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LOGLINES

THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS — ON TIME, EVERY TIME

January / February 2017

Leading and Feeding

Former Ranger Cook Helps Feed Troops

Tiny Enemy

Keeping Ahead of Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes 

America’s Helping Hand

DLA Assists in Disaster Relief

Following Hurricane Matthew 

LOGLINES

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

The Right Solution — On Time, Every Time January / February 2017

Out with

the Excess

 Helping the Army Remove

 Equipment from Inventory
DLA DIRECTOR 

Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch

DLA VICE DIRECTOR

Ted Case

CHIEF OF STAFF

Renee L. Roman

DIRECTOR, PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Joseph M. Yoswa

DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Patrick H. Mackin

MANAGING EDITOR

Phil Prater

SENIOR EDITOR

John R. Bell

WRITERS

Beth Reece

Dianne Ryder

LAYOUT AND DESIGN

Paul Henry Crank

LOGLINES

THE OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION OF THE 

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY 

Lt. Gen. Andy Busch, USAF

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

From the Director

L ast year, Loglines magazine changed from themed issues to 

covering an array of topics in each installment. For me, it’s 

been a refreshing change. In each issue, I now get a sense of the 

diverse initiatives and activities going on in DLA. I think you’ll find 

the same in this issue.

Before 2016 came and went like a Category 4 hurricane, we saw 

one of the biggest stories of the year: our government’s disasterrelief efforts in Haiti and the east coast following Hurricane 

Matthew. DLA put boots on the ground, civilian and military, to 

work with our partners in other federal agencies. We provided 

expertise, coordination, and communication to help get food, water 

and supplies to the people who needed it. It’s a story of America’s 

compassion in action that our agency can take pride in, as we 

helped save lives in a devastated but grateful neighbor nation. 

The Army’s need to divest itself of worn-out and unneeded 

equipment was another big story in 2016. All that equipment 

must be managed and accounted for, which takes time and effort. 

The issue is significant because it affects readiness. Enter DLA 

Distribution and Disposition Services teams to lift the burden 

of millions of unneeded items from Army personnel. If you want 

to see relief on the faces of soldier logisticians, tell them DLA is 

coming to dispose of their excess equipment.

We also present two DLA Troop Support stories, both related 

to food. One focuses on DLA’s partnerships with local farmers 

and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide fresh fruits 

and vegetables to public schools throughout the nation. The other 

spotlights an employee of DLA Troop Support Europe & Africa 

responsible for feeding 290,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and 

Marines in three continents. It turns out, he brings his experience 

as an Army Ranger to the job.

These are only some of the great stories you’ll find in this issue 

of Loglines. I am proud of our people and proud of the work we do 

supporting the warfighter and all of our customers. As the Defense 

Department’s combat logistics support agency, we do a lot of good 

in the world.

I hope you learn something you didn’t know, feel inspired by 

what you read — or both. As diverse as these stories are, I hope you 

notice what they have in common: our employees share a common 

resolve to strive for excellence and provide exceptional global 

logistics solutions to our customers — on time, every time. 

LOGLINES is the authorized publication for the Defense 

Logistics Agency’s workforce of federal civilians, activeduty military and Joint Reserve Force 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 address below:

Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency 

Office of Public Affairs, 

8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 2545, 

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

DLA ON THE WEB www.dla.mil www.facebook.com/dla.mil

SUBSCRIBE TO THE LOGLINES MAGAZINE

If you would like to be on the Loglines mailing list, please 

email loglines@dla.mil with your name, organization and 

complete mailing address.
Collards to Kale....................................... 02

DLA Troop Support ensures customers ranging from dining 

facility patrons to school students receive the freshest fruits and 

vegetables available.

Leading and Feeding............................. 08

Feeding troops on three continents requires leadership and 

food service skills — which Todd Lutz learned in the 75th 

Ranger Regiment.

Tiny Enemy.............................................. 12

Defense Logistics Agency personnel are working with agencies 

at all levels to fight mosquitos, detect any new cases of Zika and 

make sure troops have what they need to avoid infection.

Expanding Global Presence ................. 15

 A new DLA Distribution center in Djibouti promises to boost the 

agency’s support to warfighters in the region.

Out with the Excess ............................... 18

DLA is helping the Army remove up to 1.2 million pieces of 

equipment from unit inventories so soldiers can focus on readiness.

Rare But Ready........................................ 25

Since 1993, the Warstopper Program has helped DLA guarantee ontime delivery of critical wartime materials.

America’s Helping Hand ....................... 32

When a hurricane left thousands in Haiti without food or water last 

year, DLA was a key part of America’s response.

02

25

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32

Features

Departments

A Conversation with ... ........................ 23

David Koch, deputy executive director of DLA Mission Support

DLA NewsWire ........................................ 29

DLA Strategic Plan Poster Series ......... 37

Financial Stewardship

I am DLA .................................. Back Cover

Randle McClendon

www.twitter.com/dlamil www.youtube.com/dodlogisticsagency
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Collards to Kale

 KEEPING IT FRESH

Carrots are just one of the hundreds of fresh produce items DLA 

Troop Support provides to customers, including dining facilities, 

ships, Veterans Affairs hospitals and civilian elementary 

schools through the DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable 

Program. Each team covers a geographic 

area and includes a supervisor, a group of 

tailored vendor logistics specialists that 

handle contracting and cataloging issues 

at DLA Troop Support’s headquarters in 

Philadelphia, and field reps who monitor 

quality and customer satisfaction. 

Customers include dining facilities, 

schools and child care centers on military 

installations, as well as ships, Veterans 

Affairs hospitals, Native American 

reservations, federal prisons and civilian 

elementary schools. Troops are DLA’s 

No. 1 priority, but supporting schools is 

more of a logistical challenge, compared 

to other customers, Wilmoth said.

“You may go on a base and have 

three to 23 dining halls, but one 

school system might have 20 or 120 

schools. Also, schools aren’t required to 

participate. They may enroll one year and 

choose not to the following year,” he said. 

Schoolhouse Subsistence

After studies in the early 1990s 

confirmed children weren’t eating 

enough fresh fruits and vegetables, 

Congress gave the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture the responsibility of getting 

more produce into schools through 

the National School Lunch Program. 

USDA wasn’t set up to handle produce; 

however, the closest it got to fresh was 

canned ham or peaches in corn syrup. 

State commodity officials like Gary Gay 

were skeptical. 

“Could we really do it? We didn’t 

have any reference point to lean on,” 

said Gay, director of the North Carolina 

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division.

DLA had proven its ability to provide 

fresh produce to service members 

around the globe, so USDA officials 

turned to DLA’s subsistence experts for 

help. Their conclusion: It didn’t make 

sense to copy something that was 

already being done. “Let’s partner,” USDA 

officials said.

In 1994, DoD and DLA agreed with 

USDA to a pilot project in which DLA 

supplied fresh produce to schools in 

eight states, the same way it did military 

installations. USDA officials worked with 

dieticians and DLA reps to determine 

what items would be sent to which 

schools and when. The first year, schools 

received more than $3 million in produce. 

Parents and teachers praised the 

program, and in 2010 it was expanded 

to include the 48 contiguous states, the 

District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 

Virgin Islands and Guam.

“It really shows where two federal 

agencies can work together toward a 

mutual outcome,” said Patricia Scott, 

DLA Troop Support’s chief of garrison 

Story by Beth Reece

K

en Wilmoth is browsing the 

produce department at his local 

Wal-Mart when he catches a 

woman suspiciously eyeing blood 

oranges. She picks one up, squeezes 

it, sniffs and drops it back in the bin. 

“Ma’am, they’re supposed to look like 

that,” Wilmoth pipes up. “When you cut 

them, they’re going to be blood red on 

the inside. They’re really sweet and have 

twice the vitamin C as your California 

oranges. Don’t just look at them and 

assume they’re bad.”

He also tells shoppers how to select a 

ripe cantaloupe or honeydew and shares 

his recipe for microwaved sweet onions. 

Wilmoth has loved fruits and vegetables 

since spending his childhood summers 

hawking zucchini and cabbage from 

his dad’s roadside produce stand. Now 

he shares his passion and knowledge 

with military dining facilities and school 

cafeterias on behalf of Defense Logistics 

Agency Troop Support’s Subsistence 

supply chain.

Based in Gloucester, Virginia, 

Wilmoth leads one of six garrison feeding 

teams that carry out the Department 

Beth Reece
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LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

January / February 2017

Two days’ worth of munitions removed during “ammo 

abatement” process to ensure vehicles are free from 

dangerous items before DEMIL work begins. Items shown 

include smoke grenades and .50 caliber rounds.

Beth Reece

Beth Reece

DLA Troop Support’s Ken Wilmoth, who leads one of six garrison 

feeding teams that carry out the DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable 

Program, inspects tomatoes destined for elementary schools at the 

prime vendor’s location in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

— Photo by Beth Reece

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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

although the Sweet Charlie is an excellent 

berry, it didn’t have the shelf life needed 

to support the school lunch program. 

Since customers wanted the berries, 

we had to find the right solution, so we 

worked closely with growers in the state 

to find a variety with the same great 

taste and a longer shelf life,” Gay said. 

This school year, North Carolina 

schools are scheduled to receive about 

12,000 cases of strawberries and 

more than $1 million worth of other 

locally grown produce, including sweet 

potatoes and broccoli. All of those items 

are produced by farmers with a USDA 

Good Agricultural Practices certification 

to assure they’re produced, packed, Strawberries are among of the most frequently requested 

locally grown items among schools getting produce from DLA.

Beth Reece

feeding. “This is also a great benefit 

to schools because we provide all the 

customer service, contracting oversight, 

invoice reconciliation and audits of 

prime-vendor facilities.” 

DLA Troop Support expects to provide 

more than $234 million in produce to 

students in about 12,000 nationwide 

schools during the 2016-2017 school 

year. Changes in DLA’s business 

practices and the “buy local” trend have 

contributed to the program’s growth, 

Wilmoth said. 

Yesterday’s Produce Buyers

When schools began using DoD’s 

fresh produce program, DLA had 14 

defense subsistence offices scattered 

throughout the country. Office staff 

received orders daily and arranged 

deliveries to customers, while former 

produce buyers like Wilmoth scoured the 

states for quality vendors.

“We’d pretty much just go out and 

pop in on them, tell them we were 

seeking new suppliers who wanted to 

bid on business with DoD. At the time, 

we looked for clean and reputable small 

business vendors that had a full line of 

fresh fruits and vegetables on hand,” 

Wilmoth said. 

DSOs then created blanket purchase 

agreements for reoccurring orders with 

qualified vendors. For Wilmoth’s team, 

which covered Southeast states from 

North Carolina to Florida plus the Virgin 

Islands and Puerto Rico, the focus on 

locally produced items began with berries. 

“I was at on one of the schools 

inspecting a delivery when I noticed 

California strawberries coming off 

the truck. They were perfectly fine 

strawberries, but why were our vendors 

delivering California strawberries when 

we had real pretty strawberries growing 

right up the road from the school? It 

didn’t make sense,” he said.

As a proponent of small family farms, 

North Carolina Department of Agriculture 

officials supported the idea of putting 

locally grown berries in the state’s 

schools. Then again, the question: Could 

DLA and NCDA do it using existing coldstorage warehouses and tractor trailers? 

“I believed we could teach them how 

to handle fresh products,” Wilmoth said. 

“And I knew if they could do strawberries, 

they could do anything.”

