DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

The Nation’s Combat Logistics Support Agency September / October 2018

DLA DISPOSITION SERVICES

 Protecting

NUCLEAR ASSETS

 Safeguarding Nuclear-

 Weapons-Related

 Material 

Combined Strength

DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM Ensures Warfighter 

Support to Those with the Toughest Missions

DLA Hall of Fame

Five Former Leaders Inducted

into the DLA Hall of Fame

Fueling Savings

Defense Fuel Support Point Yorktown

Ceases Fuel Operations
DLA Director 

Army Lt. Gen. Darrell K. Williams

DLA Vice Director

Ted Case

Chief of Staff

Kristin K. French

Director, Public Affairs

Joseph M. Yoswa

Deputy Director, Public Affairs

Patrick H. Mackin

Managing Editor

Phil Prater

Senior Editor

John R. Bell

Writers

Beth Reece

Dianne Ryder

Layout and Design

Paul Henry Crank

LOGLINES

THE OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION OF THE 

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY 

Army Lt. Gen. Darrell K. Williams

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

From the Director

I

n July I was honored to celebrate a special milestone with my DLA 

teammates and alumni: the 20th annual DLA Hall of Fame ceremony. 

I introduced a new award, the Defense Logistics Agency Lt. Gen. 

Andrew T. McNamara Icon Award, which we will present each year to 

one deserving individual who has made a singularly transformative 

impact on DLA operations or culture. In addition, we added five more 

names of “game-changing emeritus” members to our list of Hall of 

Fame inductees, which brings the total to 111. 

Each year we celebrate the legacy of former colleagues who have 

made such a lasting impact on our organization that we simply would 

not be where we are today without their innovation, leadership and 

selfless service. They were trailblazers who courageously challenged 

the status quo and made significant and enduring contributions to this 

agency. Their inspiring stories fuel our passion to serve our warfighters 

and other customers with greater resolve. I invite you to read about our 

five newest DLA Hall of Fame inductees in this issue of Loglines. 

Also in this issue, DLA supports over 100 military exercises each 

year, and we feature an in-depth story from the Baltics and Poland 

about the agency’s support to Saber Strike, a U.S. Army Europe-led 

exercise held June 3-15. The presence of DLA representatives during the 

exercise allowed warfighters to focus on their missions without having 

to worry about logistics.

In another article, we highlight DLA’s partnership with the Air 

Force to track, monitor and sustain nuclear-weapons-related material 

that could be turned in to DLA Disposition sites. Maintaining 

accountability of nuclear assets is simply a no-fail mission and DLA 

helps make it successful.

DLA Aviation reported on its efforts to resolve parts support 

challenges for legacy aircraft like the T-38 Talon, the C-130 Hercules 

and the C-5 Galaxy. These legendary aircraft have been flying for 

decades but are still the vital workhorses our warfighters depend on 

every day. 

As usual, these stories and more illustrate the hard work, dedication 

and commitment of the DLA team. Their global support to our 

warfighters and whole of government partners is not just important; 

it’s also indispensable to their success. I hope you find this edition of 

Loglines both informative and inspirational. 

Warfighter First! LL

LOGLINES is the authorized publication for the Defense 

Logistics Agency’s workforce of federal civilians, activeduty military and Joint Reserve Force augmentees at 

agency activities worldwide and industry customers of 

DLA. Contents of this publication are not necessarily the 

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

Department of Defense or the Defense Logistics Agency. 

LOGLINES is prepared electronically, using desktop 

publishing applications; no commercial typesetting 

costs are involved. Photos not credited are courtesy of 

agency sources. Submissions and correspondence may 

be sent to the address below:

Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency 

Office of Public Affairs 

8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 2545 

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

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Protecting Nuclear Assets ...................02

DLA strengthens the nation’s nuclear enterprise by 

safeguarding nuclear-weapons-related material that 

enters the agency’s doors. 

Combined Strength ..............................06

DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM ensures warfighter support to 

those with the toughest missions.

Saber Strike .............................................10

Warfighters deployed for Saber Strike 2018 get easier 

access to supplies with DLA’s forward presence. 

DLA Hall of Fame ................................... 14

Five former leaders are inducted into the DLA Hall of 

Fame during a July 2018 ceremony at the McNamara 

Headquarters Complex. 

Faithful Flyers ......................................... 18

DLA Aviation supports mission-critical workhorse aircraft.

Managing Inventory .............................24

DLA Finance is helping the agency make sure all inventory 

is audit-ready. 

Fueling Savings ......................................28

Defense Fuel Support Point Yorktown ceases fuel operations. 

A Conversation with ... ......................... 21

David Kless

DLA NewsWire .......................................26

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

Stanley Burns

02

18

06

28

Features

Departments

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

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Story by Beth Reece

J

osey Kidd won’t waste a second 

figuring out what number to call if a 

nuclear-weapons-related item shows 

up at any Defense Logistics Agency 

Disposition Services location. He has 

DLA’s Nuclear Enterprise Support Office 

on speed dial.

“I have direct contact with DLA 

Headquarters in case an issue ever 

comes up. And I have [points of contact] 

at the Air Force who can get me an 

answer instantly if I have a question 

about nuclear-weapons-related material 

that mistakenly comes through our 

doors,” said Kidd, DLA Disposition 

Services’ nuclear enterprise coordinator.

NWRM includes classified or unclassified system components that pre-arm, arm, 

launch or release a nuclear weapon. The 

Air Force is responsible for accountability, 

storage and handling of NWRM, and if 

DLA discovers it at any of its distribution 

or disposal facilities, the agency must take 

immediate action to protect and return the 

material to the Air Force. 

NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-RELATED MATERIAL

Protecting 

Nuclear Ass

Air Force 1st Lt. Nathan Fisher, 23rd Bomb Squadron 

weapons system officer, analyzes an offensive avionics 

system inside a B-52H Stratofortress above North Dakota. 

Fisher sits in the offense compartment of the aircraft, 

controlling the B-52’s weapons capabilities. 

— Photo by Air Force Senior Airman J.T. Armstrong
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Detecting NWRM at DLA locations 

became a priority in 2006 after four fuse 

assemblies used on the Minuteman III 

intercontinental ballistic missile were 

erroneously shipped to Taiwan. The 

components weren’t properly recovered 

until March 2008 because of deficiencies 

in supply-chain management, said Terry 

Simpson, NESO deputy executive director.

Then-Secretary of Defense Robert 

Gates ordered a complete inventory 

of the nation’s nuclear arsenal, and in 

2009, DLA entered an agreement with 

the Air Force that transferred all NWRM 

assets back to the service. Since then, 

DLA has aimed for 100 percent visibility 

and control of NWRM items it receives 

through methods such as misrouted 

shipments or misidentification of materiel 

accepted during property turn-ins. 

“We’ve set up our business rules and 

operations around the fact that the Air 

Force may accidentally turn in NWRM. If 

it comes to us, we want to make sure our 

people and systems can recognize and 

stop it opposed to just letting it roll on 

through,” Kidd said.

The agency has strict policies and 

procedures to detect NWRM, said Patty 

Myers, executive officer for logistics 

operations at DLA Distribution. Employees 

use the kind, count and condition inspection 

process to match item documentation 

with identification labels, then verify part 

numbers and national stock numbers. And 

a special screen alerts users every time a 

transaction involving NWRM is logged in to 

the Defense Standard System, DLA’s data 

inventory system. 

“DSS is programmed to stop any 

transaction that involves NWRM so we 

can take appropriate actions,” she said. 

Notifications are automatically sent to 

the DLA Joint Logistics Operations Center, 

which must alert the DLA director within 

three hours of NWRM being found at any 

of the agency’s locations. 

DLA Disposition Services employees, 

who sometimes receive locally purchased 

material without NSNs or property 

with missing or incomplete turn-in 

documents, are also taught to look for 

clues that an item could be NWRM. 

“The vast majority of military-owned 

equipment has what’s called a ‘data 

plate’ on it. Oftentimes, it will have the 

NSN or a part number stamped on it. 

It could also have the manufacturer, 

manufacture date or contract numbers, 

all things we can use to research the 

material to determine whether it’s 

NWRM,” Kidd added.

Disposal experts call Kidd’s office 

every day requesting information to 

verify whether an item is NWRM. 

Rather than being a burden, he says 

the constant contact with field sites 

proves that employees are dedicated to 

protecting the nation’s nuclear assets.

“THE DEFENSE STANDARD 

SYSTEM IS PROGRAMMED TO 

STOP ANY TRANSACTION 

THAT INVOLVES NUCLEARWEAPONS-RELATED 

MATERIAL SO WE CAN TAKE 

APPROPRIATE ACTIONS.”

 — PATTY MYERS

Air Force Senior Airman Nicholas Bagnall, 791st Maintenance 

squadron vehicles and equipment section technician, 

inspects faulty parts at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. 

Air Force Airman 1st Class Dillon J. Audit
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Monthly exercises conducted by NESO, 

DLA Distribution and DLA Disposition 

Services also ensure employees know 

how to prevent NWRM from entering 

DLA’s supply chain and are familiar with 

the procedures for handling the material if 

it does show up. The exercises follow five 

core scenarios with over 500 variations 

that test various types of turn-ins and 

delivery methods at more than 125 sites. 

