial contracts 

we can take advantage of that fuel very quickly. As for 

where the fuel is, it is mostly in the right places,” McLeod 

said.

However, some fuel could be repositioned forward in the 

theater, and DLA Energy personnel are also seeing if there 

are any locations where existing capabilities can be pushed 

forward to be closer to where they’re needed, McLeod said.

To achieve these goals, DLA Energy focused on five defense fuel support points throughout the Pacific theater 

serving as commercial bulk fuel storage facilities under 

contract in support of PACOM.

Marines work with MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircrafts during air delivery ground refueling training at Marine 

Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Aug. 20. Fuel positioning in support of U.S. Pacific Command operations like this 

throughout the Pacific is an area of interest for the Defense Logistics Agency Energy as it rebalances fuel infrastructure 

in the region. Photo by Marine Cpl. Carlos Cruz Jr.
22 www.energy.dla.mil

Energy

Energy Source l FALL 2015 23

“What’s good about this economically is that we can create 

contracts where we need them and not have government 

infrastructure,” McLeod explained. “They tend to be very 

flexible and very affordable. If we need it, we can use it.”

DFSP Anchorage, Alaska; DFSP Guam II; DFSP Subic Bay 

l, Philippines; DFSP BP Singapore and DFSP Hachinohe 

II, Japan, have jet fuel storage and a distribution capability by pier and/or pipeline facilities. Between these five 

DFSPs, DLA Energy has more than 4.6 million barrels of 

commercial bulk fuel supporting operations in the Pacific.

The new facility in the Philippines is a good example of 

support to PACOM, Bower said.

“Combined Task Force-73 has sent multiple combat logistics force ships into Subic I already, as has the Military 

Sealift Command,” he explained. “The ability to refuel 

these replenishment ships in the Philippines means they 

can service many more customers in the area of operation as they now don’t have to go all the way to Japan or 

Singapore to load their bunker cargoes, and so can meet 

operating forces at sea much more regularly.”

“If we can refuel them at sea, then they don’t have to pull 

into port themselves and can stay on station doing the 

mission they are assigned for a much longer period. It 

becomes a force multiplier as we need fewer warships to 

perform a specific mission,” Bower added.

Well-placed locations are important, but adapting for 

resiliency and redundancy is also a priority for the rebalance, McLeod said.

“DLA Energy uses a combination of setting up major 

nodes and making sure they’re strong but redundant in 

case the situation calls for it,” McLeod said.

Storage in the Pacific, including the commercial storage, 

is made up of 850 million gallons of prepositioned war 

reserve stock in 66 DFSPs and facilities with a storage 

capacity of 1.2 billion gallons of fuel. Fuel is split between 

the storage tanks located in Hawaii, Alaska, Korea, Japan, 

Guam, Singapore, Diego Garcia, the Philippines and many 

other locations.

Use of the commercial fuel supply chain in the region also 

assists with resiliency.

“DLA Energy can rely on the commercial supply chain 

since so much of our business revolves around having 

great relationships with our suppliers around the world,” 

McLeod said. “A solid relationship is important as a foundation for working to expand the availability of military 

and commercial-specification fuels to new locations in the 

region. We are diversifying our requirements and growing 

our capabilities in the Pacific.”

Good supplier relationships provide support to the organization’s ultimate customer, the warfighter. DLA Energy 

works with the military services to ensure fuel support to 

the PACOM area of responsibility.

“Working with our customers to determine what their 

requirements are will allow us to develop multiple support options,” Bower said. “While our customers would 

like us to store all their requirements in the AOR, we don’t 

currently have enough storage to do so. That means we 

will need to look at other strategies, such as swing stocks 

and pulling product forward from other locations to meet 

customer demand.”

As well as working with U.S. 

forces, DLA Energy Pacific 

works with a number of nations in the region since the 

PACOM AOR contains 36 

nations, 51 percent of the 

earth’s surface and 50 percent 

of world’s population, Bower 

said.

“DLA Energy is talking with 

our counterparts in other 

nations in the Pacific to see 

how we can address factors 

that are important to all of us, 

like lowering costs, increasing 

cooperation with the commercial supply chain, efficiently 

sharing fuel and fixing aging 

infrastructure,” McLeod said. 

“For example, we’re discussing 

a fuel exchange agreement and 

increasing storage with Australia. Working with our partner 

nations not only has military 

benefits for the U.S., but also 

builds the nation’s homeland 

defense and provides economic 

benefits to the areas supported 

by contracts we put in place.”

“Cooperation with our partner nations will continue as 

we reposition fuel and take 

advantage of everything the 

commercial supply chain has 

to offer so we can build capacity,” he added. 

Capacity has the power to 

build capability, and with that 

comes partnerships between 

companies, nations, products 

and global supply chains, 

McLeod said.

“Rebalancing the Pacific this 

way can build confidence and 

collective security to ensure 

that the nations in the region 

and the commerce between 

them can be protected,” he 

said.

