LOGLINES LOGLINES

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2010

RESEARCH

AND

DEVELOPMENT
DIRECTOR

At the Defense Logistics Agency we 

have a long history of providing 

flexible, agile support to America’s 

warfighters around the globe. This 

impressive track record and the DLA 

team’s ability to navigate a challenging 

course have served the agency and its 

warfighting customers well. 

Our tremendous bench strength is 

one of DLA’s best assets, and I look to 

harness the combined power of that asset 

through the new “We are DLA” initiative, 

which rolled out across the agency this 

summer. 

As the Defense Department’s combat 

logistics support agency, DLA has served 

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

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

from the

warfighters for almost 50 years, but its 

organization names have largely reflected 

individual missions and locations – never 

the global DLA enterprise. “We are DLA” 

is changing that. Through this initiative, 

all of the agency’s business units have 

been renamed to emphasize their DLA 

identity, as well as the commodity or 

service provided to customers. 

It is my goal that this initiative helps 

build a greater sense of community 

among our global workforce and a 

single-agency environment that shows 

warfighters just who DLA is and what we 

provide to them. 

Demonstrating DLA’s broad reach 

to customers has never been more 

important than now, as we work to 

continue supplying world-class support 

in an environment increasingly defined 

by constricting budgets and expectations 

to do more without additional resources. 

Our partners in DoD are looking to 

DLA to help them save money and stay 

Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency

Office of Strategic Communications

8725 John J. Kingman Road

Suite 2545

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

703-767-6200

E-mail: loglines@dla.mil

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dla.mil

DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson

DLA Vice Director

Mae E. De Vincentis 

Chief of Staff

Frederick M. Baillie

Director, Strategic Communications

Douglas Ide

Deputy Director, Strategic Communications

Jack Hooper

Loglines Staff

Managing Editor Kathleen T. Rhem

Editor Heather Athey

Writer Beth Reece

Writer Jonathan Stack

Writer Sara Moore

Layout/Design Paul Henry Crank

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 following address:

LOGLINES

Official Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Agency

mission-ready. We must continuously 

look for ways to become more efficient 

in our daily operations and pass that 

efficiency along to warfighters by way of 

more effective service and lower costs. 

Stewardship is something I’ve spoken 

of often as DLA’s Director and pursued 

through goals outlined in my yearly 

Director’s guidance. American taxpayers 

must get best value for each dollar spent 

on logistics. DLA is well positioned 

to take on additional responsibilities 

because its capabilities are scalable; 

we can add greatly to our business 

operations without a commensurate 

increase in resources. 

The coming months will be 

challenging as we continue support to 

the plus-up of forces in Afghanistan and 

the responsible drawdown in Iraq, and 

charge ahead to meet Defense Secretary 

Robert Gates’ goals for streamlining 

operations. I have the upmost confidence 

our team will rise to the occasion. 
Loglines l September - October 2010 1

CONTENTS

Combating Counterfeits 	 	 	 	 2

Defense Department, agency set sights on counterfeit, nonconforming parts, cagey vendors.

All Systems Go 	 	 	 	 6

Agency-funded program ensures source for military-grade 

microcircuits, keeps weapon systems in the fight.

Custom Critical 12

Collaboration between agency, industry gets custom parts into

warfighters’ hands, builds next generation of metalcasting workforce.

Track This! 18

Research, development team, troop support staffers use radio 

frequency identification technology to revolutionize clothing 

procurement, issue processes.

Modern Edge 20

Product test centers incorporate latest technology to test strength,

veracity of warfighters’ parts.

We are DLA 24

New agency initiative aims to build single-agency environment, 

unite global workforce in support of warfighters.

Training Simulator 32

Simulation concept gives disposition team members hands-on 

training in disposal, reuse, transfer, donation and sale of excess 

property.

Ten Questions with ... 26

DLA NewsWire 29

Money Matters 30

I am DLA Back Cover

DEPARTMENTS

September - October 2010

pg 2

pg 6

pg 24

pg 20

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
2 www.dla.mil

F

Research and Development

Combat

Counterfeits

Story by Beth Reece

akes, knockoffs, counterfeits: 

whatever you call them, imitation 

products have plagued every 

industry from designer apparel 

and electronics to prescription 

drugs. Military equipment is no exception, 

and the consequence of malfunctioning 

gear can be dangerous to warfighters. 

Once a counterfeit product makes 

its way into the military supply chain, it 

becomes an issue for warfighters and for 

the Defense Logistics Agency, America’s 

combat logistics support agency. 

“We will go after any supplier that 

knowingly provides us counterfeit parts,” 

DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan 

Thompson told reporters early this year 

when asked if counterfeit parts are an 

increasing threat to military logistics. 

The Government Accountability Office reported in March that the extent of 

counterfeit parts in the Department of 

Defense supply chain is unknown. For 

DLA, that’s due partly to the fact that 

counterfeits have always been classified 

as “non-conforming parts,” which is any 

item, part or product packaging with one 

or more characteristics that depart from 

the specification, drawing or product description requirements in a contract, said 

Dan McLaughlin, a technical and quality 

analyst for DLA Logistics Operations’ 

Product Assurance Branch. 

 “Everything came under the umbrella 

of ‘non-conforming,’ so when people 

started asking how many counterfeits we 

had in the system, we had a difficult time 

segregating them,” McLaughlin said.

In April 2009, the agency began 

defining a counterfeit part separately 

“as one whose identity or pedigree has 

been deliberately altered, misrepresented 

or offered as an unauthorized product 

substitution.” DLA also created the new 

DoD Counterfeit Parts Integrated Project 

Team to help develop anti-counterfeiting 

guidance and has begun research that 

will determine whether data-mining 

techniques can be used to home in on 

potential fraudulent suppliers.

Intent To Counterfeit

“Deliberately” is a key word in the 

definition of counterfeit parts, McLaughlin said, but pinpointing the true “crook” 

is rarely easy. 

“Let’s say somebody pours water into 

a bottle, puts a ‘Deer Park’ label on it, and 

then sells it for $1.50. Even though the 

water might meet Deer Park’s criteria, 

it’s a misrepresentation of the Deer Park 

brand,” he explained. “The question 

then becomes ‘Who misrepresented it?’ 

If you bought the water from [grocery 

retailer] Giant, and Giant bought it from 

a distributor thinking they were getting 

Deer Park, where exactly was the intent 

to counterfeit?” 

McLaughlin also emphasized the 

definition’s inclusion of “unauthorized 

product substitution.” 

“For example, you receive an item 

that lasts 1,000 hours, but you need it 

to last 2,000. When you install the part, 

it works perfectly and you assume it 

meets requirements, but then the life 

expectancy ends up not meeting DoD’s 

criteria,” he said. “The item may meet 

commercial standards but, for us, it’s an 

unauthorized product substitution and is 

considered counterfeiting when it’s done 

deliberately.”

 DLA’s approach to combating 

counterfeits includes risk assessments of 

specific commodities. The main concern today is microchips, tiny electronic 

circuits found in computers and other 

military equipment. 

“The problem is that people in foreign 

countries are taking ... trashed circuit 

boards and buying them only to mislabel 

A Sailor repairs the integrated circuit board 

of an EA-6B Prowler aircraft. Electronic 

circuits found in computers and other military 

equipment are one of the most counterfeited 

items today.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Heil
Loglines Loglines l September - October 2010 September - October 2010 3
4 www.dla.mil

them and sell them as new,” McLaughlin 

said, adding that counterfeiters typically 

target items with high profit potential 

and those that are difficult to distinguish 

as fraudulent. 

Quality assurance specialists 

occasionally request high-risk 

commodities be tested by one of DLA’s 

four product testing centers, which are 

designed to measure product compliance. 

In fiscal 2009, DLA’s Electronic Product 

Testing Center in Columbus, Ohio, 

examined 19 microcircuits from the same 

lot. The items lacked the consistency 

expected of ones with the same date code, 

said John Evalsky, EPTC site manager. 

“Differences were noted in internal 

components,” he said.

Some also had different construction 

features and markings on the inside. The 

EPTC’s test data aided leaders in their 

decision to remove the parts from DLA 

stock. Legal experts from inside and outside the agency frequently request results 

from DLA test centers as they work to 

determine whether a particular business 

is indeed counterfeiting. 

“We ask ourselves if there’s a way to 

get ahead of the game and be prepared 

for the next round of counterfeit items,” 

McLaughlin said. “But it’s hard to say 

what’s on the horizon. The best thing we 

can do is look for trends.” 

In the future, he added, manufacturers may be able to embed information in 

material to identify it as an original part. 

This could be particularly beneficial in 

cases where resources are diminishing 

and the production line is ending. 

“It’s going to take a couple of years for 

us to see if this is a viable option because 

we have to determine how costly it is, 

how difficult the process is and what the 

return might be on equipment investments,” McLaughlin said.

High-Risk Suppliers

Officials said DLA also expects to 

combat counterfeits by targeting highrisk suppliers. The DoD counterfeit 

team, which McLaughlin co-chairs, is 

considering use of a qualified suppliers 

list that would exclude suppliers with 

bad histories or those who cannot 

provide documentation of their products’ 

authenticity. Many agencies already 

have such records, but McLaughlin 

said he suspects that listed suppliers 

are audited with varying degrees of 

stringency. 

Early this year he proposed 

government agencies share the work 

of auditing suppliers and use the same 

criteria. This would keep a single 

agency from being overburdened 

with doing all audits and make use of 

various government agencies’ close 

proximity to suppliers throughout the 

United States.

He said questions asked of suppliers 

during the audits could include: “Where 

do you get your material? Do you audit 

those raw materials suppliers? How do 

you find the batch and material source? 

What do you do if you have a problem 

with a supplier’s material? And, how do 

you document it?” 