“One of the key things we work on is 

misidentified material because that’s the 

most likely scenario that NWRM will be 

turned in to Disposition Services. Someone 

created a receipt and put that receipt with 

the wrong material, for example, or put 

the material in the wrong box and sent it 

to us,” Kidd said.

Exercise results are shared across the 

DLA enterprise and with Air Force officials 

to spread lessons learned, and corrective 

actions such as remedial training and 

improved controls in DSS are made to 

improve detection when necessary.

If NWRM is found, DLA works to 

return the material to the Air Force “as 

fast as humanly possible,” Kidd added. 

“We will lock it down and secure it until 

the generating activity comes to pick it up 

or the Air Force gives us instructions for 

returning it.” 

Leaders at DLA major subordinate 

commands, NESO and the JLOC are informed of every subsequent step taken upon 

detection to ensure complete visibility. 

Air Force Col. David Sanford, 

commander of the 635th Supply Chain 

Operation Wing, called tracking, monitoring 

and sustaining NWRM a no-fail mission 

that DLA helps make successful.

“We have experienced loss of accountability in the past and are determined to 

maintain 100 percent positive inventory 

control at all times,” he said. “With the 

Defense Logistics Agency, we have a partner who understands the complexity of 

NWRM and is willing to support and fulfill 

Air Force needs to ensure we never lose 

accountability again.”

DLA has come a long way in the last 

10 years protecting NWRM and ensuring it 

isn’t transferred to the public, Kidd added. 

“If an item came to us coded as 

sellable and it was sold to the general 

public, then one of our enemies could 

get it. That’s why it’s so important for us 

to have our systems up to date and our 

personnel well trained to catch these 

things if they come to us.” LL

An unarmed Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental 

ballistic missile launches during an operational test 

at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. A team of 

Air Force Global Strike Command airmen assigned to 

the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, 

Montana, launched the Minuteman III ICBM equipped 

with a single test re-entry vehicle.

Aircrew from the 40th Flight Test Squadron and the 33rd 

Fighter Wing perform a mixed aircraft flyover near Pensacola 

Naval Station, Florida.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Brandi Hansen Air Force Airman 1st Class Daniel Brosam
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM

Combined 

Strength

Story by Dianne Ryder

I

n July 2017, the Defense Logistics 

Agency Central regional command 

at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 

became the joint headquarters for DLA 

CENTCOM & SOCOM. At that time, Army 

Col. Archie Herndon Jr. took command of 

the organization and the task of meeting 

the DLA director’s priorities as well as 

the combatant commands’ mission 

requirements in the U.S. Central Command 

and U.S. Special Operations Command 

areas of responsibility.

The basic mission has not changed. But 

has grown in scope and importance.

“DLA is really the strategic sustainer 

of those two commands,” Herndon said. 

“While we are more prevalent in CENTCOM 

than we are in SOCOM, we influence and 

set the operational conditions for both 

combatant commands.”

Among the DLA command’s strategic 

priorities are to provide the warfighter and 

DLA enterprise with credible, reliable, timely 

information about DLA’s capabilities and 

warfighter requirements. 

Herndon said unlike DLA’s major 

subordinate commands, DLA CENTCOM & 

SOCOM’s responsibilities span the entire 

supply system.

“We touch all nine classes of sustainment 

lines within DLA,” he said. “Whereas Energy is 

focused strictly on energy and Troop Support 

on troop support, we operationalize all of 

them ... so the customer only has the one 

belly button [for] their sustainment needs.”
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U.S. service members board a C-130H at an undisclosed location 

in Southwest Asia. The 386th moved an average of nearly 8,000 

passengers a month throughout the U.S. Central Command area of 

responsibility in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

— Photo by Air Force Senior Airman Andrew Park
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“While I ultimately work for [Maj.] Gen. 

Johnson and [Lt.] Gen. Williams, the reality 

is, I actually have six other general officers 

that I work for on a daily basis, because 

I represent the supply chains and what 

their priorities are in my region,” he said. 

Herndon referred to the 2011 

rebranding initiative, “We are DLA,” which 

was implemented to build solidarity and 

teamwork across the enterprise. 

“At the regional command level, that is 

probably most true,” he said. “When we’re 

dealing with our customer ... we’re not 

representing [any of the specific MSCs]; 

we’re representing DLA,” he said. 

The “united front” perspective is reality 

from the customer’s point of view as well.

“Regardless of our background, their 

expectation is that we can answer for all 

nine supply chains,” Herndon said. “What 

they’re saying is, ‘Hey, I have a problem, 

and I need a global solution to this 

sustainment problem.’”

Some of the command’s main challenges involve supporting military exercises 

and training DLA support teams. The team 

needs to keep things moving to ensure 

these events can proceed as planned.

“We’ve had some challenges with fuel, 

for example,” Herndon said. “Obviously, 

if we can’t get fuel and can’t get it 

distributed into the right places, then that 

sets the tone for what the operators can 

do — how many things they can exercise 

on a daily basis.”

Herndon joked that it took him “six 

months to figure out how to spell DLA.”

“I’ve got four years of deployed time in 

combat, and frankly, [I] never once gave 

a thought to what DLA does,” he said. In 

his current position he’s gained a unique 

appreciation for DLA’s capabilities.

His dynamic team boasts 36 Joint 

Reserve Force members and civilians, 

some of whom are former military. 

“I’ve got a combination of just about 

everything in my SOCOM support 

branch; we have reservists, civilians, 

different branches of service,” he said. 

“The same holds true for the CENTCOM 

support branch.”

In comparison with his peers who 

command brigades, Herndon says the 

benefit of this organization is his staff, 

with its varied and unique expertise.

“I’ve got former Army battalion 

commanders, a couple of former brigade 

commanders, a couple of retired of Navy 

captains — all of them were sustainers in 

their previous lives. From a sustainment 

perspective, they really understand what’s 

going on. They get it, they’ve done it, in 

some cases for 20, 25 years,” he said. 

“I’m somewhat biased, and I’ll admit that. 

But because of my experience, I’ve got a 

pretty good understanding of what talent 

looks like. 

“The people that comprise my 

organization are incredibly experienced, 

intelligent, mature and selfless when it 

comes to serving the warfighter.”

Another challenge Herndon says he 

faces is his constraints in the number of 

people he’s able to hire. 

“No one ever complained about finding 

a job in Tampa, Florida, so when I have a 

vacancy, it’s not hard to fill,” he said. “But 

because the team is so small compared 

to an Army brigade, it becomes [about] 

our ability to work together, react to each 

other. You have to be able to trust the 

people around you very much because 

they’re going to cover down on your 

workload and you’re going to cover down 

on theirs at times.”

Herndon said once he’s hired 

someone, he has a limited capacity to 

promote people from within.

“I rely heavily on my human resources 

folks to find me opportunities to invest in 

those personnel and then develop them 

for greater growth in the agency,” he said. 

“We’re still growing this organization, the 

regional command structure; we’re still 

trying to refine it to make sense, so we 

can be the most effective that we can be.”

But there has been progress, and a lot 

of support has come in, especially from 

the Joint Reserve Force, Herndon said.

“The benefit of the reservists is they 

provide a different combination of skills,” 

he said. “They have the military skill set 

that they get, which is very similar to 

ours, but then they also have their civilian 

skill sets that they bring in and they can 

actually lean on whichever one makes the 

most sense at that time.” 

Because the JRF members come in 

during their drill week, Herndon said he’s 

MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, was formally dedicated as an 

air base April 16, 1941. The base is named in honor of Col. 

Leslie MacDill, a respected aviation pioneer in the Army Air 

Corps who died in a BC-1 plane crash shortly after taking 

off from Bolling Field, D.C. in 1938.

DLA Distribution Bahrain participates in the container upload 

for the Army Watercraft test from Mina Salman Pier Bahrain 

to Disposition Kuwait.

Air Force Airman 1st Class Caleb Nunez
September / October 2018

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been able to use that time for problemsolving opportunities. 

“I ask them to [review] problems and 

then find viable solutions, which gives me 

my own special initiatives group,” he said. 

“Two of the four reservists have actually 

spent time in the region. They’ve been an 

incredible asset to our team.” 

Waiting for personnel security 

clearances can also be a challenge, since 

most of his staff must be deployable. 

“It’s not because the individuals who 

come to us don’t have the background 

or the ability to get [a clearance]; it’s 

just the amount of time it takes to get 

one.” He said it can take more than a 

year for an employee to be granted Top 

Secret access.

Herndon’s current position has 

provided him a greater understanding of 

options that he said he wouldn’t have if he 

hadn’t been assigned to DLA. He cites DLA 

Troop Support’s maintenance, repair and 

operations program as an example. 

“It’s a program that’s designed to go 

out and find commercial off-the-shelf 

equipment to field to a unit,” he said. 

Referring again to his deployments before joining DLA, Herndon said if he wasn’t 

able to obtain a piece of equipment via his 

government credit card or a military interdepartmental purchase request, he would 

never have considered DLA as a source.

“Now I have that in my rucksack, and if 

something pops up in the future, I’ll be able 

to say, ‘Hey, here’s an option, let’s look at 

it,’” he said. “We’ve actually used the MRO 

program to provide things like Caterpillar 

tractors in support of operations in Iraq, 

and then we used military or gray-tail 

aircraft to deliver them.”

Herndon explained that DLA Troop 

Support was able to modify the program 

in order to find the tractors overseas.

