Okinawa

Singapore

ON

THE

MOVE

DLA in the Pacific

Hawaiian Islands

Japan

Korea

Guam

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2009
DIRECTOR

T

his summer has been an exciting time

at the Defense Logistics Agency. In 

addition to ramping up our operations to meet increasing needs of warfighters streaming into Afghanistan, we 

have continued to plan for the drawdown

of American forces in Iraq, which began 

June 30. I also hosted visiting dignitaries 

from several allied partners to discuss how 

adopting best logistics practices benefits 

our respective service members. 

DLA’s European work force is heavily 

engaged in logistics support operations in 

Iraq and Afghanistan, working to mitigate 

supply concerns resulting from the nature 

of nontraditional warfare and an austere 

setting. Thanks in part to their work, the 

Northern Distribution Network, the main 

supply pipeline for troops in Afghanistan, 

is a great success and 80 percent of the

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

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency

Office of Public Affairs

8725 John J. Kingman Road

Suite 2545

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

703-767-6200

E-mail loglines@dla.mil

from the

DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson

Chief of Staff

Air Force Brig. Gen. Scott Chambers

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

Layout/Design Paul Henry Crank

Loglines is the authorized publication for the

Defense Logistics Agency’s work force of federal

civilians, active-duty military and Joint Reserve 

Forces augmentees at Agency activities worldwide

and industry customers of DLA. Contents of this

publication are not necessarily the official views of, 

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

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

courtesy of Agency sources.

Submissions and correspondence may 

be sent to the following address:

military forces to achieve interoperability in the future.

Summer is traditionally exercise 

season for warfighters, and I am proud 

that DLA team members have traveled 

thousands of miles to be on-site with 

military members as they exercised this 

nation’s awesome military capabilities 

and practiced skills that make our armed 

forces the finest in the world. Supporting these exercises is a DLA-wide effort 

that requires 24/7 coordination to ensure 

subsistence, construction material, repair 

parts and fuel get into the hands of the 

troops who need them. 

This world-class support would not

be possible without DLA team members’

tireless service, especially those in the 

Pacific where a small contingent of employees represent our Agency’s capabilities in an operating theater encompassing 51 percent of the world’s surface. A

mission that might be called daunting

by some is accepted by these committed

folks as just another day supporting the

troops. Their spirit of cooperation and

team work is something I have found in

all corners of DLA, and I am honored to 

serve our men and women in uniform

alongside Team DLA.

Official Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Agency

LOGLINES

material flowing through it to warfighters is DLA-provided.

As part of my 2009 Director’s Guidance, I promised we would not rest in 

our pursuit of logistics success. To that 

end, I’ve added some new faces to our 

staff. Navy Rear Adm. (select) Kurt 

Kunkel is expected to join DLA as chief 

of staff early this fall to help coordinate 

activities across the enterprise. Two new 

commanders — Navy Rear Adm. Vincent 

Griffith at the Defense Supply Center 

Richmond, Va., and Army Brig. Gen. 

Thomas Richardson at the Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio — and Army 

Maj. Gen. Timothy McHale, director of 

the Agency’s Logistics Operations and 

Readiness Directorate, will be huge force 

multipliers for me and everyone throughout the Agency as we conduct our daily 

business and plan for future needs.

Serving warfighters is DLA’s single

focus, and our work force of dedicated 

men and women knows how vital their

daily work is to keeping American

troops stationed around the globe ready

to meet any challenge — whether it is

conducting contingency operations, 

providing humanitarian assistance or

training with members of our allies’
Loglines l September - October 2009 1

On the Move

Contents

Over the Horizon 2

Hawaii-based office brings Agency’s logistics capabilities to war fighters 

in the world’s largest operating theater.

Far and Wide 8

Energy support center fuels warfighters for daily, contingency, 

humanitarian operations.

Frequent Fliers 10

Support service staff racks up miles sustaining Agency locations 

across more than 100 million square miles.

Oceanfront Property 12

Disposal, reutilization service tackles excess property management in 

isolated locales.

Click to Print 14

Production service brings document solutions to warfighters’ 

fingertips.

Small World 16

Fifty-two-member staff brings subsistence, medical and construction 

support to warfighters stationed from Alaska to Singapore.

Prime Position 18

Forward stocking keeps warfighters prepared, costs low.

DLA NewsWire 24

Ten Questions with ... 26

DEPARTMENTS

September - October 2009

pg 2

pg 12

pg 34

pg 36

Picture This 21

Common operating picture yields interoperability with military 

commands, customers.

Long-Term Relief 29

Pacific-based troop support team jumps on Pacific Partnership 

bandwagon, supplies aid to mission.

Building Blocks 34

Logistics support forms backbone for summer troop surge into 

Afghanistan.

Restoring Memphis 36

Former Tennessee depot gets cleaned up, turned over to 

community for reuse.
2 www.dla.mil

OVER THE HOR

Story by Heather Athey

A

ppearances can be deceiving.

From the outside, the Pacific headquarters of the 

Defense Logistics Agency certainly doesn’t look like a 

logistics hub that services the world’s largest area of 

responsibility. Tucked into a remote corner of Naval 

Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the building resembles one of 

many World War II-era buildings on the base, with weatherworn concrete and a plain steel door for an entrance.

But inside is a sleek, modern office space where civilians clad 

in brightly colored “aloha” garb work shoulder to shoulder with

uniformed military counterparts amid buzzing phones and whirring printers. The pace 

is almost frenzied 

as employees juggle 

conference calls with 

DLA’s Fort Belvoir, 

Va., headquarters and 

warfighter support 

representatives on 

military bases like Osan Air Base in Korea and U.S. 7th Fleet 

Activities in Japan and buyers stationed in Singapore. 

Just one step into the hall visitors see they really are in a 

warehouse, complete with concrete floors, pillars and bare walls. 

A massive sign over the main entrance identifies the location as

belonging to DLA.

The sign, and the branding of DLA-Pacific as the one-stop 

shop for warfighters, are the brainchild of Army Col. Bill McCarver, the DLA-Pacific commander, a career logistician who’s 

spent much of his career turning “no” into “yes” when it means 

improving support to America’s troops. Part crusty infantry SolWilliam Peek

PACIFIC REGION

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 3

IZON

dier and part tech-savvy tactician, McCarver has put his stamp 

on DLA-Pacific by unifying the efforts of the Agency’s Pacific 

organizations under an umbrella of cooperation.

“We had this alphabet soup out here before — DLA-Pacific, 

Defense Energy Support Center, Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, Document 

Automation & Production Service, and the Defense Distribution 

Depot Pearl Harbor — but warfighters don’t care about that, they

just want to make one call and get the right person who’s going

to resolve their issue. Bringing these groups together means 

we can coordinate, cooperate and synchronize our efforts so no 

matter which DLA organization that warfighter 

calls, he’s going to get help,” McCarver said. 

Now, each bustling DLA office in the Pacific 

— whether it’s in Alaska, Hawaii, Okinawa, 

Guam, Japan or Korea — has a standard sign 

identifying it as belonging to the logistics 

agency. And although the offices are working 

jointly, the chains of command have remained 

the same, with each office continuing to report 

back to its parent organization.

“By placing the responsibility to synchronize and coordinate under the DLA-Pacific 

commander, we can present a single focal point 

to the combatant commander, the sub-unified 

commands and military service components here in the Pacific 

and provide better customer assistance, war-planning interfaces and logistics solutions,” McCarver said. “A warfighter can

walk into any DLA shop on any base in the Pacific and get great 

customer service.”

Keeping Pace

In the past year, the DLA-Pacific Region team and selected 

members of the Logistics Operations and Readiness Directorate, in coordination with the DLA Office of Operations Research 

and Resource Analysis, conducted a study of Pacific resources in

comparison to the number of warfighters and major commands 

supported. The aim was to determine the right size DLA footprint necessary to better support peacetime requirements, that is 

also immediately capable of transitioning to 

war or contingency operations, and if necessary conducting both simultaneously. 

The results indicated to McCarver and the 

study team that, while DLA-Pacific Region 

team members were doing a great job, only 

220 customer-facing people were serving 

warfighters in an area of responsibility covering 51 percent of the world’s surface — about 

100 million square miles. 

“In the Pacific AOR, we have U.S. Pacific 

Command and three sub-unified commands, 

U.S. Forces Korea, U.S. Alaska Command 

and U.S. Forces Japan, as well as the four 

component headquarters that support them; all are three- or 

four-star commands,” McCarver said. “We also have a number of 

other three-star commands — the 11th Air Force, the 3rd Marine 

Expeditionary Force, the 7th Air Force and the Navy’s 7th Fleet. 

Many have personally voiced to me their concerns about having 

to reach back to East Coast offices for DLA support. They don’t 

want to have to operate on East Coast time; they want folks here, 

“We had this alphabet soup

out here before. . . but 

warfighters don’t care. . .

they just want to make one call 

and get the right person . . .

— Army Col. Bill McCarver

The Defense Logistics Agency Pacific’s headquarters is located on

a remote corner of Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. From this hub

the DLA-Pacific commander, Army Col. Bill McCarver coordinates

logistics support to warfighters in the world’s largest operating theater.
4 www.dla.mil

alongside them, so questions can be asked and answered in a 

matter of moments instead of days.”