Going Local

Wilmoth taught NCDA officials about 

temperature control and how to haul 

produce without damaging or spoiling 

it. When local strawberries were finally 

put on the order list, schools in the state 

requested 1,000 cases. North Carolina 

farmers gave them Sweet Charlies, a 

variety known for their sweet taste and 

deep red color. 

“The first lesson we learned was that 

Many dining facilities use fresh produce in elaborate displays 

that include baskets and flowers carved from things like 

radishes, peppers and carrots.
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LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

January / February 2017

handled and stored as safely as possible 

to minimize food-safety hazards.

“It makes you smile, because the kids 

are getting fresh produce that a lot of 

them don’t ever get at home. We’ve heard 

some of them say they’d never had fruit 

as common as peaches until they got one 

through this program,” Wilmoth said. 

And since items offered in North 

Carolina’s local Farm to School program 

are ordered in June for the entire school 

year based on pricing forecasts, farmers 

can better plan their crops. 

“We believe the local program 

has helped create a new, dependable 

customer for small farmers and might 

have even influenced some of them to 

continue farming, he added.

While schools can develop their own 

implementation plans, Wilmoth took 

what he learned in North Carolina to 

states like Mississippi and Alabama, both 

of which now have successful programs. 

Long-term Contracts

DLA Troop Support closed its 

defense subsistence offices in 2007 

and moved to long-term contracts with 

prime vendors. The contracts last four 

to five years and the weekly catalogs 

are managed by Scott’s six teams in 

DLA Troop Support’s garrison feeding 

division. In North Carolina, for example, 

one vendor, Foster-Caviness, offers a full 

line of fresh fruits and vegetables to all 

of DLA’s customers in the state. Product 

is brought into the vendor’s cold-storage 

facility in Greensboro from sellers across 

the country and includes locally grown 

items delivered by NCDA. In many cases, 

fruits and vegetables are harvested one 

day and delivered the next.

“When it arrives here, we’re probably 

picking off the pallet that night or the next 

morning. Most of our products are turned 

around in anywhere from hours to three 

(From left) Ken Wilmoth and Pam Hamlett from DLA Troop 

Support stand in front of the North Carolina Department 

of Agriculture’s Farm to School truck with NCDA’s 

warehouse administrator, Ted Fogleman, and Bob Sitton, 

NCDA assistant director. 

Beth Reece
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

days, except hearty items like potatoes 

and onions that can last six or seven days 

with no problems,” said Foster-Caviness 

Vice President Steve Johnson. Every 

member of the company is trained to inspect items for quality as they’re received, 

stored and delivered to customers. 

The vendor in North Carolina 

delivers produce once a week to about 

1,300 schools. Because the schools 

are different sizes, the vendor must 

sometimes break down large quantities 

into smaller units. One school might 

request a 10-pound box of bananas 

instead of a case; another will order a 

2-pound bag of salad, rather than waste 

a 20-pound bag. And because many 

schools lack the cafeteria staff and time 

to cut or measure proper portion sizes, 

NCDA, DLA and the prime vendor agreed 

to provide pre-cut items like apple slices 

and prepared salads.

Foster-Caviness also works with DLA 

and NCDA to pique students’ interest in 

new varieties of produce entering the 

market, such as pluots, a plum-apricot 

hybrid that’s 75 percent plum. New 

ways of preparing vegetables have also 

increased the demand for things like 

cauliflower and kale.

“We’ve sold kale for years, but it wasn’t 

always a hot item. This vegetable that I 

grew up seeing as just a garnish on salad 

bars is now considered a superfood, so 

we’ve worked with farmers to increase 

the amount we have available for order,” 

said Foster-Caviness President Paul Lieb. 

Providing produce to schools wasn’t 

initially appealing, he admitted, because 

the business volume is small compared 

to what his company achieves with large 

food chains, such as Outback Steakhouse. 

However, school administrators’ commitment to serving nutritional, fresh produce 

has been an inspiration to vendors and 

farmers, Lieb said. 

 “Our initial goal was to increase 

students’ consumption of fruits and 

vegetables, and that’s exactly what we’ve 

been able to do. But what’s made it work 

is everybody’s involved. It wouldn’t have 

happened with one piece of the puzzle 

missing,” Wilmoth added. 

Military Customers

Although schools order all produce 

not part of local programs one week in 

advance, military customers order three 

times a week and receive deliveries 

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All 

customers have more than 100 items 

to choose from, and DLA can usually 

accommodate requests for additional 

items, said Pam Hamlett, a customer 

support specialist based in Wilmington, 

North Carolina, who has supported DLA 

customers in North Carolina, South 

Carolina and Tennessee since 2008. 

“During the holidays, we get a lot 

of requests for items like turnips that 

aren’t regularly in the catalog, so we add 

them during that particular time of year,” 

she said. 

Many dining facilities also use fresh 

produce in elaborate displays that include 

baskets and flowers carved from things 

like radishes, peppers and carrots. 

Soldiers at Fort Bragg, North 

Carolina, are well-fed, appreciative 

recipients of DLA’s support, said Richard 

Barbee, a subsistence supply manager 

for the installation.

“There’s never been a time when 

we’ve asked for something we needed 

and didn’t get it,” he said. “We have, on 

special occasions, asked DLA to deliver 

fresh fruits and vegetables to a unit away 

from home base. They’re always on time, 

and the quality is always good.”

And like chain restaurants that boast 

of their ingredients being locally grown, 

dining facility managers have started to 

Dining facility staffs frequently use fresh fruits and vegetables 

in elaborate displays that include baskets and flowers carved 

from things like radishes and watermelon.

Photos by Air Force Senior Airman Cynthia A. Innocenti
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January / February 2017

spotlight items on the serving line that 

are from nearby farmers. Foodservice 

specialists at Camp Lejeune, North 

Carolina, even have a guest-chef 

program that connects the state’s 

agriculture and military industries. The 

program brings a locally renowned chef 

on base to help military staff plan and 

prepare a special menu based on locally 

sourced ingredients. Chili-lime corn on 

the cob, black-eyed-pea salad, roasted 

sweet-potato salad, kale slaw and 

watermelon pico de gallo are among 

previous offerings. 

“Anybody and everybody on the 

installation is invited, and I can say it’s 

absolutely delicious. Just looking at the 

menu will make you hungry. It’s one way 

of giving troops something different,” 

Hamlett said.

Partnering with local farmers is also 

important to installation officials because 

it helps preserve agricultural lands around 

military bases, Wilmoth added. 

“They want the farms around them 

to thrive so we can use that space for 

training. Cows don’t complain about our 

jets and airplane noises,” he said. 

The emphasis on fresh, local 

produce has also made its way to 

service members stationed in places 

like Africa and Afghanistan. More than 

20 varieties of fruits and vegetables 

were purchased from Afghan farmers 

in summer 2014, for example. Buying 

overseas promotes development of 

the private sector, supports economic 

development and has a tactical benefit, 

military leaders say.

“Local fresh fruits and vegetables 

are a way to keep farmers on the farm 

and keep them out of the improvised 

explosive device factories,” said Army 

Brig. Gen. Steven Shapiro, former 

commander of DLA Troop Support.

Hamlett and Wilmoth agree that 

providing a variety of produce is equally 

important, whether customers are young, 

impressionable students learning to make 

healthy food choices or service members 

who train, eat and sleep like athletes. 

“It’s been proven that everyone 

should eat lots of fresh fruits and 

vegetables in a wide range of colors. To 

achieve that, variety is necessary, and 

not everyone likes the same thing,” said 

Wilmoth, who takes pride in introducing 

his four grandchildren to unusual things 

like ugli fruit and purple sweet potatoes.

“Some are winners; some are losers,” 

he said. “But you’ll never know if you like 

them until you give them a try.” LL

Fresh corn, carrots and potatoes are among the items DLA 

Troop Support provides to military customers throughout 

the year and especially during holidays like Thanksgiving 

and Christmas. 

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Chavez
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Leading

and FeedingF

ormer Army Staff Sgt. Todd Lutz 

regularly rolled through Mogadishu, 

Somalia, in 1993 on a two-anda-half-ton cargo truck, often through 

enemy fire, to make rations runs.

Lutz and four of his fellow 75th 

Ranger Regiment cooks were transporting food to feed a task force deployed 

to counter a warlord’s attacks on a 

United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division eat their Thanksgiving 

meal on Combat Outpost Cherkatah, Khost province, 

Afghanistan. The soldiers were deployed with the 3rd 

Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment.

Story by Michael Tuttle

DLA Troop Support Public Affairs

Former Ranger Regiment cook now helps feed 

troops throughout Middle East, Africa, Europe
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January / February 2017

The book and movie “Black Hawk 

Down” depicted Task Force Ranger’s 

mission to capture the warlord’s two 

top lieutenants and the ensuing, bloody 

battle after two helicopters were shot 

down in Mogadishu’s Bakara market.

The five cooks prepared meals to feed 

530 troops in the task force, made up 

various special operations units, including 

the cooks’ fellow Rangers from the 3rd 

Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. It was 

a food-service mission that normally 

calls for 17 soldiers to support. 

So Lutz is no stranger to the 

perspectives of the 290,000 soldiers, 

sailors, airmen and Marines he now helps 

feed throughout the Middle East, Africa 

and Europe.

He’s a customer operations supervisor with Defense Logistics Agency 

Troop Support Europe & Africa. From 

Kaiserslautern, Germany, he leads a team 

of 19 dispersed throughout five countries.

His team is the face to its military customers and the forward element for the 

global subsistence supply chain based out 

of DLA Troop Support in Philadelphia. 

They tailor food support based on 

their customers’ requirements, whether 

those customers are participating in 

exercises in Europe, in need of specific 

dietary meals or navigating customs to 

deliver rations to a remote location within 

Africa’s 11.7 million square miles.

Lutz’s 30 years of experience, in food 

service and leading soldiers, help him 

oversee a team that requires “mature 

competence in communication, critical 

thinking and collaboration skills” to 

Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Smith
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

support the “complex” areas where their 

customers operate, he said.

‘University of Hooah’

Lutz was born in Minnesota and 

eventually moved to Wisconsin. But since 

enlisting in 1986, he considers himself 

“from the Army.” He retired as a first 

sergeant after 21 years of Army service.

He also served as a drill sergeant. He 

later trained noncommissioned officers 

during his last assignment with the

7th Army Noncommissioned Officers 

Academy in Grafenwöhr, Germany.

Being in the Ranger Regiment

and airborne qualified provided Lutz

a perspective to appreciate the good

things in life, he said.

“Surviving a 500-foot jump, hanging

from a tree upside down and sleeping on

the cold, hard ground were true character

builders,” he said. “As long as I’m not

sleeping on the ground or getting shot at,

life’s good.

“How lucky was I to be mentored,

with a 70- to 100-pound ruck on my

back, on such Ranger science as how

to associate terrain to a map or call

in birds to evacuate casualties, under

30-percent moonlit skies in dark forests,

by a Ranger-rolled-patrol-capped, dipspitting, hardcore infantry Ranger NCO?”

Lutz said.

Joining the Army as a cook allowed

him an opportunity to go to Ranger

school. He’s done everything in food

service, from ordering food supplies,

picking cases from pallets in a warehouse, delivering orders, to “the cooking

and serving of food for hungry Rangers,”

he said.

That experience helped Lutz develop

the problem-solving skills needed to

support customers in the unpredictable

areas where they operate.

“I’ve been in similar situations in some

of the dustiest, nastiest, all-expense paid,

exotic ‘vacation’ spots at remote ends of 

the earth,” Lutz said. 