“[They went] through Caterpillar to 

get it right there locally and still met all the 

statutory requirements, but more importantly, they met the requirements from 

a timeline perspective for the customer,” 

he said. “So it was a great evolution. They 

could’ve just said, ‘This is the way our 

process is,’ but they found an improvement 

— and they do that pretty routinely.”

Herndon also addressed the 

importance of the relocation of the U.S. 

Air Forces Central Command operations 

from Al-Mubarak Air Base to Kuwait. 

The relocation will allow coalition forces 

to continue aerial port operations in 

Kuwait City. 

“That’s driven by the Kuwaitis wanting 

to rebuild their airport,” Herndon said. 

“They’re going to move U.S. forces across 

the airstrip.”

DLA Troop Support will develop a 

shelter compound in order for them to 

continue to provide support, he said. 

“This is a big deal, because that’s a 

major hub for support into Iraq and it also 

provides a lot of support into Afghanistan,” 

Herndon said. “We’re very nested into that 

plan to make sure everybody understands 

the significance, but more importantly 

that we’re meeting the timeline of the 

customers when it comes to providing 

those shelters.” 

As to the future of the DLA CENTCOM 

& SOCOM mission, Herndon said it will 

align with the National Defense Strategy. 

“That strategy has other priorities 

right now, but I think our challenge from 

a CENTCOM & SOCOM perspective is 

we’re going to have to ensure we’re 

better tied to the warfighter so we can 

maximize our capabilities,” he said. “Every 

piece of equipment that’s deployed right 

now matters.”

Herndon said DLA needs to make sure 

supply isn’t a factor in equipment being 

non-mission capable. 

“I think in the next three to five years, 

we’re going to find that we’re even more 

integrated with the warfighter [and we’ll 

need to] provide them a level of understanding of the supply chains that exist 

within DLA that they don’t currently have,” 

he said. “We’re going to be able to provide 

the combatant commander a better understanding of their readiness posture.” LL

Air Force Master Sgt. Allan Reeves, Joint Special Operations 

Forces Support Detachment-K noncommissioned officer 

in charge of movements, guides Air Force Staff Sgt. 

Christopher Jensen, JSSD-K assistant NCOIC in charge 

of movements, as he uses a Skytrak 10K vertical reach 

forklift to move a pallet of Hesco barriers at an undisclosed 

location in Southwest Asia.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Louis Vega Jr.

Courtesy Photo
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Army Master Sgt. Lewmas Laurinaitis, a culinary specialist with the 

16th Sustainment Brigade, cooks French toast in a mobile kitchen 

with subsistence items provided by DLA during Saber Strike 2018. 

— Photo by Nutan Chada
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SABER Strike

Story by Beth Reece

The DST worked alongside Army 

logistics units such as the Mississippi 

Army National Guard’s 184th 

Expeditionary Sustainment Command, 

the Army’s lead in logistics support during 

the exercise. Air Force Maj. Raymond 

Lewis served as DLA’s liaison officer to 

the unit. Sitting alongside customers 

empowers the agency to quickly meet 

emerging and last-minute requirements, 

he said the first week of the exercise.

“There’s no formality of picking up the 

phone and not knowing who you’re talking 

to. I find that they route the most complex 

questions through me but also the 

simplest ones that you probably wouldn’t 

get over the phone,” Lewis added.

 Though most DST members had 

previous deployment experience, none had 

ever served on a DLA support team. They 

had months to coordinate via phone and 

email but limited resources and a short 

learning curve upon hitting the ground.

“On Day One, it was a matter of getting 

out there and sniffing other folks out and 

showcasing DLA’s capabilities. Instantly, 

we were fielding requests for information 

and helping customers find out the status 

of their supplies,” Dingeman said.

Visibility of rations and other food 

items was a key concern for customers 

early in the exercise. Although DLA Troop 

Success for Army Sgt. 1st Class Terrell 

Brown is serving beef Burgundy to 

600 tired and hungry troops in the 

middle of nowhere using a makeshift field 

kitchen and no refrigeration.

The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade 

food adviser knows the effect a good 

meal has on soldiers’ morale, so with the 

Defense Logistics Agency’s support, he 

and his food service crew served two hot 

meals a day during Saber Strike 2018 

despite a unit downsizing that eliminated 

their cold-storage assets.

“DLA is providing cold, refrigerated 

foods directly from the vendor. Supplying 

us with ‘real food’ as we call it is an awesome move for them, and we appreciate 

it,” Brown said during the exercise.

Almost 60 civilian and military 

employees representing DLA major 

subordinate commands like DLA 

Distribution, DLA Energy and DLA 

Disposition Services deployed to Powidz, 

Poland, to give U.S. forces easier access to 

critical supplies. The U.S. Army Europe-led 

exercise was held June 3-15 in the Baltics 

and Poland. Now in its eighth year, Saber 

Strike involves about 18,000 personnel 

from 19 countries working to strengthen 

interoperability and trust in the region. 

The exercise marked the first time 

DLA has dedicated a DLA Support Team 

to integrate DLA commodity and services 

support during an exercise, said Air Force 

Lt. Col. John Dingeman, DST deputy 

commander. The DST was made up of 

11 members of the DLA Joint Reserve 

Force who oversaw the support of items 

including food, fuel, construction supplies, 

repair parts and maps. 

Members of DLA Distribution Depot Powidz, Poland, wrap a 

pallet of supplies destined for customers at a remote training 

site for Saber Strike 2018.

Nutan Chada
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Nutan Chada

Support officials carefully forecast the 

demand for meals based on customer 

input and previous exercises, units like the 

184th didn’t know how to track shipments 

to see if they were at a ration-breakdown 

site or on the road for delivery until DST 

members familiarized them with the 

agency’s tracking methods. The group 

also worked with customers to project 

the number of days of supply that were 

on hand and determine how to adjust the 

flow as the exercise concluded.

Army Col. Steve Lai, DST commander, 

said the team made a positive impression 

on customers, especially Army Maj. Gen. 

Steven Shapiro, commander of the 21st 

Theater Sustainment Command.

“He told me he was impressed with our 

presence out there,” Lai said. “He wants to 

be able to harness DLA on the battlefield 

and come up with new ways to streamline 

the supplies coming from [the continental 

United States] to the operational and 

tactical levels.”

DLA also used Saber Strike to test its 

expeditionary capabilities in Europe by 

sending DLA Distribution’s deployable depot 

to serve as a forward distribution point and 

theater consolidation shipping point. Called 

DLA Distribution Powidz for the duration of 

Saber Strike, the capability allowed DLA to 

place supplies closer to exercise participants 

located in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and 

Poland than if the agency sourced them 

from DLA Distribution Germersheim 

in Germany and DLA Distribution 

Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. 

“This capability is important for the 

combatant command because it puts 

wholesale logistics in a position to affect 

from the strategic level down to the 

tactical level,” said DDPP Commander 

Army Maj. Grant Thimsen. “It puts 

materials and equipment closer to the 

warfighter to reduce customer wait time 

and increase readiness for the soldiers on 

the ground executing the training exercise.”

DDPP orchestrated air and surface 

shipments of sustainment material like 

building supplies and spare parts by 

working closely with U.S. Transportation 

Command and U.S. European Command 

planners. To route supplies in and 

out of theater quicker, DDPP used 

existing in-theater capabilities such 

as Army ground transportation and 

rotary-wing assets. That meant more 

frequent deliveries and predictability for 

customers, said Army Brig. Gen. Clint 

Walker, 184th ESC commander. 

“What that has done is allowed the 

bypassing of a warehouse in Germany, 

allowing the items that we need to 

get here faster. And anytime you can 

get material on the battlefield faster, it 

Soldiers with the 240th Composite Supply Company 

monitor a fuel pump pushing DLA-managed gas in Drawsko 

Pomorskie, Poland, during Saber Strike 2018. DLA supported 

the U.S. Army Europe-led exercise in Estonia, Latvia, 

Lithuania and Poland.
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September / October 2018 13

LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

Army Spec. Eugen Warkentin

Nutan Chada

enables our commanders to complete 

their mission,” he said.

Even before the exercise started, DLA 

forward positioned more than 60 highdemand items like meals, water, repair 

parts and building supplies. And DDPP 

proved its ability to “hit a tactical moving 

target” when it received Navy supplies 

from Distribution Depot Sigonella, Italy, and 

delivered them to the USS Mount Whitney 

during a port call in Klaipeda, Lithuania. 

Although DLA Distribution has 

provided limited support to exercises such 

as Pacific Reach in the Republic of Korea 

and Talisman Saber in Australia, some 

customers were unfamiliar with DDPP’s 

operational role. Others asked questions 

about additional DLA capabilities like 

hazardous waste removal. Having a DST 

within 3 miles of the distribution point let 

the DDPP focus on its distribution mission 

while the DST fielded questions on other 

types of support, Thimsen added. 

Maps and driving instructions were 

among other supplies DLA provided 

during Saber Strike. Since many 

exercise participants were 

deployed to the region from 

stateside locations and weren’t 

aware of driving laws in the 

region, DLA’s Document Services 

printed enough safety guides to 

be placed in every vehicle. The 

143rd Combat Sustainment 

Support Battalion also relied 

on DLA Disposition Services for 

morale- and welfare-related 

items such as gym equipment 

and lockers. 