McCarver and the DLA-Pacific Region team created a threephased approach to get more customer logistics site specialists, 

customer account specialists, demand planners and tailored 

vendor logistics specialists co-located with warfighters. 

“We’re now at the stage where we’re implementing this 

plan,” said Rob Crawford, DLA-Pacific deputy commander, who 

has past experience as a planner. “We’re moving these personnel

forward, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. 

But our customers are not satisfied; they want more.”

McCarver described the previous structure of providing 

support to troops stationed around the globe from centers based

primarily on the East Coast as an operational gap in warfighter 

support. 

“In the Pacific, the real paradigm change of combatant commander support began in 1999, when DLA-Pacific stood up as a 

command,” McCarver said. 

Before that, DLA had mostly been a continental United 

States-based, wholesale-focused organization. That paradigm 

started to change in the early 1990s during Operation Desert 

Storm. DLA had virtually zero personnel in the U.S. Central 

Command region before operations commenced, he explained.

Great improvements have been made in warfighter support since then. Today the Pacific team is essentially expected 

to provide the same excellent 24/7, 365 support that the rest of 

the world’s warfighters receive, with just 220 customer-facing 

people, he said.

“DLA has a lot of great, dedicated folks forming the backbone of its support for the Southwest Asia and European theaters, but the Pacific is one area we just can’t afford to discount,” 

McCarver said. “At any given time, our supported commanders 

Gunners mates on the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain

fire a .50 caliber machine gun during a live fire exercise in the Pacific

Ocean. Warfighters in the Pacific area of responsibility depend on

logistics support provided by the Defense Logistics Agency’s Pacificbased organizations.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Barker

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 5

Way up on a hill overlooking much of Marine Corps Base Camp H.M.Smith in Hawaii sits an old military hospital that’s been converted

into the headquarters for Marine Forces Pacific. Inside, down a long

hallway and behind a nondescript door accessible only via key card

is a technological wonderland staffed by military members and civilians representing a cross section of the Defense Logistics Agency’s

capabilities.

Though on a smaller scale, the Pacific Logistics Operations Center sort of resembles the NASA mission control center often seen in

movies. A line of workstations equipped with computers and secure

telephones sits in front of a wall of flat-screen television monitors running continuous news feeds from the major networks. Behind that, a

long conference table is surrounded by high-backed leather chairs.

Clocks marking time in major cities around the world hang near a

scrolling electronic sign displaying the day’s mission.

The mission changes from day to day because there’s no such

thing as a typical day in the PLOC, said Marine Lt. Col. John Turner,

the center’s chief of operations and exercises.

On any given day, representatives from each of the Defense

Logistics Agency’s Pacific-based organizations could be supporting

an ongoing military exercise, conducting planning conferences for an

upcoming exercise, writing support or operations plans, or providing

logistics solutions to the military’s real-world operations.

“The PLOC’s primary purpose is to take the pulse of [U.S. Pacific

Command] and provide support,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Martinez,

one of the center’s planners. “And depending on what’s coming out of

USPACOM, we could be taking the pulse of the entire Pacific theater.”

With much of the world’s focus directed toward U.S. Central

Command’s operations in Southwest Asia over the past seven years,

Martinez said, the Pacific Command and its operating forces have

become a force provider to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in

addition to conducting their own peacetime, humanitarian and contingency operations.

The PLOC’s unique range of logistics specialties created by

incorporating representatives from Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Defense Energy Support Center and the Defense Reutilization

and Marketing Service along with DLA-Pacific strategic distribution

planners, an asset visibility analyst and several “jacks of all trades,”

is what makes it so capable of supporting a force with such diverse

missions, Turner said.

“Part of what makes us work is that we’re able to test these capabilities during exercises like Terminal Fury and bring that experience

into conducting current operations and crisis response,” Martinez

said. “It’s exciting to be in the joint military environment serving as a

strategic-level logistics provider.”

— Heather Athey

Mission Control

are conducting operations — including extensive preparation for

two major operations plans — while also preparing for future humanitarian and contingency operations and conducting routine 

multinational exercises. They need DLA to be there for all of it.” 

On the Move

In addition to stationing more personnel at forward locations, 

DLA-Pacific is in the midst of planning for some significant 

relocations to stay on-site with warfighters as several major 

commands prepare to reposition in anticipation of future U.S. 

strategy and defense goals. 

In Okinawa, the U.S. government is preparing to give some 

of the land occupied by U.S. military bases back to the Japanese 

government. Some troops will relocate to established bases in 

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Thomasson uses a grinder on a

metal project aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex while

on deployment in the Pacific. The Defense Logistics Agency-Pacific

Region team pools the Agency’s supply capabilities to provide support

warfighters need to sustain daily operations and plan for contingencies

in the mainly air and maritime theater.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nardelito Gervacio

A

M

t

S

t

P

l Wh

t
6 www.dla.mil

other parts of Japan, but many, including 

the headquarters for 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, 3rd Marine Division, 1st Marine 

Air Wing and 3rd Marine Logistics Group 

— which include about 8,000 Marines — will 

relocate to the U.S. territory of Guam. 

“Everyone is operating under the assumption that the U.S. is pulling everything 

off Okinawa, and that just isn’t the case,” 

McCarver said. “These Marines are moving 

from Camp Kinser to Camp Hansen in the north and from Camp 

Foster to Camp Schwab, and DLA has to go with them to ensure 

uninterrupted support.”

Located off the southern tip of mainland Japan, Okinawa 

has long served as home to a significant U.S. military presence.

DLA’s current offices on Camp Kinser — a Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office, the Defense Distribution Depot 

Yokosuka, Japan Detachment, a DLA-Pacific warfighter support 

representative and a Defense Supply Center Philadelphia-Pacific 

Region staff — are expected to relocate to what’s being called the 

Chibana Industrial Park, an as-yet-to-be-built complex located 

near Kadena Air Base. Kadena already houses a Document 

Automation & Production Service office. A second 

DAPS office is already located at Camp Hansen, 

and the customer service representative from 

Camp Kinser will follow the 3rd Marine Logistics 

Group to Guam.

While the industrial park is slated to house a 

number of significant military support activities in 

the near future, it currently consists of farmland 

accessible by a single-lane paved road. “There are 

currently cows in the future Chibana Industrial 

Park,” McCarver said. “We’re expecting to put these locations 

into service by the end of 2012. And even though there’s been 

work done on the master plan, a lot more has to happen before 

DLA can set up shop.”

On Guam, officials explained that DLA has to plan for supporting a military force that will likely double and bring along 

with it dependents. The influx of people is expected to almost 

triple the military-related population on the island.

“Right now we have no DLA-Pacific personnel on Guam, 

but we have a DLA presence through DESC, DAPS, the DRMO, 

DSCP, DLA Enterprise Support and the Defense Distribution 

Depot Guam, Marianas,” Crawford said. “Our mission is going 

to expand exponentially 

there, and we’re planning 

to get more personnel so 

we can support these major 

headquarters.”

A single highway serves 

as the main transportation artery on Guam — two 

northbound and two southbound lanes — which means 

customers would have to 

take an hour-long trip to 

travel from Apra Harbor at 

the island’s southern end to 

Andersen Air Force Base in 

the north. Proposed plans 

would eliminate that trip 

by stationing DLA’s offices 

onsite with the major commands.

In Korea, where U.S. 

Forces Korea is consolidating its locations and 

moving troops and equipment farther to the south, 

DLA is preparing to follow 

“We’re moving these 

personnel forward, and 

the response has been 

overwhelmingly positive. 

But our customers are not 

satisfied; they want more.”

 — Rob Crawford 

Sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz stand on the flight deck as it approaches the Military Sealift Command

fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon for a replenishment at sea prior to a scheduled deployment to the western

Pacific Ocean. While the ship is in the Pacific theater, the Defense Logistics Agency-Pacific Region team will be

responsible for providing the food, fuel and spare and repair parts these Sailors need to complete their mission.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew A. Hepburn

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 7

suit. Additional staff will set up at Osan and Kunsan air bases 

and U.S. Army garrisons Humphreys and Daegu to absorb the 

increased demand.

“We have all these little sites that sit outside the wire [off a 

protected military installation] in the Pacific,” Crawford said. “In 

addition to bringing our support to where the warfighters need 

it, we’ll also be providing some better protection for our folks 

once they’re inside the wire.”

On Oahu, Hawaii, the DLA-Pacific Region team is attempting to bring all its offices on the island onto Pearl Harbor — 

including a DRMO currently located at the far end of the island

on Barber’s Point — and situate some folks closer to the military 

major commands. An added analyst, a warfighter support representative and a planner are expected to ramp up support for 

the Navy’s Pacific Fleet headquarters, while aviation, maritime 

and distribution planners will accompany DESC and DRMS 

operations officers on site with USPACOM at Marine Corps Base 

Camp H. M. Smith. A planner is also slated to go to Pacific Air 

Forces headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base and another to 

U.S. Army Pacific headquarters at Fort Shafter.

