WIRED FOR SUCCESS

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY JULY - AUGUST 2009
DIRECTOR

I

n the late spring I made several trips 

to visit our warfighting customers and 

military service partners at U.S. Pacific 

Command, U.S. Southern Command and 

Joint Special Operations Command to 

hear what they think about the Defense 

Logistics Agency’s support and areas in 

which they believe we can improve. I’ve 

taken this input and brought it to the 

table in my discussions with several of the 

Defense Department’s top logisticians, 

because sharing processes that work 

and retooling unsuccessful ones gives us 

the opportunity to shape the future of 

military logistics. Monitoring our ongoing initiatives and partnerships with all 

DLA stakeholders is vital to ensuring the 

Agency can adapt to changing customer 

requirements, tighter budgets and truly 

take its operations to the next level. 

Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson, SC, USN

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency

Office of Public Affairs

8725 John J. Kingman Road

Suite 2545

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

703-767-6200

E-mail loglines@dla.mil

from the

DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson

Director, Public Affairs

Douglas Ide

Deputy Director, Public Affairs

Jack Hooper

Loglines Staff

Managing Editor Kathleen T. Rhem

Editor Heather Athey

Writer Beth Reece

Writer Jonathan Stack

Layout/Design Paul Henry Crank

Loglines is the authorized publication for the 

Defense Logistics Agency’s work force of federal 

civilians, active-duty military and Joint Reserve 

Forces augmentees at Agency activities worldwide 

and industry customers of DLA. Contents of this 

publication are not necessarily the official views of, 

or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the Defense Logistics Agency. 

Loglines is prepared electronically, using desktop publishing applications; no commercial typesetting costs are involved. Photos not credited are 

courtesy of Agency sources.

Submissions and correspondence may be sent 

to the following address:

the military services and ensuring warfighters have suitable equipment to match 

the rugged nature of the Afghan landscape 

and are continuing to explore additional 

supply routes and methods to ensure supplies flow unhindered into the area. 

Making all of DLA’s operations possible — in Afghanistan, Iraq and around 

the world — is our Enterprise Business 

System, refinement of which is another 

of my highest priorities. An independent 

analytical team is helping the Agency 

perform a comprehensive review of its 

EBS-supported business performance, 

as well as its untapped potential, and 

afterward, we will implement appropriate 

system changes to enhance DLA’s day-today business operations.

This has already been a demanding year in supporting warfighters while 

ensuring we get the best value from 

taxpayer resources. In spite of budget 

cuts, weapon system restructuring and 

changing missions, I firmly believe there 

is no better-equipped and -sustained 

military force in the world, and that is the 

end result of what all of you at DLA are 

focused on every day. 

Official Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Agency

LOGLINES

I have also sought input on DLA’s 

achievements and challenges from the 

Agency’s employees – the subject matter 

experts who ensure warfighters get what 

they need to remain mission-ready each 

day. In May, I invited all 23,000-plus 

military and civilian employees to participate in the DLA Culture Survey, one 

of the work force development initiatives 

outlined in my 2009 Director’s Guidance. The results of this survey will be 

briefed to the Agency’s senior leadership 

shortly and to employees soon after. Our 

next step is to develop action plans and 

resolve any issues the survey brings to 

light. These plans will be monitored at 

the monthly Executive Board meetings. 

I thank those employees who participated. Your feedback will help us focus 

and track our progress in areas critical to 

maintaining our high-performing culture, 

and I assure you strong follow up on 

these results is a high priority.

DLA has been hard at work in another 

of my focus areas — warfighter support 

enhancements — as we support and 

sustain the 20,000-member troop surge 

in Afghanistan. We are collaborating with 
Loglines l July - August 2009 1

Wired for Success

Contents

Big Business 2

Enteprisewide resource planning system forms backbone of Agency’s 

daily operations.

Track and Confirm 10

Asset Visibility System lets planners, customers track what’s in the 

supply pipeline.

DLA NewsWire 22

Ten Questions with ... 28

Director’s Travels 31

DEPARTMENTS

Front Cover

— Photo illustration by Paul Henry Crank

July - August 2009

pg 2

pg 14

pg 16

pg 24

Team Spirit 14

California distribution depot earns Defense Department honors.

Information, Please 16

Information service keeps timely logistics data flowing to 

customers.

Balancing Act 24

Leaders use sales, operations planning process to weigh customer 

needs, available funds.

War Games 32

Agency personnel work alongside warfighters during joint military 

exercises.
2 www.dla.mil

When the Defense Logistics 

Agency began modernizing its 

1960s-era business systems, 

David Falvey knew that just 

another computer software 

update wouldn’t be enough. 

“We couldn’t get closer to our customers and have an agile supply chain 

without entirely replacing our outdated 

systems. They were just too antiquated,” 

said Falvey, the first program manager 

for DLA’s Business Systems Modernization program and current executive director for enterprise solutions.

The modernization of DLA’s information technology backbone, which makes 

daily supply-management operations 

possible, began in 1999 with BSM. It triggered a new way of operating and gave 

the Agency a common IT architecture 

that merged multiple business functions 

and information stores into what is now 

called DLA’s Enterprise Business System. 

Job processes and metrics changed, while 

sales soared and customer costs dropped. 

“Organizations inside and outside 

BIG BUSIN

WIRED FOR SUCCESS

Army Sgt. Joshua Sheptock secures food 

aboard a C-17 Globemaster III for air delivery. 

The Defense Logistics Agency’s Enterprise 

Business System helps make the process 

of ordering such supplies easier and faster 

for customers.

— Air Force Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

Story by Beth Reece
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 3

the federal sector point to DLA, the 

most business-oriented organization in 

the Defense Department today, as an 

example of how to modernize the right 

way,” Falvey said.

“There was a school of thought that 

when we finished replacing our outdated 

information technology systems, we’d be 

done with transformation. But in fact, 

transforming our processes and systems 

will always occur,” Falvey said.

DLA’s ability to connect warfighter 

demands with supply continues to grow 

through a series of enhancements now 

being added to the Agency’s Enterprise 

Business System. 

Current EBS efforts will improve 

procurement processes; boost demandplanning capabilities; and integrate retail 

functions at shipyards, depots and air 

logistics centers entering DLA’s fold as a 

result of Base Realignment and Closure 

2005 decisions, Patricia Whitington, EBS 

program manager, said.

“The Enterprise Business System will 

enable our work force to provide better, 

faster support because all the information they need will be in a single system 

rather than three or four different databases,” said Mae De Vincentis, director of 

information operations and DLA’s chief 

information officer.

“We’ve gone from being a dinosaur 

living in a green-screen type of technology environment, where we struggled 

with an increasingly unreliable and aging 

system, to being able to [execute] a lot of 

our strategic initiatives like prime vendor 

and BRAC implementation,” she said.

The Transformation

DLA’s long journey toward modernization began at the turn of the millennium, 

when companies around the world were 

fretting over the “Y2K bug” that many 

feared would disrupt computer systems 

as clocks rolled over to the year 2000.

“We already had a modernized Distribution Standard System, but were trying 

to decide what to do about our 30-yearold, antiquated supply-management 

systems,” Falvey said. “Plus, we had just 

ESS

come out of a period in which there was 

a big push by DOD to possibly outsource 

much of logistics to big third-party logistics providers.”

It was DLA’s wake-up call, he said, 

sure proof the Agency needed “a strategic, over-the-horizon plan to take it to the 

next level.”

Rather than start from scratch with 

a new system that would cost millions of 

dollars to maintain, the Agency’s leaders decided to replace the legacy systems 

with a commercially based enterprise 

resource planning system, or ERP. ERP is 

an IT industry term for multiple software 

and hardware components that integrate 

business functions, resources and information from shared data stores into one 

unified, companywide system.

In DLA’s case, the ERP-based Enterprise Business System combines order 

fulfillment, planning, procurement and 

financial functions, and is accessible by 

employees and customers around the 

world. 

“The beauty of our EBS is that it in-
4 www.dla.mil

tegrates these functions together so they 

can talk to each other,” Whitington said. 

“Our employees can use it anywhere they 

have Internet access.”

The Agency chose an ERP platform 

already being used by manufacturing 

companies, developed by SAP Public Services, and began fielding the system with 

limited users and items in July 2002. 

“It was much more than just moving 

all of our information to a new computer 

system. Employees had to learn how to 

use new tools and processes,” Whitington 

said. “We also had to change position 

descriptions to match the new business 

processes of the commercial ERP.”

DLA’s demand- and supply-planning 

functions, for example, had always 

been performed by one person, an item 

manager. But the new ERP revealed 

that demand and supply planning were 

two separate functions in commercial 

practice. 

“So when we did the business-process 

reengineering, we identified roles that 

went with each function and established 

two separate jobs: one that works with 

customers and one that works with suppliers,” Whitington added.

More than 1,000 Agency position 

descriptions were recast into 167 standard PDs during implementation, and 

all employees received training based on 

their individual roles.