“When we arrived here, 

there were some shortages of 

basic things like wall lockers, 

gym equipment and furniture 

for [Defense Morale, Welfare 

and Recreation],” said Army Capt. 

Justin Copeland from the 143rd 

CSSB. “It’s been a great morale 

booster receiving that DLA support.”

 DLA Disposition Services personnel 

rotated among units giving instructions on 

local procedures for disposal of hazardous 

waste and remained on the ground after 

the exercise to facilitate property turn-ins.

For fuel, U.S. and NATO forces relied 

on DLA Energy’s acquisition cross-service 

agreement, which allowed reciprocal fuel 

support between partner nations. And 

before the exercise, the USNS Sgt. William 

R. Button sailed across the Baltic Sea from 

Jacksonville, Florida, to Klaipeda to deliver 

fuel for exercise participants. Mark Knapp, 

DLA Energy Europe’s liaison to U.S. Army 

Europe, called the event “significant.”

“The pier-side fuel operation was 

truly a joint operation — one that had 

reportedly not occurred in Europe in many 

years,” he said.

Having DLA representatives present 

during exercises like Saber Strike lets 

warfighters accomplish their mission 

without worrying about logistics, 

Walker added. 

“They’re able to help us find solutions 

to material problems that we have, again, 

to speed things to the battlefield to 

help our maneuver commanders on the 

battlefield,” he said during the exercise. 

“We are very happy DLA is here with us.”

DLA supports over 100 exercises 

each year including the U.S. Indo-Pacific 

Command’s Key Resolve, U.S. Central 

Command’s Global Thunder and U.S. 

Northern Command’s Ardent Sentry. LL

 DLA DISPOSITION SERVICES PERSONNEL 

ROTATED AMONG UNITS GIVING INSTRUCTIONS 

ON LOCAL PROCEDURES FOR DISPOSAL OF 

HAZARDOUS WASTE AND REMAINED ON THE 

GROUND AFTER THE EXERCISE TO FACILITATE 

PROPERTY TURN-INS.

Army Sgt. Nathan Choi and Pfc. Matthew Hanneman from 

the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade conduct maintenance 

on AH-64 Apache helicopter during Saber Strike 2018 at 

Bemowo Piskie Training Area in Orzysz, Poland. DLA equipped 

exercise participants with everything from repair parts to fuel.

A soldier with the 26th Composite Supply Command counts parts 

provided by DLA during Saber Strike 2018 in Powidz, Poland. DLA is 

supporting the U.S. Army Europe-led exercise taking place in Estonia, 

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. 
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Hall of Fame

THE DEFENSE 

LOGISTICS AGENCY 

INDUCTED FIVE 

LEADERS INTO ITS 

HALL OF FAME IN A 

JULY 26 CEREMONY 

AT THE MCNAMARA 

HEADQUARTERS 

COMPLEX. CURRENT 

AND FORMER SENIOR 

LEADERS FROM 

THROUGHOUT THE 

AGENCY ATTENDED, 

AS WELL AS 

DIGNITARIES FROM 

OTHER GOVERNMENT 

AGENCIES AND 

FAMILIES OF THE 

HONOREES.

HONORING EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE

THE DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Photo Illustration by Paul Crank
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September / October 2018 15

LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

Lillie Mae Brown

The lawsuit was settled in favor 

of Brown and her colleagues Sept. 19, 

1977. The terms of the settlement 

brought DGSC into full compliance with 

the Equal Employment Opportunity 

Act of 1972 by requiring it to “make 

every reasonable effort” to increase 

the number of women and black men 

in middle- and upper-grade positions, 

including supervisory positions. 

According to Brown’s nomination 

packet, women currently represent 51 

percent of the DLA Aviation workforce 

with 21 percent being African-American. 

African-American men make up 11.23 

percent of the workforce. 

Brown also made significant 

accomplishments in her technical field. 

She developed standard bar-code 

technology for DoD that was used to 

improve receipt processing and stocklocation accuracy in depot receiving and 

storage operations. She died in 2006. 

— Beth Reece

White men held the bulk of 

leadership roles and the paint 

covering “Colored” signs on 

bathroom doors was still fresh at the 

Defense General Supply Center, now 

Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, 

when Lillie Mae Brown became a 

frontwoman for equality. 

In 1974 she filed a complaint with the 

Equal Employment Opportunity Office 

alleging gender-based discrimination, 

resulting in a class-action lawsuit that 

brought changes in hiring, training, awards 

and promotion practices throughout DLA.

Brown documented details for years 

before she drew the strength to file a 

complaint that instantly thrust her into an 

unwanted limelight and made her unpopular among her peers. Two other women 

and five black men soon emerged with 

their own testimonies of discrimination. 

And in August 1975, the judge in the case 

determined there was enough evidence to 

warrant a class-action lawsuit.

Larry Glasco

Understand the customer’s needs 

in advance, then make sure the 

agency is positioned to support 

them. This sentiment is at the core of 

Larry Glasco’s work in the not-so-distant 

past of DLA Logistics Operations.

Glasco joined DLA in 2001 as DLA 

Logistics Operations’ executive director 

for customer operations but moved to 

what was then known as DLA Readiness 

and Operations in 2003 as its first 

executive director. When DLA Logistics 

Operations absorbed the mission of DLA 

Readiness and Operations in 2006, he 

returned to DLA Logistics Operations as 

the office’s deputy director of logistics 

operations and readiness.

With those moves, Glasco brought 

his special focus on the customer too, in 

an approach described as “contagious” 

by Deputy Director of Operations and 

Sustainment Michael Van House.

“He was all about establishing 

relationships and keeping the field 

activities at DLA informed about what 

was going on, and building partnerships to 

support our customers,” Van House said.

Glasco also implemented and executed 

the formal use of Customer Relationship 

Management’s processes, roles and 

technology by establishing customer 

account managers and national account 

managers for the military services, 

linking them to existing customer service 

representatives in the DLA field activities. 

This work also tied into Glasco’s push for 

putting Performance-Based Agreements 

in place, with metrics linked to the PBAs to 

monitor DLA’s performance goals. 

— Christopher Goulait

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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Army Maj. Gen. Robert Gaskill

Army Maj. Gen. Robert Gaskill 

began his tenure as deputy 

director of the Defense 

Logistics Agency in 1978 — just 

one year after the Defense Supply 

Agency was renamed.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of 

duty at DLA and was grateful for that 

opportunity to serve in a senior logistics 

assignment,” he said. “I was familiar 

with the development of DLA from its 

inception, because one of my mentors 

early in my logistics career had been 

[Army Lt.] Gen. Andrew T. McNamara.”

McNamara, a former quartermaster general and a decorated World 

War II logistician, was appointed to 

head the newly created Defense 

Supply Agency in 1961.

Gaskill served at DLA under Air 

Force Lt. Gen. Gerald J. Post, a guiding 

force in Gaskill’s life, and together they 

weathered many challenges.

“We were expanding the mission at 

the Secretary of Defense’s direction and 

at the same time consolidating activities 

in DLA,” he said, explaining that the 

agency also faced budget constraints. 

“Experiencing an expanded mission 

with those constraints just doubled the 

challenge, but I think history has proven 

that we were able to do it effectively.”

Gaskill’s executive leadership skills 

and logistics acumen were used to 

great advantage as DLA matured into 

a rapidly transforming organization. As 

the nation recovered from the Vietnam 

War, an abundance of excess repair parts 

and other supplies drove DLA to quickly 

adapt as the military services transferred 

essential missions to the agency. 

— Dianne Ryder

Donna Davis

Donna Davis’s commitment to 

her career was evident. She was 

selected by then-DLA Director Navy 

Vice Adm. Edward Straw to work in the 

agency’s Corporate Performance Office, 

tracking and managing key initiatives and 

monitoring business area performance 

metrics. An end product was the design, 

build, test and implementation of DLA’s 

Executive Information System, the first 

enterprisewide use of statistical process 

controls and trend data. 

Because of Davis’s competency and 

innovative thinking, she was quickly moved 

into a resource management position and 

soon learned the best lesson about being a 

leader — communicating with people. 

“I worked on implementing a new time 

and attendance system for DLA; it had a lot 

of problems,” she said. “But I got to know 

everybody in the buildings and warehouses 

because as I was walking [around] ... I would 

ask how they were doing with the system.”

Davis’s communicative approach not 

only increased her visibility, but led to 

various jobs throughout the agency. 

“It’s not just about your education level 

or multiple degrees, and it’s not simply 

about volunteering,” she said. “It’s about 

working hard, being a team player who 

gets their hands dirty, which will in turn 

establish credibility and earn a positive 

reputation for getting the job done.”

Among her proudest accomplishments, 

Davis counts working DLA’s Enterprise 

Business System program from conception 

to full operational capability, and “surviving” 

her time as chief of DLA’s logistics research 

and development team, which she called 

“the best job on the planet,” but also the 

hardest and least respected. 

— Dianne Ryder

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September / October 2018 17

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T he new Lt. Gen. Andrew T. McNamara Icon Award has been created 

to annually recognize one current or former Defense Logistics Agency 

employee, civilian or military, whose leadership or achievements had 

a measurable and enduring effect on the agency’s operations, customer 

support or culture.

The award is named after the first director of the Defense Supply Agency, the 

forerunner to DLA. An Army quartermaster general and decorated World War II 

logistician, McNamara assumed command in 1961 with the task of centralizing 

supply management for the Department of Defense.