Looking Ahead

Despite the challenges in supporting warfighters spread 

across 15 different time zones and 43 countries, where warfighter 

support representatives on average submit more service tickets 

than any others in the Agency, the work force is laser-focused 

on mission success. In 2008, DLA-Pacific achieved a 99 percent 

rating among its employees on customer focus and a 98 percent 

on strategic direction and intent on a Denison Climate Survey 

review, which measures how well an organization’s stakeholders 

understand its mission and their success at working together to

execute the mission. The results also showed 99 percent of DLAPacific employees felt empowered to provide innovative logistics

solutions to American troops. 

“This is an exciting time in a dynamic operating theater. We 

are supporting military operations, planning for future needs 

and working alongside warfighters in military exercises to ensure 

they have what they need for command post exercises as well as 

field training exercises,” McCarver said. “We have a great team 

that is highly motivated and understands how critical their work 

is to warfighter success.” 

An Indonesian navy engineer and a U.S. Navy Seabee from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40 pour concrete for an engineering civic action

program during the first phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Indonesia 2009. Warfighters get the construction materials, fuel

and other sustainment supplies they need during regular and humanitarian operations from the Defense Logistics Agency-Pacific Region team.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Maria Gonzalez
8 www.dla.mil 8

FAR

AND

WIDE

The energy support center solves some of these challenges by 

storing fuel at 72 major defense fuel support points positioned 

around the area of responsibility. These DFSPs can hold and 

store a variety of products, with total storage capacity of a billion 

gallons. DESC averages 500 million gallons of bulk sales in the

Pacific each year. 

Because the majority of military installations in the Pacific 

are island-based, there are unique challenges to getting fuel to 

warfighters at remote outposts. Black said sealift is critical to the 

center’s supply chain operations.

“We are very dependent on air and sea lines of [transport] in 

the Pacific,” he said. “If it takes seven hours to fly from Seattle 

to Honolulu, then it will take about six days by ship. It is not an 

exact hour-for-day equation, but it is pretty close. When people 

start thinking about the equation for transportation of fuel and 

coupling it with positioning fuel, the Pacific offers a very different set of conditions than any other theater.”

Black said the lessons the U.S. military learned while conducting resupply operations in the Pacific during World War 

II illustrate the delicate balance necessary to forward position 

supplies while maintaining the agility and mobility necessary to 

change as the operating conditions change. Forces also need to 

have enough in reserve to ensure a continuous supply of critical 

items, of which fuel is one, he added.

Supporting contingencies and operations like humanitarian 

T

he sun never really sets for the 76 employees working 

for the Defense Energy Support Center-Pacific Region — 

they support an area of responsibility spanning 16 time 

zones and covering 51 percent of the Earth’s surface.

DESC-Pacific provides fuel support for military 

operations throughout the Pacific region while ensuring uninterrupted and timely support of quality bulk fuel to military service 

components and operational joint task forces in support of U.S. 

Pacific Command missions. 

“We have a regional staff located in Hawaii and five field 

offices in Japan, Korea, Hawaii, Guam and Alaska,” said Navy 

Capt. Ron Black, DESC-Pacific commander. “Additionally, three 

of our office commanders are ‘dual-hatted’ as sub-area petroleum 

officers, reporting to the USPACOM joint 

petroleum officer.”

The scope of the theater is staggering — nearly 60 percent of the world’s 

population lives within the 43 countries 

included in the Pacific region. Six of the 

world’s largest armed forces operate in 

the theater, creating many strategic sea 

lane and fuel positioning challenges, 

Black said. 

Kelly Widener is the Defense Energy Support Center

Public Affairs Officer.

Story by Kelly Widener

A KC-125 Stratotanker from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa,

Japan, refuels a C-17 Globemaster using Defense Energy

Support Center-Pacific-provided fuel. The center provides

fuel support to warfighters during normal operations,

contingencies, routine exercises, and humanitarian and

natural disaster assistance.

Courtesy Photo

petroleum officer.”

ing — nearly 60 percent of the world’s 

population

included in the Pacific region. Six of the 

world’s

the

lane

PACIFIC REGION

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 9

assistance and disaster-relief support places additional pressure on the DESC supply chain. These types of extra operations 

also require DESC-Pacific to work closely with USPACOM and 

service component planners to identify required fuel support 

needs, Black said.

Once requirements are finalized by the services, they are 

submitted to service control points and DESC-Pacific for contract execution.

The center has provided support to more than 20 disasterrelief operations in 12 countries and U.S. territories since 1996, 

said Army Lt. Col. Miles Glotfelty, operations officer for DESCPacific. DESC-Pacific also provides fuel support during major 

field training exercises such as Cobra Gold, a joint exercise with 

Thailand designed to improve combat readiness and interoperability, and Keen Sword/Keen Edge, a joint exercise to increase

interoperability with U.S. forces and Japan’s Self-Defense 

Forces, he said. 

Thanks in part to emerging technology and steady growth in 

the energy arena, the organization is also expanding its support 

role in supplying alternative and renewable fuels. 

DESC-Pacific is currently cooperating with 

the state of Hawaii and 

USPACOM to organize the 

first Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo in 

Honolulu, said Air Force 

Lt. Col. Joy Griffith, commander of DESC-Hawaii, 

a field office within DESCPacific. 

“This venue will bring 

together the key military, 

political and civilian 

stakeholders within the 

region and provide a 

forum to discuss alternative and renewable energy 

opportunities, initiatives 

and future actions. The 

goal is to bring the region 

together and push forward 

in this new field as one 

unit,” Griffith said.

Using teamwork to get 

the job done is not new to 

DESC-Pacific employees, 

Black said. Aside from 

the unique communication challenges involving 

Defense Energy 

Support Center

Pacific Region

time zones and the international date line — which while simple

enough to calculate mathematically can become problematic 

during normal day-to-day support routines — DESC-Pacific has 

an essential support mission that impacts many. 

“Fortunately, we have an outstanding, dedicated team standing ready to support our warfighters and all regional operations

and overcome any challenges presented,” he said. 

Mission:

To provide warfighters and other government agencies 

with comprehensive energy solutions in the most 

wartime effective and peacetime efficient manner.

Core Business:

Provide regional oversight and management of fuel/

energy resource distribution, inventory control, quality 

surveillance, facility maintenance/modernization, 

and environmental compliance in the Pacific area of 

responsibility, which includes five Defense Energy 

Support Center field offices and 72 Defense Fuel 

Support Points housing more than 25 million barrels 

of fuel. 

Advise U.S. Pacific Command logistics operations on 

wholesale distribution issues and complement the 

mission of the Joint Petroleum Office to ensure the 

most effective and efficient energy/petroleum, oils and 

lubricants support to warfighters.

Number of Employees:

Military — 15

Civilian — 64

Local National — 8

Fiscal 2009 Budget:

$7.8 million (Does not include contracts)

Types of Jobs Held:

Combatant command planner/liaison officer, 

operations officer, strategic energy manager, 

international agreements manager, quality manager, 

contract specialist, bulk fuels specialist.

Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Moore, a

bulk fuel specialist, uses a host to

refuel a jet on the flight line at Eielson

Air Force Base, Alaska. The Defense

Energy Support Center-Pacific averages about 500 million gallons of bulk

fuel sales to customers in the Pacific

area of responsibility each year.

Marine Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Miller
10 www.dla.mil 10

The Defense Logistics Agency Enterprise Support Pacific

supports warfighters directly through its engineering work,

which is used to construct projects like this fuel storage tank.

FLIERS

FREQUENT

C

al Yamane is a member of the 100,000 mile club on 

United Airlines. And Delta Airlines. 

As the Defense Logistics Agency’s Enterprise Support site director in the Pacific, Yamane racks up the air 

miles each year overseeing his team’s operations providing installations and environmental management and public 

safety and business office support to the Agency’s field activities 

in the world’s largest theater.

The extensive travel schedule is necessary because of the 

nature of the work; conducting safety and environmental 

inspections and engineering new facilities require his staff to be 

physically on-site for some of the processes. The sites involved

are widely geographically dispersed, from California to Alaska 

and Hawaii in the states, to Wake Island, Guam, Kwajalein Atoll 

and Diego Garcia in the Pacific Ocean. 

From his home base at DLA’s Pacific headquarters on Naval 

Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Yamane said his team’s main 

challenge is navigating the distance and logistics it takes just to 

get to these sites so they can do their job.

“For example, out of Hawaii, it takes 10 to 14 hours to get to 

your temporary duty lodging in mainland Japan or Korea. Once 

there, you need to know how to navigate within the country to 

get from one DLA activity to the next, whether it’s by plane, taxi 

or bus, and we always remember to factor in time for traffic,” Yamane said. 

People in the states don’t realize 

distances perceived as easy to navigate — 

say 30 miles — are day-long trips in other 

countries where lack of infrastructure 

and densely packed populations hamper 

transportation, he said. His staff also has 

to be able to communicate with the locals 

— whether that’s in Japanese, Korean or 

another language. 

Because of the challenges, Yamane’s 

staff coordinates site visits so they can visit all DLA sites in 

a country once they arrive. DES’ biggest customer inside the 

Agency is the Defense Energy Support Center, for which the staff 

travels extensively to engineer facilities and systems as part of 

the center’s fuel infrastructure and perform on-site inspections. 