An Army Marches on Its Stomach

The Continental Congress passed legislation in 1775 to provide soldiers fighting 

the American Revolution with meat, milk, 

rice, bread and beans or peas. But food 

preservation techniques hadn’t been 

developed, and perishables were rarely 

edible by the time they reached the field.

Soldiers died and suffered from 

diseases such as scurvy. Their morale 

also suffered.

DLA Troop Support’s Subsistence 

supply chain now works with regional food 

vendors to feed military dining facilities all 

over the world, ensure Navy ships at sea 

are stocked with fresh food and provide 

soldiers in the mountains of Afghanistan 

with a taste of home for the holidays. 

Lutz’s team has a vital role in that support, said Rich Faso, deputy director of the 

Subsistence supply chain in Philadelphia.

“The Subsistence team in Europe 

and Africa is critical to our customer 

service in the very strategic [areas of 

responsibility] of Europe, Africa and the 

Middle East,” Faso said. “Their knowledge 

and expertise of Class I subsistence and 

their awareness of the environment 

Former Army 1st Sgt. Todd Lutz leads a group of students at 

the 7th Noncommissioned Officers Academy in Grafenwoehr, 

Germany, through in-cadence pushups in 2006. Lutz now 

uses his experience in the Army, including as a former Ranger 

Regiment cook, to help feed 290,000 troops throughout the 

Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Paula Guzman

Todd Lutz is shown here in Saudi Arabia as an Army specialist 

in 1990 with the 2nd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 24th 

Infantry Division.

Courtesy Photo
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January / February 2017

in these AORs, as well as being in the 

same time zone, provides great comfort 

to our supported customers.”

According to Lutz, military food 

service operations and subsistence 

provision is a consistent, three-timesper-day, seven-days-a-week mission 

to our customers. Our customers are 

based in some of the most complex, 

arduous and dangerous zones.

His team manages food procurement for exercises, operations and 

Navy ships throughout three continents in 121 countries, so that military 

food-service operators can feed their 

units’ missions.

“Our sole existence is to serve our 

customers,” Lutz said of his team. 

They want to make subsistence support as easy as possible for their customers and ensure their processes include 

the warfighter perspective, Lutz said.

Team members travel to Army 

sustainment commands to conduct 

pre-deployment training on subsistence 

operations. The training is one of 

the first steps in developing strong 

relationships with those units as they 

lean on DLA to sustain the forces 

during their deployments. 

Customers are able to reach Lutz’s 

team 24/7, he said. The team adjusts 

their method of communication to their 

customers’ technological capabilities 

and geographical location. 

They’ve even received customer 

requirements from remote bases in 

Afghanistan that were first scribbled on 

toilet paper, Lutz said.

“Adopting a mentality of total 

ownership of a customer’s perspective 

helps to ensure that decisions are made 

from a customer-based view,” Lutz said. 

Empowering His Team

Aysu Cesmebasi works with 

subsistence customers as a tailored 

vendor logistics specialist on Lutz’s team. 

She wondered how she would fit in on 

the team when she arrived in Germany in 

February 2014. 

Not only did Lutz make his 

Army Pfc. Oziel Villanueva, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry 

Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, eats his Thanksgiving meal 

on Combat Outpost Cherkatah, Khost province, Afghanistan. 

Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Smith

expectations clear, he showed confidence 

in Cesmebasi’s ability to work with 

customers and backed her up, she said. 

When a vendor had a problem 

providing rations to an Army unit in Africa 

Cesmebasi supported, Lutz encouraged 

her to work it out. She talked with 

the vendor and the unit to discover a 

disconnect in the rations deliveries.

She facilitated a solution in which 

the vendor began delivering the rations 

directly to the unit, saving time and 

money, Cesmebasi said.

“He’s always encouraging us to reevaluate and analyze our support,” she 

said about Lutz, “always encouraging 

us to find better solutions.”

Cesmebasi also serves as a food 

service warrant officer in the Army Reserves. She said a lot of Lutz’s leadership 

carries over from the military to their 

civilian careers.

Lutz earned an award in 1999 through 

the Army suggestion program for a 

handbook he created. It consolidated 

parts of the Army common task training 

guide and the NCO manual, with additional 

notes and pictures, and was designed for 

soldiers to use in the field. 

“In the Rangers, everything I needed 

was in two pockets, including the Ranger 

handbook,” Lutz said.

Lutz can’t package all of his leadership and food-service experience into 

one handy guide. But he constantly 

shares what he can.

“He continuously mentors, stressing 

continuity and standard operating procedures,” Cesmebasi said, “always to ensure 

seamless support to our customers.” LL
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Tiny Enemy

A female Polynesian tiger mosquito, one type that carries the Zika virus, takes a blood meal.

Keeping Ahead of Zika-carrying Mosquitoes

state and local governments to share 

information and strategy. 

DLA Aviation in Richmond, Virginia, 

is one of four federal installations in 

Central Virginia that collect mosquitoes 

to test for Zika during the months when 

mosquitos are present. DLA Installation 

Support at Richmond’s Environmental 

Division is working with Kenner Army 

Health Clinic’s Preventive Medicine Clinic 

to monitor the spread of Zika in the area. 

“State-of-the-art mosquito traps 

[are] placed in areas specifically identified 

as potential breeding grounds for the 

Zika-bearing mosquitos,” said Jimmy 

Parrish, chief of the Environmental 

Division. Trapping and testing last about 

two months, during which his staff 

checks the traps daily and collects any 

captured mosquitoes. Last year his team 

collected 51 mosquitos and sent them 

for testing at Fort Lee, Virginia, and the 

Army Public Health Center at Aberdeen 

Proving Ground, Maryland. None tested 

positive for Zika, Parrish said.

“We also took a very proactive approach regarding the identification and 

treatment of any potential mosquito 

With Zika virus established in 

South Florida and public-health 

officials warning it could easily 

spread to other warm parts of the 

country, Defense Logistics Agency 

personnel are taking action to fight 

mosquitos, detect any new cases of 

Zika and make sure troops have what 

they need to avoid infection.

DLA installations began trapping 

and testing mosquitos in March 2016, 

on instruction from the Department of 

Defense. Since then, DLA installations 

have worked with other federal, 

Story by Kimberly K. Fritz, Craig M. Rader, Chris Erbe and Michael Tuttle

Paddy Ryan
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breeding areas,” Parrish said. “The mosquitos that have the potential to carry 

the Zika virus prefer to breed in smaller 

bodies of water, such as what might 

be collected in buckets, tarps and even 

flower pots.” 

In the warmer months, his staff 

routinely canvass the entire installation 

to look for those items, he said.

“Our goal [is] to not only capture and 

identify the types of mosquitos found 

on the installation but to minimize, if 

not eliminate, the concerns our fellow 

employees might have for their health 

and well-being,” he said.

Meanwhile, health officials at DLA 

Land and Maritime in Columbus, Ohio, are 

preparing to once again work with Army 

entomologists this summer to collect 

mosquitos for testing. Brad Sparks, a 

pest controller at DLA Land and Maritime, 

spent last summer on mosquito patrol, 

placing and collecting traps at the installation, to collect eggs and adult specimens.

None of the mosquitoes were 

positive for Zika, dengue or chikungunya 

virus, said Benedict Pagac, chief of the 

Entomological Sciences Branch, Public 

Health Command – Atlantic reported the 

installation leaders at the testing sites of 

Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond and Fort 

Belvoir, Virginia.

For installations outside or on the 

edge of the known ranges of the species 

known to carry Zika, the news gives some 

measure of assurance that the likelihood 

of Zika, dengue, or chikungunya virus 

transmission by mosquitoes at those 

locations is low, according to Pagac.

DLA Troop Support’s Clothing and 

Textiles supply chain provides combat 

fatigues treated with insecticide to 

protect Marines and soldiers from 

disease-carrying insects. Since February 

2014, C&T has delivered than 10 million 

uniforms treated with permethrin to 

warfighters in the United States and 

overseas, said Steve Merch, director of 

supplier operations for the supply chain.

“Permethrin repels many species 

of crawling and flying insects, including 

mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers and flies,” 

Merch said. “The factory-treatment 

process binds permethrin so tightly to 

the fabric of the uniform that soldiers 

wearing the [treated uniform] will have 

protection from arthropod bites through 

50 launderings, the expected lifetime of 

the uniform.” 

According to the U.S. Army Public 

Health Center, the permethrin treatment 

means soldiers will never need to treat 

their uniforms. Factory treatment 

guarantees a safe and effective amount 

of permethrin is precisely applied to 

each uniform. This improvement over 

field application means better protection 

from insect bites and the diseases they 

may cause.

Determining how the spread of the 

Zika virus will slow or stop with the onset 

of cooler temperatures isn’t a simple 

answer, Pagac said. 

“In some areas of the region with 

Army 1st Lt. Kyle Fortner of Kenner Army Health Clinic installs 

a battery-operated mosquito collection system near the 

child-care center at DLA Aviation in Richmond, Virginia, with 

help from Installation Support personnel. Two traps collect 

mosquitos for testing each week during mosquito season.

military presence [e.g., the Caribbean, 

Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and 

Texas] there aren’t killing freezes, so 

mosquitoes can potentially be active 

and infective year-round,” Pagac said. 

“In areas where there are killing freezes, 

newly emerged mosquitoes in the 

spring will need to bite an infected 

human host to pick up the virus.”

And even in colder regions, some 

mosquitoes can hide underground and 

in basements and remain alive. Under 

normal field conditions, the virus is not 

known to be able to be passed from 

female adult to egg, to larvae, to pupae, 

and then to the next generation of 

adults. There is some evidence this may 

be possible under certain circumstances, 

but it has not been proven, Pagac said.

According to the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, many areas of 

the nation have either type of mosquito 

(either the yellow fever mosquito, or the 

Asian tiger mosquito) can spread Zika 

virus. However, only areas of MiamiCourtesy Photo
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Dade County, Florida, have reported 

local mosquito-borne transmission. 

October 13, Florida announced a new 

area of mosquito-borne spread of Zika 

in an additional one-square-mile area in 

Miami-Dade. 

In addition to contracting Zika by a 

mosquito bite, the virus can be passed 

from mother to child during pregnancy 

or around the time of birth, if she is 

already infected. The CDC reports no 

known cases of infants getting Zika virus 

through breast milk. Because of the 

benefits of breastfeeding, mothers are 

encouraged to breastfeed even in areas 

where Zika virus is found. 

CDC warnings note that Zika can be 

passed through sex with a person who 

has the virus to his or her partners, even 

if the infected person does not show 

symptoms. Zika can be passed before 

symptoms appear and after symptoms 

end — or by a person who carries the 

virus but never develops symptoms. The 

virus has the potential to spread through 

blood transfusions, but the CDC reports 

there have been no confirmed cases 

transmitted this way in the United States.

Anyone who lives in or travels to 

an area where Zika virus is found and 

has not already been infected with 

Zika virus can get it from mosquito 

bites, the CDC advises. 

Once infected, a 

person is likely to be 

protected from future 

infections. Many 

people infected with 

Zika virus won’t have 

symptoms or will only 

have mild symptoms. 

The most common 

symptoms of Zika 

are fever, rash, joint 

pain and conjunctivitis 

(red eyes). Other 

symptoms include: muscle pain and 

headache. Zika is usually mild, with 

symptoms lasting several days to a 

week. People usually don’t get sick 

enough to go to the hospital, and 

they rarely die of Zika. For this reason, 

many people might not realize they 

have been infected. 