Suppliers that resist audits would 

not be eligible for the qualified suppliers 

list, McLaughlin said.

“By doing this, we’re able to mitigate 

some of the risks because we’re not 

doing business with suppliers that lack 

proper controls,” he said. 

DLA is also looking for ways to 

target “CAGE hoppers,” a phrase 

commonly used to describe vendors 

that switch to a new Commercial and 

Government Entity Code once they’ve 

been caught doing bad business with 

the agency. Assigned by the DLA 

Logistics Information Service, CAGE 

codes are used to identify a given 

facility at a specific location. CAGE 

hoppers, who’ve also been termed 

“kitchen-table brokers” because they Although these devices were 

marked with approved part numbers 

and logos, they were also marked 

with the same production lot code. 

Inspection of the parts reveals 

different lead-frame design and 

case contours. Authentic products 

with the same production code 

should not have these differences.

X-ray examinations show differences in die placement, size, cavity 

size (circled in red at right), and lead 

frames which are not characteristic 

of authentic products. 

4 www.dla.mil

Images courtesy DLA Land and Maritime
Loglines l September - October 2010 5

Research and Development

typically operate from home and obtain 

supplies through Internet sites like eBay, 

often have family members apply for new 

codes, McLaughlin said.

Researchers with LMI, a government 

consulting group, are working with DLA 

to determine methods for capturing 

CAGE hoppers. One possibility is to 

conduct detailed investigations with 

individuals or small businesses requesting 

CAGE codes. While the effort is still in 

the research and development phase, 

Thompson said the proposed methods 

show potential. 

Reporting Fakes

Guidance set forth by the Office of 

Federal Procurement Policy requires 

federal activities report information 

about non-conforming material and 

counterfeit parts that could affect other 

agencies and industry to the Web-based 

Government-Industry Data Exchange 

Program, or GIDEP. The policy hasn’t 

been widely enforced, said Paula 

George, quality technical analyst for 

DLA Logistics Operations’ Quality and 

Technical Branch, but growing concern 

about counterfeits has encouraged many 

agencies to adopt the tool. 

“People are realizing that GIDEP can 

be a very useful tool in dealing with this 

issue,” she said. “Each DLA supply chain 

has representatives who monitor the site 

for alerts concerning products we supply 

to the military.”

When the Federal Aviation 

Administration posted a GIDEP alert 

last winter about a company that 

had provided unauthorized product 

substitutions for a type of gasket known 

as O-rings, by substituting commercialgrade material for aviation-grade and 

military-grade material, George read the 

full report. It listed 117 companies the 

vendor had sold to, plus six pages of part 

numbers the vendor was believed to have 

counterfeited.

“We knew the company in question 

had not directly sold parts to DLA, but we 

didn’t know if any of those 117 companies 

that had bought from them had sold 

items to us,” she said. 

George compared the 117 companies 

to a list of DLA vendors and found that 

18 of them had indeed recently sold parts 

to DLA. Two of them had filled more 

than 800 DLA orders during the time 

the initial company was said to have 

been counterfeiting. She sent letters to 

each of the 18 companies asking if they’d 

purchased any of the material in question 

and if they might have inadvertently sold 

it to DLA. One came back with a positive 

response. 

“That one company had bought three 

different types of O-rings for our kit 

assemblies,” George said. “I reported that 

to the aviation supply chain, and they’re 

already finding some of the kits in stock 

and working remove and replace those 

O-rings.”

This was a classic example of how 

useful GIDEP can be in identifying and 

reporting counterfeits, she said. But 

it also shows how time consuming an 

investigation can be.

“There’s a certain degree of 

sophistication where counterfeiters will 

sell an item to one person, who sells 

it to another, who sells it to another,” 

McLaughlin added. “They make it very 

labor intensive for us to trace the exact 

point of intent.”

But, he said, keeping counterfeits out 

of the supply system can be done with 

collaboration from suppliers, contracting 

and legal experts, and military customers.

“We have to work together on this,” 

McLaughlin said, “because having any 

type of non-conforming equipment or 

counterfeit material in our system is a 

problem that jeopardizes our warfighters.” 

An alert posted on the web-based 

Government-Industry Data Exchange 

Program last fall made Defense Logistics 

Agency leaders aware of potentially 

counterfeited o-rings, like those seen here, 

and led to the removal of some o-rings from 

Air Force Airman 1st Class Corey Hook

the aviation supply system. 
6 www.dla.mil

Story by Sara Moore

the availability of the circuits the military 

needs shrinks. 

Defense Logistics Agency Headquarters and DLA Land and Maritime 

established the Generalized Emulation of 

Microcircuits program years ago to address microcircuit problems and ensure 

the military would have the chips it needs 

to maintain its weapon systems now and 

in the future. 

The Advanced Microcircuit Emulation 

program, a DLA-funded program, 

provides a source for military-grade 

microcircuits that are otherwise obsolete, 

keeping crucial weapon systems in the 

fight and ultimately saving taxpayers 

millions of dollars. 

Filling a Need

The emulation program, GEM, was 

born out of necessity in the mid-1980s, 

said Don O’Brien, who was the DLA 

Research and Development program 

manager from 1984 to 1999. Before that 

time, the military was the main driver of 

the integrated circuit market, because of 

its use of circuits in many electronic and 

weapon systems, he said. 

In fact, microcircuits really got their 

start in military and space hardware, 

O’Brien said. However, as technology 

Y

ou pull your cell phone out of 

your pocket and dial a number, 

knowing you’ll be connected 

to your friend in a matter of 

seconds. 

An Air Force pilot checks his radar 

system, confident that it will give him an 

accurate view of everything around him 

in the sky. 

Technology runs the world around 

us, not only in our day-to-day lives 

and interactions with each other, but 

also government and national defense 

operations. 

Within every gadget, appliance and 

weapon system used by warfighters and 

their civilian counterparts are microcircuits – tiny chips that keep technology 

running at top speed. 

As technology advances rapidly, 

microcircuits too must evolve to keep 

delivering faster, better results. But while 

most taxpayers think it’s normal to replace a cell phone or computer every two 

years, it’s nearly impossible to redesign 

or replace a multi-million-dollar weapon 

system in that amount of time. 

Many of the weapon systems the 

military uses rely on microcircuits to 

keep them functioning, but as technology advances within civilian industry, 

ALL SYSTEMS GO

Y

Research and Development
Loglines l September - October 2010 7

The Defense Logistics Agency’s Advanced Microcircuit 

Emulation program uses reverse engineering to ensure militarygrade microcircuits are available to keep weapon systems, like 

this AT-4 anti-tank rocket, fully functioning.

— Photo by Army Spc. Eric Cabral
8 www.dla.mil

began to advance, agency officials and 

defense contractors began to recognize a 

growing disparity between the lifecycle of 

defense weapon systems and the availability of microcircuits. 

“It was bad then, and it’s only gotten 

worse,” O’Brien said, noting that now, 

microcircuits are typically only in production for a few years while the military 

is using the same weapon systems for 

decades. Manufacturers no longer want 

to build microcircuits for the military, 

because the military now makes up only a 

fraction of the integrated circuit market – 

less than 1 percent, he said. 

Redesigning circuit boards within 

weapon systems would have been very 

expensive and impractical, so DLA began 

working with two contractors doing 

research and development on how to 

reverse-engineer and build microcircuits, 

said Bill Johnson, DLA’s AME program 

manager. 

The original GEM program went 

through a research and development 

phase, verification, and then transitioned 

into full production in 1997. When the 

program began producing microcircuits, 

DLA continued to increase its capabilities 

with the AME program as its microcircuit 

research and development arm, Johnson 

said. 

Today, DLA works with one support 

contractor – the Sarnoff Corporation in 

Princeton, N.J. – on the GEM and AME 

programs. Naturally, the programs are 

closely tied as the AME program develops 

the technologies that the GEM program 

uses for production, said David Robinson, 

GEM program manager. 

Both programs use several different 

sources of input, such as customer 

requirements, market studies on obsolescence and input from industry partners, to 

determine what technologies to pursue and 

what parts to emulate, he said.

“Jointly we come up with what 

we think or what we know is the next 

Air Force Tech. Sgt. James D. Mossman
Loglines l September - October 2010 9

Research and Development

technology trend that we’re going to have 

to go after based on the customer-driven 

requirements and obsolescence cycles 

from the industry,” Robinson said. “It’s 

just a joint effort between all of us to 

determine what we need to go after next.”

The Emulation Process

Once a part is selected for emulation, 

it goes through four major steps in AME, 

Johnson said. First, it has to be reverseengineered by Sarnoff and then designed 

in their system. Sarnoff then needs to 

build that part and test it to ensure it 

meets the requirements. 

The same microcircuit technology 

is typically used throughout a family of 

parts, so once Sarnoff has developed 

the capabilities to emulate that technology, they begin to test it in actual parts, 

Johnson said. Test parts are selected 

from DLA Land and Maritime’s current 

requirements, he said, and then are engineered, built, designed and tested. 

Building microcircuits is complicated, 

so developing emulation technology is a 

multi-year process, Johnson said, noting that he and Robinson are constantly 

looking ahead several years to determine 

what technologies will be needed so that 

as one emulation cycle reaches its halfway point, they can begin on the next. 

The AME program is constantly 

improving its processes to keep up with 

technology and emerging requirements, 

Johnson said. As part of that, Sarnoff recently used Congressional funding to buy 

new manufacturing equipment to replace 

some aging machines. 

“As the industry has that constant 

Microcircuits are widely used throughout 

the military, not only in weapon systems, but 

also in technological and communication 

systems, like this antenna mast group for a 

Patriot missile.