“The assistance we provide to DLA’s field activities is indirectly supporting warfighters because we allow them to focus on their 

individual missions, whether that’s the Defense Supply Center

Philadelphia, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, 

the Document Automation & Production Service or the Defense

Distribution Center,” Yamane said. “The support DES Pacific provides is an extension of the support the larger DES organization

provides to the supply centers on the [U.S.] mainland.”

The Pacific-based organization also directly supports service 

members, mainly through its engineering work. 

“A typical [military construction] project to construct a 

hydrant fueling system requires us to verify the system’s requirements and design the best solution. We involve all parties — the 

design consultant, the major military command, the DLA or military service end user, military base maintenance divisions, flight 

operations, construction contractors and inspectors — early in 

the process so we may incorporate or address the concerns 

of those from different functional areas that will have to live 

with the system after it’s been constructed.”

DES staffers must coordinate their work to support warfighters with a number of involved stakeholders — military, civilian and political. In some instances, 

Yamane’s workers must also deal with representatives of 

foreign governments when a host nation funds a project 

for DLA, such as designing the site for a new Defense 

Story by Heather Athey

tor in time for traffic,” Yamane said. 

distances

say

countries where lack of infrastructure 

and densely packed populations hamper 

transportation,

to

— whether that’s in Japanese, Korean or 

another

PACIFIC REGION

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 11

Mission: 

To provide high-quality support services and products 

in the areas of installations management, public safety, 

environmental management and occupational health, and 

administrative support in a timely, efficient manner within 

the Pacific theater. 

Core Business: 

Engineering 

Sustainment, restoration and modernization projects, 

military construction projects, facility planning studies 

and requirements. 

Environmental 

Oversee remediation and cleanup; perform assistance 

visits; review spill control plans, local procedures, processes 

and documentation and recommend improvements.

Public Safety 

Process personnel security clearance documents, 

participate in headquarters-led vulnerability 

assessments, operations security, perform 

assistance visits, review designs and recommend 

security improvements, information security and 

communications security assessments of secure Internet 

room operation, brief travelers on country-specific 

threats, provide security training.

Safety 

Disseminate safety program guidance, perform site 

assessments, provide safety and accident-prevention 

training, review designs and recommend safety improvements, perform accident-reporting and investigation tasks.

Number of Employees: 

Civilian — 23 

Forward-Deployed Personnel: 6 

Alaska — 1 distribution facility specialist 

Guam — 1 security specialist 

Japan — 1 engineer, 1 engineering technician 

Korea — 1 engineer, 1 distribution facility specialist

Defense Logistics Agency

Enterprise Support Pacific

Reutilization and Marketing Office or conducting environmental 

cleanup or assistance visits.

In addition to its main engineering functions, DES Pacific 

also provides environmental backing to Agency and military 

facilities by reviewing fuel and chemical spill control plans and 

local processes and recommending improvements. 

“We also provide safety guidance, perform site-safety 

assessments and provide safety and accident-prevention training,” Yamane said. “We can help local Agency and military 

personnel improve their safety plans and, in the event of an 

incident, conduct an accident investigation.”

All these things mean DES Pacific’s mission is slightly different than the other DES support branches located in the United 

States and in Europe — primarily because all DLA activities in 

the Pacific are tenants on military-run posts, camps and stations.

“We have no Morale, Welfare and Recreation function in the 

Pacific and no police or firefighter and fire station functions,” 

Yamane said. “But we do serve as liaisons between DLA activities and the local MWR functions on individual posts.” 

The DES Pacific staff works very hard to enable DLA activities to provide the best logistics support to warfighters by ensuring they have the right facilities, safe operating conditions to 

prevent injuries to DLA personnel, security to prevent unauthorized access, and environmentally sound processes so the Agency 

doesn’t have to spend money to clean up mistakes, Yamane said.

This background will serve the team well, he said, as it plans 

to support DLA functions slated to move alongside warfighters 

as projected troop movements reposition forces in mainland 

Japan, Okinawa, Korea and Guam. 

“We are in the planning and assessment stages now, but DES 

Pacific will be ready to provide whatever high-quality support 

services and products DLA organizations need — installations 

management, public safety, environmental management and 

occupational health, and administrative support — to continue 

uninterrupted quality support of warfighters,” Yamane said. 
12 www.dla.mil 12

OCEANFRONT

PROPERTY

These and other changes are expected to continue for another five years, Collins said. Meanwhile, customers throughout 

the Pacific still rely on local reutilization and marketing offices for 

three things: hazardous waste disposal, property disposal and as a 

source for free material.

“It’s important for us to be very good at hazardous waste 

disposal because of the considerable risk to the environment and 

personnel involved,” she said. “Every time you have to handle or 

move hazardous waste, you have an opportunity for some sort of 

contamination or spill.”

Every DRMO in the Pacific has a contract with a local vendor 

who is responsible for removing such hazardous material as 

chemical or petroleum products, paint or lead acid batteries 

from customers’ locations and properly disposing of it. 

“This really helps minimize the amount of times chemicals 

are handled and jostled around,” Collins added, “and it gets the 

hazardous waste off the island and to disposal much faster.”

DRMS is becoming more of a household name as warfighters learn to make do with tighter 

budgets. Customers in Okinawa 

recently added a link to DRMS 

with the words “check here first” 

on the Marine Web site where new 

material is typically ordered.

“They understood their 

budgets were getting tighter and 

wanted their people to use DRMS 

as their first resource instead of as 

an afterthought,” Collins said, addT

he Defense Logistics Agency’s Defense Reutilization and 

Marketing Service is changing to keep pace as military 

strategy evolves and troop levels fluctuate throughout 

U.S. Pacific Command’s operating area.

“A large part of what we’re doing right now is keeping up with where the customer is, where they’re going to be, and 

whether or not we’re shaped and distributed with personnel and 

facilities to support them when and wherever they shift to,” said 

Bobbi Collins, disposal services director of DRMS’ Pacific Region.

With several bases in South Korea planned for closure and 

return to the Korean government in upcoming years, DRMS is 

already working to consolidate and move Defense Reutilization 

and Marketing Offices at Busan and Bupyong closer to where 

customers will be at a new facility in A’po.

In addition, DRMS employees in Okinawa are planning for 

an expected surge of furniture and appliance turn-ins in fiscal 

2010, when some Marines currently in Okinawa, Japan, move 

to Guam. Relocation of a Navy air wing from Atsugi, Japan, to 

Iwakuni, Japan, is 

also redistributing 

workloads across 

DRMOs on the Japanese mainland.

Story by Beth Reece

Photos by Heather Athey

Excess property turned in to the

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office on Naval Station Guam is

organized on shelves in a warehouse.

Military customers in the Pacific often

turn to the DRMOs as sources for free PACIFIC REGION materials like furniture.

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 13

ing that in fiscal 2008, DRMS reutilized more than 7,000 line 

items at a savings of more than $63 million in the Pacific.

The most critical but often overlooked service DRMS offers 

in the Pacific is demilitarization of equipment, Collins added. 

Demilitarization removes the offensive capability of an item that 

could — in the wrong hands — be used against U.S. forces. 

Because there is no demilitarization center in the Pacific, 

most equipment is demilitarized as a condition of sale, through

which DRMS officials verify that the customer has broken the 

property down to scrap before officially transferring it. Items 

that can’t be demilitarized as a condition of sale are shipped to a 

center in Tucson, Ariz., for final demilitarization. 

“This is, quite honestly, our most critical piece of support — 

one that people don’t realize happens behind the scenes. We’re 

providing a level of protection to our forces, and we see that as 

our overriding mission,” Collins said.

Geography and status of forces agreements with Korea and 

Japan create challenges that are unique to the Pacific region, she 

said. A stateside DRMO overloaded with property, for example, 

can request an “over-the-road redirect” that diverts trucks with 

unwanted property to another DRMS location.

“But we obviously don’t have that luxury here because it’s 

more difficult to move property around all this water,” Collins 

said. “Also, our SOFA agreements with Korea and Japan don’t 

allow us to move property between the countries for the purpose

of disposal. That really restricts our ability.”

The challenges and upcoming changes are well received by 

DRMS employees in the Pacific. Collins said they are using the 

structured problem-solving methods of Lean, Six Sigma and 

Continuous Process Improvement to make their business processes smoother and smarter. 

“We’re always looking at ways to improve our processes,” she 

said. “Anybody can get a little anxious with change, but my folks 

have been very willing to look at things objectively for the sake of 

making things better.” 

Mission:

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service-Pacific 

Region provides centralized Department of Defense 

disposal management of excess and surplus military 

property supporting U.S. military forces throughout the 

Pacific; federal, state and local agencies; and the U.S. 

Foreign Military Sales Program.

Core Business:

Property disposal and remarketing to include: identification and handling of controlled material to ensure it is 

not released outside of authorized agencies by controlled 

handling and storage, demilitarization, transfer, donation 

or sale of releasable usable property and scrap.