Merging decades of logistics practices for each of the services was a 

daunting mission that McNamara completed with a staff of only 100 planners 

and plenty of determination. By his retirement in 1964, the agency managed 

1.3 million items, had an inventory valued at $2.2 billion and provided $3 

billion in goods annually.

“This eponymous award honors both his legacy as well as those who have 

followed in his footsteps and continued to shape DLA into the great institute 

it has become,” current DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams said in a 

memorandum to senior leaders.

Army Gen. Gustave “Gus” Perna

 For more information, contact the 

DLA Human Resources Awards Program

at J1AwardsSubmissions@dla.mil.

ANNOUNCING THE

LT. GEN. ANDREW T. MCNAMARA 

ICON AWARD

When Army Gen. Gustave “Gus” 

Perna was commissioned as 

a second lieutenant in 1979, 

it wasn’t as a logistician; he joined as 

an infantry officer. 

“I thought combat arms was my 

calling,” he said. “At a crossroads in my 

career, a mentor recognized I had a 

knack for logistics and encouraged me 

to pursue that path.” However, he soon 

realized his infantry background gave 

him a special insight into managing 

supply chains. 

In just over one year as commander 

of DLA Troop Support, Perna was praised 

for a number of accomplishments to 

increase DLA’s support to deployed 

troops — and to others who rely on 

DLA’s worldwide support.

During Operation Enduring Freedom, 

Perna led the major subordinate 

command to position building materials 

in Afghanistan six months ahead of the 

2009 troop surge into the mountainous, 

arid country with few roads of any kind.

Perna also led DLA to provide global 

support to people in areas of the world 

afflicted not by war, but by Mother 

Nature and the threat of disease. Perna 

led DLA Troop Support’s assistance to the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

in the aftermath of two 2008 hurricanes 

— one named, in a coincidence, Gustav, 

and the other bearing the name of a 

five-star general, Ike. 

The general’s push for long-term 

contracts to obtain uniforms also led 

DLA Troop Support to achieve, for the 

first time, a nearly 100 percent fill rate 

providing uniforms to the Army’s eight 

recruit training centers.

— John Bell

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Courtesy Photo
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Story by Leon Moore

DLA Aviation Public Affairs

DLA AVIATION SUPPORT TO THE

UNSUNG WORKHORSE AIRCRAFT 

Faithful 

Flyers

I

t could be argued that true military 

aviation took off in 1903 when 

Dayton, Ohio, natives Wilbur and 

Orville Wright launched the first selfpropelled airplane off a hill in Kill Devil 

Hills, North Carolina.

A lot has changed since the Wright 

Brothers’ first flight. Military aircraft 

can now soar high above the ground at 

supersonic speeds, fire rounds or drop 

payloads with pinpoint accuracy and 

conduct missions without a pilot in the 

seat. Planes like the F-16, the F-22 and 

the U-2 have become stars in the world of 

film and television — and on the walls of 

many a teenager.

At the same time, aircraft serving with 

less fanfare are just as critical to military 

missions. Supporting them is Defense 

Logistics Agency Aviation.

Training Wheels

In the military aviation community, the 

phrase “You have to crawl before you can 

walk” takes on a whole different meaning. 

For the Air Force, the T-38 Talon helps pilots 

take those high-speed, aerial baby steps.

According to the Air Force website, the 

T-38 Talon is a twin-engine, high-altitude, 

supersonic jet trainer used in a variety of 

roles because of its design, economy of 

operation, ease of maintenance, high performance and exceptional safety record. 

Northrop Grumman produced nearly 

1,200 Talons from 1961 to 1972. About 

530 remain in service.

Lee Grazetti helps keep them flying. 

He’s the T-38 weapon system program 

manager for DLA Aviation’s Air Force 

Customer Facing Division in the Customer 

Operations Directorate. He’s also the 

WSPM for the plane’s J-85 twin engines. 

Grazetti said DLA manages more 

than 18,500 parts for the jet with 

DLA Aviation responsible for roughly 

70 percent. DLA Troop Support in 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and DLA 

Land and Maritime in Columbus, Ohio, 

manage the rest. 

“One of the biggest challenges is 

keeping the supply chain for DLA parts 

flowing at a constant monthly rate to 

avoid depot work stoppages, which could 

possibly lead to the grounding of aircraft 

due to a lack of assets,” he said.

 Grazetti said airframe parts such 

as wing tips, landing gear, struts and 

stabilizers are sole sourced and produced 

by small businesses, which can lead to 

challenges getting quotes and items on 

contract before a part runs out. 

Maintaining the T-38 is personal to 

Grazetti; his son became a pilot this May.

“While he didn’t train in the T-38, many 

of those he knew did, and the aircraft got 

them through training safely,” he said. 

According to the Northrop Grumman 

website, more than 72,000 Air Force pilots 

have trained in the T-38 Talon.

The U.S. Air Force Air Education and 

Training Command, headquartered at 

Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, is the 

primary user of the T-38, preparing 

pilots for fighter and bomber aircraft 

such as the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15C 

Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1B Lancer, 

A-10 Thunderbolt and F-22 Raptor.

“Having my son now flying the 

aircraft I supported for so long is above 

any one dream a person can wish for,” 

Grazetti said.

Grazetti said the T-38 was one of the 

aircraft he supported during his 22-year 

Air Force career. 

“Spending more than 30 years 

supporting the training mission for the Air 

Force and DLA has created a pride factor 

within me for our country and the Air 

Force,” he said.

A Marine Corps C-130 Hercules departs from an 

undisclosed location. DLA Aviation, headquartered in 

Richmond, Virginia, manages tens of thousands of parts 

associated with the plane.
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DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

Mythical Effort

Cue the C-130 Hercules, a plane 

the Air Force calls the workhorse of 

its combat airlift fleet. It can transport 

more than 40,000 pounds of cargo and 

supplies, from helicopters to armored 

vehicles to military personnel.

It’s a plane Mike Brown is very 

familiar with.

“I was a flight engineer and loadmaster 

for C-130s when serving with the military 

and as a Lockheed employee in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait before joining DLA,” he said.

Brown’s been with DLA for 17 years. 

He’s now the C-130 weapon system 

program manager for DLA Aviation 

Customer Operations Directorate’s Air 

Force Customer Facing Division.

“The mighty Herc has been part of my 

life for over 30 years,” he said proudly. 

Brown and the eight customer account 

specialists on his team manage logistics 

support for more than 1,200 C-130s 

operated by various branches of the 

military, as well as 19 foreign nations. 

Lockheed, the maker of the C-130, 

has produced many variants of the plane 

over the past 60-plus years: ski-equipped 

Antarctic variants, Special Operations 

Forces aircraft with heavy weapons, stretch 

versions and medical versions. The latest 

variant is the C-130J Super Hercules. 

Brown said the team manages 

166,242 parts associated with the plane’s 

airframe, including skins, stringers, spars, 

panels, instruments, electronics and 

hardware. The team also manages close 

to 12,000 National Stock Numbers for the 

plane’s four engines. 

He said obtaining parts for the legacy 

models is mostly competitive, while the 

new variant is largely sole source. 

Brown said the many changes 

throughout the model series mean 

there are little-used parts that have 

The Air Force uses the T-38 for joint specialized undergraduate pilot 

training. DLA Aviation manages roughly 70 percent of the more than 

18,000 parts for the plane’s jet engines.

— Photo Courtesy U.S. Air Force

Air Force Staff Sgt. Brandi Hansen
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

been out of production for decades. 

Acquiring them is often difficult and 

expensive. Diminishing manufacturing 

resources and obsolescence of technical 

data create hurdles as well. But Brown 

and his team have found ways to 

overcome these obstacles. For example, 

he and his team are reverse engineering 

some obsolete structural-support items 

and electrical/electronic components. 

“Specifications and standards that 

were written 50 years ago do not 

translate well to modern materiel and 

manufacturing methods,” Brown said. 

He said with the help of Navy, Air 

Force and DLA engineers, the team 

has updated these to reflect current 

manufacturing capabilities.

“I get great satisfaction in supporting 

this platform and doing a small part in 

ensuring it is ready and able to support 

the warfighter’s mission every day,” 

Brown said.

Out of This World

As the Air Force’s largest and only 

strategic airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy can carry 

more cargo farther than any other aircraft. 

With four engines, the cargo jet can 

carry up to 135 tons. It can fly close to 

5,000 miles without in-flight refueling, 

with a load of 60 tons.

Lockheed delivered the first 

operational C-5A Galaxy to the Air Force in 

June 1970. There are now 52 C-5B/C/M 

models in the Air Force’s arsenal, based at 

Dover Air Force Base, Delaware; Travis Air 

Force Base, California; Lackland Air Force 

Base, Texas; and Westover Air Reserve 

Base, Massachusetts.

Jeff Goldston is the C-5 weapon 

system program manager for DLA 

Aviation’s Air Force Customer Facing 

Division, Customer Operations Directorate.

“Being the C-5 WSPM is like an 

extension of my service commitment to 

our nation’s warfighters,” he said. 

Goldston spent a great deal of time 

around the C-5 during his 20-year career 

in the Air Force, including several deployments to Guam, Hawaii, Alaska and the 

United Kingdom before retiring in 2002. 

He said his primary focus is the 

overall health of the weapon system. 