Military weapon systems and vehicles, like this F-15E Strike Eagle, require microcircuits that have 

become obsolete in the civilian manufacturing world. The Defense Logistics Agency’s Advanced 

Microcircuit Emulation program provides a solution to keep these systems running.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller

AME - GEM Working Backward

There are three ways the Advanced Microcircuit Emulation and Generalized Emulation of Microcircuits programs support customers when they need 

microcircuits that have no known source, said David Robinson, GEM program 

manager. 

The first way is almost invisible to the customer because it involves 

behind-the-scenes work by DLA, he explained. If the agency receives 

a requisition that can’t be filled through traditional methods because a 

manufacturing source doesn’t exist, it will be sent to the emulation program 

for development and production. Once the process is complete, customers 

receive the parts they requested.

The second way customers can get emulated parts is to send a military 

interdepartmental purchase request straight to the GEM program at DLA Land 

and Maritime, Johnson said. GEM will then task Sarnoff Corp. to develop and 

produce the part, and it will be shipped to the customer. 

The third avenue for getting emulated parts is through a contractor doing 

repair work for the military. The military services often have contractors 

dedicated to doing repairs on their systems, and these companies can 

contract directly with Sarnoff to buy parts that aren’t available through 

industry, Johnson said. 

Whatever method is used, Johnson said, the AME and GEM programs are 

dedicated to finding ways to meet customers’ needs.

“I don’t know that we’ve ever encountered somebody who wanted parts 

that we couldn’t figure out [a way to] get us engaged in solving their problem,” 

he said.

— Sara Moore
10 www.dla.mil

evolution, we have that same sort of constant evolution in R&D,” he said. 

From Emulation to Production

After technologies have been emulated and tested in AME, they transition 

to GEM for full-scale production. GEM 

has a production contract with Sarnoff 

for a range of technologies and sells finished parts at a fixed price, like any other 

manufacturer, Robinson said. 

He stressed that GEM does not try 

to compete with industry, but rather fills 

a void by producing parts the industrial 

community is no longer willing to make.

Three-hundred-fifty-six weapon systems currently use GEM parts, Robinson 

said, and the program has sold more 

than 100,000 units. In some cases, he 

said, the program sells fewer parts than 

originally forecast, because the parts built 

are high-quality and don’t fail or need 

replacement as quickly as parts from the 

original manufacturer did. Common obsolete parts are typically used by multiple 

weapon systems.

In addition to supporting the U.S. 

military, the GEM program has done 

studies with nations like the U.K. on common components within weapon systems 

and the possibility for emulation support, 

he said. In a recent study on the AV-8B 

Harrier aircraft in the U.S. and U.K., 

GEM representatives found many parts 

the British military thought were obsolete 

but could actually be emulated. Robinson 

said he has been invited back for a followup meeting about how the GEM program 

can support their needs. 

A Long-Term Solution

As of 2008, the GEM program is 

credited with saving the government 

more than $680 million by keeping 

weapon systems running and preventing 

the need for costly system redesigns. That 

number is very conservative, Robinson 

said, noting that the program produces 

up to an 8:1 return on investment. The 

cost savings are formally attributed 

to GEM, he noted, because it sells the 

parts, but without AME, the technology 

wouldn’t be available. 

Making sure the technology stays 

available to the military is the reason the 

AME and GEM programs exist, and they 

really do offer a permanent solution to 

the problem of microcircuit obsolescence, 

said O’ Brien, DLA’s original R&D program manager. 

During the early days of the program, 

O’Brien and his colleagues would often 

discuss how expensive it was to emulate 

parts compared to the original purchase 

cost. However, he said, the parts were 

no longer available at the original cost 

and the important issue was keeping the 

weapon systems running without having 

to redesign circuit boards at a monumentally higher cost – anywhere from 

$250,000 to $10 million. 

“Both GEM and AME were designed 

to provide microcircuits that no one else 

will provide, and that’s still what they 

do,” he said. “It’s very, very expensive to 

not be able to get a microcircuit if you 

have to repair something.”

Some worry that these programs 

could be in jeopardy because of the very 

A Sailor performs maintenance aboard 

the attack submarine USS Newport News. 

Submarines and the weapon systems aboard 

them are some of the systems supported by 

the Defense Logistics Agency’s Advanced 

Microcircuit Emulation program. 

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Todd A. Schaffer
Loglines l September - October 2010 11

Research and Development

business model that made them necessary in the first place – it is not considered 

cost effective for a large manufacturer to 

continue making outdated parts used only 

by a fraction of its customer base. 

However, the nature of Sarnoff 

Corp. will prevent that from happening, 

Johnson said. Sarnoff is an R&Dbased company that has a low-volume 

capability for building parts, which 

is exactly what DLA needs for these 

programs. The company also isn’t subject 

to the economic pressures of commercial 

manufacturing.

“What we pretty much tell people is, 

once we’ve emulated a part, you can get 

it as long as you need it,” he said, noting 

that all of the parts DLA has emulated 

can still be built today. “As long as DLA 

is willing to fund the capability with 

Sarnoff, Sarnoff is willing to be in this 

business.”

The AME and GEM programs will 

be needed for the foreseeable future, 

as commercial technology continues to 

advance and the manufacturing sources 

for military-grade microcircuits further 

diminish, O’Brien said. And while the 

programs have saved the government a 

lot of money over the years, he said, the 

most important benefit has been keeping 

America’s warfighters mission-ready.

“Without these programs, some of 

the front-line weapon systems that the 

Department of Defense uses would not 

have been available,” he said. “There’s no 

question that keeping the airplanes and 

ships and tanks in service, ready to do their 

mission, is the overwhelming benefit.” 

The military uses the same vehicles and 

weapon systems for decades, like many of the 

Navy’s larger ships. To keep these aging systems running, the Defense Logistics Agency 

launched the Advanced Microcircuit Emulation 

program, which provides critical microcircuits 

that would otherwise be obsolete.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carmichael Yepez
12 www.dla.mil

Research and Development

Custom Critical

Story by Sara Moore

O

n the popular television series American Chopper, 

the volatile father and son team at the helm of 

Orange County Choppers builds custom motorcycles by hand; working with vendors across the 

country to get specialized metal parts cast when 

what’s needed isn’t available on the open market. 

For the military, getting custom metalcast parts 

to fix vehicles and weapon systems hasn’t always been 

simple. A local, small-scale metalcasting shop just 

can’t keep pace with the needs of military members 

worldwide. 

But a collaboration between the Defense Logistics 

Agency and the metalcasting industry is working to 

change that.

When DLA was faced with difficulties procuring key 

cast components, it reached out to industry partners to 

create a network officials said benefits both worlds and 

improves the metalcasting industry as a whole.

The American Metalcasting Consortium is a 

collaboration between DLA, leading metalcasting 

industry trade associations and research universities 

that, officials said, aims to improve metalcasting 

technology and processes to enhance quality and 

A civilian employee uses a cutting torch to remove castings 

from a subassembly of an M-198 155 mm howitzer at Rock 

Island Arsenal, Ill. Metal castings are critical elements for many 

military vehicles and weapon systems. — Photo by Tony Lopez
Loglines l September - October 2010 13

The Defense Logistics Agency partnered with 

industry associations to ease procurement of 

metal castings, like these armor steel castings 

being poured at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.

— Photo by Tony Lopez
14 www.dla.mil

shorten procurement time for getting 

critical parts to military customers.

DLA teamed with four of the leading 

metalcasting industry associations to 

create AMC in 1990, said Dean Hutchins, 

casting and forging programs manager 

at DLA Aviation, formerly Defense 

Supply Center Richmond, Va. DLA 

funds the consortium as a research and 

development project, and AMC helps 

to maintain a viable manufacturing 

technology base within the U.S., which 

ensures DLA will have the resources it 

needs to support warfighters, he said. 

“The consortium indirectly benefits 

DLA in that it maintains that viable 

manufacturing base that we need in order 

to get the parts that are required for 

warfighters,” he said. “Without a viable 

manufacturing base out there, it might be 

more difficult for DLA to get the parts.”

Breaking the Mold

Castings are parts made by pouring 

hot liquid metal into a cast, or tooling, to 

create a certain shape. Casting is a widely 

used manufacturing method, because it 

can easily create parts, especially those 

with a complex design, Hutchins said. 

Casting also helps to save material, and 

subsequently money, by eliminating the 

need to machine larger pieces of metal 

down into parts. 

Cast components are often more 

difficult and costly for DLA to procure, 

Hutchins said, because each one requires 

a special tooling, or mold, to make. Many 

manufacturers don’t have the proper 

tooling in place, especially for parts for 

older weapon systems, he explained, or 

they may bid on a contract without realizing it requires cast components, and then 

have to delay the order while they search 

for a foundry with the proper tooling or 

create it themselves.

The AMC was created specifically to 

address these problems, while also improving the metalcasting industry overall, 

said Raymond Monroe, executive vice 

president of the Steel Founders Society of 

America. SFSA, which represents companies that produce steel castings, was one 

of the industry associations that originally 

founded AMC and is still a key member. 

Working Together

The AMC has always been structured 

around a “three-legged stool,” Monroe 

said. The three principal components 

of the program are: the research and 

development component that focuses 

on improving metalcasting technology, 

Metal castings are critical parts in many 

military vehicles, like this M1A1 Abrams tank. 

To overcome procurement delays for these 

parts, Defense Logistics Agency partnered 

with industry associations to create the 

American Metalcasting Consortium.

Marine Sgt. Alex C. Sauceda

Glen Morrel (left), Littlestown Foundry treasurer, 

explains the importance of casting in parts 

manufacturing to Michael Bess, American 

Metalcasting Consortium representative at 

Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, and DLA 

Aviation procurement supervisors Kim Licence 

and Arla Allen. 