“In the long run it makes our employees more interchangeable,” De Vincentis 

added. “It also makes it easier for management to shift heavy workloads if everybody is using the same system and they’re 

WIRED FOR SUCCESS

The Defense Logistics Agency’s improved 

business tools help employees respond to 

warfighters’ critical needs for food or spare 

parts.

Modernization of the Defense Logistics 

Agency’s information technology systems 

has improved how the Agency supports 

military customers, including those located at 

remote sites in Afghanistan where air drops 

like this are necessary for resupply.

Air Force Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

Army Staff Sgt. Adam Mancini
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 5

familiar with how it works.”

While the commercial ERP can be 

reconfigured to meet an organization’s 

unique processes, Falvey said, DLA’s approach was to adapt to the new platform 

as much as possible in order to retain industry best practices already embedded in 

the software while incorporating defensebased practices where appropriate. 

“Also, if you’ve made numerous 

reconfigurations and conversions to the 

basic system, you have problems when 

the ERP provider comes out with updated 

versions of the software,” Whitington 

added. “That means additional system 

testing that can be very costly.” 

Current Enterprise Business System efforts 

will help integrate retail functions at shipyards, depots and air logistics centers where 

mechanics like Air Force Airman 1st Class 

Joseph Martincic, shown here repairing an 

engine, make equipment repairs.

Air Force Airman 1st Class Joshua J. Seybert
6 www.dla.mil

the batch schedule,” he said.

But, Falvey said, what’s most remarkable about DLA’s modernization is that 

it occurred during the Agency’s busiest 

period. Sales and services soared from 

$17 billion in 2001 to $42 billion in 2008, 

mainly because of the wars in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. 

“The fact that we were able to 

implement [modernization] in a time of 

unprecedented growth and work load, 

take a dip in productivity — which always 

happens with the implementation of a 

new system — and then take advantage of 

a modernized system in order to continue 

to improve performance was an outstanding achievement for both the Agency and 

our customers,” he said. “Our employees 

had a huge impact in the viability of DLA 

as a lasting institution.”

The Next Level

The Agency scored high marks from 

the Defense Department for modernizing 

its processes, but improving supply chain 

management has become an enduring 

“Today when you go into 

Enterprise Business System 

and make a data entry, it’s 

updated in real time.”

— David Falvey

Modernization of the Defense Logistics 

Agency’s business systems took place at 

the same time warfighters were fighting in 

Iraq and Afghanistan — the busiest period 

in DLA’s history.

The ERP was fully implemented 

throughout DLA’s supply centers in 

Philadelphia; Richmond, Va.; and Columbus, Ohio, by December 2006. And 

once the ERP replaced the legacy systems 

— the Standard Automated Material 

Management System and Defense Integrated Subsistence Management System 

— the Business Systems Modernization 

program was complete. Soon after, the 

system’s moniker was changed to the 

Enterprise Business System to reflect the 

completion. 

One of EBS’s most obvious benefits 

was its information quality, Falvey said. 

“Today when you go into EBS and 

make a data entry, it’s updated in real 

time. In the legacy system, when you did 

a data entry it got cued up on some transaction file that would go in that night or 

next week or next month, depending on 
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 7

endeavor at DLA. 

Further business system refinement 

is one of 22 initiatives set forth by DLA 

Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson 

in his 2009 Director’s Guidance.

“We didn’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars to do a system replacement and perform at the same level we 

did in the past,” Thompson said. “We 

made an investment in anticipation of a 

return, that it would be the engine that 

would allow us to be even more efficient 

and effective.”

Ongoing enhancements being made 

through the Enterprise Business System 

program include the addition of the Enterprise Operational Accounting System 

and retail integration of organizations 

joining DLA as a result of BRAC 2005. 

The EOAS extends the financial functionality of EBS, reduces operating costs 

and saves time because financial data 

can be collected, analyzed and reconciled 

from a single source, said Riley Crawford, 

Enterprise Operational Accounting System project lead. 

“The primary benefit to everyone is 

that we’re all part of one enterprise system 

regardless of what part of the DLA organization we’re assigned to,” Crawford said. 

The accounting system was designed 

for field activities not included in the 

original EBS implementation, such as 

the Defense Distribution Center, Defense 

Energy Support Center, Defense Logistics Information Service, and Defense 

Reutilization and Marketing Service. The 

third and final rollout took place in June 

at the Defense National Stockpile Center 

and Document Automation & Production 

Service.

“The changeover to [the Enterprise 

Operational Accounting System] has generated lots of enthusiasm and excitement 

at DDC,” said John Kurtz, DDC comptroller. “Like any new system rollout, we’ve 

had both successes and challenges, but 

we’re making tremendous progress and 

look forward to maximizing the benefits 

of a modern financial system.”

The Inventory Management and 

Stock Positioning system will also help 

DLA assume supply, storage and distribution functions at military industrial 

sites joining DLA under BRAC. Planners 

say IMSP will improve order processing, 

returns processing, local purchasing, 

forecasting and inventory management. 

“The intent of IMSP is to modify 

[EBS] so it supports inventory management and stock positioning at the point 

of sale where the services’ maintenance 

personnel are being issued material,” 

Whitington said. 

DLA will also be able to collaborate 

with the services through Inventory 

Policy Optimization to determine appropriate safety stock levels for industrial 

customers who depend on parts to be 

WIRED FOR SUCCESS

Enterprise Business System enhancements 

will boost demand-planning capabilities so 

the Defense Logistics Agency can provide 

accurate and timely support to warfighters 

stationed around the globe. 

Army Spc. Joseph A. Wilson

Army Spc. Nathaniel Allen
8 www.dla.mil

WIRED FOR SUCCESS

readily available, she added.

The first IMSP implementation, 

which includes training employees how to 

use the new software, is occurring now at 

DLA Warner Robins, at Robins Air Force 

Base, Ga., and completion is scheduled 

for October. Future rollouts include DLA 

Oklahoma City, at Tinker Air Force Base, 

Okla., in November and DLA Ogden, at 

Hill Air Force Base, Utah, in January. 

Rollouts are slated to continue with the 

Navy and Marine Corps, and conclude 

with the Army. 

As with the development of retail 

capabilities, procurement specialists from 

each of the supply centers are spending about three weeks per month at the 

Agency’s headquarters at Fort Belvoir, 

Va., to analyze contracting requirements.

“We bring them all together so, as we 

configure the system, they’re here testing 

it, telling us what works for their needs 

Defense Logistics Agency 

has become an example for 

federal agencies including 

NASA and the Federal 

Aviation Administration 

as they adopt their own 

enterprise resource 

planning systems.

Warfighters performing maintenance functions, like this Soldier tightening lug nuts on 

a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, 

will get a boost via the Inventory Management 

and Stock Positioning system as the Defense 

Logistics Agency assumes supply, storage 

and distribution functions at military industrial 

sites that perform equipment maintenance. 

Army Staff Sgt. Adam Mancini
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 9

and what doesn’t,” Whitington added. 

Everyone gets an equal chance to voice 

their concerns so the system is designed 

to address all the supply centers’ priorities, she said. 

Systems modernization at DLA has 

been mostly transparent to customers, outside of such benefits as quicker 

response times and better availability of 

supplies, Falvey said.

“We’ve kept this invisible to our 

customers as much as possible. We’re 

not training warfighters to do data entry 

in [EBS] because they still input data into 

their own systems, which then feed into 

ours,” he said. 

DLA has become an example for 

federal agencies including NASA and the 

Federal Aviation Administration as they 

adopt their own ERPs.

“I spend a lot of my time sharing our 

lessons learned with others, even with 

some organizations that started moving to 

an ERP years before we did,” Whitington 

said. “Our employees should realize that 

the work they’ve done, and continue to 

do, is a model that other organizations are 

following.”

Warfighters like Air Force Staff Sgt. Zeus Lee 

can expect better response times and better 

availability of supplies through Enterprise 

Business System enhancements.

Program managers and DLA leaders 

agree that improvements to business 

processes will continue throughout the 

Agency, whether employees are located 

at the supply centers, working alongside 

mechanics in maintenance shops or deployed with warfighters in Afghanistan. 

“I think it’s the hallmark of an organization that’s in business for the long haul 

to continue to change, to continue learning and improving,” De Vincentis said. 

“But one thing that has never changed 

about the DLA work force is the ‘we can 

get it done’ attitude, even in the face of 

obstacles. [I have] no doubt they will continue taking EBS to the next level.” 

Air Force Airman 1st Class Jason Epley
10 www.dla.mil

WIRED FOR SUCCESS

TRACK 

AND 

CONFIRM

Story by Beth Reece

C

ommercial retailers let customers track the delivery of their 

purchases online, but Defense 

Logistics Agency customers can 

do more than that. 