Symptoms are similar to those of 

other viruses spread through mosquito 

bites, like dengue and chikungunya. Zika 

virus usually stays in the blood for about 

a week. A doctor may order blood tests 

to look for Zika or other similar viruses. 

Once a person has been infected, he or 

she is likely to be protected from future 

infections. Pregnant women or women 

who may become pregnant should not 

travel to Zika-infected areas, the CDC has 

warned. The agency advises those who 

must travel to talk with their doctor first.

Everyone can protect themselves 

from mosquito bites by wearing longsleeved shirts and long pants, staying in 

places with air conditioning and window 

and door screens, treating clothing and 

gear with permethrin, and using insect 

repellents containing DEET, picaridin, 

IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, paramenthane-diol, or 2-undecanone.

Notably, in May of last year, DoD 

provided $1.76 million of additional 

funding to military labs to expand 

their surveillance of the virus and to 

determine how the virus is affecting 

service members’ health and readiness, 

the department reported. And more 

recently, the National 

Institute of Allergy and 

Infectious Diseases 

has begun testing a 

Zika vaccine and is in 

the first of five early 

clinical trials.

Although winter 

in much of the United 

States sees mosquitos 

vanish from sight 

or at least markedly 

diminish, DLA is 

preparing to start 

collecting and testing mosquitos again 

this summer.

“No matter what the future may 

bring in regard to Zika, DLA is ready to 

respond,” Parrish said. “We’re all taking 

this fight very seriously.” LL

Brad Sparks, a pest controller at DLA, checks a mosquito 

trap to see if any live specimens have been captured. Each 

week in testing season Sparks collects samples and sends 

them to a laboratory to test for the Zika virus.

The authors are public affairs specialists at DLA Aviation, Land 

and Maritime, Headquarters, and Troop Support, respectively.

“Permethrin repels 

many species of 

crawling and flying 

insects, including 

mosquitoes, ticks, 

chiggers and flies.” 

— Steve Merch Charles A. Morris
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Expanding

Global Presence

stability operations in the Horn of Africa. 

USAFRICOM chose Djibouti as a stable 

base of operations in a volatile region. Its 

access to the Suez Canal and proximity 

to critical countries in Africa and the 

Middle East have increased its strategic 

importance.

The past decade has seen an 

exponential growth in forces to 

combat Islamic extremists in the area 

and protect U.S. interests. In fact, the 

footprint of the base has grown nearly 

five-fold. And due in part to U.S. military 

investment, Djibouti’s government and 

economy have benefited, with gross 

domestic product steadily increasing 

since 2010 — providing incentive to 

continue hosting U.S. military and other 

federal agencies.

This growth has led to a growing 

need for supply and distribution 

capabilities. To meet those needs, 

USAFRICOM leveraged its long-term 

partnership with DLA. 

“The fact is that the strategic 

logistics flow in the AFRICOM [area of 

operations] needed to become more 

efficient, especially with the increasing 

buildup of troops and other government 

organizations in the area,” said DLA 

Distribution Commander Army Brig. 

Gen. John Laskodi. “There was an 

inherent need for DLA to manage critical 

inventory on-site, so that these units 

could focus on what they’re there for 

and not worry about when and how 

materiel was arriving.” 

The distribution center is the first 

DLA Distribution enduring presence in 

Africa and marks a shift in USAFRICOM’s 

priorities, from solely expeditionary 

logistics to an enduring commitment at 

the national, strategic level, Laskodi added.

The ground commanders also share 

that view. “This new node in our military 

supply chain will allow a full range 

of units from all services performing 

missions in the East Africa Joint 

T

he Defense Logistics Agency 

further expanded its global presence last fall, as DLA Distribution 

opened DLA’s first storage and distribution facility in Africa at the continent’s 

only long-term U.S. military base, Camp 

Lemonnier, Djibouti.

The new facility stores and distributes 

supplies to forces throughout the Horn of 

Africa, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, 

as well as units on base at CLDJ.

DLA Distribution, following the request 

from Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of 

Africa, an element of the U.S. Africa Command, followed its pattern of executing 

quick standups, quickly yet systematically 

relocating the supplies, technology and 

manpower required to run the site over 

the course of only 18 months.

Why Djibouti?

In 2002, The combatant command 

established CJTF–HOA in response to 

the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to conduct 

Story by Emily Tsambiras, DLA Distribution Public Affairs

Photos by Bruce Chahal

 DLA Distribution in DJIBOUTI
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

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Distribution determined it would 

bulk ship materiel to CLDJ via the U.S. 

Transportation Command. When it 

arrives, employees would break down 

shipments and either forward items to 

the local recipient or stock the materiel 

for future use by forces in the area. 

By forward-stocking over 700 

National Stock Numbers, the analysis 

projected to reduce customer wait times 

from 37 to nine days for stocked items 

and generate $2.75 million in annual 

transportation savings annually. 

The Army asked DLA Distribution at 

the new facility to track Army-owned 

items through its own system, Global 

Combat Support System–Army. DLA 

Distribution agreed its employees will 

train on and operate the Army system 

as well as Distribution Standard System, 

the main warehousing system used to 

manage DLA-owned items. This will let 

the Army maintain visibility of its stock 

while making sure those items are also 

visible in the DLA system.

DLA Distribution also agreed to set 

up an MPC facility at the Port of Djibouti 

to receive, segregate and stage materiel 

until ships arrive for air and surface 

shipment, delivering materiel pierside with prepared customs clearance 

documentation, just as the organization 

does at several other of its MPCs.

In response to the analysis March 

10, 2016, Vechery and Busch officially 

approved the establishment of DLA 

Distribution Djibouti.

DLA Distribution then faced the task 

of procuring storage aids and materiel 

handling equipment. It also had to 

determine the appropriate technology, 

training and inventory for the location, 

as well as hire employees and secure 

transportation assets. 

In four months, DLA Distribution 

set about creating its Planned 

Stockage List and shipping those 

items from its sites in Sigonella, Italy 

and Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, 

to ensure the materiel’s arrival 

by late August. Meanwhile, Camp 

Lemonnier began relocating items 

Operations Area to stay in supply,” said 

Navy Capt. Edward Moninger III, CJTFHOA director of logistics. 

“Local parts and material availability 

will not only save money but will [also] 

increase readiness and overall mission 

effectiveness,” Moninger said.

Opening a Distribution Center

in 18 months

In August 2015, a USAFRICOM J4-

Logistics led team set out to develop a 

way ahead for supply, distribution and 

customs tasks at both CLDJ and a nearby 

airfield, with the intent to streamline 

theater distribution. 

The team consisted of 17 personnel 

representing USAFRICOM, Army 

Materiel Command, DLA, Fleet Logistics 

Center–Sigonella, CJTF-HOA, the General 

Services Agency, the Logistics Civilian 

Augmentation Program and the service 

components.

After the team visited CLDJ, it they 

determined there was a need and a way 

ahead for DLA Distribution to provide joint 

storage and distribution operations there. 

The team recommended DLA 

Distribution develop a plan to set up a 

theater consolidation shipping point, 

assume retail operations at CLDJ, and 

establish a material processing center at 

the Port of Djibouti in support of the U.S. 

Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

In a December 2015 memorandum 

to DLA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy 

Busch, USAFRICOM Director for Logistics Air Force Maj. Gen. James Vechery 

asked for DLA’s assistance to CJTF-HOA, 

in “a distribution capability analysis that 

provides an effective and efficient joint 

solution to manage materiel receiving, 

storage and distribution operations to 

Camp Lemonnier, another nearby airfield 

[and] Combined Joint Task Force-Horn 

of Africa.” 

 “Through DLA’s institutional 

knowledge, we expect that overall supply 

chain management and readiness rates 

will improve,” Vechery concluded.

In the requested analysis, DLA 

Sheila Gentry, a contracted inventory specialist at DLA 

Distribution Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, prepares inventory 

(background) to be shipped to customers at various sites in the 

region shortly after the Sept. 30, 2016, opening of the facility

The distribution center is the 

first DLA Distribution enduring 

presence in Africa and marks a 

shift in USAFRICOM’s priorities, 

from solely expeditionary 

logistics to an enduring 

commitment at the national, 

strategic level.
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from the warehouse DLA Distribution 

was preparing to occupy, so that 

Distribution employees could ready for 

incoming stock. 

DLA Distribution is using its new 

facility to build goodwill with the local 

population and Djiboutian businesses. 

The “Djibouti First” procurement policy 

gives preference to Djiboutian companies 

in awarding goods and services contracts 

for CLDJ. In addition, a contract was 

put in place to hire 17 local nationals to 

operate the facility alongside four U.S. 

government employees. This is helping 

DLA give back to the local economy and 

foster more cooperation between the 

two nations. 

Official Opening 

To show their support, logistics 

customers and partners gathered at the 

site Sept. 30, 2016, for the cutting of a 

ribbon, to symbolize the official opening 

of the distribution center.

Laskodi announced he anticipated 

the operation will have a “very 

significant impact in the future of 

support to the forces in the Africa 

Command area of responsibility.”

Paul Brown, USAFRICOM deputy 

director for logistics added to the 

sentiment, saying, “This is a joint 

solution to a joint force.”

While the site currently only maintains 

DLA wholesale Items and Army-owned 

stock, it is prepared to expand support 

at customers’ request. The plan is to 

analyze the demand signals into the 

facility and match stock to the demand.

In the meantime, the site will efficiently and effectively support CJTF-HOA 

as a joint solution, ensuring customers 

can execute theater campaign plans in the 

area while reducing costs and wait time.

 “The opening of this distribution 

center represents an extremely 

significant commitment to regional 

security and a demonstration of U.S. 

national resolve,” Laskodi said. LL

The new DLA Distribution facility at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, 

includes storage for petroleum, oil and lubricants.

Cutting the ribbon with DLA Distribution Commander Army Brig. Gen. John S. Laskodi (fourth from right) were, from left, Army 

Col. Elizabeth Delbridge-Keough, DLA Europe and Africa commander; Paul Brown, USAFRICOM deputy director for logistics; 

Navy Capt. James Black, Camp Lemonnier commanding officer; Rear Adm. Trey Wheeler, deputy commander, Combined Joint 

Task Force-Horn of Africa; Thomas Kelly, U.S. ambassador to Djibouti; Navy Capt. Christopher Parker, Naval Supply Systems 

Command, Fleet Logistics Center, Sigonella, Italy; and Navy Cmdr. Pamela Dozier, commander of DLA Distribution Sigonella.
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

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Shannon Woodyard from DLA Distribution New Cumberland, 

Pennsylvania, helps a 10th Mountain Division supply sergeant 

turn in excess optical sighting devices at Fort Drum, New York.

L

ike closets and garages at many 

American homes, Army supply 

sites are crammed with mounds 

of stuff tossed aside for the trash, 

later use or repair. 

“The problem is, every piece of 

excess equipment the Army hangs 

on to is something soldiers have to 

store, maintain and account for on a 

continuous basis, without any benefit,” 

said Army Maj. Matthew Maxwell, 

services support officer for the 10th 

Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New 

York. 

To free the Army of that burden, 

Defense Logistics Agency employees 

are traveling to Army installations 

across the nation and overseas to help 

units shed up to 1.2 million pieces of 

excess and outdated equipment through 

the All Army Excess initiative. In fiscal 

2016, the agency sent DLA Distribution 

and DLA Disposition Services teams 

to 14 locations, where they provided 

immediate relief of accountability for 

more than 144,000 pieces of equipment 

and 1.5 million pounds of scrap.