Number of Employees:

Military — 2

Civilian — 92

Local National — 76 

Fiscal 2009 Budget:

Labor — $3,177,600

Non-Labor — $1,026,200

Locations of Forward-Deployed Personnel:

Oahu, Hawaii

Naval Station Guam

Sagami, Japan

Okinawa, Japan

Misawa, Japan

Iwakuni, Japan

Sasebo, Japan

Yokosuka, Japan

Bangkok, Thailand

Bupyong, Republic of Korea

Busan, Republic of Korea

Camp Carroll, Republic of Korea

Types of Jobs Held:

Property disposal specialists, environmental specialists, 

environmental technicians, supply support specialists, 

warehousemen, contract specialists, contract technicians, 

planners, resource analysts and administrative specialists.

The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office Hawaii, located on

Oahu, accepts excess property from all the military services operating in the state. A large lot on the property houses items too large for

storage inside the warehouses — like these inflatable-hulled boats.

Defense

Reutilization and 

Marketing Service
14 www.dla.mil 14

CLICK TO PRINT

All DAPS services can be ordered online, meaning the production service can be anywhere warfighters are, as long as they

have access to the Internet, said Claire Terada, DAPS Pacific 

Office deputy director.

Earlier this year, the Navy’s Fleet and Industrial Supply 

Center at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, signed an agreement with DAPS for electronic document-management solution 

services. The project involved scanning and converting time and

attendance records into digital files.

“Currently, FISC Pearl operates under the Navy’s Enterprise 

Resource Planning system, which is an integrated business-management system that modernizes and standardizes Navy operations across the military service, like DLA’s Enterprise Business 

System,” Kadomoto said. “However, despite those attributes, the

Navy ERP doesn’t allow electronic storage of FISC Pearl personnel documents.”

Under the agreement, DAPS is providing a document repository that aims to give the FISC employees a more efficient way of 

accomplishing their tasks via a Web-enabled platform.

“Using the DAPS system will improve FISC Pearl’s office 

storage, retrieval and interface processes as outlined in their 

system requirements,” Kadomoto said.

Although the production service is still in the process of 

Story and Photos by Heather Athey

I

n the Pacific area of responsibility, where warfighters measure distances by hours of flying time rather than miles, 

accessing customized document solutions is as easy as logging into a Web site.

“We’ve extended our capabilities both physically and 

virtually,” said Bobby Kadomoto, the Document Automation 

& Production Service’s Pacific Office director. “DAPS, as the 

Defense Department’s document solutions provider, has 

facilities on-site with warfighters at sites in Hawaii, Alaska, 

Guam, Japan, Okinawa, Korea and the Far East so we can get 

them the document solutions they need in a timely manner.”

Those document solutions range 

between bulk printing and warehousing 

of documents like aircraft maintenance 

technical manuals and material data 

safety sheets for use in warehouses, to 

on-demand output from paper copies or 

digital files. DAPS also converts hardcopy files to digital documents and offers 

electronic data-management solutions to 

help customers keep track of their files 

and incorporate them into larger information systems. 

The Document Automation & Production Service

facility on Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, is colocated with Air Force members to ensure timely

support of customer requirements.

between

of

technical

safety

on-demand

digital files. DAPS also converts hardcopy files to digital documents and offers 

electronic

help customers keep track of their files 

and

PACIFIC REGION mation systems. 

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 15

scanning and converting documents, Gayle Miyamoto, a support 

services supervisor at FISC, said the system will expand the 

Navy ERP’s archive capability. But the biggest benefit, she said, 

will be space savings.

“All the documents will now be in the system and not in our 

file cabinets. Researching and retrieving information will be 

done faster and easier,” Miyamoto said.

The software and hosting platform DAPS is providing to 

FISC is scalable to meet the Navy’s changing needs and has a 

uniform design and technology so its use can be expanded across 

FISC Pearl, Kadomoto said.

In addition to its digital solutions, the DAPS Pacific Office 

also offers full-service graphic design and can turn out various 

printed guidebooks, brochures and posters for customers.

DAPS has been on the job serving warfighters for more than 

55 years, and Kadomoto said he expects the production service 

will continue to expand its product offerings to match customers’ emerging needs.

In the future, Kadomoto said, DAPS plans to maintain its 

onsite support to warfighters by moving some of its forward 

facilities to sites slated to receive troop increases as part of projected force restructuring in mainland Japan, Okinawa, Guam 

and Korea. The service currently has five facilities on mainland

Japan and two on Okinawa, one co-located with the Air Force 

on Kadena Air Base and one with the Marines on Camp Foster. 

The Camp Foster office is expected to follow the Marines as they

move north to Camp Hansen. 

“Because the majority of our on-site operations are manned 

by just a few employees, we can have more sites co-located with 

warfighters,” Kadomoto said. “We’re exploring all the ways we can 

keep our services in line with what customers want and provide

the quality customer service DAPS has become known for.” 

Mission/Core Business: 

The Document Automation & Production Service 

is responsible for document services within the 

Defense Department and Executive Branch agencies, 

including printing and high-speed, high-volume 

duplicating, and the procurement of these services 

from commercial sources. DAPS is the preferred 

provider of solutions for the conversion, retrieval, 

output and distribution of digital documents.

Number of Employees: 

Civilian — 26

Local National — 35 

Contractors — 5 

DAPS Pacific Annual Revenue: 

Approximately $28 million 

DAPS Pacific Facilities: 

Alaska

Eielson Air Force Base, Fort Richardson, 

Fort Wainwright

Hawaii 

Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Schofield Barracks

Guam 

Naval Forces Marianas, Andersen Air Force Base

Mainland Japan 

Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Yokota Air Base, 

Misawa Air Base, Fleet Activities Sasebo, 

Camp Zama

Okinawa 

Kadena Air Base, Camp Foster

Korea

Yongsan Army Garrison, Camp Casey, Camp Walker, 

Osan Air Base 

Document Automation

& Production Service

Two employees of the Navy’s Fleet Industrial Supply Center Pearl

Harbor, Hawaii, learn to use a Document Automation & Production

Service-provided electronic document-management solution which

archives personnel documents for easy storage and retrieval.
16 www.dla.mil 16

SMALL WORLD

I

ts area of operations may span more than 105 million

square miles of ocean and cover thousands of islands with

diverse and exotic cultures, but a staff of only 52 Defense

Supply Center Philadelphia Pacific Region employees 

provides logistics and acquisition support to the theater’s 

warfighters. 

The group is the Pennsylvania-based supply center’s forward 

command element in the Pacific. DSCP Pacific Region serves as 

the Defense Logistics Agency’s lead for supplying troop-support 

items like food, clothing, medical supplies, and construction supplies and equipment to warfighters and other federal agencies. 

“DSCP Pacific Region is an integral part in making sure that 

DSCP meets its commitment to deliver the best in troop support,

the best product to warfighters and the best value for military services,” said Navy Cmdr. Matt Ott, DSCP Pacific Region commander. 

In addition to supporting warfighters’ daily operations, 

DSCP Pacific Region also supplies products and logistics solutions for special operations and humanitarian and disaster relief 

efforts throughout the Pacific theater. 

“At DSCP Pacific Region, we execute effective logistics support and unmatched end-to-end supply-chain management 

around the world every day,” Ott said.

Part of what makes the DSCP Pacific Region so effective at 

its locations in Okinawa, mainland Japan, South Korea, Guam, 

Singapore, Diego Garcia, Hawaii, Alaska and Ecuador is the 

team’s sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in all it does, 

Ott said. He also credits the leadership of DSCP Commander Army 

Brig. Gen. Gustave Perna with empowering the team to meet the 

combatant commanders’ and DLA headquarters’ missions in the 

Pacific. 

“Commander Ott and his entire team have done an absolutely 

outstanding job serving as my ‘eyes and ears’ for troop-support 

issues in the Pacific arena. They understand customers and their 

needs and, by doing so, have proactively resolved issues in the 

most efficient and effective manners. They are force multipliers 

for the entire Agency,” Perna said.

Story by Jonathan Stack

The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia Pacific Region is the Defense

Logistics Agency’s lead for supplying troop-support items like food,

clothing and medical materials to warfighters in the Pacific theater,

like the goods being delivered here to the aircraft carrier USS John PACIFIC REGION C. Stennis during a replenishment at sea operation.

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Denny Cantrell
Loglines l September - October 2009 17

Mission:

Troop support executes effective logistics support, 

end-to-end supply-chain management around the 

world everyday, 24/7. 

Intent:

We execute proactive solutions tailored to Pacific 

customers. We conduct ourselves professionally and act 

with a sense of urgency. We understand the mechanics 

of our business. We constantly innovate to provide a 

response worthy to enhance mission effectiveness and 

in concert with proper financial stewardship. We are 

empowered to take actions that deliver unmatched 

logistics capabilities to the fight.

Number of Employees:

Military — 9

Civilian — 52

Local National — 9

Projected Annual Sales:

Approximately $ 1.4 Billion

Forward-Deployed Offices

Hawaii

Alaska (Elmendorf Air Force Base, Fort Wainwright)

Guam (Apra Harbor, Andersen Air Force Base)

Mainland Japan (Yokosuka, Sasebo, Iwakuni)

Okinawa, Japan (Kadena Air Base, Camp Kinser) 

Korea (Camp Humphreys, Camp Carroll)

Singapore

Types of Jobs Held: 

Dining facility/galley liaison, Army & Air Force Exchange 

Service/Navy Exchange clothing and textile liaison, 

overseas Subsistence Prime Vendor Program liaison and 

contracting officer’s representative overseas, Medical 

Prime Vendor Program liaison, produce buyer, quality 

assurance leader, procurement analyst, forward logistics 

specialist.