DLA’s Asset Visibility System, known 

as AV, allows customers to see where an 

item in the Defense Department supply 

chain is stocked, how much is on hand 

and in what condition or when it’s due 

in, and where orders are packed and 

shipped. They can then track each step of 

delivery.

Managed by the Defense Logistics 

Information Service, in Battle Creek, 

Mich., AV combines information on the 

status of unit equipment, war reserve and 

pre-positioned stock, fuel, ammunition, 

medical supplies, and other wholesale 

and retail assets. The AV application 

query tool shows if assets are available for 

issue or on order, if they are designated 

as unit assigned equipment, or if shipped 

assets are moving thru the transportation 

pipeline.

The system helps commanders and 

logisticians make better decisions, especially when operational requirements 

change or when there is a dire need for a 

part, said Teresa Lindauer, the program 

manger at DLIS. 

The information displayed in AV 

comes from 26 separate data sources 

owned by the Department of Defense, 

U.S. Transportation Command, military 

services and DLA. “This integration and 

ASSET VISIBILITY

10 www.dla.mil
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 11

fusion of data eliminates what we used 

to call ‘swivel chair logistics,’” Lindauer 

said. “We now have a robust picture of 

where assets are located and if there are 

possible stocks available to fill mission 

requirements.”

She added that the system also helps 

customers do their work faster and more 

efficiently.

 “Prior to using AV, I would have 

gone through multiple systems, one at 

a time, to locate DOD assets. Using AV, 

I cut the research time down tremendously because I can obtain all the stock 

information I need in one location,” 

said Eric Drick, a supply chain manager 

at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, 

Robins Air Force Base, Ga. 

Asset Visibility replaced the Joint Total Asset Visibility application in January 

2006 and began using commercial offthe-shelf software. The capabilities have 

grown as the product has been revised to 

format to military requirements.

User queries can be made in several 

categories that range from “in-storage,” 

which pertains to assets available for issue at wholesale supply centers or retaillevel supply activities, to “in-process” for 

assets that must be requisitioned from 

wholesale activities to meet demands at 

the retail level. “In-transit” queries exist 

for items already requisitioned but not 

yet received by the requestor. 

“AV improves users’ ability to share 

supplies with other services or locations 

“Sharing information in a joint 

environment to meet needs 

is not only a good thing, 

but imperative if we want 

success.”

— Teresa Lindauer

The Defense Logistics Agency’s Asset Visibility 

System helps users share supplies with other 

services or locations through lateral transfers, 

a process widely used by forces in Iraq and 

Afghanistan.

through lateral transfers, especially in 

emergency situations where mechanics 

are waiting for critical parts to repair 

out-of-service vehicles or aircraft, or 

when mission requirements may impact 

readiness or on-time deployments,” 

Lindauer said. “Sharing information in 

a joint environment to meet needs is not 

only a good thing, but imperative if we 

want success.”

If a unit in Iraq needs parts that AV 

shows as “available” at another location 

in Iraq, for example, arrangements can 

often be made to transfer the asset, which 

is a much cheaper and faster alternative 

compared to ordering parts from supply 

centers in the United States that will then 

have to be shipped overseas. It not only 

cuts cost, it cuts customer wait time. 

Program managers intend for AV 

Marine Gunnery Sgt. James A. Burks
12 www.dla.mil

to instill confidence in users when they 

can see their requisitions, determine the 

status, and know if they’ll receive what 

they need when they need it. This should 

preclude multiple orders for the same 

items just to be sure they arrive. AV is 

also designed to encourage customers to 

reserve high-priority, immediate-delivery 

requisitions for real emergencies. 

“If they know where their item is and 

how close it is to getting to them or that 

there’s lateral support available, that puts 

less stress on the transportation pipeline 

and budget. Things that were previously 

flown in could legitimately be put on a ship 

or a truck for shipment,” Lindauer added.

Asset Visibility can be used to gain 

such general information as the price, 

source of supply, unit of issue, and 

substitution data for any national stock 

numbered item. The system can also 

create a map showing the availability of 

items searched in wholesale and retail 

queries through AV’s direct link to the 

Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command’s Intelligent Road/Rail 

Information System. The results of any 

search can be sent to other AV users or 

saved in Microsoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat 

portable document format or files that 

may be imported to databases.

Recent AV improvements include 

the creation of a low-bandwidth version 

called AV Remote for warfighters who 

lack consistent communication lines.

“If a user loses connectivity while 

sending a query through AV Remote, 

they won’t lose the query,” Lindauer said. 

“When the lines come back up, the results 

of that query will be waiting on the user’s 

desktop.

The AV and AV Remote systems are 

slated for upgrade in September with 

AV 3.0, a change Lindauer said users will 

notice instantly. The new release greatly 

reduces the processing time for queries 

from minutes to seconds,” she said. 

Asset Visibility is made possible by 

the Integrated Data Environment, an 

Enterprise Business System capability 

that enables data exchanges between 

DLA systems and those of its customers 

and partners. While AV already provides 

information about the transportation 

status of supplies through daily feeds 

from the U.S. Transportation Command’s 

Global Transportation Network, efforts 

are under way to merge IDE and GTN to 

give customers even greater visibility and 

transparency. 

For more information on how to use 

Asset Visibility, contact

DLA Customer Interaction Center 

1-877-DLA-CALL 

or e-mail

dlacontactcenter@dla.mil

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jesse B. Awalt
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 13

WIRED FOR SUCCESS

(Below) Program managers expect the Asset 

Visibility System to instill higher confidence 

in warfighters because they can see their 

requisitions and track shipments from the 

point of origin.

(Right) The Asset Visibility System can help 

construction workers like Navy Petty Officer 

3rd Class Gwennette Jamerson know where 

their material is in the logistics pipeline.

(Left) A Marine CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter approaches an Air Force HC-130P 

Hercules during a helicopter aerial refueling 

mission in Djibouti. The Defense Logistics 

Agency’s Asset Visibility System can pinpoint 

for users the nearest available source of fuel.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Erick S. Holmes

Marine Cpl. Pete Thibodeau
14 www.dla.mil

It’s that sense of team spirit, Rodriguez said, and the employees’ dedication and concern for warfighters, that make the 

California depot, DLA’s West Coast strategic distribution hub, 

a great place to work. It’s also one of the things that earned San 

Joaquin an award for being one of the top installations in the 

Defense Department this year. 

The Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation 

Excellence recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of 

the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations. 

Recipients of this award are selected for their exemplary support 

of DOD missions.

“Excellent installations enable better mission performance 

Annette Silva works in Public Affairs at Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin, Calif. and enhance the quality of life for military men and women 

Spirit Team

Story by Heather Athey and Annette Silva

Photos by Annette Silva

W

“Our work force has adopted a team-approach attitude to 

problem solving, so when we are confronted with a challenge, 

our work force sees it as a DDJC challenge, not a management 

challenge or responsibility, and we work as a team to resolve 

issues,” he said. “I know that I have a solid team behind me supporting me all the way.”

hen Army Col. David Rodriguez encounters a 

challenge as commander of the Defense Logistics 

Agency’s Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin, Calif., he’s confident he doesn’t have to face 

it alone. 
Loglines l July - August 2009 15

and their families,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a 

message announcing the five winners of the 2009 CINC award. 

“Each winning installation succeeded in providing excellent 

working, housing and recreational conditions.” 

At DDJC, many of the workers are military veterans who 

have been on the other side of the supply line and know what 

it takes to keep warfighters mission ready. The depot employs 

1,250 people who process nearly 4 million supply requisitions 

annually with an inventory of about 746,000 items valued at 

more than $5 billion. 

“When you stack DDJC’s mission and size against all the 

DLA logistics centers, we are not unique. DLA is full of superb, 

end-to-end supply-chain owners and managers, and our team is 

part of that chain,” said Adriaan Adendorff, DDJC deputy commander. “We connect our portion of the chain to complete the 

world-class support DLA provides to our warfighters.”

Part of what connects the team is the comprehensive training that has prepared 41 percent of the depot’s employees to 

perform multiple distribution functions, providing what officials 

call a more flexible work force. Feedback from employees has 

been positive, said Ron Cook, who works with the 6901 Distribution Process Worker Training program, which has been so successful it was recognized as a best practice by the undersecretary 

of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and has been 

exported to other Defense Distribution Center sites to broaden 

workers’ skills. 

DDJC employees are also empowered to streamline their 

daily work processes through the DDC System, which links 

Continuous Process Improvement concepts with the DDC mission, vision, values, goals and objectives. After receiving training 

workers are equipped with the tools to enable them to initiate 

streamlining projects on their own, which officials said helps 

create cross-functional teams that give employees the responsibility, authority and accountability in providing services and 

managing results that benefit customers.

In addition to getting solid results for customers, the depot 

is a strong member of the local community. Its fire and police 

departments have partnership agreements with the local, state 

and federal law enforcement and fire officials and share training 

opportunities in order to provide seamless interoperation in the 

event of an emergency, said Rod Tatman, DLA Enterprise Support San Joaquin site director. DES San Joaquin administers the 

installation’s police and fire departments. 