 “All this extra equipment encumbers 

the service in terms of people, 

manpower hours, resources and money 

for parts,” said Army Col. Mike Arnold, 

DLA Logistics Operations’ Army national 

account manager. “As we help take 

unneeded equipment off the Army’s 

property books, soldiers can focus on 

Story and Photos by Beth Reece

out with

The Excess
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

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the mission-essential equipment that’s 

staying in the force structure. It’s all 

about readiness,” he said. 

Distribution and disposal teams are 

scheduled to conduct turn-ins at another 

14 sites this fiscal year, and the effort 

could stretch into fiscal 2018 and 2019 as 

the agency accommodates units’ training 

and deployment cycles, Arnold said.

At each location, a joint working 

group of installation and unit leaders 

does the initial planning, joined by 

representatives from the Army’s Deputy 

Chief of Staff for Logistics, U.S. Army 

Forces Command and Army Materiel 

Command. The group determines turn-in 

projections based on the Army’s Master 

Divestiture List and on the equipment 

calculations in the Army’s Decision 

Support Tool, which compares the items 

on units’ property books with what units 

are authorized. 

Equipment being turned in ranges 

from common items like tools, tents 

and body armor to entire fleets. All 

light tactical vehicles that aren’t fully 

armored are considered excess, as well 

as some versions of the mine resistant, 

ambush-protected vehicle, Arnold said.

“Due to the rapid nature of how we 

procured MRAPs to keep soldiers safe 

DLA Distribution is repairing and storing excess equipment 

for units throughout the Army so soldiers can focus on 

mission-essential equipment and readiness.

Night vision goggles are among common items like tools, 

tents and body armor that Army units are turning in to DLA 

Disposition Services and DLA Distribution as part of the All 

Army Excess initiative.
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in combat, we ended up with several 

different versions from numerous 

manufacturers. By streamlining the fleet 

to particular models, the parts become 

standard and how the Army fixes them 

becomes routine,” he added. 

DLA gives units two options for 

turning in surplus equipment: They can 

turn it in to DLA Disposition Services, 

which will make it available to other 

federal agencies, as required by law. If no 

federal agency wants the materiel, DLA 

Disposition Services will demilitarize it 

and auction it off to the public or break it 

down into scrap that can be sold. 

The service may also transfer 

excess equipment to DLA Distribution 

for repair and storage. In the past, the 

Army paid to ship equipment to Red 

River Army Depot in Texas or Sierra 

Army Depot in California, only to 

have it shipped elsewhere. Now, DLA 

Distribution teams are traveling to 

installations to accept items and ship 

them to the appropriate depot. 

Army Sgt. Wendy Honeycutt, a 

supply sergeant for Fort Drum’s 2nd 

Battalion, 15th Field Artillery, said DLA 

made the process simple for those 

participating in turn-ins there for two 

weeks in September.

“This is one of the easiest turn-ins 

I’ve ever done; usually it’s very difficult. 

And for us to finally get rid of some of 

this stuff, it’s a really big deal because it 

makes room for things we actually use,” 

she said.

Army Master Sgt. Neil Craig, 

noncommissioned officer in charge of 

Fort Drum’s Army Field Support Brigade, 

was a key coordinator between local 

units and DLA employees during initial 

planning and turn-ins. 

“DLA hasn’t turned anyone away. 

Even when a soldier arrives with 

incomplete paperwork or equipment 

containing batteries or hazardous 

material, DLA employees are patiently 

teaching them how to make it right so 

DLA employees like Michael Brower from DLA Disposition 

Services are taking extra steps to help soldiers prepare 

equipment for turn-in by removing batteries and lenses from 

night vision goggles. 
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

they can still get things turned in quickly,” 

he said in September. 

Early planning at Fort Drum last 

summer set the stage for how much 

material was turned in, by what unit 

and where before DLA representatives 

arrived on-site, Maxwell added. Once 

all parties agreed to a turn-in timeline, 

unit leaders met biweekly with supply 

personnel to ensure equipment was 

being prepared on schedule: that 

documents were being filled out correctly 

and to address concerns such as the 

accuracy of equipment condition codes. 

The hardest part of All Army Excess 

for unit leaders has been squeezing it 

into a schedule already packed with 

training requirements, the fielding of new 

equipment and preparations for other 

missions, Maxwell continued. His advice 

to other unit leaders: Make it a priority.

“It absolutely has to be leaderdriven and operationalized. Leaders 

have to understand the turn-in 

process themselves and make sure 

that the information gets down to the 

privates, specialists and sergeants 

who are going to be executing,” he said, 

adding that maintenance personnel 

responsible for preparing equipment 

must also be included.

Sometimes, leaders underestimate 

DLA’s ability to handle large amounts of 

equipment in little time. 

“I don’t think they realize the actual 

velocity at which we’re able to receive 

equipment. The plan is usually for us to 

be on-site for 10 days or two weeks, 

but we could probably get done in 

just four days if the units really 

hit us hard,” said Michael 

Boone, DLA’s deputy Army 

national account manager.

All Army Excess has 

given DLA employees the 

chance to mentor future 

logisticians and change the 

borrow-use-return mentality 

that soldiers adopted during 

the past decade of war. 

Although soldiers have 

grown comfortable receiving 

equipment in theater, using 

it and then returning it to 

someone else who repairs and 

maintains it, Arnold said that 

pattern isn’t sustainable given 

current budget constraints. 

“We’re working with 

every level of the Army, from 

strategic to tactical levels, 

to put into place procedures 

where soldiers understand 

how to maintain accountability 

for the full lifecycle of their equipment,” 

he said. “That starts from the time it’s 

issued as a new piece of equipment and 

lasts through all the phases of use to the 

reverse piece, where it’s time to turn it 

into scrap or dispose it.”

The effort also lets DLA employees 

like Shannon Woodyard, a disposition 

process worker for DLA Distribution 

Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, see the 

results of their work.

“When we’re back home, it’s just us 

government civilians shipping out materiel 

to them. Now, we’re actually working 

alongside soldiers, so when the materiel 

is taken off their records, we can see the 

happiness on their faces,” he said.

Turn-ins are being planned for such 

areas as Fort Bliss and Fort Hood, Texas; 

Fort Stewart, Georgia; and at installations 

to be determined in Hawaii and Europe. LL

Serial numbers are just one of the important details included 

on turn-in documents. Units spend months preparing 

equipment and paperwork before DLA representatives arrive 

at their locations for turn-ins. 

Army Sgt. Wendy Honeycutt, a supply sergeant for Fort Drum’s 2nd Battalion, 

15th Field Artillery, proudly holds a form proving night vision scopes are no 

longer on her unit’s property book.
For non-DLA readers or those new to the agency, 

what are the Mission Support Directorate’s 

responsibilities? 

The Mission Support Directorate comprises 

the Joint Contingency Acquisition Support 

Office, the Performance Based Logistics 

Division and Management Support. JCASO is 

the Department of Defense’s enabling on-call 

capability for Operational Contract Support 

planning across the combatant commands. 

We also have a deployable expeditionary 

contracting capability. Likewise, the PBL office 

governs initiatives and supply chain issues 

involving weapon systems and troop systems 

A Conversation with ...

 David Koch

to develop tailored logistics solutions to 

improve life cycle management support.

When you say “supply-chain issues,” can you think 

of an example where PBL stepped in and developed 

a solution that solved the customer’s problem?

One of DLA Aviation’s PBL efforts focused on 

key aircraft subsystems, for the F-101, F-110 

and F-118 engines. This PBL contract has 

significantly reduced inventory year to date, 

increased worldwide material availability, and 

improved order response time through its focus 

on holistic consumable support. Optimizing 

these supply chain attributes contributes to our 

customers’ ability to perform their mission.

What kinds of missions does the JCASO participate in? 

Mission Support’s JCASO, as the on call OCS 

support, is involved with emergent situations 

on a regular basis, wherever they occur. The 

emerging situations are often supporting military 

operations, such as support to operations in 

Afghanistan or Iraq, or support of a humanitarian 

crisis, such as supporting the Ebola relief efforts 

during Operation United Assistance in Liberia 

in 2014. And last October, in the aftermath of 

The deputy executive director of DLA 

Mission Support talks about the 

ways this directorate supports the 

warfighterand other DLA customers

Deputy Executive Director for Mission Support David Koch

John Bell

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Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. [Editor’s Note: See 

page 32 for more on this mission.]

You mentioned operational contract support. Can 

you give our readers a real-world example of what 

that is and why it’s an important service DLA 

provides through Mission Support?

In addition to providing on-call support for 

emergent situations, JCASO also provides 

OCS training support for deploying joint task 

forces and combatant command exercises. 

Geographically, we have Mission Support 

members operating around the globe on a 

daily basis.

What are the challenges you face in expeditionary 

acquisition that aren’t part of standard defense 

acquisition? 

In expeditionary situations, our teams deploy 

with short notice, work with people that they 

barely know, and sometimes operate in austere 

environments. Their office is likely to be their 

laptop. They deploy without items you and I 

take for granted, such as guaranteed access 

to data, contract files and contract writing 

systems. But the mission brings together 

people, methods and systems to accomplish an 

urgent mission. It’s very rewarding.

For those who are not acquisition professionals, 

what is performance-based logistics?

Performance-based logistics is a contracting 

strategy that is designed to incentivize industry 

to provide a specified level of performance or 

a measurable outcome instead of paying for 

individual transactions. Through long-term, 

fixed-price contracts, a contractor is given the 

responsibility to provide a specified outcome (e.g., 

90 percent availability, increased reliability) for its 

system or sub-system. With the profit motive in 

mind, industry is incentivized to invest in reliability 

improvements that provide a positive return on 

their investment over the life of the contract. 

Their investments at the beginning of the contract 

lead to greater profit toward the end due to the 

need for less repair actions/repair parts, etc. PBL 

aligns the objectives of the government, increased 

readiness, with those of industry, greater profit, at 

an overall reduced cost to the taxpayer. 

Are there any drawbacks to the PBL approach?

PBLs are designed to create win-win situations 

for the government and industry. However, 

they are more complex than traditional, 

transactional support, and therefore typically 

take a longer time to put in place. However, 

well-crafted PBL arrangements have been 

proven to provide increased performance at a 

lower cost to the government.

How does PBL relate to Better Buying Power? Are 

they the same thing?

PBL is one aspect of the Better Buying Power 

concept promulgated by Under Secretary of 

Defense Frank Kendall. However, PBL and 

BBP are not one in the same. BBP includes 

many initiatives to improve acquisition within 

DoD, of which PBL is one.

It occurred to me that Mission Support’s executive 

director, Patrick Dulin, is a former Marine colonel. 

And you’re a former Air Force colonel. Those two 

services obviously have different cultures and 

perhaps different approaches to managing people 

and processes. Are there ways the management 

of your directorate reflects the background of its 

leaders? Are there areas where there’s more of a 

Marine Corps approach and others where you see 

more of the Air Force influence?

Funny you would mention that. We also have a 

Naval presence in the office, so things get very 

interesting during football season because 

of the service rivalries. All in good fun! While 

it may be true the services have different 

cultures and missions, certainly all of us have a 

warfighter focus and are wired to accomplish 

the mission with the people we lead. 

Our Mission Support Directorate is no 

different in that way. There is no substitute 

for great leadership, diversity of experience 

and taking care of our people. 

What else would you like people know about Mission 

Support that they might not?

The directorate’s mission set is very diverse and 

engaged globally. Our team of approximately 

150 professions is making a difference for DoD 

every day. LL

page

24 www.dla.mil

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY
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Rare

but ready

Ensuring Contingency Readiness

DLA

Warstopper 

program

go-to-war requirements , Villarreal said.