Stephen J. Baker
Loglines l September - October 2010 15

Research and Development

direct engineering support for procurement, and training, and network tools 

focused on improving the understanding 

of metalcasting. 

The R&D component is a key element 

of the program, Monroe said, especially 

for the industry associations. It consists 

of a portfolio of projects put together 

by AMC members, including DLA, to 

improve the metalcasting industry’s 

technology. 

Projects are proposed by each of the 

four industry associations who consider 

the challenges they face within their 

industry, as well as the commercial and 

technical challenges they face in meeting 

their customer requirements, he said. 

AMC’s technical advisory committee 

and board of directors review the projects 

and ensure they are applicable to DLA 

and Defense Department requirements, 

and then the projects are given the green 

light. 

DLA generally relies on the industry 

associations to come up with the R&D 

projects, because they represent more 

than 2,000 different foundries in the 

U.S. and are also in close contact with 

research universities about technology 

issues, Hutchins said. 

Each project takes about three years 

to complete, Monroe said, and AMC’s 

goal is that by the end of that time, there 

will be at least some application of the 

new technology within industry. 

AMC’s R&D program is very 

attractive to industry, Monroe said, 

because throughout the country, there 

is very little money being invested in 

general manufacturing technology. 

Because of the lack of federal funding, 

universities are moving away from 

teaching manufacturing technology, 

which degrades the engineering 

infrastructure, he said. 

This issue is especially important to 

the Defense Department, which needs a 

strong supply base that can stay on the 

cutting edge of technology.

“As we lose our technology edge in 

the manufacturing sciences and basic 

components, we begin to erode our ability to dominate the battle space with the 

highest performance weapon systems,” 

he said.

AMC is one of the few places where 

the metalcasting industry can use federal 

funding to attract additional private 

funding to identify practical technology 

development, Monroe said.

“That’s why I get my most advanced 

members who are most excited about 

technology excited about working with 

DoD, because of the R&D program,” he 

said.

Building the Future

Also within the R&D component of 

AMC, DLA and its industry partners work 

with metalcasting research universities on developing new technologies for 

the industry and adapting curriculum 

to focus more on the foundry industry, 

Hutchins said. This has the potential 

to develop a future workforce for DLA, 

he noted, but also contributes to the 

industry overall, which is essential to the 

agency’s supply base.

“Developing the workforce that’s 

creating the parts that we buy is kind 

of a secondary spin-off or benefit of the 

project,” he said.

Linking to Supply

The second principal component of 

AMC – direct engineering support to 

procurement – is run by the Advanced 

Technology Institute, which acts as a 

program manager for the consortium, 

Monroe said. 

ATI has technical experts – former 

government employees and industry experts – who interface directly with DLA’s 

supply centers to resolve casting supply 

issues, engineering-change requirements, 

and other issues that could hinder the efficient movement of the supply chain. 

The third component of the consortium, the provision of general and 

Through the American Metalcasting Consortium and the Procurement Solutions Network, 

Defense Logistics Agency is able to support 

military vehicles, weapon systems and aircraft, 

like this C-17 Globemaster III.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Robertson
16 www.dla.mil

technical information, is the responsibility of the industry associations and has 

really helped improve communication 

between the government and industry 

and keep the casting supply chain running smoothly, Monroe said. 

“A modest amount of the funding, 

but a great deal of the value, comes from 

exploiting the technical and commercial 

resources of the associations and putting 

them in a forum that makes them 

accessible to DLA and DoD,” he said. 

Procuring Solutions

One of the most successful projects 

within that component has been the 

Procurement Solutions Network. The network was developed by the Non-Ferrous 

Founders Society, one of the industry 

association members of AMC, in 2005 as 

a solution to lengthy supply chains and 

disconnects between military customers 

and the foundries that produce cast parts. 

The Procurement Solutions Network 

provides a few different resources to the 

government and industry, said Ryan 

Moore, program manager for the network and 

membership director for 

NFFS. These include the 

Defense Tooling Database, the Defense Casting 

Suppliers Database and 

the Foundry Toolkit.

The Defense Tooling 

Database was the first 

resource developed for 

the network, Moore said. 

The database is made up 

of companies that have 

the toolings necessary to 

produce cast parts and 

gives DLA visibility to 

the bottom of the supply 

chain, all the way to subcontractors that typically 

would remain anonymous 

to the agency, but that are 

an essential part of the 

process, he said. 

This database is 

particularly helpful with legacy weapon 

systems that may no longer be supported 

by a prime contractor or major manufacturer.

“If the company that has made the 

part in the past for DLA no longer exists, 

there’s a resource to call upon who still 

has tooling and who has the capabilities 

to manufacture those parts, to quickly put 

a supply chain back in place without creating new tooling and adding the cost and 

lead time associated with that,” he said. 

The Defense Casting Suppliers Database is an online directory of companies 

that have the capability and experience 

to produce metalcastings for the military, 

Moore said. This helps military customers when they need a part that includes 

a metalcasting, but don’t have a known 

source. 

Expanding the capabilities of that 

database, Moore said he and his team have 

researched and identified these types of 

parts and they monitor bid solicitations 

to notify foundries that have the proper 

capabilities to produce the parts. 

When parts requiring metalcastings are identified, Moore said, his team 

also integrates that information into the 

procurement order text for those parts, so 

that companies bidding on the solicitation know up front that the parts need 

castings, he said. 

They have also worked with DLA 

Land and Maritime, formerly Defense 

Supply Center Columbus, Ohio, and 

DLA Aviation to set up a website that 

links directly to the tooling and suppliers 

Metal castings, parts made by pouring hot liquid metal into a cast, are 

often difficult and costly to procure. Defense Logistics Agency created the 

American Metalcasting Consortium to help the metal casting industry and 

ease procurement of these critical parts.

“As we lose our edge in the manufacturing sciences ... we begin to erode our abitlity to 

dominate the battle space with the highest performance weapon systems”

— Raymond Monroe

Courtesy Photo
Loglines l September - October 2010 17

Research and Development

databases, and that website is included 

in bid solicitations for parts requiring 

metalcastings. 

Including ‘Mom And Pop’ Shops

Linking the known capabilities of 

foundries with DLA’s requirements is 

very beneficial because it has the potential to increase the agency’s supply base 

while also providing opportunities for 

smaller foundries, Hutchins said. 

“It links together everyone at the 

lower parts of the supply chain that are 

not always visible to DLA,” he said.

The Foundry Toolkit helps companies 

in the metalcasting industry understand 

how to do business with DLA, Moore said. 

It includes information on how to bid on 

solicitations on DLA’s Internet Bid Board 

Site, how to register to do business with 

DLA and how to meet defense procurement requirements, among other things.

Moore said his team worked with the 

small-business offices at DLA Aviation 

and DLA Land and Maritime in developing the toolkit, and it has been very 

beneficial to the industry. 

Saving Time, Money

The Procurement Solutions Network 

has produced benefits in cost savings and 

reduced production and administrative 

lead times on solicitations, Moore said. 

Since the program began in 2005, it has 

been credited with $1.6 million in cost 

savings and has significantly reduced lead 

times on orders, getting critical parts to 

military customers faster and more efficiently, he said. 

“Through this network, through these 

tools, we have been able to help sustain 

a manufacturing supply base for cast 

components, which benefits warfighter 

readiness and support,” Moore said.

The Procurement Solutions Network, 

and the AMC at large, create a win-win 

situation for DLA and the metalcasting 

industry, Hutchins, Monroe and Moore 

agreed. 

Improving the industry as a whole 

and creating better communication between suppliers and customers not only 

ensures the military will get the critical 

parts it needs quickly, but sustains the 

health of the metalcasting industry and 

guarantees the future of the U.S. manufacturing base, they said. 

“[This collaboration] has not only 

provided a direct benefit in giving us 

competitive technologies to compete in 

the global marketplace and to improve 

our technologies so we have advanced 

products that allow us to make the cutting edge components, it also demonstrates how effective those investments 

are,” Monroe said. 

The American Metalcasting Consortium 

provides a link between Defense Logistics 

Agency, industry associations and research 

universities to improve the metal casting 

industry as a whole and enhance quality and 

speed procurement time for these critical 

parts.

Courtesy Photo
18 www.dla.mil

Research and Development

Track This!

Story by Jonathan Stack

E

very service member remembers 

their clothing issue – the hourslong wait in an almost endless line 

to receive an initial set of uniform 

items – during basic training. 

But a partnership between Defense 

Logistics Agency Troop Support and 

DLA’s Logistics Research and Development branch is slashing the amount to 

time it takes to issue recruit clothing and 

revolutionizing clothing procurement and 

lifecycle management. 

As recently as 10 years ago, the 

process to provide recruits clothing and 

apparel required for training and active 

duty relied almost exclusively on someone recording information with pen and 

paper, providing opportunity for human 

error to impact supply chain data.

“[Radio frequency identification] 

technology offered a way to fully automate the [clothing issue] process and 

virtually eliminate human data recording 

errors,” said Julie Tsao, DLA R&D 

program manager. 

Through the use of RFID technology, 

a method of identifying unique items 

using radio waves, DLA team members 

can ensure a recruit’s clothing bag 

contains the correct sizes and quantities 

of required items when the recruit carries 

the bag through a walk-through RFID 

reader. 

Previously, recruits had to visually 

inspect items to verify correct quantities 

and sizes were issued, a process Tsao said 

could take up to four hours.

“Clothing issue has been streamlined 

using radio frequency identification device 

technology, [it now takes] 45 minutes 

on average for a recruit to receive a full 

clothing requirement at certain centers,” 

Tsao said. 