“Over the last year, we have responded to countless local 

emergencies, four large statewide complex fires and the largest 

structure fire in Air Force history when Travis Air Force Base, 

Calif., lost more than 150 homes in a fire storm,” he said. 

The depot’s fire department is also one of only 137 fire stations in the United States to receive accreditation by the Center 

for Public Safety Excellence. Accreditation serves as the blueprint for all fire departments, bringing commonality among 

them and promoting excellence within the fire and emergency 

management system agencies. It is the first in DLA and the 13th 

in the Defense Department. 

In addition to safety services, Tatman’s responsibilities 

include DDJC’s child development center, which provides child 

care services to depot employees at a reduced rate. The center 

is also currently open to the general public on a space-available 

basis, though public enrollees must pay higher tuition rates. 

Construction on a new center is slated to begin this year.

The amenities, including multiple fitness centers, on DDJC 

enhance the employees’ performance and help them strike a better work/life balance, in part because many of the services offer 

them the chance to participate without going off the installation 

and usually at a reduced cost. It also saves the workers’ off-duty 

time, Tatman said. 

While the work/life programs at DDJC are tailored to the 

employees and local needs, they are comparable to programs 

offered at sites across the Defense Logistics Agency. These programs have helped other Agency organizations attain the same 

DOD recognition. The San Joaquin depot’s sister organization, 

the Defense Distribution Center Susquehanna, Pa., has been 

recognized twice, and DLA’s Defense Supply Center Columbus, 

Ohio, and Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va., have received 

the award five and six times, respectively. 

Rodriguez said the team approach at his depot makes the 

work force there — many of whom rally behind the motto, 

“Team DDJC: We are San Joaquin” — stand out among the 

Agency’s field sites. 

“I’m lucky to be the commander of such a great group of 

professionals. It’s easy to lead when you have a winning team,” 

he said. 

Victor Salazar, a distribution process worker, inputs data at a portable 

work station before packing the material for shipment. Through the 

6901 Distribution Process Worker Training Program, 41 percent of 

the depot’s work force has been trained to perform multiple distribution functions.

Members of the Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin, Calif.’s fire 

and police departments participate in an exercise simulating hazardous incident response. The departments partner with local, state and 

federal authorities to provide assistance and share training opportunities to ensure seamless interoperation in the event of an emergency.
16 www.dla.mil

INFORMATION, 

PLEASE

DEFENSE LOGISTICS INFORMATION SERVICE

Story by Tim Hoyle

Photos courtesy Defense Logistics Information Service

Employees at the Defense Logistics Information 

Service sort through tub files full of punch cards 

to catalog logistics data during the 1960s. These 

days, the service uses logistics databases to 

catalog items for access by warfighters. 
Loglines l July - August 2009 17

When Cris Miranda retired from 

the Army, he never dreamed 

he’d be going back to Iraq. 

When the Operation Iraqi 

Freedom veteran accepted 

a civilian job with the Defense Logistics 

Information Service, a field activity of the 

Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense 

Department entity that provides supplychain data and logistics information-technology solutions to the military services, he 

thought he’d be “driving” a desk all day -- 

still supporting warfighters, but from Battle 

Creek, Mich., instead of the front lines. 

Miranda soon found himself again in 

Southwest Asia, this time for a six-month 

stint from August 2008 until February, 

during which he supported deployment of 

the high-profile, heavily armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles known 

as MRAPs. 

The high demand and shortened timeline for deploying the life-saving vehicles 

resulted in them being fielded faster than is 

usual for a major customer end item like a 

tactical vehicle, Miranda said. The deployment was so accelerated that a DLIS employee was soon needed 

onsite to capture information about parts unique to the vehicle 

that were not already captured in the Federal Logistics Information System, the service’s cornerstone information system, which 

feeds into DLA’s supply-ordering systems. 

Miranda’s efforts in creating national stock numbers for the 

new items helped get them into the system quickly, so warfighters who received the first MRAPs shipped into theater 

could order spare and repair parts to keep the trucks in service 

protecting troops. 

The logistics information and support that DLA is providing 

to warfighters is critical, he said. 

“We have to make certain that the information and products 

we [supply] are accurate and what the warfighter needs. Everyone’s job at DLA is an important link in the [supply] chain. The 

information and products we are furnishing could be saving a 

life or, at the very least, making someone’s job easier to accomplish,” Miranda said.

A former Defense Logistics Information Service commander, Marine 

Col. Laura Sampsel tours the M114 Humvee transfer facility in Iraq 

with contractor representative Robert Cinci. Accuracy in logistics data 

ensures maintenance activities can find and order spare parts quickly.

Tim Hoyle works in Public Affairs at the Defense Logistics Information Service.
18 www.dla.mil

Supporting Warfighters

Fielding a new weapon system 

such as the MRAP and its multiple 

variants requires preparing, reviewing 

and updating technical information 

for supporting items so the Defense 

Department supply chain can sustain 

and deploy the system. 

Before a customer can request a 

supply item or a repair part, someone 

must collect data about the item, where 

it can be obtained, its capabilities and 

characteristics, and how an item varies 

by manufacturer. Substitute items are also 

identified to be used as replacements if the 

desired part is unavailable. To do this, DLIS catalogers capture data from product vendors, military 

item managers and other DLA stakeholders to offer warfighters 

access to one of the world’s largest databases, which maintains 

information on more than 6 million active supply items.

The depth of skills possessed by DLIS’ catalogers are part of 

what officials said has made DOD’s common logistics language, 

known as the Federal Catalog System, the model for other nations. It’s also why, they said, DLIS serves as the U.S. National 

Codification Bureau, representing the United States as part of 

NATO’s Allied Committee 135, which 

is charged with maintaining the treaty 

organization’s codification system to 

bridge logistics knowledge across the 

globe. 

Leadership in international codification has also made DLIS a sort of 

schoolhouse for international logistics 

officials on how to use the NATO Codification System and how to operate a national cataloging system. More than 109 

foreign students from 41 nations have 

traveled to Battle Creek to build their 

skills since 2000, when DLIS began offering 

its training, known as NCB College. 

Marine Col. Laura Sampsel, a former DLIS 

commander, said her employees have also taken their 

expertise on the road to bring the benefits of codification to 

logisticians in 20 countries. Briefers recently traveled to Iraq to 

show the nation’s senior leaders how participation in the NATO 

Codification System would help them regain their logistics independence as Iraq continues to rebuild its military forces.

Whether they are deployed in support of combat operations 

in Southwest Asia or training at home for their next deployment, 

American forces can count on the products and services DLIS 
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 19

Defense Logistics 

Information Service

Mission:

To provide interoperable, integrated, quality logistics 

data and enterprise IT solutions for joint warfighters, 

the military services, the Defense Department, other 

federal agencies and international partners in order to 

optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of the DOD 

supply chain.

Vision Statement:

We are the premier provider of DOD supply chain data 

and logistics information technology solutions. 

Headquarters:

Battle Creek, Mich.

Scope of Business:

DLA IT Investments in 

DOD IT Portfolio Repository 133

Enterprise Business System 

Projected Annual Sales $18.7B

DLIS Services 7.3M

DAPS Services

Service Centers Worldwide 185

On-time Delivery 98.8%

Machines in 

Customer Workspaces 40.0K

Defense Automatic Addressing System Center 

Transactions Monthly 587.5M

IT Systems Accredited 95.1%

Enterprise Application Availability 99.74%

Enterprise First Recall Resolution Rate 74.59%

Desktop Licenses Provided 31,572

Employees:

2,929 federal

26 military

Lines of Business:

System Sustainment

Program Management

Infrastructure/Local Area Network Management

Information Assurance

Master Data Management

Document Automation and Management

Enterprise Data Services

provides to enhance their readiness and the sustainment of personnel and equipment, Sampsel said. 

An Expanding Toolkit

As warfighters’ needs have evolved – forces are increasingly 

mobile and the battlefield less traditional – the information service has structured its products to keep pace. DLIS offers Webbased automated tools to help supply and maintenance personnel, logisticians and planners find critical information on items 

of supply and the maps and charts critical to mission success. 

Within DLIS’ online electronic shopping hub known as DOD 

EMALL, warfighters and other authorized government customers have a secure location and a powerful search engine to help 

them wade through product information from more than 1,450 

commercial supply catalogs that contain more than 32 million 

items. Shopping from several catalogs and ordering items from 

multiple sources simultaneously saves customers’ time by allowing one order using several sources of supply, officials said. 

More than $800 million worth of orders were placed using DOD 

EMALL in fiscal 2008. 

Shoppers can also meet procurement mandates for purchasing environmentally preferable products through the DOD 

EMALL Green Procurement System. The procurement system 

uses automated tools to mine vendor product descriptions and 

compare them to specifications issued by different regulatory 

Dr. Richard Wang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology teaches 

Defense Logistics Information Service employees about data quality 

during a workshop that stressed accuracy in logistics data systems.