“You can imagine the business case for 

somebody to maintain the facilities and 

skilled labor to have a nerve-agent-antidote auto-injector plant that has a good 

return on investment, when the sales are 

going to be pretty limited,” he said. 

Such an item was going to need 

approval from the Food and Drug 

Administration and proper certifications. 

Yet it would need to be available in large 

numbers quickly, Villarreal said. Congress, 

in the National Defense Authorization Act 

of 1993, asked DoD to identify a solution.

So DoD funded DLA to develop 

the Warstopper Program. The NDAA 

addressed not only the auto-injector, but 

also chemical-resistant clothing, mealsready-to-eat, combat boots and other 

“go to war” items.

S

upporting warfighter readiness 

has always been the Defense 

Logistics Agency’s primary 

mission. And when the Defense 

Department has a requirement 

industry doesn’t have a business case 

to support, DLA uses its Warstopper 

Program to fill the need.

Warstopper items are those vital to 

the wartime mission but not generally 

required in peacetime, said Luis Villarreal, 

DLA industrial capability and Warstopper 

Program manager. When such an item is 

needed, “we’re going to need it quickly, a 

lot of them, and we’re going to need it to 

be fresh,” he said.

The program began as an after-action 

item from Operation Desert Storm, when 

the manufacturer of the auto-injector 

used to deliver nerve-agent antidote was 

on the edge of not being able to meet the 

Story by Dianne Ryder

Army Pfc. Guillermo Armendariz and Pfc. James Vail 

change an engine in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Hit, Iraq. 

The transmission of the Bradley is a critical part the DLA 

Warstopper Program makes sure is available.

Jim Garamone
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26 www.dla.mil

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

In cases where industry couldn’t 

justify production, DLA was given 

authority to make industrial investments 

that provided DoD a return on 

investment without having to keep 

materiel on the shelf, Villarreal said.

“The best thing to do is to have 

an industry that’s primed and ready 

to produce the item in the quantities 

we need. But to do that, they need a 

business case,” he said. “We give them 

the business case. We can pre-position 

the materiel and find a way to offset 

inventory and equipment costs.”

But getting to that point requires 

a symbiotic relationship among the 

industrial specialists Villarreal manages, 

contract specialists and vendors.

“In a lot of cases, these arrangements 

for the vendors are outside their business 

models, especially when we’re talking 

about adding raw materials inventory to 

their production process,” he said. 

“To be successful, you need a 

contracting team that’s willing and ... able 

to put the right type of contract in place 

and an industrial specialist team willing 

to do the research to find these items.”

Unlike the auto-injectors, 

requirements for Warstopper items 

aren’t always immediately apparent. 

“We have 5-plus-million National 

Stock Numbers, and of those, there are 

subgroups considered to have surge 

requirements,” Villarreal said. 

Most often, the military services 

present the case for Warstopper 

candidates, said Joie Coppedge, branch 

chief for the industrial preparedness 

branch at DLA Aviation.

“The services will come in annually 

and they give us a monthly war material 

requirement by NSN,” Coppedge 

said. “We have to show that there’s 

an industrial-base shortfall concern 

— either raw material, capacity or 

responsiveness. And we show there’s a 

readiness impact.” 

The services’industrial specialists 

must perform an industrial study to 

recommend the best solution. 

Even as technology changes, the 

agency’s weapons systems are often fixed 

to an older technology, Villarreal said. One 

example is the BA-5590 and 5390 lithium 

batteries. During the first Gulf War, the BA5590 batteries were used in about 100 

different weapons systems. 

Then during Operation Enduring 

Freedom in 2004, there were no war 

reserves for these batteries, and 

industry had no surge measures. The 

strategy was to develop more vendors, 

Villarreal said. 

“During OEF, the decision was made 

at a very high level to take management 

of the batteries away from the Army and 

hand it over to DLA,” he said. “By the time 

we got them, industry was kicking these 

out like crazy.” 

When DLA did its first analysis, Villarreal 

said they realized there was a “panic buy” 

of the batteries, and troops weren’t using 

them like before. 

“Now you’ve got these two vendors 

that are ramped up like crazy — so your 

real challenge is going to be is keeping 

these guys alive,” he said. 

Heavy investment in many producers 

of the batteries served its purpose at the 

time, but gradually, the demand changed. 

“Industry would tell you that if we 

could forecast accurately and give them 

advance notice, then vendors could 

respond to any manufacturing capability 

we typically would have. Our issue is 

that we can never really forecast to 

that level of accuracy,” Coppedge said. 

“They’re planning on past historical 

demand or their best guess estimate 

of future demand, so when something 

like a contingency pops up, it drastically 

changes that demand. Then industry 

has a hard time trying to ramp up.”

 DLA Land and Maritime is pursuing 

a new investment strategy for the 

batteries and prepositioning long-lead 

components to improve availability.

Coppedge, part of the Warstopper 

Program since its inception, relayed 

an experience DLA Aviation had with 

aircraft windshields used for UH-60 and 

AH-64 aircraft. When the windshields 

were used in Operation Desert Storm 

they had a higher rate of failure than 

Soldiers from the Army National Guard’s 777th Aviation 

Support Battalion assess a windshield on an AH-64 Apache 

helicopter at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, September 18, 2016. 

The windshield is supported by the DLA Warstopper Program. 

Army 1st Lt. Aaron DeCapua

“To be successful, you 

need a contracting team 

that’s willing and ... able 

to put the right type of 

contract in place and an 

industrial specialist team 

willing to do the research 

to find these items.”

— Luis Villarreal
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DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

January / February 2017

they do in peacetime because of the 

harsh environment. 

The sole-source supplier had a 

process that was unique to them and 

only one vacuum chamber that all the 

windshields were processed through. The 

limited capacity delayed the production 

process, Coppedge said.

“The vendor was aware of that, but 

their business model didn’t support them 

making that large of an investment to 

meet the demand,” he said. His team was 

able to document that the vendor was at 

maximum capacity and the only solution 

would be to increase the capacity for that 

one vacuum chamber.

“They didn’t have a business case to 

justify it, but DoD did, from a readiness 

perspective,” he said. 

Villarreal said DLA has other material 

buffers that are less tactical and 

strategic, such as the 300M steel buffer. 

In manufacturing, “buffering” refers to 

maintaining enough supplies to sustain 

operations. The supplies often include 

the raw materials needed for production 

and inventories of finished products.

Villarreal referred to the tungstenrhenium wire, used in communication 

equipment such as radar transmitters 

and missile guidance systems. The only 

producer of this wire indicated it will soon 

stop making the product. 

“But they were only going to stop 

producing the wire, not the ingot,” 

Villarreal said, referring to the large block 

of metal that can range from 10,000-

20,000 pounds and is typically 15-20 

feet long. 

Villarreal said another company the 

Navy worked with, Rhenium Alloys Inc., 

was trying to produce the wire. 

RAI “saw that they could modernize 

the process and get a better yield, so they 

wanted to get into the business, and they 

had already bought some equipment,” 

Villarreal said. “Since there was already a 

domestic company trying to get into the 

business, it was suggested that DoD try to 

help them.”

The Navy agreed and put some 

money into a special program to fund 

RAI’s efforts to begin producing the wire. 

“But they did not account for getting 

the raw material, because the original 

material provider, Global Tungsten and 

Powders, was still going to provide it,” 

Villarreal said. 

Then the original manufacturer 

announced it would no longer provide 

the raw material. RAI would require three 

years to become qualified to produce the 

wire and at least that many years’ worth 

of raw material, Villarreal said. However, 

RAI is a small company with limited 

resources. Obtain a speculative new 

capability and a material purchase of that 

quantity was not within their means.

 “What we need to do is fund them 

for this material and then recover our 

cost when we purchase the wire at a 

reduced price,” Villarreal said.

Raw material buffers are now one 

of DLA Aviation’s Warstopper Program 

priorities. DLA asks the vendor to 

increase its internal inventory to meet 

the predicted contingency requirements.

“We manage the raw-material 

buffers for two types of steel and 

titanium under the Warstopper Program,” 

he said. “We pay them to increase the 

amount of the material going through 

their production line and then maintain 

that amount so it can be accessible by 

DoD activities. And it is self-executing 

so ... the sub-tier order qualifies to use 

the buffer, the material provider has 

everything they need to self-execute the 

buffer in DoD’s best interest.”

“In the days of OEF, you had this 

particular steel used in a variety of 

weapons systems,” Villarreal said. “Only 

one plant was producing this particular 

type of steel, and you had lead times 

approaching two years to get into the 

queue to get any material out of them.” 

Any DoD contract that has a Defense 

Priority Allocation System rating on it can 

use that buffer to meet requirements. 

“And it’s been very successful for us 

in terms of really reducing the lead time,” 

Villarreal said. “Any kind of spike in surge, 

we’ve got a significant advantage there 

of being able to provide it.” 

“We had an instance where the 

Bradley fighting vehicle required a 

transmission forging that used 300M 

steel as their major component,” 

Coppedge said. “There was a long lead 

 Christopher Hurley, an electronics engineer with the Army 

Research, Development and Engineering Command, holds a 

half-sized BA-5590 Battery, left, compared with the standard 

version. The standard battery has been a Warstopper Program 

item since the Gulf War.

Tom Faulkner
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28 www.dla.mil

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

time for that steel at the time — about 

571 days. It was essentially a major 

bottleneck in providing this transmission 

piece for the Bradley fighting vehicle.”

The Warstopper Program invested 

in pre-positioning the forging that was 

causing the bottleneck, reducing the lead 

time to 77 days.

“We initially premade the forgings for 

the transmission unit, but they determined that was a higher risk because 

that investment only impacted a specific 

NSN and a specific vehicle,” Coppedge 

said. “So we came up with the approach 

of going further back in the supply chain 

and pre-positioning the raw ingots.”

The vendor buys the ingot and cuts 

it down to whatever size is needed, 

Coppedge said. 

“We can [use it for] any NSN that 

uses that material,” he said. “You’re 

able to reduce the lead time for the raw 

material, and you have greater flexibility 

in what you can use the material for.”

Coppedge said they’ve seen leadtime savings of nine weeks, on average. 

“We’re basically buying accelerated 

delivery — like an insurance policy in 

case something happens or another 

contingency pops up and we need this 

material,” he said. “We’re guaranteed to 

have a set maximum lead time that we 

can count on.” 

Each of the supply chains has a 

similar team of industrial specialists to 

work industrial base issues, Coppedge 

said. They all take program management 

direction from Villarreal and his team.

“We identify potential candidates 

for Warstopper investments, and then 

we put together a business case and 

an approval document and submit it to 

Luis and his group,” he said. “They review 

it and make a decision as to whether it 

meets their requirements.”

Coppedge said there’s always a risk 

when it comes to analyzing and forecasting 

the need for a Warstopper item because 

it depends on the type of contingency, the 

environment, the equipment being used 

and the operational plan.

“The services are the driver of 

the things that we look at for the 

Warstopper Program,” he said. “The 

first thing we’ll look at is if an item has a 

war material requirement generated by 

the services.”

Coppedge said sometimes the 

industrial specialists have identified an 

item that could have an adverse impact 

on readiness. They can then go back 

to the services and request they take 

another look at it. 

“In several cases, they’ve agreed with 

us and said, ‘Yes, based on what we’re 

seeing and the current demand, we 

would classify this as a wartime item,’ 

and given us a monthly wartime rate,” 

he said. “Once they do that, we’re free to 

use Warstopper funds.” LL

An airman uses an auto-injector on a medical mannequin 

during training.