Defense Supply

Center Philadelphia

Pacific Region

“Commander Ott has teams dedicated to customer support,” 

said Angel Colon, DSCP Pacific Region’s deputy commander 

for Operations.

He said one of Ott’s enhancements has led to the establishment of a hub-and-spoke procurement team staffed by contracting officers, known as Pacific Region Forward Buyers. The 

hub office is in Hawaii, and spoke offices extend and connect 

to Korea, Guam, and Yokosuka and Okinawa, Japan. A future 

extension is planned for Singapore.

“The Pacific Region Forward Buyers initiative has proven to 

be an effective methodology for DLA to expand overall forward 

support within the area of responsibility,” Colon said.

The contracting officials are using DLA’s Enterprise Business 

System to expand procurement within the Pacific Region. Being 

on site with customers enables buyers to chase down requirements faster and be part of the customers’ strategic planning 

process instead of waiting for customers’ orders to come to them 

through the system. The requirements are then fed into EBS by 

forward logistics specialists. 

“The ability to feed requirements into and generate timely 

procurement response out of EBS has expanded DLA’s reach 

and truly enables real-time customer response,” Ott said. “There 

is no substitute to meet, hear and tailor a logistics solution to 

someone who needs help in your region.” 

Ott also embedded forward logistics specialists and buyers 

with customers like the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, located at 

Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and facilities on Naval Station Pearl 

Harbor, Hawaii. 

“This allows us to truly work alongside our customers and 

be called upon to meet large-scale customer requirements,” 

said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Kevin Howard, a DSCP Pacific 

Region forward logistics specialist. “It is much easier to integrate 

proposed logistics solutions when the relationships and ties are 

as strong as the ones we share in the Pacific.”

Ott said DSCP Pacific’s largest duty is supporting warfighters, and his team executes their troop-support mission with a 

sense of urgency. 

“They deserve our best support — there are no chances for 

do-overs. We take great pride and know the full capabilities within 

big DLA; we truly enhance outcomes for warfighters,” Ott said. 

“Successful outcomes are the gauge of successful support.”

Members of the DSCP Pacific Region team not only get to 

know their customers, they deploy with them as emergencyessential personnel for exercises and in the event of real-world 

crisis support. 

 “They trust us and want us along,” Howard said. “We provide tailored logistics solutions of supreme value.”

Ott said he encourages his team to be innovative, think creatively 

and design processes that always deliver top-notch support.

 “Making troop support the best includes making sure we 

execute with a sense of urgency and that we deliver to our word

— 100 percent of the time,” Ott said. 
18 www.dla.mil 18

PRIME POSITION

preparation and work goes into making sure each site stocks the 

items most in demand with their customers.”

The distribution mission at sites throughout the Pacific is 

typically sustainment-oriented, said Navy Cmdr. Michael Hansen, also a DDC strategic planner. 

 “Repair parts are what we’re stocking most at our forward 

depots, along with some building materials — things our customers need on a routine basis,” he said. 

“We work very closely with component commanders to try 

to anticipate what the demand is going to be and where material will be needed, so we can optimize the stock we have in our 

forward depots,” Hansen added. “And I think one of the things 

we do in the Pacific, probably more than in other locations, is we 

plan for potential contingencies.”

In areas like South Korea, for example, forces must be ready 

— and properly equipped — to face dangers posed by communist 

North Korea.

Defense Distribution Depot Yokosuka, Japan, is DLA’s largest overseas distribution facility. It supports warships of the USS 

George Washington Carrier Strike Group, the USS Essex ExpeStory by Beth Reece 

Photos by Heather Athey

O

f 25 worldwide distribution depots operated by the 

Defense Logistics Agency, just four of them are responsible for supplying customers spread across more than 

half of the planet.

“The main thing that differentiates our mission in 

the Pacific is the sheer size of the region, which encompasses 

100 million square miles and covers 51 percent of the Earth’s 

surface,” said Robert Hauseman, lead strategic planner for the 

Defense Distribution Center.

From its headquarters in New Cumberland, Pa., DDC oversees four major depots

— one each in Hawaii, Korea, Japan and

Guam — that store and distribute supplies

to forces throughout the Pacific region.

“Each has its own specific mission and 

unique set of customers. Soldiers in Korea 

requisition and consume different items 

than do Airmen on Guam. Likewise, Sailors in Japan and Hawaii have their own 

special needs,” Hauseman said. “Much 

land,

—

Guam

to forces throughout the Pacific region.

unique

requisition

than

ors

PACIFIC REGION special

“Your Logistics Provider”

ON THE MOVE
Loglines l September - October 2009 19

ditionary Strike Group, and major Defense Department industrial 

shore commands and bases throughout Japan, Singapore, Diego 

Garcia and the Middle East. It also has detachments co-located 

with customers on Okinawa and in Sasebo, Japan.

Defense Distribution Depot Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, distributes 

to 27 home-ported ships and submarines and 26 major industrial 

shore commands, as well as transitional battle groups.

Defense Distribution Depot Guam, Marianas, supports various ships home-ported in the southwestern Pacific, including 

submarine tenders, submarines and supply ships, and forwarddeployed Air Force and Army units. 

The Agency’s newest distribution center, Defense Distribution

Depot Korea, at Camp Carroll, was established in January 2005.

“Command and control is very difficult in the Pacific because 

of the time differences and geography of these locations,” Hansen 

said, adding that even weekly telephone conferences can cause 

conflicts.

“To make sure we have a time that’s reasonable for everyone, 

we usually do teleconferences at 7 p.m. New Cumberland time, 

because it’s 8 a.m. in the morning of the next day in Korea and 

Yokosuka,” he said.

The vast distance between customers and depots is also a 

challenge in the Pacific, such as with Marines on the island of 

Okinawa, southwest 

of mainland Japan.

“We spent years 

trying to figure out a 

way to get things to 

Marines on Okinawa 

faster, cheaper and 

easier. No matter 

what we did, the 

best we could do was 

improve the margins 

— no real dramatic 

improvement.”

To better support 

Okinawa customers, 

the Yokosuka depot 

stood up a detachment on Okinawa in 

April 2008.

“The benefits 

we’re getting now 

include timeliness, 

because the material 

is located right there 

with customers, and 

lower transportation 

DEFENSE DISTRIBUTION DEPOT

Yokosuka, Japan

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Defense Distribution Depot

Yokosuka, Japan

Mission:

Provides joint distribution support throughout the 

Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. 

Primary customers include the warships of the 

USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group and the 

USS Essex Expeditionary Strike Group.

Number of Employees:

Military — 34

Civilian — 32

Local National — 348 

Inventory Value:

Approximately $322.3 million with about 65,002

line items

Storage Space:

20 buildings with a covered storage capacity of 

2.9 million usable cubic feet

Defense Distribution Depot

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Mission:

Provides physical distribution support for 27 homeported ships and submarines and 26 major industrial/

shore commands, as well as transitioning battle groups.

Number of Employees:

Military — 6

Civilian — 81

Inventory Value:

Approximately $296.3 million with about 53,236 

line items

Storage Space:

17 buildings with a covered storage capacity of 

2.4 million usable cubic feet

The Defense Distribution Depot Guam, Marianas, is a mostly contractorrun operation supporting various ships home-ported in the southwestern

Pacific Ocean and forward-deployed Air Force and Army units.

Material is packed on pallets and staged

in preparation for loading on trucks at the

Defense Distribution Depot Guam, Marianas.

Defense Distribution Center planners stock

mainly sustainment-oriented items like repair

parts and some building materials at the center’s forward depots serving customers in the

Pacific area of responsibility.
20 www.dla.mil

costs, because we can ship things as opposed to flying them in at 

the last minute,” he added.

Likewise, the depot in Korea is working with the Army’s Material Support Center, Korea to consolidate stock and functions 

on the Korean peninsula at Camp Carroll.

“The intent is to minimize redundancies and establish a 

single activity for storage and issue of stock in support of U.S. 

Forces Korea,” Hauseman said.

With U.S. Pacific Command officials currently discussing 

changes in military strategy and troop locations, Hansen said 

the Defense Logistics Agency’s footprint there is likely to shift as 

troop movements occur in upcoming years.

 “It looks like the numbers of troops are going to change at 

several locations. We’re looking now at how we can continue to 

provide the same level of support, especially in this budget-conscious time,” he said. “We’ll continue to customize our support 

to warfighters’ benefit.” 

DEFENSE DISTRIBUTION DEPOT

Guam, Marianas

Korea

Defense Distribution Depot Guam, Marianas

Mission:

Provides distribution support to various ships homeported in the Southwestern Pacific, including submarine 

tenders, submarines and supply ships. 

Number of Employees:

Civilian — 15 

Mostly a contracted operation 

Inventory Value:

Aproximately $21.9 million with about 12,000 line items

Storage Space:

5 buildings with a covered storage capacity of 

249,951 usable cubic feet

Defense Distribution Depot Korea

Mission:

Provides fast-moving DLA-managed items and Armymanaged items via local issue to support warfighters 

throughout the Korean peninsula. 