Mechanics repairing Humvees and other wheeled vehicles depend 

on logistics data supplied through Defense Logistics Information 

Service products to be accurate.
20 www.dla.mil

agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, Department 

of Agriculture and Federal Energy Management Program. 

Green products are also clearly marked in DLIS’ federal 

logistics data publication known as FED LOG, which allows 

customers to research supply items using a CD-ROM or DVD. 

The discs are portable, so they allow deployed personnel without 

Internet access to obtain timely product information. For customers who can go online, the discs interface with a Web-based 

version of the Federal Logistics Information System, called 

WebFLIS, to ensure users get up-to-date information about the 

cost and availability of items. 

Another available tool is the DLA Map Catalog, which uses 

point-and-click functionality to allow users to identify and order 

maps and charts. A drawing feature allows shoppers to identify 

maps and charts associated with a mission by dragging their cursors from one point to another on an onscreen reference map. 

The shopping cart feature in the catalog then gathers data on the 

maps and charts so customers can easily order their selections 

through DOD EMALL. 

Refining Practices

Throughout its 46-year history, DLIS has evolved to accept 

new missions and to adapt to emerging technologies and bestbusiness practices. Its roots date back to the end of World War 

II, when the military services independently operated separate 

supply systems and procedures for cataloging their supply items. 

Efficient use of stock was impossible because many items were 

given a different name by each military branch. Shortly after, 

two key laws were passed to mandate the establishment of the 

common logistics language, which DLIS calls the Federal Catalog System. 

A new agency was founded in 1958 to administer the FCS, its 

mission eventually transferring to the Defense Logistics Agency, 

under which DLIS has transformed operationally to adopt 

The Defense Logistics Information Service offers a variety of products 

and services like this DVD version of its popular Federal Logistics 

Data, which consolidates the contents of five compact discs. 

The DLIS goal is to provide quality products to support the 

Defense Logistics Agency focus on support to the warfighter 

whenever and wherever they need logistics information and 

through whichever medium they require. Whether one needs 

such data through the Web, another type of online access or via 

an offline format like CDs or DVD, there is usually a DLIS product 

to meet whatever is needed.

A visit to www.dlis.dla.mil/prod.asp is a good way to learn 

more about these different products. The “CD-ROM/DVDs” link on 

that page includes information on how to request a CD Sampler of 

FED LOG and the other products available in a disc format. 

The “Services” page (www.dlis.dla.mil/cservice.asp) offers information 

on all the services DLIS provides.

You Need Answers

We Can Help!
Loglines l July - August 2009 21

industry and public-sector best logistics practices and emerging 

information technology and create quality logistics data to connect the two, officials said. 

With a staff experienced in managing logistics information 

systems, DLIS was able to assume the management of the Logistics Information Network, LINK, developed during the Gulf War 

in the early 1990s. Personnel at U.S. European Command created 

LINK to provide greater visibility of assets in the supply pipeline, 

track requisitions and prevent duplicate ordering by customers. 

Its experience with LINK helped the DLIS staff assume the 

sustainment role once again when DLA was ready to pass along 

the Joint Total Asset Visibility program in 2003. Officials said 

having one activity manage both programs would streamline 

operations because JTAV was intended to parallel its predecessor 

with a more strategic view of material readiness while LINK still 

focused more on individual requisitions. 

Because of the critical need to ensure current, accurate data 

in the system, DLIS made JTAV one of four pilot projects for 

data-quality initiatives before it was slated for replacement by 

the Asset Visibility program. AV provides a real-time snapshot of 

items in DLA’s supply chain, and users can access information on 

the status of unit equipment, fuel, ammunition, medical supplies, 

and wholesale and retail assets in storage or that have already 

been shipped to fill orders. 

Because the AV program has the ability to provide a strategic 

overview and monitor individual requisitions, Agency planners 

have scheduled it to replace LINK later this year (see “Track 

and Confirm” p. 10).

Building Strength

DLIS has built a lean organization in part through its use of 

Continuous Process Improvement streamlining tools. The tools 

empower personnel across the organization to reduce nonvalue-added inputs from their daily business operations so they 

can support warfighters through improved data products and 

data systems. Employees trained as facilitators create a learning environment that fosters practical application. Students 

learn the principles and are assigned projects so they can hone 

their skills by applying them to problems in an actual work 

environment. 

The organization also fosters continuous learning in its work 

force through the use of tuition assistance, distance learning 

and mentoring.

A Bright Future 

DLIS entered into a new era of leadership in July, with the 

appointment of Deb Greger, executive director, as the service’s 

first civilian director. Throughout its history, DLIS had always 

been led by a military officer.

The change to a senior civilian leader brings continuity that 

will be extremely beneficial as DLIS continues to evolve to a 

broader and increasingly complex set of services and capabilities, said Mae De Vincentis, DLA’s director of information operations and chief information officer. 

Greger said her past experience in helping DLIS explore new 

initiatives will come in handy as her command responds to the 

continuous changes in technology and the needs of warfighters. 

DLIS has a legacy of being not only capable, but eager to 

adapt, which will serve it well as electronic devices become 

smaller and more portable and DLIS adapts its products and 

services to support those platforms, she said. 

Brent Johnson, a Defense Logistics Information Service instructor, 

teaches students from the Michigan Air National Guard how to retrieve 

supply item characteristics using the Federal Logistics Data tool.
22 www.dla.mil

DLA NewsWire

The Washington, D.C., office of the 

Document Automation & Production 

Service recently collaborated with the 

Naval History and Heritage Command to 

print a booklet highlighting 20 years of 

conflicts in Asia.

The booklet, titled “The Approaching 

Storm: Conflict in Asia, 1945-1965,” is 

the first in a series covering the conflict’s 

global, regional and ideological stimuli.

Between 2008 and 2015, the Naval 

History and Heritage Command and the 

Naval Historical Foundation are slated 

to collaborate on the booklets, which 

detail the Navy’s involvement in the 

conflict. Plans for subsequent booklets 

include the fight for Vietnam’s rivers 

and canals; naval special warfare; the 

prisoner of war experience; the Rolling 

Thunder and Linebacker bombing campaigns; Navy medicine at war; coastal 

operations; Navy leaders, advisors, and 

the Vietnamese navy; sealift and naval 

Richmond Gears

Up for Tanker 

Overhauls

D.C. Production Office 

Prints Historical 

Publications

The workhorse refueling tanker plane 

that has kept Airmen flying since it 

was brought into service more than 50 

years ago is about to get a facelift. 

The fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers 

is slated to be in service for another 37 

years, officials said, so the flight control 

surfaces on the inside and outside of 

the aircraft — a total of 26 flight control 

items — are due for overhaul and rebuilding. The flight controls are all the moving 

parts that control the aircraft while in the 

air: spoilers, flaps, elevators and rudder.

Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va., 

is moving into high gear to support the 

overhaul, ensuring its ability to support the 

approximately 2,700 unique pieces used to 

build the 26 flight control items for the 

80 jets that are expected to go through 

maintenance each year. 

“Due to its age, the Air Force needs 

to overhaul the flight control surfaces 

to minimize unit maintenance time and 

increase aircraft operational availability,” 

said David Huguet, the KC-135 weapon 

system support manager in Aviation Customer Operations, who has managed the 

program for seven years. “The work will 

be done at Oklahoma Air Logistics Center 

over eight years and will require 254 fulltime maintenance technicians.”

The overhauls are scheduled to begin 

in 2010, and Huguet’s efforts on the project, beginning in 2005, have been built 

into a joint Defense Logistics Agency and 

Air Force integrated process team. The 

team involves DSCR employees across 

the center and Air Force employees at 

Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and within 

the Air Force Global Logistics Support 

Center. 

The Richmond supply center is using 

the new Sales and Operations Planning 

Process, known as S&OP and initiated 

by DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan 

Thompson in September, to facilitate 

strategic decisionmaking on the project, 

officials said. 

S&OP involves balancing the needs 

of customers, the Agency’s multiple field 

activities and funds available so senior 

leaders can make informed business 

operations decisions.

Huguet said two projects under the 

S&OP process involve getting 530 stock 

items on expedited contracts or accelerated purchases, and establishing 

a six-month safety level stock for 474 

show-stopper items associated with the 

overhaul project, as identified by the joint 

DSCR and Air Force team. Approval to 

Navy Lt. Peter Scheu
Loglines l May - June 2009 23

logistics; Seabees and construction; 

naval intelligence; and the seaborne 

evacuations from Indochina. DAPS has 

signed on to print the entire series.