Samuel King Jr.
DLA NewsWire

ARMY’S LAST HUEYS FLY OFF TO 

ACTIVE RETIREMENT

After six decades of service, the Army is retiring what 

are thought to be the last of its flying UH-1 “Huey” Iroquois 

helicopters with help from the Defense Logistics Agency 

Disposition Services’ Law Enforcement Support Office.

Hueys left active duty decades ago, replaced by the 

UH-60 Blackhawks, but kept finding honest work in support 

roles at Redstone Army Arsenal in Alabama, New Mexico’s 

White Sands Missile Range and the Army’s proving grounds 

at Yuma, Arizona. 

Police departments slated to receive the Hueys are 

already identified. There were more requests than there 

were Hueys, said DLA Disposition Services’ Cassandra 

Radig-Madden, who remembers ordering repair parts for the 

bird when she was an Army supply specialist at Yuma. 

The Michigan State Police Aviation unit is one of the 

few law enforcement agencies receiving the helicopter. The 

unit expects to use it in search and rescue operations and 

possibly firefighting. 

“It’s already 45 years old, but it passed all the 

inspections; the airframe is in great shape. We can probably 

fly this thing for a couple hundred hours a year, and I foresee 

us using this for 10 to 12 years,” said Sgt. Jerry King, a pilot 

with the Michigan police. 

– Jeff Landenberger, DLA Disposition Services

More Online: go.usa.gov/x8mA9

SAVING LIFE AFTER TERRORIST 

BOMBING GARNERS ARMY AWARD

Ask any Defense Logistics Agency employee to sum up 

the agency’s mission, and they will likely answer, “Support 

the warfighter.” But that mission takes on a far more 

dangerous meaning on the battlefield.

Army Col. Rick Ellis, commander of the DLA Support Team in 

Afghanistan, was awarded the Combat Action Badge Nov. 26; 

an honor he earned for his actions on what began as a typical 

day in Bagram, Afghanistan.

“On Nov. 12, there was a Veterans Day 5K run 

scheduled, and our start point was North Disney Blvd., 

across from the Bagram Support Group headquarters,” he 

said. “I got up early that morning because I had signed up to 

participate in the run.”

Ellis said he saw a friend, Col. Chris Colavita, the First 

Cavalry Division Resolute Support sustainment brigade 

commander. They slowed briefly to exchange playful taunts 

and then continued on their separate ways.

Not more than 90 seconds later, there was an explosion.

“I hit the deck and covered my head because I initially 

thought it was an indirect fire,” Ellis said.

When he looked up, Ellis first saw people running toward 

him and then looked over his shoulder and saw the billowing 

black cloud of smoke behind him.

“I came upon a soldier who was later identified as Pfc. 

Robert Healy,” he said. Healy was bleeding profusely from his 

left hand.

“I tried to calm him down a little bit,” Ellis said. “I said, ‘I’m 

Rick, from DLA. Just stay calm.’”

Ellis asked Healy where his tourniquet was, since all 

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DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

January / February 2017
ON THE CALENDAR

deployed service members are equipped with one. After 

applying the tourniquet, Ellis said Healy insisted he needed 

to get to a hospital. 

Since ambulances hadn’t yet arrived, Ellis helped Healy 

into a police car. Once they departed, Ellis revisited the scene 

to see who else he could assist. 

He saw Colavita, who had been rendered temporarily 

unconscious from the blast. “We all got blown to the 

ground,” Colavita said. “It was a bloody, horrific scene – like 

something out of a movie.”

It wasn’t until Ellis spoke with Colavita that he learned 

the explosion was the result of a suicide bomber.

“When he got to me, I was just angry at this cowardly 

bomber,” Colavita said. “[Ellis] was a calming presence.”

In all, four died, and 16 were wounded. Colavita talked 

to many of the injured soldiers and their family members, 

including Healy’s mother who asked him to help her 

find “Rick from the EOD [Explosive Ordnance Disposal 

Detachment].” 

“I laughed and said, ‘Rick from EOD is actually Col. Rick 

Ellis, a good friend of mine,’” Colavita said.

Even after Colavita arranged a telephone call to reunite 

Ellis and Healy, Healy still referred to Ellis simply as “Rick.” 

Ellis doesn’t mind the informality. 

“My perspective is, I did the thing that anybody would 

have done,” Ellis said.

DLA DISTRIBUTION PURSUES 

BAHRAIN-CENTRIC NETWORK IN 

ARABIAN PENINSULA

Defense Logistics Agency Distribution is pursuing a 

Bahrain-centric distribution network for Arabian Peninsula 

countries including Yemen, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 

The activity currently supports most countries in the 

peninsula via DLA Distribution Germany or DLA Distribution 

Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. A DLA Distribution facility is 

also already located in Manama, Bahrain, but its main focus 

has been on Navy elements in Bahrain and the United Arab 

Emirates, said Navy Cmdr. Erik Naley, DLA Distribution 

Bahrain commander.

In the future, the Bahrain facility will support all countries 

on the peninsula with items ranging from repair parts to 

construction material, he said. DLA is partnering with the 

U.S. Transportation Command to schedule the movement of 

that material through the emerging Trans-Arabian Network 

routes, which supports U.S. Central Command’s goal of 

creating a robust ground network with sea and air options 

throughout the peninsula.

 – Brianne M. Bender, DLA Distribution Public Affairs

More online: go.usa.gov/x8mAm

—Dianne Ryder

More online: go.usa.gov/x8yZJ

JANUARY:

 9 – Winter Warrior Fitness Challenge Begins

16 – Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. 

20 – Presidential Inauguration

25 – Combined Federal Campaign ends

SPECIAL OBSERVANCES:

• Women’s Equality Month

• National Slavery and Human

Trafficking Prevention Month

FEBRUARY:

20 – Washington’s Birthday 

27 – Columbus CDC Grand Opening

SPECIAL OBSERVANCES:

• African American History Month

page

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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY
DLA REGIONAL COMMANDERS SHIFT TO TOUCH POINTS FOR 

GEOGRAPHIC COMBATANT COMMAND

As an agency, we live and work in a dynamic 

environment. We have to anticipate, assess and meet 

current and future warfighter requirements. This was 

evident just a few months ago, when the director saw the 

need to have our regional commanders act as the DLA 

touch points for their respective geographic combatant 

commands. The Command and Control — or C2 — 

Initiative fundamentally changes the way our regional 

commands and primary-level field activities interface 

with our customers.

Instead of dealing with six different points of contact 

— one for each PLFA — our customers will now look 

to DLA Central and Special Operations Command, DLA 

Europe & Africa, and DLA Pacific as the “easy buttons” for 

DLA support. One commander will act as the DLA face 

to customers in each region, backed by the power of nine 

supply chains and 25,000 employees.

When it comes to customer needs, the regional 

PLFAs will work through the regional commands, leaning 

on their broader view of theater priorities. DLA Energy 

Europe & Africa, DLA Troop Support Central, and all the 

others will have their support wrapped into a more holistic 

management of DLA’s business. This helps our customers 

better understand what DLA can provide them and 

provides them a more consistent DLA engagement.

What won’t change is the supply chain expertise 

resident in each PLFA. When it comes to managing those 

global supply chains, the pipelines that feed, clothe, heal, 

fuel and repair our warfighters and their equipment, no 

one is better than the PLFAs. Each will still be responsible 

for the health of its respective supply chains.

We socialized our C2 initiative with the affected 

combatant commands, and all are positive about the 

change. It better aligns us with the military services’ 

practices, with a command structure that more closely 

resembles that of an Army brigade or an Air Force 

group. It will also ensure our commanders come from 

their services’ centrally-selected lists. We’ll have vetted 

candidates the services identify as their best. That lets us 

put the right person in the right place, at the right time.

This is all a big change, but it will not substantially 

impact the way most DLA team members perform their 

duties. Some positions at the regional PLFAs will be 

adjusted to better align with responsibilities and scope. 

Reporting relationships and procedures will naturally 

evolve to match this new structure. A majority of our 

workforce will be unaffected, but change isn’t easy, and 

DLA’s leaders appreciate that. Our intent is to make the 

necessary personnel adjustments gradually as people 

move on to new opportunities.

At the end of the day, it’s all being done to support 

the No. 1 goal in the DLA Strategic Plan: Warfighter 

First. This innovation responds to the needs of our most 

important customers, enabling us to continue delivering 

the solutions they demand. 

— Navy Rear Adm. Vincent Griffith

Director, DLA Logistics Operations

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January / February 2017

Discover

Profiles in Resiliency

www.dla.mil/Media
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

America’s Helping 

from their homes — as well as fuel and 

construction materials to relief groups. 

The combined group was known as Joint 

Task Force Matthew.

The RDT started work on the ground 

in Haiti 48 hours after the agency was 

formally asked to help in the relief effort. 

Four DLA personnel initially deployed to 

the area, folowed by three others a few 

days later.

Stone by Stone

It all started with gravel, recalled Craig 

Hill, an expeditionary contracting officer 

in DLA’s Joint Contingency Acquisition 

Support Office.

At the international airport in 

Port-au-Prince, a small flight line 

separate from the commercial 

runways had managed to serve the 

airport’s usually light air traffic. But 

after Hurricane Matthew, the massive 

increase in flights from the relief effort 

put stress on the small facility as 

helicopters delivered emergency food 

and equipment to relief camps and 

nongovernmental organizations on 

the western tip of the country, where 

Matthew hit hardest. 

As the air traffic increased and 

overwhelmed the airfield, congestion 

at the airport caused the rotor of 

one helicopter to strike a light pole, 

grounding the aircraft, said Navy Capt. 

Paul Haslam, commander of the RDT 

for JTF Matthew.

A

Rapid Deployment Team from the 

Defense Logistics Agency’s Global 

Readiness Force and personnel 

from across the agency deployed to Haiti 

last fall to provide a range of services, 

supplies, expertise and infrastructure 

as the agency assisted in disaster relief 

following Hurricane Matthew.

The RDT, part of DLA Logistics 

Operations, worked with DLA Aviation, 

DLA Energy, DLA Troop Support, DLA 

Distribution and DLA Information 

Operations to improve the infrastructure 

in Haiti and speed the delivery of food, 

water and supplies to people displaced 

Story by John Bell

Photos Courtesy DLA Logistics Operations
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DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

January / February 2017

 Hand

A group of helicopter maintainers 

approached the RDT with a request for 

gravel to expand the existing airfield. 

Haslam and Hill realized the project was 

something the RDT was perfectly suited 

to help with. 

They enlisted the help of the U.S. 

Naval Construction Forces — the 

Seabees — to design the new helocopter 

pads, with input from the Air Force 

airfield manager, the safety officer, the 

helicopter maintainers, and the pilots.

After the pads were designed 

and approved, the RDT recruited 

DLA Troop Support’s Construction 

& Engineering supply chain in 

Philadelphia and its Maintenance, 

Repair and Operations contractor to 

build the landing and takeoff pads. 

Troop Support also helped supply 

special pallets that would roll more 

easily onto the cargo helicopters, 

thanks to smooth plywood bottoms.

A contracting officer could just 

purchase the support directly using 

normal deployment contracting tools. 

But in this case, Hill was already familiar 

with the Troop Support MRO contract — 

which offers better auditability and value. 

“As a contracting officer, I bought 

almost nothing,” Hill said. “Instead, my 

work was to first reach back to and 

team with the contracting officers at 

Troop Support — they were utterly 

magnificent — and I provided on-theground oversight of contractors.” 