Number of Employees:

Military — 1 

Civilian — 12 

Local National — 76

Inventory Value:

Approximately $51.1 million with about 30,431 line items

Storage Space:

5 buildings with a covered storage capacity of 

A 227,308 usable cubic feet worker at the Defense Distribution Depot Guam, Marianas, checks an

inventory list in the depot’s chemical storage area. The depot is poised

to continue its level of support as approximately 10,000 Marines reposition from Japan to Guam over the next several years.

“We work very closely with component 

commanders to try to anticipate what the demand 

is going to be and where material will be needed, 

so we can optimize the stock we have in our 

forward depots.”

— Navy Cmdr. Michael Hansen
Loglines l September - October 2009 21

PICTURE THIS

I

t’s simple: use a computer mouse to 

draw a circle anywhere on a picture 

of the globe. 

As soon as that circle is complete, powerful Google Earth 

software reaches into a database to find 

all the data for the geographical points 

inside the circle and returns it in under 

30 seconds. 

“It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s so simple 

my kids can do it,” Marine Lt. Col. John 

Turner, chief of operations and exercises 

in the Defense Logistics Agency’s Pacific 

Logistics Operations Center, said of the 

Story by Heather Athey

program and its accompanying search 

engine, with which he and his team of

planners have built the prototype for the

Pacific theater’s new common operating picture. 

Common operating pictures are 

mainstays in the military services — 

large planning staffs create ways to 

show general officers the assets and 

forces available on the battlefield, in 

theater and in reserve. For many years, 

this was done using overhead projectors and acetate maps, but advances 

in geospatial technology and the 

A common operating picture 

helps the Agency complete 

its mission, whether that’s 

sustaining daily operations, 

planning for contingencies 

and exercises, or conducting 

humanitarian assistance 

in theater

The Pacific area of responsibility is displayed here through

Google Earth, a commercially available, off-the-shelf software

package used by the Defense Logistics Agency-Pacific to

build a prototype common operating picture to illustrate its

support to the theater’s warfighters.
22 www.dla.mil

widespread availability of inexpensive 

software programs are allowing DLA’s 

Pacific-based planners to bring near-realtime data to the table as they support the 

Agency and the military services. 

“A geospatial product lends itself to 

the tactical, operational and strategic 

levels of warfare because it creates a common operating environment. You have to 

have the common environment to create 

the common operating picture, and the 

rub is, if you have 50 different operating 

environments , you don’t have a COP,” 

said Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Martinez, a 

planner in the PLOC. 

A common operating picture helps 

the Agency complete its mission, whether 

that’s sustaining daily operations, planning for contingencies and exercises, or 

conducting humanitarian assistance in 

theater. Soon after taking command of 

the Agency’s Pacific operations, Army 

Col. Bill McCarver directed his planners 

to develop a COP that would enable him 

to have information on DLA’s assets in 

theater at the touch of a button.

“Colonel McCarver’s challenge to 

us was to provide him a no-cost operating picture with in-house labor and an 

‘I needed it yesterday and I don’t have 

any extra money to give you’ mentality,” 

Martinez said. 

What the staff did was use a commercially available, off-the-shelf technology 

and customize it for the Agency’s use — 

all without any additional manpower or 

funding. 

“It’s almost limitless, which makes 

it very exciting. For us, logistics is just 

another layer in, say, 15 layers of different 

types of data. There are opportunities to 

represent federal, state, local and international points of interest, Defense Department assets, commercial infrastructure 

and multinational capabilities — you get 

to see all the things that must happen in 

order for DLA to provide support on one 

screen,” Martinez said. 

The PLOC’s operating picture allows 

planners to plot pushpins on the map 

to show DLA sites. Upon clicking that 

pushpin, the user can see what military 

commands each site supports and the 

assets associated with it. For example, if a 

pushpin indicates a warehouse, users will 

be able to see exactly what commodities 

currently reside in that warehouse because the software is intended to enhance 

DLA’s total asset visibility.

The benefits are invaluable when a 

customer has an urgent request for an 

item or if a storm damages a warehouse 

facility, Martinez said. 

“In a recent case, a warehouse at the 

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office [at Barber’s Point, Hawaii] sustained 

damage during an especially strong 

storm. Using the COP, we were able to 

take photos of the damage, load those 

into the software and create a profile of 

the event, which was then used to brief 

leaders on the situation,” he said. “We 

were able to show everything — the roof 

damage, the impact water had on the 

assets in the warehouse and even what 

individual items were damaged.” 

Even farther, the COP renders information from the Asset Visibility system 

allowing planners to see items down 

to the national stock number in DLA’s 

warehouses so they can quickly find what 

warfighters need. The information on 

each item even includes what parts can be 

substituted in the event a primary part is 

on backorder or unavailable. 

“This is the equivalent of me creating a [Microsoft] Word document that is 

applicable to DLA. The whole COP is just

a stack of Word documents, even though

they may be interlinked to other locations,” he said. “The files are just a way of 

staging something on the map of the blue

planet.”

Historically, DLA hasn’t had a single 

common operating picture. Individual 

directorates and primary-level field 

activities select their own methods for 

analyzing data and briefing the Agency’s 

leadership. At the Defense Departmentlevel, the Joint Staff has worked on a common operating picture program for between 10 and 15 years, spending millions 

of dollars, but warfighters have found the 

product difficult to use, officials said. 

The capability has been used in the 

The Defense Logistics Agency-Pacific’s common operating picture allows users to plot pushpins on a map of the blue planet. By clicking on the pushpin, users can access Agency data,

including information from its Asset Visibility System, so they can quickly find items warfighters

need. (Inset photo) In addition to satellite imagery of Agency sites, users can also load images

to the common operating picture to further illustrate a briefing, as was done with this streetlevel photo of DDYJ.
Loglines l September - October 2009 23

Southwest Asia area of responsibility to 

map locations of improvised explosive 

devices to ensure warfighters can avoid 

them. Other organizations have used the 

software for homeland defense, and individual states are also using it to represent 

their data. There are many “proofs of 

principle” out there, Martinez said. 

“If you’re in a common operating 

environment and you create a common 

operating picture, what can we all have 

more in common than this wonderful, 

blue planet we’re sitting on?” he said. 

Usually, when an organization the size 

and scope of DLA implements a new 

information system, much work must occur behind the scenes to code and adapt 

commercial off-the-shelf software for 

Agency use. 

“We didn’t have to do any coding; 

we’re just manipulating a product that 

already has everything loaded into it,” 

McCarver said. “We’re just using the user 

interface, the front end, to make an existing program look like we need it to look 

and make it very DLA-focused.”

Security has been a concern with

Google Earth in the past, but DLA-P’s use

of the product and Agency data is protected

behind a public key infrastructure-enabled

firewall. The classified version of the COP 

exists only on DOD’s secure Internet.

“We’re really excited to do this, but we 

need the Agency to embrace the capability 

here — the potential is tremendous,” 

McCarver said. “I’m a logistician, and

it’s my responsibility to ensure that

Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine

operating over there in harm’s way has

the best I can provide him. It would be

negligent on my part not to have my

staff use this product that is inexpensive and readily available to give them

that world-class support.”

Drawing a circle on a geographic area using

the Google Earth software will return information on all the geographic points inside

the circle. Users of the Defense Logistics

Agency-Pacific’s common operating picture

can then see pushpins that coincide with

Agency assets and facilities.
24 www.dla.mil

LONG-TERM

RELIEF

Story by Jonathan Stack

Photos by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Valcarcel

The Military Sealift Command dry cargo ship USNS Richard E. Byrd

moves cargo across decks to a Samoan shipping vessel that will help

ferry medical and engineering equipment ashore for Pacific Partnership

2009, an annual humanitarian civic-assistance mission. The Defense

Supply Center Philadelphia Pacific Region provided construction supplies in support of the mission.

I

n December 2004, the deadliest tsunami in recorded history 

devastated many parts of Asia and resulted in more than 

150,000 deaths.

The aftermath brought about an increase in humanitarian operations, which officials said highlighted the importance of establishing relationships between the United States 

and Pacific-region host nations. The Pacific Partnership mission 

set was subsequently developed as an annual humanitarian 

civic-assistance mission to provide assistance like medical, dental, veterinary and engineering services in the host nations. 

The Pacific Partnership mission differs from the humanitarian 

and disaster-relief assistance U.S. Pacific Command has provided in 

the past; it aims to improve the quality of life for host-nation citizens.

“Humanitarian assistance/disaster relief is the pickup 

game,” said Navy Adm. Robert Willard, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander. “That’s the operation that we’re engaged in when a 

typhoon strikes or mudslides occur or a volcano erupts or other 

natural or man-made disasters call for us to respond.”

This year’s Pacific Partnership 2009 mission included 

participation by military, government and civilian agencies 

from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Tonga and 

the United States. These workers visited Kiribati, Republic of 

the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. The 

projects included a solar power system to the Republic of the 

Marshall Islands, solar panels and about 20,000 pairs of reading 

glasses to Samoa, rollup-style doors to Tonga, medical support 

for more than 30,000 people in Guadalcanal Republic of Solomon Islands, and the flagship project, replacement of a vehicular 

bridge on Tarawa in Kirabati. 