Printing high-visibility publications is 

one of DAPS’ specialty services. The production service’s Washington office also printed 

a hard-bound tribute book for the Office 

of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

Health Affairs: “When It Mattered Most: Remembering Our Fallen Medical Personnel 

in Iraq-Afghanistan.” The book details 219 

accounts of the men and women of military 

medicine, “some of the most poignant conLoglines l July - August 2009 23

Compiled by DLA Public Affairs 

temporary accounts to reach the American public,” Secretary of Defense Robert 

Gates wrote in the book’s foreword. 

The DAPS Washington, D.C., office 

administers document production 

facilities in the national capital region 

and has facilities in the White House 

and at the Pentagon. A field activity of 

the Defense Logistics Agency, DAPS is 

the document solutions provider for 

the Department of Defense. 

— Keith Beebe 

Document Automation & Production Service

Public Affairs Officer

Philadelphia 

Supplies Life-Saving 

Equipment for 

Injured Soldier 

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia’s Medical Directorate received 

an order from the Army late one 

Friday this spring, looking for an 

urgently needed filter for a dialysis 

machine that was keeping an injured 

Soldier alive in Iraq. The item would 

need to arrive within the week for the 

Soldier to survive, officials said. 

Logistics specialists, medical 

contracting officers and the center’s 

senior leaders immediately contacted 

manufacturers, vendors and distributors to find an available Haemofilter. One of the directorate’s prime 

vendors, Owens & Minor, located the 

item in Mississippi. The shipment 

was moved via Priority Air Solutions 

to Frankfurt, Germany, where it was 

met by U.S. Army Medical Materiel 

Center Europe personnel. USAMMCE 

then shipped the component via 

National Air Cargo into Iraq. Medical 

personnel on the ground in Iraq confirmed receipt of the item in Baghdad 

two and a half days later, on Monday 

afternoon. 

Despite the obstacles to filling the 

critical, life-or-death request on such 

a short timeline — vendors closed 

for the weekend; time differences 

between the supply center, vendors 

and requestor; and stock availability 

— officials said the entire supply 

chain team, to include the vendor and 

shipper, understood the urgency of 

the situation and made the effort a 

success.

— Dena Selkow

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia

Corporate Communications

increase the safety stock level was given 

in March, and planners are now working 

to secure the items. 

The short-term effect will cause the 

Agency’s Enterprise Business System 

to generate additional purchase requests and increase inventory depth, 

Huguet said.

“The long-term effect will be to raise 

future purchase requests earlier to minimize the potential for a stock-out situation, which could impact customer repair 

operations,” he said. “The increased 

safety stock level provides an additional 

inventory cushion to account for fluctuations in demand or supply pipeline 

performance.” 

— Cathy Hopkins

Defense Supply Center Richmond 

Public Affairs Office
24 www.dla.mil

BALANCING 

Story by Heather Athey
Loglines l July - August 2009 25

When mechanics on an Air Force 

maintenance line reach into 

a bin to retrieve spare parts, 

they aren’t necessarily aware 

of what happened behind the 

scenes to ensure those parts were available, just that they needed them to be 

there so the aircraft they were working on 

could be flight-ready.

Every day, Defense Logistics Agency 

customers get the supplies they need 

thanks to a balancing 

act choreographed by 

the Agency’s Sales and 

Operations Planning 

Process. S&OP as it 

is called, helps DLA’s 

decision makers prioritize customers’ needs 

against how much 

it will cost to ensure 

warfighters get the best 

possible outcome.

At its core, S&OP 

takes customer requirements and balances them 

against what vendors can 

provide and available funding for nonenergy-related product purchases. The 

result is information DLA uses to decide 

which customer has the highest priority 

and where the Agency will spend its dollars, said Simone Reba, deputy director of 

the Financial Operations Directorate.

“Like with your own personal 

checkbook, DLA doesn’t have unlimited 

funding, so you have to make some tough 

choices,” she said. “S&OP is really about 

balancing the fact that we have multiple 

customers in multiple locations and 

optimizing available money and identifying where we need additional funding to 

make sure we are supporting the customers with the highest requirement [at a 

given time].”

The data S&OP provides is valuable, 

especially in the current economic climate, 

with pending military service budget cuts 

on the horizon, Reba said.

“As service budgets draw down, 

DLA will likely experience some reduction in customer orders, reducing DLA’s 

purchasing power. S&OP can help us 

determine the best balance between supply and 

demand, ensuring that 

our resources are spent 

to support the most important customer weapon 

systems requirements,” 

she said. 

Officials do not 

anticipate a significant 

decrease in demand for 

energy-related products 

because that demand is 

largely inelastic, or unchanging, Reba said. 

“If the Navy cuts 

down on its ships’ steaming hours or 

the Air Force cuts flying hours to a large 

extent, that’s really the only way we’ll see 

a sizable reduction in the services’ energy 

consumption,” she said. “But there is 

much more discretion when times are 

tight for non-energy products, so that’s 

where we’ll probably experience the most 

reduced orders. Reduced non-energy 

orders would have a trickle-down effect 

to distribution and reutilization and 

marketing, also eventually reducing their 

orders.”

By using S&OP, Agency leaders can 

see the larger, enterprisewide picture to 

determine potential impacts of moving 

individual DLA business unit resources 

from planning and purchasing of an item 

to its disposal. 

ACT

“For example, what may reduce costs 

The Sales and Operations 

Planning Process takes 

customer requirements 

and balances them against 

what vendors can provide 

and available funding for 

non-energy-related product 

purchases.

An Airman loads a pallet of Defense Logistics 

Agency-provided supplies onto an aircraft for 

delivery to warfighters. DLA uses its Sales 

and Operations Planning Process to help 

determine how many of each commodity it 

needs to buy for customers.

 Air Force Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller
26 www.dla.mil

for supply management may increase 

costs for distribution and reutilization 

and marketing,” Reba said. “That doesn’t 

mean that the initiative still may not be in 

the best interest of the Agency or the Department of Defense. However, by using 

S&OP to identify all Enterprise end-toend costs up front, we are making a much 

more informed decision.” 

Prior to implementation of the Enterprise Business System, the Agency’s 

information technology backbone that is 

used for business operations and other 

Agency transformational efforts, DLA 

treated its operational units as separate, 

independent entities, though they all 

worked together to support warfighters, Reba said. The resulting resource 

decisions may have made sense from an 

individual organizational perspective, but 

may not have been the optimal decision 

from an Agency perspective.

In addition to seeing potential impacts 

on the Agency’s operational units before 

decisions are set in stone, DLA’s organizational construct has made balancing 

supply and demand more complex, said 

Mike Scott, executive director for materiel, 

process and assessment in the Logistics 

Operations and Readiness Directorate. 

As DLA adopted the Enterprise Business System, it also made fundamental 

changes to its organizational structure, 

said Tim Morefield, a specialist in sales 

and operations planning for the Logistics 

Operations and Readiness Directorate. 

Navy Petty Officer Rachel N. Clayton

Air Force Senior Airman Andrew Satran

An Airman tests a bolt for structural integrity 

by using a magnetic bath process. The Defense Logistics Agency uses its Sales and 

Operations Planning Process to determine 

the right number of bolts and other parts to 

order to meet warfighters’ needs. 

The Defense Logistics Agency balances 

customer needs with available supplies via 

its Sales and Operations Planning Process, 

which aims to achieve the best outcome for 

warfighters like these Sailors on the USS 

George Washington.
Loglines l July - August 2009 27

Instead of having multiple supply 

centers service the same customers and suppliers, planners developed an organizational structure 

that would provide a single DLA 

entry point to customers. This 

single face from DLA to suppliers 

also better leverages the Agency’s 

buying power, he said.

The resulting structure for 

non-energy commodities at DLA is 

a demand chain and supply chain 

structure. Demand chains are 

responsible for interacting with 

customers to understand their priorities and resolve any concerns. 

Management of customer demand 

is assigned to one of the supply 

center commanders, Scott said. 

Under the current construct, 

each of the Agency’s supply 

centers is the lead for at least 

one demand and one supply 

chain. The Defense Supply Center 

Richmond, Va., owns the aviation 

demand and supply chains, the 

Defense Supply Center Columbus, 

Ohio, owns the land and maritime 

demand and supply chains, and 

the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia owns the subsistence, 

clothing and textiles, medical, and 

construction and equipment demand and supply chains, Morefield said.

But because the focus of the demand 

and supply chains are not the same – 

demand chains focus on specific customers and supply chains focus on specified 

suppliers and items – each supply center 

also plays a support role for the other 

centers, Morefield said.

“The demand and supply chain 

construct means all of the supply centers, 

in either their lead or support roles, are 

highly intertwined with each other and 

can no longer act as individual standalone entities as was largely the case 

[before EBS],” Morefield said.

S&OP also helps clearly identify 

which military services are buying which 

parts and supplies. In the Enterprise 

Business System, parts are coded based 

on which of the Agency’s supply centers is 

charged with their management. Coding 

of the parts is based on the supply chain 

that buys the most pieces. 

Scott said the concept is easier understood using an example. 