He uses automated tools, conducts 

detailed analyses and coordinates with 

his counterparts at DLA and the military 

services to ensure DLA parts and services 

are available when and where needed. 

Goldston and three customer account 

specialists for the C-5 also maintain longterm contract coverage for the more than 

74,000 parts DLA Aviation manages for 

the airframe and engines. These include 

floor panels, slat seals, skins, escape slides 

and fuselage-to-vertical-stabilizer fittings.

With the Air Force planning to fly the 

C-5 at least until 2040, Goldston said 

maintainers are seeing failures on some 

parts that have never broken before. And 

many of the original contractors that 

manufactured the aircraft parts in the 

1970s are no longer in business. 

With new contractors submitting 

quotes to make these parts, engineers 

require them to perform first-article 

testing before they can start contractual 

production. Goldston said this testing 

causes delays in production, extending 

administrative and production lead times 

to support customer requirements. 

Despite the challenges of extending 

the service life of the C-5, Goldston said 

he’s dedicated to keeping it flying for 

decades to come. 

“Each day I ask myself, ‘What can I do 

here in DLA Aviation to support our troops 

who put their lives on the line each day?”

It’s a question quietly answered every 

day through the commitment of people 

across DLA Aviation. LL

A C-5 Galaxy taxis past a line of C-5s sitting on the tarmac 

at Travis Air Force Base, California. DLA Aviation manages 

more than 74,000 parts for the C-5, which the Air Force is 

planning to keep in its arsenal until at least 2040.

Photo Courtesy U.S. Air Force
Since taking over as executive director for operations, 

what has surprised you about the way the agency 

operates and the types of support it provides?

The biggest surprises are the discussions we’re 

having about reform in the Department of 

Defense and how that has driven us to look at DLA 

Operations through a different lens. These reform 

efforts are focused on leveraging capabilities across 

the Department to provide more effective and 

efficient solutions. We’re looking at DLA holistically 

in terms of its capabilities. The Strategic Plan 

focuses on Warfighter First, but there’s a growing 

recognition across the whole of government in 

terms of our logistics capabilities and the things 

we can do. That is the fourth line of effort in the 

Strategic Plan: Whole of Government.

Within Warfighter First and Whole of Government 

lines of effort, there are things that DLA could 

or should be doing with Defense Support of Civil 

A Conversation with ... David Kless

Authorities and our partnerships with the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. 

Forest Service. We’re looking at ways to leverage 

our competencies and capabilities across the federal 

government, applying our logistics solutions across 

the much broader customer base.

How have DLA’s contributions to the military services’ 

readiness improved over the past year, and what are 

the ongoing challenges?

It’s a constant, continuous process, just by the 

nature of our business. As a logistics provider, we’re 

always trying to figure out the requirement. That’s 

easy when someone gives you a very specific, very 

detailed requirement, but we all know that’s usually 

the exception, not the rule. We often have disparate 

pieces of intel to act on. If we waited until we had a 

well-defined requirement before taking any action, 

it would be too late and we would not be able to 

support the customer within the required timeframe 

to support their mission.

The biggest thing we’ve done since I’ve been here is 

our efforts to operationalize DLA. We’re collaborating 

more with our customers and getting more involved 

with the military services early on, which gives us 

more information. We take that information, do the 

analysis and work toward a requirement. That may 

not be a well-defined requirement, 

but at least it’s something we can 

plan toward.

A classic example is what we’re 

doing now with the DLA Readiness 

Dashboard. In the past, we had a static 

process in which we’d get reports 

from the services on a less-frequent 

basis and then do the analysis. Now, 

the Dashboard updates information 

continuously. It’s important to stress 

that the Dashboard is not the solution, 

but it’s a tool we can use to help identify 

problems early on. It allows us to drill 

down on readiness drivers, which are the 

items that, if we were to focus on them, 

we’d see the biggest increase in service 

readiness. With the Dashboard, we’re 

DLA’s executive director for operations 

discusses the agency’s increasing 

global mission supporting the military 

services and other federal agencies.

David Kless, DLA executive director for operations.

Courtesy Photo

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September / October 2018
marrying information from the services’ systems to our 

systems, allowing us to see things in real time. With this 

real-time information, we can identify the underlying 

problems, allowing us to more frequently identify where 

to invest for the biggest impact on readiness.

Now that hurricane season is upon us, how is DLA 

prepared to support other government agencies 

compared with last year?

We have a long-standing relationship with FEMA 

that goes back to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

We had lessons learned that came out of Katrina, 

and then again after Superstorm Sandy. This past 

year with multiple hurricanes was the first time 

we had back-to-back-to-back hurricanes in Texas, 

Florida and Puerto Rico. They’re usually spread out, 

so you can return to normal operations, then ramp 

up for the next storm. The three-storm sequence of 

Harvey, Irma and Maria marked the first time we had to 

simultaneously support multiple disaster-relief efforts. 

Unfortunately, it took something like that to identify 

areas where we could do more. Going into that, we 

had 13 pre-scripted mission assignments, which are 

packages of support that are on standby to provide at 

a moment’s notice. We’ve added an additional eight. As 

our partnership with FEMA has grown, both sides have 

recognized new areas of opportunity. Now we’re at a 

point where we can anticipate requirements and we’re 

sharing information early to get ahead of a crisis. FEMA 

is measured on the time it takes to meet the needs of 

states affected by a disaster. Anything DLA can do to 

anticipate requirements is best for the government. 

While we continue a strong relationship with FEMA, 

what grew out of last year is a stronger partnership 

with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dealing with 

their support to Puerto Rico similar to what we saw 

with FEMA after Katrina. USACE definitely recognizes 

what DLA can do, particularly as we’ve provided them 

all the materials they need in their ongoing effort to 

increase power generation in Puerto Rico. 

The traditional model was wait for the customer to 

come to us with a requirement, and then respond. 

Our approach has changed. Today, we look across all 

the emergency-support functions and the respective 

missions of the federal agencies to see what current 

actions are not part of their primary mission. Is that 

something DLA can do for them? The greater and 

more complex the disaster, the more opportunities for 

partnership we’ll find. 

What is DLA doing to improve support to the 

combatant commands?

We have our three regional commanders with 

the combatant commands. In Tampa, we have 

DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM, led by Army Col. Archie 

Herndon. In Europe, we have DLA Europe & Africa, 

led by Army Col. Ted Shinkle. And we have a regional 

commander out at DLA Pacific, Navy Capt. Kristin 

Acquavella. Their teams are embedded with the 

combatant commanders, allowing us to hear things 

firsthand and be involved with what the combatant 

commanders are considering. That’s similar to 

what I mentioned earlier with the Dashboard and 

collaborating with the military services. By being 

embedded with the combatant command, we are 

able to get real-time information and quickly begin 

translating it into an actionable DLA logistics solution. 

Similar to our efforts with the services, our regional 

commands are working with the combatant 

commands to identify the items that impact 

readiness. Some of the weapons systems have 

different issues at the tactical level. They’re trying 

to identify those readiness drivers and share them 

with the DLA enterprise so we can address them. 

We’re not at the same automated place as we are 

with the services, but during our weekly readiness 

reviews, the DLA director gets updates on how we 

can mitigate or remove combatant commanders’ 

logistics concerns. 

The other big thing we’re doing is working on our 

DLA support plans for the combatant commanders’ 

operations plans. For example, in Korea, we took 

significant steps to pre-position subsistence items 

and construction material forward in anticipation of 

additional requirements. The intent is to have those 

supplies available when commanders need them.

We’re starting to look at our current posture 

across the globe. Is DLA where it should be? As 

the landscape in the U.S. Central Command area of 

responsibility changes, is our logistics support where 

it should be? Instead of using yesterday’s solution 

for tomorrow’s problem, we’re trying to look at the 

new problem and find the most robust solution that 

supports the current mission environment. 

page

22 www.dla.mil

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY
CENTCOM doesn’t know what the future’s going to 

look like. It’s going from a supported to a supporting 

combatant command. What are we doing as logistics 

requirements shift to other combatant commands? 

What does that mean to us and our support? In an 

effort to help answer these questions, Col. Herndon 

brought together the DLA team that supports 

CENTCOM to shift people’s way of looking at different 

scenarios in today’s dynamic environment. Similar 

efforts are being done in [U.S. European Command, U.S. 

Africa Command and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command].

How is DLA empowering its customer-facing teams to 

communicate the agency’s story?

Back in April, we had our Customer-Facing Summit, 

the second time we brought together all of our 

worldwide customer support representatives to 

ensure DLA Headquarters understands the problems 

they’re working on with our customers, as well 

as make sure those teams are aware of the most 

current DLA initiatives. 

This is critical as our footprint shifts. Before, it wasn’t 

uncommon to have two or three DLA employees — 

each an expert in one area or another — at a military 

command. In today’s fiscal environment, we don’t have 

that luxury, so our focus has shifted. Maybe our reps 

don’t have as much depth in one particular area, but 

they have a lot more range, and they have reach-back 

capability to the entire DLA enterprise. My job is to make 

sure those single customer-facing representatives 

are familiar with the Strategic Plan and aware of our 

ongoing initiatives so they’re set up for success with 

our customers. We want them to be able to point our 

customers in the right direction. From the customer’s 

standpoint, they know they have a DLA rep they can go 

to for anything DLA.