Terry Shawn contributed to 

this article.

Maintainers remove a fuel hose from a C-130 Hercules during Red Flag-Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 

Aug. 11, 2015. Defense Fuel Support Point Anchorage is a commercial fuel support point under contract through the Defense 

Logistics Agency Energy supporting operations in the area. Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody H. Ramirez

Soldiers refuel after taking flight in a UH-60 Black Hawk in South Korea for exercise Foal 

Eagle 2015. Exercises like Foal Eagle across the Pacific are supported by the DLA Energy and 

strategically positioned fuel around the region. Photo by Army Pfc. Samantha Van Winkle
A Place of

We Are DLA

Honor

The Defense Logistics Agency Hall of Fame was created in 1998 to recognize the contributions of military and civilian employees 

who’ve served in a myriad of positions throughout the agency. These five former employees helped build the agency’s reputation 

as a world-class logistics provider and were inducted into the Hall of Fame in July. They individually and collectively enhanced the 

nation’s military readiness, said DLA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch during the induction ceremony.

Stephen Byus

Byus is a former DLA Land and Maritime employee and Navy reservist 

who was killed while deployed to Afghanistan in 2014. He left for Kabul in 

July, certain he could help the Afghan military improve its maintenance and 

supply systems. On Sept. 16, he was heading downtown to brief the Afghan 

minister of defense for logistics when he became the first DLA employee 

killed in the decade-long war. 

It was Byus’ first time off the U.S. compound, a decision made by then 

Navy Capt. James Liberko, the leader of six DLA employees who’d deployed 

for the Department of Defense-led mission. The team had been struggling to 

make Afghan army leaders understand the new supply system they wanted to 

put in place.

“Steve came up with a briefing that I thought was truly brilliant. He compared the supply system to a gas gauge and how it tells you how much gas you 

have, how many miles you’ve driven and when you’ll need to fill up again. We 

were positive the Afghans could relate to it,” Liberko said.

He was proud of Byus’ work and offered him the chance to brief dignitaries at the Afghan Ministry of Defense, a task Liberko always did himself. But as 

they headed downtown during morning rush hour in a two-vehicle convoy, a red Toyota Corolla started following them. At a 

crowded intersection, the driver pulled between them and detonated 250 pounds of explosives. Byus died instantly, one day 

after his 12th wedding anniversary. He was 39 years old and a father of two: 9-year-old Alexandria and 6-year-old Jacob. 

Byus joined DLA Land and Maritime as an intern in 2008 and had worked his way up to GS-12 by the time he deployed to Afghanistan. He had also served with DLA Disposition Services expeditionary disposal remediation team, part 

of the DLA Joint Reserve Force since 2002, first as an enlisted sailor, then as a Navy officer. 

– Beth Reece

Richard Connelly

Connelly began his DLA career as an intern and quickly rose in rank to 

hold such titles as DLA comptroller; administrator of the Defense National 

Stockpile Center, now DLA Strategic Materials; and director of DLA Support 

Services, now DLA Installation Support, and the Defense Energy Support 

Center, now DLA Energy.

Connelly is known for moving the agency from an appropriated funding 

model to the more business-oriented Defense Working Capital Fund. The 

effort required a lot of change management and served as an important lesson 

for Connelly in the dynamics of organizational change, he said.

“The surprising part was how it became such an emotional issue; people do 

not like change,” he said.

The Vietnam veteran was involved in many changes for DLA over the 

years, including the 20-year expansion that saw the agency assume responsibility for military depots and consumable items, absorbing all contract 

administration functions for the services, and, toward the end of his career, the 

Business System Modernization initiative. 

Connelly was approaching retirement age when the director position of 

the Defense Energy Support Center became open. Having always wanted to 

lead that organization, Connelly said he decided to “throw his hat in the ring.” When he was appointed as director in 

2004, he stepped into managing the end-to-end supply chain responsible for purchasing and managing all petroleum 

resources used by the U.S. military. 

- Sarah More

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert Dail

Dail was named DLA director during a critical time. The U.S. military was 

involved in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Defense Department leaders 

wanted the agency to use its recently completed Enterprise Business System to 

better deployed support warfighters. 

“There was a lot of effort by the organization to look at its internal processes 

– how it operated and conducted business – and how it might need to change 

those processes,” Dail said. “My charter [from DLA leaders] was to get out and 

use this capability to start providing DLA capabilities to the warfighting commands. We had to get some people forward and see if we could link our supply 

to the warfighters’ demand.”

Dail points to the implementation of 2005 Base Realignment and Closure 

recommendations as the agency’s other biggest challenge and accomplishment 

during his tenure as director. Legislative directive transferred supply, storage 

and distribution functions from the military services to DLA.