“The Warner Robins Air Logistics 

Center, Ga., needs a part. From a DLA 

procurement perspective, most aviation 

parts are assigned to the aviation supply 

chain at Richmond,” he said. “If a one-toone relationship exists between a 

demand and supply chain, balancing customer requirements with 

vendor purchases is more straightforward.”

That means if one customer 

demands one item and one supplier 

provides that item to the supply 

center, that then sells it to a customer, the customer demand is easy 

to track across the Agency’s operations, he said.

“But it gets trickier when an item 

is purchased by multiple military 

services, and those are referred to as 

common items,” Scott said. 

“So in our example, if the part 

Warner Robins ALC requires is [a 

common item] assigned to the maritime supply chain Columbus, from 

a purchasing perspective, S&OP is 

used to balance the aviation demand 

chain requirement against the maritime supply chain purchase priorities to ensure that Warner Robins 

gets all the parts they need when 

they need them,” Scott said.

The system is designed to take 

into account all customer demand, 

but not necessarily to buy the total 

number of items customers think 

they’ll need, he said. Balancing 

common items helps prevent the 

Agency from overstocking items that may 

then not be used and will take up valuable 

warehousing space — ultimately costing 

the Agency money, Reba said.

Both Reba and Scott stressed that 

keeping an eye on all these moving parts 

helps DLA get warfighters what they need 

and also ensures the Agency is a good 

steward of taxpayer dollars. A big part 

of the process involves leaders from the 

individual business units coming together 

to discuss their resource requirements and 

how those requirements affect their respective demand and supply chains, other 

DLA Enterprise businesses, and ultimately 

customer’s rates for goods and services 

rendered. 

Navy Petty Officer Rachel N. Clayton

Using the Sales and Operations Planning 

Process, Defense Logistics Agency planners 

can determine how many supplies, like lumber and electrical wire, it must buy to meet 

customers’ needs.
28 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

1. You came to DLA in 1975, at 

what is now the Defense Supply 

Center Philadelphia. How have 

your experiences prepared you to 

oversee and modernize the technology backbone that enables DLA to 

serve warfighters? 

I had the good fortune of working 

in a broad range of functions over 

26 years at Philadelphia, including 

contracting and various aspects of 

systems design and management 

support. I helped DSCP lead the way 

for the Defense Department on innovative technology-enabled supply 

support such as the medical prime 

vendor initiative. In 1999 I became 

executive director for information 

systems and technology for DLA’s 

Defense Logistics Support Command. In this role, and beginning in 

2001 as DLA’s director of information operations, I became responsible 

for providing comprehensive IT 

systems to facilitate DLA’s supplychain-management objectives, 

including oversight of the Business 

Systems Modernization strategy. I 

think my broad background in all 

facets of supply-chain management 

and modern IT capabilities and the 

similarly broad functional and technical backgrounds of key executives 

and Information Operations employees at headquarters and in the field 

help us understand and support our 

customers. 

MAE De VINCEN

The Agency’s chief information officer discusses hot topics in technology. 

Enterprise Business System Business Systems Modernization Information Operat

2. There has been significant progress on the Enterprise Business 

System. Where is DLA in its plan to 

implement the system enterprisewide, and what challenges stand in 

the way?

We have made great strides in 

fielding a full-spectrum enterprise 

resource-planning capability in 

seven of DLA’s eight supply chains. 

Efforts are under way in the remaining supply chain, energy management. Developmental efforts to 

enhance EBS capabilities in finance, 

procurement and inventory management include the Enterprise Operational Accounting System, retailintegration tools and other software 

upgrades.

 As is usually the case when enhancing technology-enabled business 

processes, there are several challenges like ensuring funds are available 

and that requirements remain stable. 

Another challenge is change management – getting everyone involved, 

including some mission partners outside DLA, to embrace and implement 

the revised practices. 

Defense Logistics Agency Photo
Loglines l July - August 2009 29

TIS

tions CyberSecurity Enterprise Operational Accounting System IT Network 

by DLA Public Affairs

3. What will further extension of 

EBS mean to DLA and its customers? 

Extension of EBS will mean the 

Agency can further enhance various 

aspects of its business processes to 

better support warfighters. We will 

be more agile and have better collaboration tools, improve our ability 

to manage retail inventory support at 

the military services’ industrial sites, 

and obtain savings as DOD’s single 

interface to industry for procuring 

consumable and reparable spares. 

4. You recently spotlighted the importance of IT security by sponsoring a network security focus day 

and publicizing the need to protect 

DLA’s IT network from unauthorized intrusions by restricting mobile data devices like thumb drives. 

What does a secure IT network, 

called for in the 2009 Director’s 

Guidance, mean to Agency employees and warfighters? Can these 

restrictions be lifted? 

Security mechanisms are 

deployed in a layered fashion to 

protect DLA information while 

sustaining usability for mission support. This includes implementing 

DOD’s restriction on use of mobile 

or removable media as part of the 

strategy to defend against attacks. 

There are indications at this time that 

this particular ban will be lifted, but 

only in limited circumstances. In the 

interim, we have processes in place to 

transfer information from removable 

media to approved media types. 

5. There has been much talk in 

the news about the White House 

appointing a cybersecurity czar 

responsible for all government 

information technology network 

security. What implications does 

this have for DLA? 

DLA adheres to network security 

directives issued by U. S. Strategic 

Command and its Joint Task ForceGlobal Network Operations. I expect 

we still would get our guidance from 

those sources, even if DOD information security practices were overseen 

by a federal czar. 

Regarding this question and the 

one before, networked assets like 

those used by DOD and DLA for 

logistics support are inevitably at 

some risk because DLA interacts with 

customers and suppliers all over the 

world, within and outside DOD. A 

top-down approach to cybersecurity 

has potential to yield benefits for 

everyone. 

6. The Information Operations 

Directorate routinely partners with 

the military services, an example 

of which is IGC, or Integrated Data 

Environment/Global Transportation Network Convergence, which 

combined DLA’s Integrated Data 

Environment with U.S. Transportation Command’s Global 

Transportation Network. What 

are some other partnerships that 

benefit warfighters? 

DLA consistently shares lessons 

learned during enterprise resource 

planning implementation with others 

in DOD. Now that the military services are at various stages of their own 

logistics ERP efforts, we have met 

frequently to discuss use of current 

and emerging IT solutions, shared 

challenges and lessons learned. 

We are collaborating even more as 

a result of Base Realignment and 

Closure 2005 decisions that involve 

DLA directly in the services’ retail 

industrial supply support and procurement of depot-level reparables. 

We also partner with the services’ as 

they define, and DLA catalogs, spareparts requirements for new weapon 

systems. 
30 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

mation Operations CyberSecurity Enterprise Operational Accounting System

Extension of the 

Enterprise Business 

System means the 

Agency can further 

enhance various aspects 

of its business processes 

to better support 

warfighters. 

7. Information Operations supports IT functions at DLA locations 

worldwide. What are some challenges to supporting IT infrastructure in austere environments? 

Two primary challenges are the 

greatly reduced lifespan of IT equipment due to the theater environment 

and ensuring availability of the right 

IT support when it’s needed. Remote 

locations often preclude availability 

of on-site IT personnel, so most support must be accomplished remotely. 

We have tools that allow technicians 

to help from thousands of miles 

away and extra devices pre-staged at 

central locations that can quickly be 

brought online as replacements until 

a technician can arrive on scene. 

8. How has IT support enhanced the 

work abilities of forward-deployed 

Agency personnel? 

DLA has many employees 

forward with customers – some at 

industrial sites, others essentially 

embedded with customers either as 

regional- or activity-specific support 

in the contiguous United States or 

on the front lines overseas. We take 

steps to give these employees maximum access to the same businesssupport tools available at traditional 

DLA sites. In some cases we literally 

deploy that IT capability with them. 

For example, our deployable Distribution Standard System operating off 

a small server has given us a system 

we can quickly take anywhere to help 

us provide full distribution service. 

We also have developed a deployable 

communications package that includes satellite computer communications, voice-over-Internet protocol 

telephones and satellite phones. 

9. Two of DLA Director Navy Vice 

Adm. Alan Thompson’s 2009 initiatives include support to expanded operations in Afghanistan and 

support of personnel and equipment resets from the Iraqi theater. 

How will Information Operations 

aid DLA’s efforts? 

Much like the DLA deployment 

in Iraq, IT will be an integral part 

of the planning and execution of 

expanded operations in Afghanistan. 

As the military resets its overall 

deployed posture, DLA employees 

and DLA-provided IT connectivity 

will be there with the services to help 

acquire essential items and dispose 

of unusable assets. We will be ready 

with additional DLA deployable communications packages for locations 

not connected to existing military 

infrastructure.

10. What do you see for the future 

of the Information Operations Directorate at DLA? 

The future of Information Operations at DLA is in some ways quite 

clear. We will continue to provide increasingly effective IT systems, infrastructure and logistics data services, 

while keeping our networks secure. 