We’re also looking into quarterly video teleconferences 

and quick reference tools to help facilitate this. At 

headquarters, it’s easy to forget that not everyone out 

there knows what’s going on. I always laugh; when you 

live in the Washington area, everything going on in the 

government seems like day-to-day business, but when 

I talk to my mom, I realize that if you’re not inside the 

Beltway, you don’t know all of it. Finding ways to stay 

connected with our customer-facing reps is critical. 

As the result of a realignment, [the Operations Directorate] assumed several customer-facing functions. One of 

which is the DLA Customer Interaction Center. The CIC is 

the customer point of contact for all DLA logistics issues 

from acquisition to disposition. The goal is for the CIC to 

provide the response to the customer upon first contact. 

We have agents available 24/7/365 days a year. We analyze the information from these customer interactions 

to drive improvements in our processes, systems and/or 

personnel by providing training. Training is a key factor to 

ensure our personnel have the right knowledge and skills 

to assist the customer. We also provide customer training 

to ensure our customers have the right knowledge and 

skills to use the DLA self-help tools so they can find the 

answer to their question by the quickest means possible. 

Our goal is to ensure the customer experience is positive 

and they are satisfied with the support DLA provides.

What’s one thing you wish more DLA employees knew 

about Logistics Operations?

No two days are the same. You never know what the 

day will bring, which is exciting. It’s very difficult to find 

a cookie-cutter solution for even two situations. You 

always have to be ready to adapt without a lot of time.

Every morning, I get an operations update from the 

JLOC, including intelligence, support to the combatant 

commands and support to all military and federal 

agency customers. That sounds pretty repetitive, but 

the problems change daily. 

We talked a lot about hurricane season, but we also 

provide support during fire season. Some people 

within DLA may not realize we support the wildland 

firefighters. When you see a fire in California, you 

should know DLA supplies everything they need. 

The biggest thing I wish DLA employees knew about 

is the team here in the Operations Directorate. They’re 

a phenomenal group. We talked about last year’s 

hurricanes. There were people who contributed up to 

18 hours a day for an extended period supporting the 

victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. We’re always 

looking for ways to do things better, and we’re never 

deterred from a challenge. This group makes my job 

fun. No matter how big or complex a challenge is, this 

team is ready to take it on. LL

The full interview with David Kless 

can be found in the online version 

of Loglines:

www.dla.mil

page

23

LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

September / October 2018
page

24 www.dla.mil

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Managing Inv

Story by Gretchen Anderson, DLA Finance Director 

and Michael Scott, DLA Operations Deputy Director

T his past May, Secretary of Defense 

James N. Mattis urged all Defense 

Department employees to do their 

part to make the DoD audit ready. The 

Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force 

audits came online in 2018; the Defense 

Logistics Agency led the way in 2017. 

In 2011, Congress charged the department with achieving auditability by 2017. 

DLA embraced and aggressively pursued 

that goal. Completing an audit became 

a priority; our strategic goal of “Always 

Accountable” reinforces our fundamental 

responsibility to the warfighter to be cost 

conscious, achieve and sustain a clean 

audit, and remain innovative. 

Last year we completed our first 

audit, which resulted in a disclaimer 

from Ernst & Young, our independent 

auditor team. Although it was expected, 

the disclaimer confirmed that we did not 

have everything the auditors needed to 

give a “clean” opinion. The evidentiary 

matter, or records, were not sufficient to 

prove our statements. 

DLA and Office of the Secretary 

of Defense leadership understood 

the challenges of a first-time “go” for 

DLA’s audit. It’s no small accounting 

challenge to inventory over $100 billion 

of inventory — more than $15 billion 

in DLA-purchased parts and materials 

and nearly $85 billion for the military 

services — held by 493 activities at 240 

locations around the world.

Keeping a large inventory for a long 

time is not a commercial practice. Storage 

costs money in leased space, climate 

control and the labor required to keep 

track of items. Some inventory, like food, 

has a limited shelf life, and stored parts 

can become outdated when new systems 

or equipment come along. Furthermore, 

everything DLA holds in inventory is a cost 

to the government. 

DLA’s inventory must be accurate to 

ensure DoD’s financial statements reflect 

the actual organizational expenses. It’s 

essential to obtain a “clean” audit opinion 

on the agency’s own financial statements. 

Because of this, it’s critical that we 

manage our inventory and costs carefully. 

In the disclaimer, DLA’s 

independent public accountant 

found three major problems with the 

agency’s inventory program: 

• Mismatch of the quantities 

in DLA’s inventory and 

financial systems.

• Commingling of inventory 

from different owners.

• Infrequent inventory counts. 
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September / October 2018 25

LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

entory

What’s the significance of these 

problems for DLA and its customers?

Figures that don’t match make it 

hard for the agency to ensure it actually 

has the number of items on hand as 

indicated in its records. This requires 

DLA to spend more time verifying the 

value of those items, which adds cost. 

The agency is taking steps to ensure 

the figures in its inventory and financial 

systems match. 

Commingling different owners’ 

inventory poses two risks. When 

inventory records show gains and 

losses, DLA can’t ensure they’re 

accurately accounted for in the true 

owner’s financial records. DLA policy 

directs who registers a gain or loss, 

but the end result can be over- or 

understating inventory records in an 

owner’s financial statements. This 

means the agency may have too much 

or too little of an item on hand.

DLA also needs to count the items in 

its inventory more frequently and more 

directly. The current process of counting 

items based on value once every two 

or five years isn’t good enough. Annual 

inventories must be performed to ensure 

accurate financial statements.

Addressing these weakness will 

drive changes needed in DLA’s inventory 

management strategy and help the 

agency achieve a clean audit opinion.

How the Military Services 

Can Help 

DLA holds nearly $85 billion of 

the military services’ inventory, which 

requires agreement between financial 

statements. There are several things the 

services can do. They can ensure proper 

notification occurs for items destined for 

DLA facilities, mark the items clearly and 

include complete documentation.

Once the material is in DLA custody, 

the military service must make sure its 

financial records match DLA’s inventory 

records for the items the service owns. 

If there are quantity discrepancies, the 

service should research them, correct 

the figure in its systems and provide that 

updated number to DLA.

Since DLA doesn’t have access to the 

military services’ financial records, the 

Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps 

are DLA’s vital partners in reconciling their 

financial statements to DLA’s inventory 

records. This also directly affects the 

agency’s ability to know if its inventory 

count is complete.

Team Effort

This will be a massive effort for the 

workforce. The enterprise is working to 

develop, improve and implement the 

agency’s inventory management strategy. 

Because of the size, value and 

geographical locations of DLA’s 

facilities, a 100 percent inventory every 

year will be expensive and complex. 

It will require input from personnel 

from DLA Logistics Operations, DLA 

Information Operations, DLA Finance 

and DLA Acquisition, along with every 

DLA major subordinate command. 

Getting counts done on time and 

accurately requires many people 

working together on scheduling, 

counting, researching and tracking.

Everyone has a role. LL

Keeping large quantities of stock on shelves for long 

periods of time is not a good practice. Outdated parts 

and items with limited shelf life such as food can cause 

a significant cost to the agency. Inventory accuracy 

ensures financial statements that reflect the agency’s 

actual expenses and assist in obtaining a ‘clean audit.’

Counting items in inventories more frequently and directly 

helps to ensure that figures in inventory and financial 

systems properly match and reflect the inventory records.

 Samuel King Jr.

 Air Force Senior Airman Emily Kenney
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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

DLA NewsWire

TURNING PAPER WASTE INTO JET FUEL

Recycled paper and cardboard 

could be the jet fuel of the future. 

In the quest for a resilient and 

secure energy supply chain, Defense 

Logistics Agency Energy is investing 

in woody biomass to produce energy.

“The pursuit of alternative energy 

is necessary to bring forth a robust and 

sustained domestic alternative fuels 

industry that will ease dependence on 

petroleum,” said Lindsey Hicks, the DLA 

Energy Readiness Program manager 

for research and development 

projects and initiatives.

One of DLA Energy’s funded 

projects is the Biomass to Bio-products 

Pilot Plant at the University of Maine’s 

Technology Research Center. The 

plant is working to convert cellulosic 

material, like recycled paper and 

cardboard, into jet fuel. 

According to a UMaine news 

release, the plant is capable of 

processing up to 1 ton of woody 

biomass per day into chemicals 

that can be used to manufacture 

bio-products, including biofuels, biochemicals and advanced materials. 

Efforts to turn biomass into 

alternative fuel at UMaine began in 

2010 when the DLA Energy Readiness Program awarded the university 

a three-year contract to complete 

the development of its fuel conversion technology as a laboratory bench 

procedure, Hicks said.

Since the conclusion of the initial 

process development in 2012, 

UMaine has been working to expand 

the process to validate actual fuel 

production capability.

— Connie Braesch

DLA Energy Public Affairs

More online: go.usa.gov/xUGbr

AVIATION BUYERS USE REVERSE AUCTIONS, SAVE TAXPAYER MONEY

DeVora Seymore, procurement analyst, Programs 

Division, Procurement Process Support Directorate, 

DLA Aviation, helps manage the Reverse Auction 

Program for DLA Aviation.

She said reverse auction is a computer software 

pricing tool that allows defense contractors to submit 

real-time, electronic bids in response to competitive 

solicitations. This pricing technique is used by buyers 

during discussions to establish the final offered price(s).