Typically, an RFID reader communicates with a transponder, which holds 

digital information on a microchip 

embedded in a tag or label attached to 

an apparel item. The item’s identifying 

characteristics are accessed by passing a 

reader near the tag or label and can then 

be uploaded into a supply system where 

the data may be used to plan inventory or 

track demand for items. 

Navy recruits receive their initial clothing issue 

at the Recruit Training Center, Naval Station 

Great Lakes, Ill. A Defense Logistics Agency 

initiative is slashing the time it takes to issue 

recruit clothing.

E

U.S. Navy Photo
Loglines l September - October 2010 19

The wireless transmission of an 

item’s identity means the reader doesn’t 

actually have to come in contact or line of 

sight with the tag, it just has to be swiped 

near the tag’s antenna. Data can also be 

read through clothing and non-metallic 

materials, which reduces material 

handling time and resources, Tsao said.

Every year DLA Troop Support, 

previously Defense Supply Center 

Philadelphia, purchases and ships 

hundreds of thousands of uniforms and 

related items to service recruit training 

centers. More than 400 vendors supply 

these items, making it all the more 

important to collect and maintain precise 

data on items in the supply chain, she said. 

“Accurate visibility of supply chain assets is critical for efficiency and effectiveness of managing these vital items,” Tsao 

said. “RFID item-level tagging of these 

apparel items allows for vastly improved 

supply chain asset visibility.”

In the near future, she said, DLA 

plans to expand on an inventory tracking system already in place for training 

uniforms and related items at Lackland 

Air Force Base’s recruit training center in 

San Antonio.

At Lackland, RFID tags are printed 

on-site with a unique identification 

number, along with the garment’s national stock number, nomenclature and 

size. Tags are then applied to individual 

garments, and tag data provided to DLA 

Troop Support systems for inventory 

management and accountability. The 

garments are then placed on shelves for 

issue to recruits.

As recruits’ items are located during the clothing issue process, the pieces 

are placed in a duffel bag and then taken 

to a desktop reader to capture all of the 

unique ID numbers of the RFID tags at 

one time.

A display screen on the reader alerts 

the supply specialist to any missing, 

incorrect or extra items and inconsistency in sizes. If all items are present and 

correct, the reader transmits a green light 

and the recruit can receive the duffel bag 

and complete the issue process. Item data 

captured by the reader is then funneled 

back to the agency for planning purposes.

“Afterward, item information is sent 

to the DLA supply systems, which can 

then be used to replenish inventory with 

real-time, accurate information based 

on specific items that have been issued,” 

Tsao said. “Tagged items can then be 

traced from manufacturer, through a 

DLA warehouse and into the military 

service issue location.”

The success at Lackland is paving the 

way for expanded use of RFID technology 

beyond recruit clothing issue to the 

organizational clothing and individual 

equipment item segments of DLA’s 

clothing supply chain, she said. 

Tsao said warfighters benefit because 

activities issuing clothing will be better 

equipped with right-sized inventories 

to meet demands. Tracking items 

throughout their lifecycle will also ensure 

warfighters receive serviceable property 

in good condition because supply 

specialists can better identify expired and 

recalled items.

“Greater accuracy in inventory 

data and shipment information enhances inventory management and 

accountability while greatly reducing 

the time required to issue clothing to 

warfighters,” Tsao said.

So far, clothing vendors have been 

motivated to assist in the RFID process 

because they have the potential to get 

paid faster for goods supplied. 

“Since DLA Troop Support pays a 

vendor only after it verifies the correct 

order has been shipped and received, 

streamlining these processes could speed 

up the payment to the vendors,” Tsao 

said. “This is important to the viability of 

smaller vendors with limited cash flow.”

Tsao said plans also call for extending 

DLA’s use of RFID technology to track 

higher-value items and those requiring more intense lifecycle management. 

These products include chemical protective clothing and body armor, which 

are more expensive and must be tested 

periodically for performance. 

Expanding use of RFID technology 

to these types of items makes good 

business sense, but it also demonstrates 

the agency’s dedication to warfighter 

readiness and support, she said.

“In the event of a product recall, RFID 

provides the capability of identifying 

bad or unserviceable assets quickly for 

removal from the supply chain,” Tsao 

said. “It also allows for systems to be put 

in place to track equipment issue to an 

individual warfighter so recalled assets 

can be recovered and replacements sent 

out quickly.” 

Hand-held radio frequency identification 

readers, as seen here, are part of the 

technology the Defense Logistics Agency is 

using to revolutionize clothing procurement.

Photo Courtesy DLA Distribution
20 www.dla.mil

Research and Development
Loglines l September - October 2010 21

Modern Edge

Story by Beth Reece

When enemy attacks on 

Humvees led to increased 

casualties in Iraq, the 

military’s industrial partners 

scrambled to produce uparmor kits that protected passengers 

from improvised explosive devices and 

small-arms fire. Personal equipment like 

helmets and vests eventually saw similar 

improvements. 

Upgrades in military equipment often 

make use of emerging technology. And as 

technology advances, so must the testing 

capabilities at the Defense Logistics 

Agency’s Product Testing Centers, said 

Keith Robinette, PTC director. Testing 

done inside PTC labs helps ensure 

the parts military customers buy are 

manufactured according to contract 

specifications and technical data.

Researchers have spent the past year 

studying PTC capabilities and forecasting 

technology trends that will likely drive the 

need for new equipment and specialized 

training throughout the labs. The study 

is scheduled for completion at the end of 

September and will include recommendations on how DLA can best balance new 

requirements and decreasing budgets. 

“It’s important that we take a long, 

hard look at how emerging technologies 

should or might impact our business 

as we maintain our ability to test 

the vast majority of items that DLA 

manages,” Robinette said. “As we make 

those determinations, we also have to 

consider exactly which of our customers’ 

requirements are growing and the fact 

that there’s a lot of competition for 

funding.”

Leaders at DLA supply chains will 

evaluate study results and decide on the 

best path forward, then the PTCs will 

evaluate whether new test processes are 

necessary, he added. 

Breakthroughs in 3-D technology, 

ballistics, fiber optics and titanium 

represent just a few of the areas where 

PTC capabilities might need growth, said 

Joe Doyle, a senior consultant for LMI, 

the government consulting group heading 

the study.

As differences in the various forms of 

titanium become more apparent, for example, testing methods have become more 

sophisticated and expensive, Doyle said. 

Known for having the highest strength-toweight ratio of any metal and for resisting 

corrosion, titanium is used in such items as 

UH-60 Blackhawk rotor blades and armor 

on Bradley fighting vehicles. 

Current PTC capabilities allow 

technicians to perform dimensional 

measurements and x-rays that analyze the 

W

A welder at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii, prepares to weld titanium 

piping within an environmentally controlled chamber. Testing of titanium has 

become so advanced that leaders of Defense Logistics Agency’s Product 

Test Centers are weighing how to incorporate these methods into current 

testing processes.

 — Photo by Clarence Freeman
22 www.dla.mil

composition of coating in titanium, as well 

as the coating’s depth. 

Newer tests include blue etch 

anodizing, a nondestructive technique 

that detects surface problems like cracks, 

heat-treated imperfections and other 

abnormalities caused by machining. 

“The [blue etch anodizing] testing 

process is complex, and the equipment 

is expensive to purchase and maintain,” 

Doyle said. “There are few labs certified 

to perform BEA analysis.”

Another new method of testing 

titanium is phased array ultrasound. It 

involves submerging the item in a large 

pool of fluid, but is even more expensive 

and requires a lot of real estate, he added. 

The increasing use of 3-D technology 

to depict the technical data of items like 

the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected 

vehicle and .50-caliber machine gun is 

another area where technology improvements will be considered. 

“Commercial manufacturing 

processes have changed to the point 

where there are very few people on the 

manufacturing line, so a 3-D technicaldata package is produced and fed into 

the manufacturer’s system and the 

equipment manipulates itself to create 

the final product. You see this frequently 

in the automotive industry,” Doyle said.

The 3-D data reveals more information than traditional two-dimensional 

blueprints. The problem DLA faces, 

said Cliff Wolfe, the agency’s program 

manager for Weapons Systems 

Sustainment and study manager, is 

that the agency’s procurement systems 

have not been converted to accept 3-D 

drawings.

“It is very difficult to find manufacturers with experience interpreting our 

current technical-data packages, which 

are based to a large extent on 2-D drawings,” Wolfe said, adding that the Defense 

Department incurs additional costs each 

time a manufacturer has to convert 2-D 

drawings to modern 3-D models.

Steve Finney, site manager for the 

mechanical testing lab in Columbus, Ohio, 

has already seen military customers move 

toward the application of 3-D technical 

data packages. 

“If the military uses a 3-D technicaldata package to procure material, then it 

will be necessary for the lab to be able to 

read and test using 3-D technology,” he 

said.

The rapid advance of fiber optic technology and its increasing use in military 

systems may also lead to updated test 

Al Knight performs conditioning, charging and 

reserve-capacity testing on batteries at the 

Electronics Product Test Center in Columbus, 

Ohio. 

As commercial manufacturers continue using 

3-D technology to depict technical data of 

equipment such as these MK19 automatic 

grenade launchers, the Defense Logistics 

Agency’s Product Test Centers must advance 

from using traditional 2-D blueprints. 

Photo courtesy DLA Land and Maritime

Army Spec. John Crosby 
Loglines l September - October 2010 23

Research and Development

equipment. Fiber optics uses plastic fibers 

to transmit data and is commonly used 

for tactical communications, digital functions in aircraft and surveillance systems. 

Scientific improvements in fiber 

optics have allowed greater amounts of 

data to pass through a smaller physical 

presence because the fibers are thinner.

“As that changes, then the measurement equipment and the connectivity 

equipment within the labs also needs to 

change,” Doyle said.