“The change mandated that DLA change its culture. We were no longer 

managing wholesale, national-level inventory. We were managing retail inventory that had to be treated that way. It had to be responsive and filled at the rate expected,” he said. “DLA learned a lot in 

the process. It helped change DLA’s mission from the national level all the way down to where demand occurred. That was 

exactly where DLA needed to be.” 

– Jacob Boyer

24 www.energy.dla.mil Energy Source l FALL 2015 25
We Are DLA We are DLA

Mae Devincentis

DeVincentis became the agency’s first civilian vice director in August 

2010. She began her 37-year DLA career as a GS-2 clerk at what was 

then called the Defense Personnel Support Center Clothing Factory and 

went on to have a hand in major innovations including the Prime Vendor 

Program and Enterprise Business System.

The Philadelphia native entered the world of information technology in the 1980s, when she joined the team responsible for creating the 

Defense Integrated Subsistence Management System. Used by the entire 

Defense Department, DISMS allowed business transactions that once 

took days and even months to occur in minutes. 

Later, as a buyer working for the medical directorate in the 1990s, 

DeVincentis led the contracting effort to establish DLA’s first pharmaceutical prime vendor, which she called one of the major highlights of 

her work in Philadelphia. 

“We began to realize that stock wasn’t moving out of the depots, that 

we were losing business. Lo and behold, we eventually learned that the 

Veterans Administration had come up with this innovative approach to 

buying commercial items called prime vendor, and they had marketed it to all of our customers,” she said. 

She and coworkers found copies of the VA’s solicitation and figured out their business model. Within a couple 

months, DLA’s first solicitation for its own enhanced version of a pharmaceutical prime vendor hit the streets. 

From there she went on to help build DLA’s Enterprise Business system, which many regard as DoD’s most successful enterprise resource planning system. She later became DLA’s chief information officer and director of DLA 

Information Operations, and served as for six months as director of DLA Logistics Operations before becoming the 

DLA vice director. 

– Beth Reece

Ivan Hall

Hall’s leadership as deputy director of land supplier operations at DLA Land 

and Maritime increased the readiness and survivability of warfighters in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. He is best known for implementing DLA’s first three long-term contracts: General Dynamics Land Systems, United Defense Limited Partnership and 

the O’Gara Hess contracts. 

“No one was doing long-term contracts at the time; it was kind of brand new, 

so it was challenging,” he said. “Once we got them on contract, then we didn’t have 

to go out and contract for each item. Every [national stock number] had a lead time 

of record, and the lead time on all those items went from almost 180 days down to 

30 days, so we saved hundreds and hundreds of days of administrative lead time on 

each one,” he said.

The awarding of the Fleet Automotive Support Initiative regional contract, which 

Hall considers one of his biggest accomplishments, soon followed. The unique five-year 

prime vendor support contract called for repairs and spare parts for different kinds of 

weapons systems, reducing lead times and creating significant cost savings.

“It impacted so many customers,” he said. “It was a big-volume contract, and it 

impacted the whole logistics process.”

Hall is also credited with sending the first DLA Land and Maritime product specialists to key Army industrial sites in 2008. 

– Amanda Neumann

26 www.energy.dla.mil

One Face

The face of Defense Logistics Agency Energy ...

Mission: To provide Japan-based United States military forces 

and government agencies the most effective and economical 

supply planning support through a close partnership with United 

States forces Japan, our defense fuel support point partners and 

our commercial suppliers. 

Highlight: Being able to see the direct mission effect produced by 

my efforts in scheduling the movement of 360 million gallons of 

petroleum products annually to our DFSP partners. 

Challenges: I was recently challenged with trying to maintain 

regional inventory levels with only one assigned shallow-draft 

tanker. Working through the DLA Energy Tanker Branch and 

Military Sealift Command, I was able to acquire another time 

charter tanker to augment our resupply mission. The teamwork 

demonstrated by many people within our organization to achieve 

this goal was impressive.

Future Plan: Continue to provide the best possible support to the 

warfighter. Eventually, I would like to be in a leadership position 

where I can have more influence to fix issues I see at my level, 

and make DLA Energy even better than it already is.

Mission: To provide assistance and support to customer account 

specialist and exercise/contingency representatives across the 

Pacific area of operation.

Highlight: Building and understanding the CAS process for the 

region from the ground up – from requirements and system 

access to order close out.

Challenges: Our customers and CASs are spread out literally 

across half the globe and cover 15 time zones. By building 

and routinely using email groups for each subregion to share 

information and activity, it has served to reduce the isolation and 

time differential between issue and response.

Future Plan: To transition exercises and contingencies into a 

sustainment mode within the Enterprise Business System ... and 

to hopefully celebrate my grandmother’s 100th birthday next 

summer!

Energy Source l FALL 2015 27

Kristine Davidson

Supervisory Customer 

Account Specialist

DLA Energy Pacific

Japan

Andy Trask

Supply Planner

DLA Energy Pacific

Japan