— Leon Moore

DLA Aviation Public Affairs

More online: go.usa.gov/xUGbC

More than 50 people attended one of three 

Defense Logistics Agency Aviation reverse auction 

training sessions held in the McKeever Auditorium on 

Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia, July 19. 

Dozens more from around the DLA enterprise caught 

the training via video teleconferencing. 

The sessions focused on highlighting the 

key functionality and look of the new Procurex/

DLA Reverse Auction Platform, giving a better 

understanding of more complex platform 

functionality and a solid foundation to build and run 

reverse auction events.

University of Maine
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LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

September / October 2018

SUPPLIER 

CONFERENCE 

HIGHLIGHTS 

DOD, INDUSTRY 

PARTNERSHIPS

The 2018 Defense Logistics 

Agency Land and Maritime Supplier 

Conference and Exposition took 

place June 19-20 in with discussions 

on evolving industry partnerships 

and small business opportunities. 

The national two-day conference 

provided opportunities for senior 

military, government and industry 

leaders from across the nation 

to participate in a variety of panel 

discussions and question-andanswer sessions covering topics 

DECEMBER 17–20, 2018

TAMPA, FLORIDA USA

TAMPA 

CONVENTION 2018 CENTER 

Administrative support provided by SAE International under contract with the U.S. Department of Defense

MAINTAINING AMERICA’S LETHAL COMPETITIVE EDGE

sae.org/events/dod

DEPARTMENT 

OF DEFENSE 

MAINTENANCE 

SYMPOSIUM

P18280503

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN REVIEWED 

AND APPROVED BY DOD AS A DOD SPONSORED 

EVENT AND ACCORDINGLY MEETS DEPARTMENTAL 

GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDANCE BY ALL MILITARY 

SERVICES, AGENCIES, AND INDUSTRY.

DoD Approved

across the military logistics enterprise.

Several pieces of military equipment were on display inside the exhibit 

hall. The conference featured keynote 

addresses from military, industry and 

government leaders on a variety of 

topics ranging from performance based 

logistics to supply chain efficiencies 

and strategic objectives. The second 

day focused on future manpower 

and technology needs as well as the 

role of small businesses in supporting 

warfighter readiness. 

 — Kristin Molinaro

DLA Land and Maritime Public Affairs

More online: go.usa.gov/xUGbY

Michael Rowland
page

28 www.dla.mil

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

THE NATION’S COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT AGENCY

Fueling Savin 

Story and Photo by 

Irene Smith, DLA Energy Public Affairs

DEFENSE FUEL SUPPORT POINT YORKTOWN CEASES FUEL OPERATIONS

T he departure of the final barge of 

jet fuel marked the end of an era for 

the historic Defense Fuel Support 

Point Yorktown, Virginia, June 6. 

The transfer of 150,000 barrels of 

jet fuel to the Military Sealift Command 

fuel barge, Petrochem Producer, and the 

drawdown of fuel to tank-bottom levels 

marked the start of the final accountability 

process for the 117-year-old, governmentowned, contractor-operated fuel terminal. 

DFSP Yorktown ceased fuel 

operations in June, said Naval Supply 

System Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk 

Regional Fuel Director 

David Henderson. “Naval 

Facilities Command 

will issue a Defense 

Logistics Agency Energy-funded 

demolition contract and, after demolition, 

the property will be available to the Navy 

for alternate uses,” he said.

Although the terminal was managed 

by Naval Supply Systems Command, 

DLA Energy is responsible for funding 

and overseeing the maintenance, repair, 

sustainment, restoration, modernization 

and recapitalization of the military’s fuel 

structure that contains DLA fuel. DLA 

Energy has fuel stored in 465 DFSPs 

throughout the U.S. and around the world.

DLA Energy’s ability to divest of 

aged infrastructure and reduce excess 

capacity helps provide the most 

cost-effective, efficient solutions and 

frees up resources for higher priorities. 

Closing the Yorktown fuel terminal will 

also save the federal government $101 

million in renovation costs.

Keith Stedman is the director of 

DLA Energy Supply Chain Management. 

He provides the enterprise-level 

management of DFSP operations and the 

DLA-owned bulk petroleum inventory.

“When we have an aged facility, like 

DFSP Yorktown, we go through a process 

to decide if it is worth recapitalization,” 

Stedman said. “In 2011, economic analysis 

recommended the closure of DFSP 

Yorktown and realignment of fuel terminal 

operations to DFSP Craney Island.”

DLA was able to close DFSP 

Yorktown because of the expansion and 

consolidation of the government-owned, 

contractor-operated DFSP Craney Island. 

In fiscal year 2015, a $36.5 million 

military construction plan was approved 

to replace and alter the fuel distribution 

facilities at DFSP Craney Island. The 

improvements include a new truck rack, 
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September / October 2018 29

LOGLINES

DLA’S OFFICIAL FLAGSHIP PUBLICATION

gs

pipeline modifications and conversion of 

two 100,000-barrel tanks from JP5 to 

Jet A jet fuel.

DFSP Yorktown’s closure reduces underground fuel storage and creates more 

resilient fuel tanks, as witnessed by the 

successful closure of the World War II-era 

DFSP San Pedro, California, in March.

DSFP Yorktown’s tanks were built 

underground in the 1950s to protect 

against aerial bombardment and provide 

F24 aviation turbine fuel received through 

the Colonial Pipeline from Houston, Texas. 

The fuel was distributed by barge and 

truck, primarily to Langley Air Force Base, 

Virginia. The historic fuel terminal has 

10 underground fuel tanks built in 1953, 

which will be demolished. Pier piping and 

equipment will also be removed.

Four cut-and-cover tanks were 

demolished in 2015 and soil remediation 

was completed. Today, deer graze on land 

where the underground fuel tanks used to 

store F24 and JP8. Outside the fuel farm is 

the historic site of the last major battle of 

the Revolutionary War.

DFSP Yorktown Terminal Manager Tony 

Bowman said the industry is moving away 

from underground fuel facilities.

“It is safer on the environment,” 

Bowman said. “You can see fuel leaks 

sooner when tanks and pipes are above 

ground, and they are easier to maintain.”

Stedman explained the history 

of underground tanks. “Depending 

on the threat, particularly in coastal 

areas, tanks were built underground to 

prevent shrapnel damage,” he said. “The 

technology and security threats have 

changed, and the trend today is to have 

fewer larger tanks in the U.S. Replacing 

the older single-wall 

tanks and right-sizing 

underground fuel 

storage offers better 

protection with 

lower risk.” 

DLA Energy 

Americas at 

Houston oversees 

the truck and barge 

fuel shipments in and 

out of Yorktown. The closure of Yorktown 

and the transfer of operations to Craney 

Island is a positive change, according to 

DLA Energy experts.

“The transition to DFSP [Craney Island] 

is almost transparent operations for us,” 

said John Stublar, DLA Energy Americas 

at Houston Eastern Seaboard team 

supervisor. “Product that shipped from 

Houston would be fully additized at Craney 

using its new fuel-injection systems.

“If we didn’t have the new truck rack 

at DFSP Craney, we wouldn’t be able to 

do it,” Stublar added.

Soil testing and surveys will be 

conducted at the DFSP Yorktown to 

prepare the land for future use.

“DFSP Yorktown has an 

awesome workforce and is well 

maintained, providing exceptional 

warfighter support for many years,” 

Henderson said. “However, closing 

this facility rather than recapitalizing 

the pier and tanks is the right 

decision for taxpayers and the 

Department of Defense.” LL

The historic Defense Fuel Support Point Yorktown fuel terminal in Virginia has 10 

underground tanks used to store F24 and JP8 jet fuel. The cut-and-cover tanks, built in 

1953, were demolished in 2015 along with the removal of pier piping and equipment. Soil 

testing and surveys will be conducted at DFSP Yorktown to prepare the land for future use. 
page

cover4 WWW.DLA.MIL

LOGLINES

THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS — ON TIME, EVERY TIME

I AM DLA

My Name is:

Stanley Burns

I am:

A quality assurance representative for DLA Energy Americas at 

Houston working in Virginia.

Describe yourjob in a sentence.

The Quality Assurance team ensures the critical quality 

support and oversight of bulk fuel procurement, storage depots, 

distribution contracts, into-plane fuel delivery, pipeline operating 

agreements and other chemical-related commodity contracts 

awarded by DLA Energy.

How long have you worked for DLA?

I started working for the Defense Energy Support Center while 

on a special assignment for the military. I became a member of 

the DLA quality family in 2004.

What is yourfavorite thing about working for DLA?

My favorite thing about working for DLA is the continuation 

or expansion of my government service and support to the military — being part of a 

synchronized team of subject matter experts who are all dedicated to mission success, 

whether it’s moving commodities for customers or humanitarian efforts after hours, on the 

weekends or during holidays. 

What are your best memories of working here?

One of my best memories is when I deployed to Haiti in support of Operation Unified 

Response in 2010. I helped support the humanitarian effort by supplying the joint forces with 

fuel to support Haiti’s recovery from a devastating earthquake. 

 How do you make a difference?

My teammates and I provide direct guidance and support between DLA contracting, 

contractors and customers in support of the warfighter. I ensure contractors understand how 

to navigate and comply with DLA Energy quality requirements to ensure seamless supplies 

or services are provided and contractors are correctly compensated. I also help DLA Energy 

identify suppliers who do not meet DLA Energy customers’ supply or service requirements. 

Stanley Burns