Even the new improved outer combat 

vest could benefit from more advanced 

ballistics testing that measures the vest’s 

durability against higher caliber and 

higher velocity weapons, he added. 

While most of the items DLA 

manages can be tested at PTCs, 

the product verification offices that 

coordinate testing for each supply 

chain do send some products to 

industry and service labs. DLA Troop 

Support, formerly Defense Supply 

Center Philadelphia, works closely 

with the Army’s Aberdeen Test Center 

in Maryland, for example. And DLA 

Aviation, formerly Defense Supply Center 

Richmond, Va., works with test centers at 

Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and Hill Air 

Force Base, Utah. 

“We have vast testing capabilities, 

but we are not – nor do we want to be – 

capable of testing everything. That would 

not be a financially sound decision,” 

Robinette said.

The benefit of using DLA’s labs, Wolfe 

added, is that the agency “owns” the 

test data and more stringent procedures 

can be used when necessary, particularly 

when there are suspicions a part may be 

counterfeit and a supplier’s integrity is in 

question.

Partnerships with industry and service 

labs, and the special functions at each, will 

be considered as DLA leaders determine 

where to improve PTC equipment. But 

keeping DLA’s testing centers up-to-date 

will require more than just equipment. 

“That’s the one thing people tend 

to gravitate toward when we talk about 

keeping up with technology, but I believe 

the critical path is training technicians to 

operate the equipment,” Doyle said.

DLA’s four PTCs include the Analytic/

Chemical PTC, which is colocated with 

DLA Troop Support in Philadelphia and 

primarily tests clothing and textile items. 

The Electronics PTC in Columbus, Ohio, 

tests electronic components, including 

aviation electronics. And at Mechanical 

PTCs in Columbus and French Camp, 

Calif., technicians conduct dimensional 

and material testing and nondestructive 

tests that don’t alter the physical state of 

or destroy the sample.

The labs employ about 70 technicians 

altogether. In the first two quarters of 

fiscal 2010, they collectively completed an 

average of 1,357 tests a month, compared 

to an average of 1,285 in fiscal 2009. Being qualified for this type of work takes 

years of rigorous training, he said.

“The people who do these tests and 

operate the equipment don’t get trained 

overnight. In some cases it takes multiple 

years to be qualified, so when you lose 

just one technician, you also lose the 

education, experience and expertise that 

went into making that individual a superb 

testing technician,” Doyle added. “You 

can’t replace that overnight.” 

Marines install fiber optics for communications capabilities at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. 

Scientific improvements in fiber optics may drive technology improvements at the Defense 

Logistics Agency’s product test centers. 

Marine Cpl. Lindsay Sayres
24 www.dla.mil

WE ARE DLA More Than a Name Change

Story by Beth Reece

Vice Adm. Alan Thompson in July 

is expected to create a single-agency 

environment that lets customers 

know exactly “who” DLA is and helps 

the agency build a greater sense of 

community among its global workforce.

The first step in emphasizing DLA’s 

identity was the renaming of field 

activities to clearly identify each as a 

part of DLA. The former Defense Energy 

Support Center is now DLA Energy, 

for example, and the former Defense 

Supply Center Philadelphia is DLA Troop 

Support. The new names reflect each 

activity’s affiliation 

with DLA, as well as 

the commodity or 

service it provides to customers. 

Signs, websites and marketing 

materials will gradually change to 

depict the new names. The cost of these 

changes will be minimal because items 

like identification badges and marketing 

materials will be replaced only after 

current supplies are exhausted or natural 

wear and tear requires replacement, 

according to officials in the agency’s 

Human Resources and Enterprise 

Transformation directorates.

Thompson said he began noticing 

that customers and employees sometimes 

regarded DLA as a group of independent, 

loosely affiliated organizations in 2004, 

when he commanded Defense Supply 

Center Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus 

supply center is now known as DLA Land 

and Maritime. 

A

sk Soldiers who’ve used a 

former Defense Reutilization 

and Marketing Office to locate 

a hard-to-find repair part if 

they’ve ever done business with 

the Defense Logistics Agency, and you 

might get “Who?” for an answer.

The Defense Department’s only 

combat logistics support agency has 

field sites in 48 states and 28 countries 

to help customers get the supplies they 

need, but their organizational names 

often reflect missions or locations without associating them to the larger DLA 

enterprise. 

The “We Are DLA” initiative 

launched by DLA Director Navy 

24 www.dla.mil

A
Loglines l July - August 2010 25

“We want to be unified in our 

approach to deliver what warfighters 

expect from us and be viewed by our 

stakeholders as a single enterprise,” 

Thompson said.

The unified approach, he added, 

is especially critical as DLA continues 

integrating additional responsibilities 

and personnel from the military services 

through the Base Realignment and 

Closure 2005 recommendations.

“I think the resulting transparency 

will educate our customers on the total 

width and breadth of the enterprise 

behind their logistics services,” 

Thompson said. “Also, I believe it will 

enlighten our employees on both their 

place in this worldwide enterprise and 

the wide range of possibilities inherent in 

working for a global agency.”

This is the first time in DLA’s 49-year 

history that an attempt has been made to 

make organizational names consistent, 

the director added. It’s not, however, the 

first time DLA employees have struggled 

to help customers view the agency’s numerous activities as one entity. 

In 2008 and 2009, Army Col. 

Bill McCarver, former DLA Pacific 

commander, united DLA activities in 

Alaska, Hawaii, Okinawa, Guam, Japan 

and Korea by replacing activity-specific 

building signs with ones that now read 

“Defense Logistics Agency.”

By visually representing the 

numerous field agencies as 

part of the DLA enterprise, 

“we can present a single 

focal point to the combatant commanders, 

the sub-unified commands and military 

service components 

here in the Pacific and 

provide better customer assistance, warplanning interfaces and 

logistics solutions,” McCarver 

said in mid 2009. 

Other employees have already made 

it part of their job to represent their activity as a member of the DLA enterprise 

by assisting customers even if the items 

sought are provided by another of the 

agency’s field activities. 

Adam Cohen, commodity chief for 

lumber and building supplies at DLA’s 

office in Kaiserslautern, Germany, 

occasionally gets phone calls for other 

product lines. Rather than tell 

a caller he’s got the wrong 

number, he connects them 

with the correct DLA 

representative.

“And an action 

passed is never an action 

completed. You’ve still 

got to follow up and 

ensure that customer got 

the help they needed,” 

Cohen said. “All of our 

customers are ultimately 

DLA customers, regardless of 

the commodity they need. A DLA 

commodity is a DLA commodity.”

Loglines l September - October 2010 25

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

A GLOBAL ENTERPRISE

DLA

CENTRAL DLA

PACIFIC

DLA

EUROPE & AFRICA

DLA

LOGISTICS INFORMATION

SERVICE

DLA

DISPOSITION SERVICES

DLA

LAND AND MARITIME

DLA

DISTRIBUTION

DLA

ENERGY DLA

STRATEGIC MATERIALS

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AVIATION

DLA

TROOP SUPPORT

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DOCUMENT SERVICES
26 www.dla.mil

Ten Questions with . . .

1. As a 24-year veteran of the 

Defense Logistics Agency, you 

have served in various positions at 

the agency’s headquarters and its 

land and maritime field activity in 

Columbus, Ohio. In your opinion, 

how did these prior assignments 

prepare you to lead the agency’s 

logistics research and development 

efforts? 

I started my DLA career through 

the intern program in Columbus and 

was fortunate to engage in challenges 

in Business Systems Modernization, 

demand and supply, acquisition 

and materials, and distribution and 

requirements systems. I came to 

headquarters in 2003 to lead what is 

now DLA Strategic Plans and Policy. 

These unique positions shaped 

my global view of supply chain 

challenges and the overall experience 

provided a broad perspective of 

improvements we should be pursuing 

in logistics R&D.

2. How would you describe 

logistics R&D at DLA?

The R&D program is the agency’s 

virtual laboratory to hone new and 

improved methods and techniques 

for delivering parts, supplies, food 

and medical support to warfighters 

and other customers. We start with 

a documented challenge hindering 

DLA’s ability to serve customers. We 

solicit known or strongly researched 

solutions to remedy the issue, which 

Mike Scott

Executive Director for Materiel Policy, Process and Assessment Talks Hot Topics in Research and Development

rch and Development Logistics Technology Demonstration Program High-Value Produ

are then tested to determine if there 

is a better process or technique than 

we currently use. If it turns out to be 

a better resolution, we have a strong 

potential solution to implement. 

We have built a fairly 

standardized process for describing 

a problem, potential solutions, and 

approaching the overall R&D effort. 

The effort is then sponsored by the 

field activity with expertise in the 

area we are trying to improve and a 

senior agency leader. This gives us an 

expert partner in the R&D effort with 

the experience to recognize when 

something is not working, so we can 

adjust course to improve results or 

answer the project.

3. DLA’s logistics R&D program is 

made up of two activities targeting 

different, critical parts of the 

agency’s operations – the Logistics 

Technology Demonstration 

program and Manufacturing 

Technology program. How does 

Defense Logistics Agency Photo

Mike Scott
Loglines l September - October 2010 27

ducts and Services Supply Chain Management Program Manufacturing Technology

by DLA Strategic Communications

this two-part structure benefit 

warfighters?

Ensuring warfighter access to 

the most advanced technology is a 

cornerstone of the National Defense 

Strategy, and DLA’s R&D program 

ensures internal agency processes 

and industrial base processes are able 

to meet customers’ rapidly changing 

requirements. 

In the Logistics Technology 

Demonstration program, our focus 

is on internal DLA processes, such as 

planning and technical quality. The 

Manufacturing Technology program 

is a department-wide program that 

aims to improve manufacturing 

processes. Since DLA is the major 

user of many technologies, we want 

to help the nation’s industrial base 

improve, and ManTech is the way to 

do that. 