We strive to make services as up to 

date and usable as possible, especially as our own work force and those 

who rely on DLA’s logistics data services become increasingly mobile. It 

also means we must constrain related 

costs and help preserve security of 

the broader DOD IT network. That 

said, the related details are not as 

clear. No doubt there will be many 

developments over the next few years 

that will impact IT at DLA. We have 

a good technology and best-practices 

basis from which to go forward, along 

with a dedicated work force and solid 

contractor support that will help us 

meet these challenges. 
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 31

D

efense Logistics Agency Director 

Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson 

traveled to Oahu, Hawaii, this 

spring to get a first-hand look at 

how the Agency is supporting warfighters 

in the Pacific area of responsibility. 

In addition to meeting with major 

customers at U.S. Pacific Command, 

Thompson was able to visit most of the 

DLA locations on Oahu. At each stop, 

the director received a briefing from the 

commander or director there on various IN THE

Members of the Oahu, Hawaii-based Map 

Support Office flank Defense Logistics Agency 

Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson and 

his official party for a photo commemorating 

his visit to the Pacific theater.

ongoing projects and a tour of the facility. 

One of the locations Thompson visited was the Hawaii Map Support Office. 

“It was immediately apparent to me 

that the MSO was a professionally run 

operation and the MSO team took pride 

in their work,” he said. “Over the next few 

months, I look forward to future visits to 

the rest of the Pacific region.”

Thompson also visited the Red 

Director’s Travels

Loglines l July - August 2009 31

 Pacific

Theater Red Hill Underground

Fuel Storage Facility

Defense Distribution Depot Pearl Harbor

Oahu, Hawaii

Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility, Fleet and Industrial Supply Center 

Pearl Harbor, the Defense Reutilization 

and Marketing Office at Barbers Point, 

Defense Distribution Depot Pearl Harbor, 

the Document Automation & Production 

Service’s office in Hawaii, and Defense 

Supply Center Philadelphia-Pacific. He 

also ate lunch aboard the USS Lake Erie 

with a group of Navy supply officers.

Officials he met with during the trip 

included: Marine Forces Pacific Commander Lt. Gen. Keith Stalder; Navy 

Rear Adm. Thomas Traaen, U.S. Pacific 

Fleet’s deputy chief of staff for logistics, 

fleet supply and ordnance; Army Maj. 

Gen. Raymond Mason, commander of 

8th Theater Sustainment Command, at 

Fort Shafter; Pacific Air Forces Director 

of Logistics Col. Brent Baker; Army Brig. 

Gen. John Seward, deputy commander of 

U.S. Army Pacific. — DLA Public Affairs

Defense Reutilization 

and Marketing Office
32 www.dla.mil

Story by Jonathan Stack

WAR GAMES

and equipment to Korea in the event of 

an attack.

McMillan’s role was to provide the 

status of Class IX requests and expedite 

them when necessary. Class IX supplies 

include repair parts for aircraft engines, 

tactical vehicles and electronics. 

“DLA supported the warfighters 

[participating in Key Resolve] by standing 

up a 24-hour DLA support team cell that 

provided Class I (subsistence), II (clothing, other textiles, tools), III (petroleum), 

IV (construction materials), VIII (medical 

material) and IX support,” McMillan said. 

“If there was an emergency request, DLA 

was there to assist in a timely manner.”

The DLA support team for the exercise consisted of 15 in-country personnel 

augmented by 20 employees from the 

different Agency supply centers. 

McMillan said the Agency’s support 

to joint exercises is critical because it 

allows DLA to learn about warfighters’ 

needs and what items are critical to mission success. 

“This was a benefit for DLA because it 

gave the Agency an idea of what would be 

expected assuming this was [a] real-world 

[situation],” she said. “It allows DLA to 

answer questions such as ‘Is there enough 

stock on hand?’ or ‘How much time it 

would take to get parts or meals ready-toeat in theater.’”

The Agency’s Defense Supply Center 

Philadelphia also participated in Key Resolve 2009 and has participated in other 

I

n the midst of two wars, the United 

States’ military continues to train 

troops through joint military exercises on land, at sea and via computer simulation. 

And just like in the real world, warfighters on the training battlefield receive 

onsite support from the Defense Logistics 

Agency to ensure a smooth flow of supplies, repair parts and fuel. 

This spring, Anita McMillan, a customer account specialist at the Defense 

Supply Center Richmond, Va., participated in exercise Key Resolve 2009, a 

simulation-driven command post exercise involving U.S. and Republic of Korea 

forces stationed on the Korean peninsula. 

The exercise focused on deploying troops 

The Defense Energy Support Center, executive agent for bulk fuels for the Defense Department, provides fuel supply specialists to Defense 

Logistics Agency support teams that support joint exercises.

Navy Petty Officer Gabriel S. Weber
Loglines Loglines l July - August 2009 July - August 2009 33

U.S. Pacific Command exercises, including Cobra Gold and Terminal Fury.

“DLA-Pacific, with the support of 

regional field activities, contributed by 

standing up a DLA support team which 

provided support and information on 

DLA managed commodities to support 

USPACOM’s training objectives,” said Air 

Force Capt. Donovan Gonzalez, DSCPPacific plans and readiness chief. 

DSCP and other field activities support 

the field training portion of joint regional 

exercises by deploying subject matter experts to the exercise sites to provide onsite 

support for DLA managed supplies.

Gonzalez said the experts go to planning conferences, articulate the Agency’s 

capabilities, get requirements from military components and ensure warfighters 

get their orders into the supply system in 

a timely manner to guarantee delivery by 

customer deadline.

“Our business as a combat support agency is to support the warfighter 

and the things we do during exercises 

enhances the overall exercise mission 

objectives by providing seamless customer support,” Gonzalez said. “DLA’s 

top priority is always warfighter support. 

This means supporting the readiness and 

sustainment of those who are in harm’s 

way or are preparing to deploy.”

He said that warfighters benefit from 

learning about DLA’s processes and 

procedures. 

“It gives the joint warfighter a better 

understanding of the types and means 

of support that we provide in peace time 

and contingency situations,” he added. 

“It also directly impacts the warfighter by 

having the right support in place so they 

can accomplish exercise objectives.” 

Participating in a joint environment 

allows DLA to demonstrate to combatant 

commanders that the Agency is a dependable and responsive source of supply that 

gets the right items to where they need to 

be when they’re needed, he said. 

“During these exercises and real-world 

missions, fuel is a very critical commodity,” said Randy Hardy, the Defense Energy 

Support Center deputy chief of operations. “If the United States armed forces 

don’t have fuel, they aren’t going far.”

As the executive agenct for bulk fuels 

for the Defense Department, DESC provides fuel supply specialists to the DLA 

support teams during the joint exercises.

“The process of DESC providing fuel, 

whether it’s an exercise or real world, 

isn’t going to change,” Hardy said.

One joint exercise DESC participates 

in is Operation Bright Star, which takes 

place in Egypt. It is a biannual joint/coalition exercise designed to increase regional 

involvement in pursuit of improved security and defense capabilities. 

Two Marines fire 80 mm mortar rounds during Exercise Key Resolve 2008. Defense 

Logistics Agency employees participate in 

the yearly simulation-driven command post 

exercise involving U.S. and Republic of Korea 

forces to ensure a smooth flow of supplies, 

repair parts and fuel.

DESC provides two on-the-ground 

quality assurance representatives who 

travel from Egypt’s Cairo Ops Center to 

the various fuel facilities, performing fuel 

coordination between the U.S. military 

and National Service Products Organization, which operates three companies 

that manufacture military and civilian 

products. The organization also provides 

contracting services.

The representatives meet weekly with 

the NSPO throughout the exercise, which 

quickly eliminates minor problems.

“When you bring in somebody from 

DESC who understands the whole process 

they can take care of the fuel piece and 

help [the warfighter] learn,” Hardy said. 

Gonzalez said that participating in 

joint exercises benefits DLA by allowing it 

to understand how joint warfighters operate. With this understanding, DLA personnel can tailor programs and processes 

to best support warfighters’ needs. 

Marine Sgt. Freddy Cantu
I AM

My name is: 

Bill Hendricks

I am: 

The quality manager at Defense Energy Support Center 

Middle East in Bahrain.

Describe your job in a sentence:

My primary job is to assure the petroleum and chemical items procured 

for and supplied to our customers is done at the level of quality they 

expect. 

How long have you worked for DLA:

I started with DLA in January 1979.

What’s your favorite thing about working for DLA:

The variety of people, places and products I deal with every day and 

the challenge they present. 

What’s your best memory of working here:

It’s so hard to pin it down to just one, but probably 

watching the first space shuttle blast off and thinking about all the hard work I had done to help build the 

external fuel tank. 

How do you make a difference to the warfighter:

I like to think that what we do lets those in harm’s way have 

one less thing to worry about.