Ultimately, the expeditionary team 

built the new helicopter pads, from design 

to completion, in four days, Hill said. 

 “The new pad alleviated the 

congestion of the west tarmac,” said 

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Emilio 

Natalio with the 1st Battalion, 228th 

Aviation Regiment, based in Honduras. 

“We had CH-47s, C-130s and commercial 

aircraft taxiing and being loaded in close 

proximity. It’s much safer now.” 

The new location, being closer to 

the fuel-storage tanks, has also helped 

speed the loading and delivery of aircraft 

fuel, he said — as have the RDT’s efforts 

to enhance communication with the fuel 

vendor and commercial flight traffic in 

the area.

Matt Moshier, a DLA Energy customer account 

specialist, discusses fuel delivery with a pilot from 

the Army’s 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment. 
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

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In addition to aviation fuel, the 

RDT team coordinated the delivery 

of diesel fuel for generators and 

construction equipment. 

DLA Distribution, Information 

Operations Pitch In

DLA Distribution personnel also lent 

their expertise, coordinating detailed 

shipment instructions specific to Haiti to 

ensure prompt delivery of materiel. One 

example was the shipment of missioncritical repair parts for the Halvorsen 25K 

cargo loader — a large, wheeled flatbed 

vehicle — as well as insect repellant 

and sunscreen provided by DLA Aviation. 

DLA Distribution, working with the RDT, 

tracked all shipments to delivery.

Another critical need DLA helped with 

was water, Haslam said. In a disaster 

area, potable water must be conserved 

and used only for drinking when possible. 

The RDT used its expeditionary contracting authority to secure daily delivery of 

3,000 gallons of non-potable water to 

wash aircraft and provide sanitation for 

JTF-Matthew headquarters. 

The Contingency Information 

Technology Division of DLA Information 

Operations played a critical role in supporting the RDT and the JTF-Matthew 

mission. The CITD provided a secure satellite link back to the enterprise network, 

voice-over-internet phones, satellite 

phones, wireless hotspots, printing and 

other capabilities. 

Hill also said the portable communications system was invaluable in giving the 

team reliable communications with DLA 

staff in the United States. For example, 

“when we had requirements coming up, 

we used the phone lines and email to communicate with DLA Troop Support.”

“DLA’s [information technology] 

support was absolutely critical to our 

mission,” said Army Capt. Adam Grover, 

commander of the 689th Rapid Port 

Opening Element of the Army’s Military 

Surface Deployment and Distribution 

Command. His unit deployed with a 

smaller support package but was able to 

use the IT package from DLA’s CITD. “It 

really helped our mission,” Grover said.

Partners on the Ground

Army Maj. Patrick Hardin, the deputy 

chief of the Security Cooperation Office 

for the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, 

praised the DLA team. The SCO consists 

of U.S. military members who assist the 

Department of State as liaisons to local 

security and military officials.

The role of the SCO in a disaster 

or other emergency is to establish the 

mission and then help coordinate it, 

Hardin explained. 

“We’re able to get a response off 

the ground,” he said. “When there’s a 

disaster and DoD is requested, we’re the 

liaison to the higher headquarters, the 

Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance 

[of the U.S. Agency for International 

Development] and SOUTHCOM, as well 

as local security forces.”

So DLA’s expertise was crucial in 

contracting for supplies, Hardin said. 

“DLA was critical to the movement of 

goods, when it came time for major 

contracts for water, meals ready to eat or 

any other kind of big-ticket item,” he said.

“What was great about having DLA 

there was that the contracting officers 

know where the reachback is and who 

Navy Capt. Paul Haslam, commander of the DLA Rapid 

Deployment Team, discusses a project to build a helicopter 

pad with Troop Support liaison officer Robert Cunningham, 

Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Mark Bossen, a contingency information technology specialist 

in DLA Information Operations, sets up the system relied on 

by members of JTF Matthew to communicate between the 

base location and field sites, as well as DLA Headquarters.
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LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

January / February 2017

to contact. And all we’re doing once 

mission has started is pointing them in 

the right direction.”

This freed Hardin’s team to deal with 

the emerging responsibilities in its area 

of expertise, he said. 

“It was absolutely critical to have [the 

DLA team] on the ground, because it 

allowed us to concentrate on other things. 

Getting supplies in like helicopter parts, 

vehicle parts — for all that stuff, we know 

the process but not the points of contact 

or necessarily how you can [get those 

supplies] in a mission like that.”

Communication Challenges

Army Capt. Ola Ogunlola was the 

operations officer in the SCO. 

For JTF-Matthew, “our job was to 

facilitate the smooth reception and 

staging of the task force as they arrived 

with over 400 service members and 

civilians,” he said. 

“As the SCO, we made sure they 

got on the ground and could set up and 

commence operations effortlessly,” 

Ogunlola said. “And we did that with the 

help of enablers, including DLA logistics 

guys — contracting for life support, 

transportation, Port-A-Johns and water 

— without hitches, to provide aid to the 

people of Haiti in aftermath of disaster.”

This deployment was personal 

for Army Sgt. 1st Class Dyna OscarExilHomme noncommissioned officer in 

charge of training and administration in 

the SCO. Oscar-ExilHomme was born in 

Haiti. She came to America as a refugee 

with her family and then decided to 

serve her adopted nation in uniform. Her 

fluency in Haitian Creole was especially 

valuable to JTF Matthew.

“Especially with the drivers the first 

few days, it was kind of crazy,” she said, 

recalling the numerous delivery trucks 

whose drivers spoke only Creole or even 

Spanish. “People would come to me and 

ask me to translate.”

Some of the JTF Matthew members 

tried directing trucks with hand 

gestures, Oscar-ExilHomme said; this 

worked as far as getting them to the 

right location, but someone still needed 

to explain to the Haitian security that 

the drivers had authorization to pass 

through that checkpoint.

One cultural nuance showed just 

how valuable a native speaker was. “A lot 

of the time, the JTF staff would explain 

something and get what they thought a 

nod of understanding in return,” OscarExilHomme said. 

But in Haiti, as in some other 

countries, a nod doesn’t necessarily mean 

you fully understand, Ogunlola explained. 

“In Haiti, nodding is born of a desire to 

be polite and to please you — to show 

respect and willingness to work with 

you. But you have to drill down to make 

sure the information they received was 

interpreted as intended. I often had to 

ask ‘What did I just say to you?’ to make 

sure they understood.”

One difficulty the JTF did not 

encounter was discomfort with U.S. 

military or civilian DoD personnel, 

Ogunlola said. “The U.S. has a 

tremendous amount of goodwill here in 

Haiti. They highly appreciate all that the 

United States has done in the past and is 

doing now in Haiti. And we benefit from 

that goodwill in the SCO.”

This shows in easier access to 

Haitian officials and facilities, he noted. 

“We have a partnership with the Haitian 

government at the highest levels, 

including the Haitian National Police. And 

I can just call up the chief on the phone,” 

Ogunlola said. In other countries, “they 

often have a cumbersome bureaucratic 

process” for such contact.

Similarly, U.S. military members “can 

go to the National Police [headquarters] or 

Haitian Coast Guard base any time we want. 

And I appreciate that. In other countries ... 

I have to be escorted around the base.”

So in missions like JTF Matthew, 

“we enjoy incredible cooperation that 

would’ve been much more difficult 

[elsewhere]. That goodwill pays a lot of 

dividend for us in the SCO.”

Ogunlola said this respect is largely 

due to America’s history of assisting Haiti 

in events such as hurricanes, earthquakes 

and famines. “Every Haitian, if you ask 

them where you want to go, they’ll 

say America,” he said. “There’s a strong 

cultural affinity for the United States.”

A Grateful Neighbor

Oscar-ExilHomme said it meant a 

lot for her to serve in this effort as an 

An engineer from the U.S. Naval Construction Forces 

(Seebees) and personnel from a DLA Troop Support contractor 

review plans for a helicopter pad at Toussaint L’Ouverture 

International Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. 
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

AMERICA’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

American who came from Haiti. And she 

has a special insight into the population’s 

enthusiasm for the United States.

 “In the uniform, the level of respect 

I get from females and males — it’s 

beyond words. They respect and love the 

U.S. uniform. ... I get looked at a lot — not 

because they’re afraid but because they’re 

proud” to see a Haitian in an American 

uniform, Oscar-ExilHomme said.

She recalled visiting one of the more 

dangerous parts of Haiti in uniform, soon 

after arriving in Haiti to serve in the SCO. 

“We went to street market. When they 

saw the U.S. flag on my uniform, I kept 

hearing over and over, ‘USA, bon ba gay!’ 

[baw bah guy],’ which basically means 

‘USA, good stuff!’”

During JTF Matthew, “they were asking 

so many questions and were so excited 

we were there. They said ‘You all should 

stay longer.’ And I like that,” she said.

The DLA personnel in particular were 

“an incredible force multiplier for us, 

given the size of our office here, which is 

only three Army guys,” Ogunlola noted. 

“And to have to support a task force of 

over 400 troops — there’s no way we 

could’ve done it. 

“Without the DLA team, it would’ve 

been difficult to get the support the task 

force needed to do their jobs. It went 

seamlessly, and the Task Force was able 

to get the mission accomplished with 

the logistics backbone that the DLA 

team provided.”

The work of the RDT in this event 

shows the value of the training the RDT 

teams hone via exercises throughout 

the year, Haslam noted. DLA maintains 

three RDT teams, which alternate 

being on standby for real-world events 

and participating in training and a full 

backup team. Each RDT comprises a 

commander, an expeditionary contracting 

officer, a contingency IT specialist for 

communications, and a fourth member 

determined by the mission — in this 

case a distribution liaison officer.

In this operation, the relief effort 

continued in the hurricane’s aftermath, 

as the teams expanded their work 

to contain an emerging outbreak of 

cholera, Haslam said — aided by the 

24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based 

in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, which 

arrived on the scene several days after 

the DLA personnel.

“This project was a resounding 

success for JTF-Matthew and a 

demonstration of agile DLA support in a 

contingency,” Haslam said. LL

Craig Hill, Expeditionary Contracting Officer for DLA’s Joint 

Contingency Acquisition Office, observes an employee of 

A DLA Troop Support contractor fill an aircraft wash tank 

with non-potable water, conserving drinking water for 

human consumption.

MORE INFORMATION ONLINE

DLA Troop Support’s Hurricane 

Matthew relief effort: 

http://go.usa.gov/x8yBY

Logistics Live and On Location

http://go.usa.gov/x8yBZ

DLA Energy’s Hurricane Matthew 

relief effort:

http://go.usa.gov/x8yB9
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My name is:

Randle McClendon.

I am:

A DLA Distribution process worker with DLA’s deployable depot at Red River 

Army Depot, Texas.

Describe your job in a sentence: 

I support the warfighter performing a wide range of warehousing duties. I support the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency during national emergency and humanitarian 

efforts around the globe.

How long have you worked at DLA?

I’ve worked at DLA for five years.

What is your favorite thing about working for DLA? 

Deploying and working with the military service members. Most of the ones I’ve worked 

with have a supply background. I make it a point to let them know about job opportunities 

available for them at DLA when they get out.

What are your best memories of working here?

I remember working a hazardous materials 

mission in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. We 

were working second shift outdoors at night. I 

walked outside during break looking at my phone. 

When I looked up, there were seven deer 3 feet 

away from me. 

How do you make a difference?

By doing my part to make sure the warfighter 

gets the correct material in a timely manner.

I AM DLA

Randle McClendon