4. DLA’s logistics R&D program 

is financed through appropriated 

funds, which account for about 

2 percent of the agency’s overall 

operating budget. What is DLA’s 

return on R&D investment? 

DLA regularly performs robust 

business-case analyses on its R&D 

projects to document monetary and 

non-monetary benefits from those 

investments. The agency’s industrial 

partners benefit from the risk reduction DLA-funded research provides, 

and DLA benefits because it is 

providing higher-value products and 

services to warfighters. 

Modern microcircuits, 

for example, are part of the 

microelectronics composing the 

brains of our weapon systems. They 

have a production lifecycle of three to 

five years, but DoD weapon systems 

have lifecycles measured in decades. 

DLA would have a large gap in its 

ability to supply these items if it 

had not invested in the capability to 

produce microcircuits industry does 

not find economical to sustain. 

Instead of turning customers 

away, we’ve provided more than 

100,000 parts for 450 weapon 

systems. The military services have 

avoided spending more than $600 

million to work around problems 

caused by what would have been 

non-procurable parts. 

5. DLA’s senior leaders value close 

relationships with the agency’s 

partners in industry. How 

important are these relationships 

to R&D team success?

DLA’s industrial base partners 

are the foundation and the most 

critical link in the supply chain. 

Industrial partners are distributors 

or manufacturers that provide items 

needed by warfighters. Regardless 

of their specific business, we help 

our partners help us make things 

better for customers and save 

money for taxpayers. Because our 

suppliers are partners, they must be 

considered from the design phase 

all the way through the life cycle of a 

weapon system. We strive to ensure 

the nation’s industrial base meets 

warfighters’ needs, and our goal is 

locating and fostering American 

technologies and industries to ensure 

future needs are met.

6. Long lead times necessary to 

fully establish a logistics R&D 

program can result in missed 

opportunities for rapid response 

to emerging technological 

requirements. How does the 

Supply Chain Management 

program get emerging 

requirements into the logistics 

R&D pipeline?

Supply chain management is 

an integrated process of planning, 

sourcing, acquiring and delivering 

customer-required material and 

services. The complexity of newer 

weapon systems and the need to 

continue supplying replacement 

parts for older platforms makes 
28 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

ategic Plans and Policy Logistics Technology Demonstratioin Program Supply Chain 

synchronizing these efforts a 

challenge one DLA overcomes 

remarkably well.

Synchronizing supply and demand 

rates for weapon systems requires 

efficient flow of information between 

industrial-base suppliers, logistics 

managers and customers. This is 

where the Supply Chain Management 

program comes into play. It is DLA’s 

R&D incubator where innovative 

ideas and processes are first piloted 

on a small scale. Using emerging 

technologies to help improve the 

speed at which DLA analyzes, plans, 

sources, buys or acquires, and delivers 

items without increasing costs means 

we provide significant value to 

warfighters and taxpayers. 

7. Originally a brainchild of the 

logistics R&D program, DLA’s 

expeditionary depot has the 

capacity to rapidly establish 

distribution functions in a new 

theater of operations anywhere 

in the world. How has logistics 

R&D continued to work with 

expeditionary depot planners? 

Military actions are won or lost 

on the ability of critical supplies to 

reach the front lines. Today’s military 

deployments depend upon efficient 

distribution of supplies for success; 

the expeditionary depot is DLA’s 

method to bring these critical supplies 

to wherever the frontline may be. 

In 2008, through the Node 

Management and Deployable Depot 

Advanced Concept Technology 

Demonstration, DLA demonstrated 

the capabilities of its expeditionary 

depot. Today, DLA R&D is refining 

distribution visibility capabilities, 

developing ways to match 

expeditionary depot stocks to 

mission needs and integrating DLA 

Disposition Services’ capabilities 

into the package. When fully 

implemented, these capabilities will 

provide superior warfighter support 

with a greatly reduced logistics 

footprint. 

8. What are some other widely 

known agency programs born 

through logistics R&D? 

Radio frequency identification 

tagging of clothing and individual 

equipment is a notable R&D 

success. Use of RFID technology 

improves asset tracking and reduces 

time required to locate expired, 

recalled or unserviceable assets. In 

addition, the technology allows for 

improvements and efficiencies in all 

nodes of the military apparel supply 

chain.

We also worked with the 

Combat Rations Network to develop 

ultrasonic sealing for ready-to-eat 

meal pouches. The process has 

replaced heat-sealing, which can 

trap food in the seal, allowing air 

into the pouch and the product to 

spoil. This change means meals can 

be produced 40 percent faster and 

with an 81 percent drop in rejected 

components, saving taxpayers $4 

million annually.

9. Logistics R&D is one of five 

major organizations within your 

oversight. How do these other 

teams round out DLA’s daily 

support to customers?

I develop and oversee 

enterprisewide processes that DLA’s 

eight supply chains and three support 

activities use in their daily operation. 

The five major organizations under 

my office are; Order Management, 

Inventory Management, Planning, 

Technical and Quality Assurance, and 

Business Integration. 

These offices anticipate 

warfighters’ needs so DLA supplies 

items when needed at the best price. 

Team members understand items’ 

engineering requirements and 

ensure delivered parts meet those 

specifications. We also establish policy 

and procedures for getting items from 

a source – be that a DLA or vendor 

warehouse – directly to warfighters. 

These are just a few responsibilities 

we have to support warfighters with 

the most innovative technology on the 

battlefield or at home. 

10. What do you see on the horizon 

for logistics R&D at DLA?

My vision for the future of 

DLA R&D programs is based on 

a partnership with the industrial 

base and DLA’s primary level field 

activities, to adapt, mature and 

transition advanced technologies so 

the agency can deliver effective and 

economical warfighter support. 
Loglines l September - October 2010 29

DLA NewsWire Compiled by DLA Strategic Communications 

Price Challenge Reaps Savings for Navy, Taxpayers

The Navy now has an uninterrupted supply of an important helicopter engine parts at a much lower cost thanks to 

Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime.

An acquisition specialist in the Land and 

Maritime Supply Chain Detachment in Philadelphia 

awarded a contract earlier this year to supply 340 

of the gaskets, which are manufactured by General 

Electric and used in the T-58 engine on 

Marine Corps CH-46E “Sea Knight” 

helicopters. Among other duties, 

these work-horse helicopters enable 

resupply operations at sea.

One-hundred-forty-eight 

gaskets are demanded annually, 

but officials said only 70 were on 

hand at domestic depot locations. 

At that rate, backorders would have 

occurred within six months without a new contract award. 

Diligent price-challenge efforts by the acquisition team, in 

conjunction with Defense Contract Management Agency, led 

to the discovery that required parts were available in General 

Electric’s inventory. 

The original price quote was for the item was $54.88 per 

piece, but as a result of the price challenge, the government was 

able to procure the parts at $1.11 each – a savings of $20,201 on 

the contract.

The Navy’s Pacific Fleet, specifically 

ships based out of Miramar and 

Camp Pendleton, Calif., and 

Okinawa, Japan, housing these 

helicopters, has historically been 

the main customer for this part.

— DLA Land and Maritime

Public Affairs Office

2010 Department of Defense

Maintenance Symposium & Exhibition

November 15-18, 2010 | Tampa Convention Center | Tampa, Florida, USA

www.sae.org/dod Administered by for the U.S. Department of Defense

P100753

FEATURED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Maintenance Sustaining Systems Today and in Tomorrow’s Complex Environment

• Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

 Technology & Logistics

• LTG Kathleen Gainey, USA, Director for Logistics, The Joint Staff (J4) 

• VADM Alan Thompson, SC, USN, Director, Defense Logistics Agency

• Mr. John Johns, Director, Iraqi Security Forces Logistics, United States Forces-Iraq

• Mr. Richard “Andy” Hove, Executive Vice President and President, Defense, 

 Oshkosh Corporation

• CMSAF James Roy, USAF, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Money Matters

30 www.dla.mil

Editor’s note: This story marks 

the beginning of a new department in 

Loglines that will focus on the Defense 

Logistics Agency’s efforts to support 

warfighters in a constrained budget 

environment.

T

he catastrophic oil leak in the Gulf 

of Mexico wasn’t the only gusher 

workers struggled to cap this 

summer. 

At the urging of Defense 

Secretary Robert Gates, officials across 

the Defense Department are working 

to stem the geyser of defense spending 

ushered in by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist 

attacks. Through across-the-board belt 

tightening and streamlining, planners 

said they hope to find $100 billion in 

savings, which can then be applied to 

ensuring warfighters remain equipped to 

defend the nation in the future.

While the defense budget is not being 

decreased, it won’t be increasing at the 

same rate it has over the past decade, 

Ashton Carter, undersecretary of defense 

for acquisition, technology and logistics, 

said in a news briefing early this summer.

Without pointing to specific programs or procurements that might be cut, 

Defense officials said nothing is off the 

table when it comes to finding efficiencies 

because the sheer volume of savings is 

unlikely to be realized by simply grabbing 

low-hanging fruit.

The department is projected to get a 

bit more than 1 percent of real growth, 

but that increase is not enough to ensure servicemembers receive the best 

equipment. The $100 billion in savings 

Gates said he hopes to realize over the 

next five fiscal years would be put back 

into acquisitions and modernization 

investments.

“With $400 billion in contracts across the department, 

the Pentagon must become 

more efficient in the way it 

buys goods and services,” 

Gates said.

At the Defense 

Logistics Agency, 

DoD’s combat 

logistics support 

agency, Chief 

Financial 

Officer Tony 

Poleo said the agency’s leadership team 

saw the looming national financial picture 

and has already put the organization on 

the cost-cutting path. Part of the 2010 

Director’s Guidance, DLA’s pursuit of 

stewardship excellence aims to provide 

best logistics value for each taxpayer 

dollar spent. 

External pressure on the Defense 

Department’s budget is coming, in part, 

from entitlements like Social Security 

and Medicare and Medicaid, which 

are consuming a larger part of federal 

expenditures. It’s also coming from 

interest accruing on the nation’s debt, 

which, while a relatively small percentage 

now thanks to record-low interest rates, 

can only go up, he explained.

“Just like at home, you can’t spend 

money you don’t have in the long term, or 

you’ll get yourself in trouble. Everyone can 

relate to that these days,” Poleo said. “To 

be able to get two or three percent of real 

growth out of the budget, when the pie is 

only being increased by one percent, we 

will have to make some hard choices.”

Intensifying DLA’s efforts to prioritize 

operations and review every business 

area for efficiencies is part of the agency’s 

process to prepare a budget submission 

for fiscal 2012 through 2016. As part 

of Gates’ cuts, DLA is expected to slash 

$222 million from its appropriated funding, which accounts for about 2 percent of 

the agency’s annual operating budget. 

UNDER PRE URE

T

Additional reporting by Jim Garamone, American Forces 

Press Service

30 www.dla.mil
Loglines l September - October 2010 31

Compiled by DLA Strategic Communications 

Although DLA is a smaller player on 

the appropriated side, in comparison to 

heavily appropriated, traditional defense 

agencies such as the Missile Defense 

Agency, Defense Contract Audit Agency, 

and Defense Contract Management 

Agency, it is still responsible for carrying 

its share of the savings load. 

Right now, the instructions from DoD 

are that the $222 million is leaving DLA 

to be realigned to support modernization 

of the military forces, Poleo said. On 

the military service side, each branch is 

expected to realign $2 billion from the 

“tail,” or support functions, to the “tooth,” 

or combat operations. 

While the majority of DLA’s operating 

dollars come from the Defense Working 

Capital Fund, which has not been 

assigned a specific savings target, the 

agency “earns” this money through its 

sales of goods and services to the military. 

So while there is no exact mark for DLA 

to hit, money will be carved from DWCF 

via the military services, which will be 

looking to DLA to help them make their 

savings goals, he said.

“If the services can decrease the 

amount of costs on their purchases from 

DLA, that’s money they can then take out 

of support areas and move to the tooth,” 

Poleo said.

Responding to the secretary’s call 

will require significant attention from the 

agency’s leadership team, and the areas 

in which DLA needs to find efficiencies 

will drive which leaders are involved. 

But at the end of the day, Poleo said, 

these cuts shouldn’t frighten or alarm 

DLA team members.

“Our folks are tuned in; they 

watch TV; they read the news; they 

saw Secretary Gates [discussing these 

cuts]. We’re going to have to identify 

efficiencies and take some risk where we 

don’t have things laid out in detail yet, 

but once we sign up, we will deliver,” 

Poleo said. “The efficiencies we’re looking 

for are manageable given that we’re 

talking about fiscal 2012 through 2016.”

“As a result of DLA’s stewardship 

efforts, people are already achieving 

efficiencies and our business results are 

very positive, which gives us kind of a 

running start. We are in a strong position, 

and that ought to help us [as we move 

forward],” he said. 

DLA officials said they expect to 

work closely with partners in the military 

services and industry as the review 

process progresses. 

“We’ve been doing the right things, 

but what we need is to keep at it and 

probably redouble our efforts because the 

bar has been raised,” Poleo said.

Tale of

the Tape

DLA Annual Operating Budget

Department of Defense Budget

Defense Logistics Agency officials have 

already begun cost-cutting measures in 

line with Stewardship Excellence initiatives 

outlined in the 2010 Director’s Guidance that 

will dovetail Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ 

departmentwide savings efforts.

$222 million dollars, 

approximately 2% of the 

Defense Logistics Agency’s 

annual operating budget, 

will be slashed from agency 

appropriated-funds accounts

Cherie Cullen

External pressures are becoming 

an increasing part of federal 

expenditures prompting realignment 

of funding to support modernization 

of the military services. Cost-cutting 

measures on purchases made 

through DLA will help the services 

meet their own savings goals. 
32 www.dla.mil

TRAINING 

SIMULATOR

Story by Sara Moore

developed at DLA Disposition Services, 

the DLA activity responsible for 

managing reuse, transfer, donation, and 

sale or disposal of excess and surplus 

property, is expected to prepare workers 

for this critical mission and improve 

training throughout the organization.

The Disposition Services Simulation 

Lab, or Sim Lab, will be a controlled 

environment that will give employees 

hands-on training in processing 

inventory and will allow for testing new 

procedures or technologies, said Kristy 

McNally, Disposition Services research 

and development program manager. 

“The Simulation Lab is a strategic 

approach in investing in the future,” 

McNally said. “It will offer our workforce 

better training through hands-on and 

simulation exercises. Better trained 

personnel provide warfighters better 

support, which is why we exist.”

Having a place to offer hands-on 

training and test new procedures is something disposition team members and 

leaders have wanted for a long time, McNally said. Historically, employees have 

been trained through classroom instruction, but have always asked for hands-on 

experience to better prepare them for 

their disposition work, she said.

“We’re going toward a more military 

model of training, where you go in and 

have your lecture and then you practice 

it. You have the hands-on; you actually 

touch and feel property,” she said. “I 

think it’ll just be good for the workforce. 

And, it’ll increase productivity; we’ll be 

more efficient and be better providers of 

this service to the warfighter.”

The Sim Lab is slated for implementation in three phases: a study to identify 

a concept of operations, curriculum and 

costs; setup of the simulation lab and 

commencement of training classes; and 

sustainment and follow-on projects, such 

as creation of a portable training lab and 

new curriculum modules. 

DLA Disposition Services has received the go-ahead to begin the second 

phase and is waiting for a signed service 

agreement before setting up the Sim 

Lab, McNally said. While waiting on that 

agreement, she said, she and her staff 

are positioning inventory and equipment 

they’ll need so they can move immediately 

once it is place. 

Warfighters use training 

simulators to build the skills 

they’ll need before taking to 

the battlefield where lives are 

on the line. 

At Defense Logistics Agency 

Disposition Services, formerly the 

Defense Reutilization and Marketing 

Service, officials are using the simulation 

concept to aid team members that process 

and handle excess and unused military 

equipment. 

Properly disposing of excess items 

is an important job that helps support 

warfighters in the field, saves taxpayers’ 

money and protects the environment, 

officials explained. The concept being 

Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services 

operates around the world, disposing of 

excess equipment, like these medical supplies 

being sorted in Manas, Kyrgyzstan. The 

Disposition Services Simulation Lab will offer 

hands-on training for employees to improve 

the processing of equipment and inventory.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss 

W
Loglines l September - October 2010 33

The Sim Lab will most likely be one 

facility run by a program manager, with 

a set inventory of about 3,000 line items 

to train new employees and will be used 

to test new procedures or changes to 

procedures that might come up, McNally 

said. 

World events, such as the May recall 

of 44,000 Army combat helmets due to 

improper testing, can alter the way DLA 

Disposition Services handles property 

and can require additional guidance, she 

said. 

The Sim Lab will allow the 

disposition team to test out new 

procedures before they’re 

fielded with the hope of 

spotting potential 

issues, McNally 

said.

“It gives us an opportunity to go 

through the steps for whatever the new 

process or guidance that we’re trying 

to put out,” she said. “And that saves 

money.”

Streamlining processes and saving 

money ties into the 2010 DLA Director’s Guidance focus area of Stewardship 

Excellence, but the Sim Lab will also 

improve the focus areas of Workforce 

Development and, ultimately, Warfighter 

Support Enhancement, McNally said.

“Since the Sim Lab offers our employees better training, it will improve our 

culture because a highly trained workforce is a more productive and efficient 

workforce,” she said. “It will offer our 

employees more opportunity for growth as 

the Sim Lab expands its requirements to 

include leadership training.” 

“The Simulation Lab is a strategic approach in investing in the future. It will 

offer our workforce better training through hands-on and simulation exercises.”

— Kristy McNally

Marine Cpl. Justin Staples, a wrecker operator 

with Marine Wing Support Squadron, places 

metal scraps in the back of a dump truck at 

the motor transport lot at Al Asad Air Base, 

Iraq. Staples is preparing the metal scraps 

to be taken to the Defense Logisitcs Agency 

Disposition Services site at the base.

— Photo by Marine Lance Cpl. Chance M. Hiser
I AM

My name is:

Bill Johnson

I am:

A program manager for Defense Logistics Agency Research and 

Development’s Advanced Microcircuit Emulation program.

Describe your job in a sentence:

As part of the Microcircuit Emulation Team, I direct development of 

new capabilities DLA will need to meet future microcircuit spare-part 

requirements.

How long have you worked at DLA?

I have worked for DLA for 19 years, but also spent seven years 

supporting R&D as a contractor. 

What is your favorite thing about working for DLA?

As an electronics engineer, working at DLA has given me an opportunity 

to have a rewarding career and, in some small way, to pay back the men 

and women who volunteer to defend our freedom. It’s more than just a 

paycheck to me.

What is your best memory of working here?

I was at a conference when an Air Force customer told me 

microcircuit emulation was the best thing DLA had ever done 

for him. It was gratifying to know customers recognize DLA will 

go above and beyond for them. I’m privileged to part of a team 

of dedicated, high-performing individuals that ensure the program 

succeeds.

How do you make a difference to warfighters?

Right now, microcircuit emulation is supporting more than 350 

different weapon systems, many of which are deployed to Iraq and 

Afghanistan. What that means to warfighters is one more tank, one 

more airplane or one more survival radio that they can count on to 

work.