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia Pacific Region — the 

Defense Logistics Agency’s Pacific-theater lead for troop-support 

items like food, clothing, tents, and medical and construction 

supplies — played a major role in Pacific Partnership 2009, 

which runs from June 29 through Sept. 29. 

In the previous year, Navy Cmdr. Matt Ott, DSCP Pacific 

Region commander studied the Pacific Partnership mission 

requirements and knew his team could be mission enablers. 

He said he reached that conclusion because procurement of 

construction and medical supplies was being outsourced by the 

U.S. Navy, which led to sourcing problems, inadequate product 

quality, delays in timely project completion and increased costs.

This year, Ott offered a solution — permit DSCP Pacific 

Region to address Class I (subsistence), IV (construction materials) 

and VIII (medical materials) item issues from beginning to end. 

“As DSCP’s forward presence in the Pacific, we are uniquely 
Loglines l September - October 2009 25

positioned to extend and connect our troop-support programs 

to meet total needs,” Ott said. “Our programs aim to provide the 

quality products demanded at the correct delivery location, on

time and all at lowest costs.” 

Ott said DSCP Pacific is a dedicated single face to the customer, which is in line with DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan 

Thompson’s intent to bring the Agency’s capabilities closer to 

warfighters and integrate them into the military planning process. 

“Our logisticians for Pacific Partnership 2009 are currently 

co-located with key customers throughout the Pacific region 

including U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet, 1st Naval 

Construction Division Pacific and the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center,” Ott said. “We have executed sound planning and 

now are assisting in the execution aspects of the mission.”

Planning for the Pacific Partnership 2009 mission began in 

October 2008 and, Ott said, DSCP Pacific representatives were 

present every step of the way.

“By participating in every aspect of planning, including sending DSCP Pacific Region logisticians to each country during the 

pre-deployment site surveys, we forged our own partnership with

customers based on trust and confidence,” Ott said. “As the 

Defense Department’s premier logistics provider, we understand

the true nature of their requirements and, therefore, can deliver.”

The pre-deployment site survey teams conducted detailed 

logistics assessments of each country with regard to the capabilities of the local economy to support local procurement and its 

ability to host naval vessels.

Ott said the most challenging aspect of providing support 

was an unanticipated schedule change due to an H1N1 influenza 

virus outbreak on the USS Dubuque. Initially the Dubuque was 

scheduled to carry on the Pacific Partnership mission set from 

start to finish, but was pulled from the mission because of the 

outbreak. The USNS Amelia Earhart and USNS Richard E. Byrd,

two of the Military Sealift Command’s six dry cargo/ammunition 

ships and part of the 40-ship Naval Fleet 

Auxiliary Force, worked in the Dubuque’s 

place to complete Pacific Partnership 2009.

“As a result, our logistics plan required 

short-fuse changing,” Ott said. “Due to the 

flexibility of our recently established DSCP 

Pacific Region Procurement Office, we were 

able to also meet changes when numerous 

visit sequence orders in [the assistance 

area] also changed.”

DSCP Pacific Region’s support allowed 

mission planners to increase the number of

engineering projects they could complete in

any given country by helping them budget with a higher degree of

accuracy than during previous missions. 

“As Seabee [Navy construction battalions] teams arrive, 

work can begin on day one because they can rely on material we 

provided to be pre-staged, ‘kitted’ and on-site to support their 

defined projects,” Ott said.

Ott said the end result is that the Pacific Partnership 2009 

mission commander and his staff didn’t need to spend time tied 

up with logistical and procurement concerns and were able to 

concentrate on other aspects of the mission, such as integration 

of nongovernmental organizations, allies, host-nation support 

and associated public affairs elements.

“DSCP Pacific Region is likely to be the source of choice for 

Class IV and Class VIII items again next year,” Ott added. “These 

enhancements are in addition to coordinating and providing the 

daily food supplies for the mission.”

The organization sourced more than 3,000 Class IV and VIII 

line items valued at about $2.8 million for this year’s mission. 

“The contributions of the DSCP Pacific Region team in supporting Pacific Partnership 2009 logistics requirements have 

been outstanding. From planning to execution, their participation and the subsequent value added has been immeasurable,” 

Navy Rear Adm. Thomas Traaen, the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s deputy 

chief of staff for logistics, fleet supply and ordnance, said in an 

article on the subject in Seapower magazine. “They have been 

100 percent invested.”

The team’s exceptional inventory oversight and global-level

supply-chain management was nothing short of outstanding,

he said.

 “DSCP Pacific Region’s revolutionary approach to in-country 

procurement using their recently established contracting office 

has strengthened national partnerships, contributed to local 

economies and maximized the ability of the commander to successfully carry out his mission,” Traaen said. 

Mark Coussens, a dentist from the University

of California, San Diego, and Canadian Army

Cpl. Katarina Vasic, a dental technician,

provide treatment to a local man during Pacific

Partnership 2009. Defense Supply Center

Philadelphia Pacific Region provided medical

supplies in support of the mission.
26 www.dla.mil

DLA NewsWire

Navy Yard Facility 

Commemorates 

Anniversary of

North Pole 

Exploration 

One hundred years ago, Navy Rear Adm. 

Robert Peary and Matthew Henson 

claimed they were the first explorers to 

reach the North Pole. This year, more 

than 20 descendants of the two men, 

along with representatives from the Navy, 

the Explorers Club – an international 

multidisciplinary professional society 

dedicated to the advancement of field 

Capt. Samuel Borey, a military aviation

technical support officer in the French

Defense Ministry’s Joint Petroleum

Service, receives a briefing on fuel

quality controls from U.S. Air Force

Tech. Sgt. Joseph Major, noncommissioned officer in charge of the Fuels

Management Flight Quality Lab at

Langley Air Force Base, Va. A 10-day

tour hosted by the Defense Energy

Support Center allowed Borey and

another French officer, Lt. Col. JeanNicolas Noviant, an operations support

office manager, to benchmark areas

of common interest in petroleum, oils

and lubricants support operations, to

include petroleum operations, quality

surveillance and operations planning. 

Quality Control

research – and the National Geographic 

Society gathered at Arlington National 

Cemetery at the explorers’ adjacent grave 

sites to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their achievement. 

At the request of Naval Facilities 

Engineering Command, the Washington Navy Yard facility of the Document 

Automation & Production Service printed 

commemorative documents including 

color brochures, post cards and programs 

used at the wreath-laying ceremony at 

the cemetery. The Navy Yard facility is 

administered by the DAPS Washington, 

D.C., Office group.

— Keith Beebe

Document Automation & Production Service

Public Affairs Officer
Loglines l September - October 2009 October 2009 27

Compiled by DLA Public Affairs

Loglines l September - October 2009

ARMY 

DIRECT

ORDERING 

PROGRAM

ARMY

Defense Supply

Center Philadelphia

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia’s Army Direct Ordering Program provides a direct

connection for deployed Soldiers to order more than 50 uniform replacement items such

as goggles, patches and Army Combat Uniforms. 

Deployed Soldier accesses the Internet 

and logs onto the Army Direct Ordering 

Program through Army Knowledge Online

Order is 

processed 

through 

DSCP’s 

Kentucky 

Logistics 

Center

Ordered items are packed 

and processed through 

the U.S. Postal Service

Delivery is 

provided 

directly

to the 

deployed 

Soldier

Soldiers Get 

Replacement Items 

in a Snap

Deployed Soldiers can now order two 

new clothing items through the Defense

Supply Center Philadelphia’s Army Direct 

Ordering Program. The Flame-resistant 

Army Combat Uniform and the Improved 

Physical Fitness Uniform became available 

for order through ADO this spring.

Made of a cloth known as Defender

M — a blend of flame-resistant rayon, 

Para-Aramid and nylon fibers — the 

flame-resistant uniform can be ordered, 

shipped and received through the program 

in about 21 days, officials said. 

“In the past few years it has become 

clear that our deployed service members 

need to be protected from flash burns 

caused by improvised explosive devices 

and other enemy weapons in the field,” 

said Susanne McHale, supervisor of the 

battledress uniform integrated supplier 

team that partnered with industry to 

make available a flame-resistant version 

of the combat uniform.

 The new Physical Fitness Uniform 

features a long sleeve t-shirt and a 

modern workout jacket and pants, all of 

which are made of high-performance, 

wind-resistant, moisture-wicking fabrics. 

The jackets now feature reflective stripes, 

reinforced elbows, adjustable vents and a 

hidden back vent. 

A Web-based ordering service run by 

DSCP, the Army Direct Ordering Program is accessible through Soldiers’ Army 

Knowledge Online accounts and gives 

customers in such far-flung locations as 

Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Kuwait and 

Djibouti the option to order more than 

50 different uniform replacement items, 

ranging from Army Combat Uniforms to 

goggles, from the program’s contractor, 

the Kentucky Logistics Center.

“The ADO Program has been an outstanding success and a valuable benefit 

to Soldiers deployed to the U.S. Central 

Command area of responsibility, providing sustainment of clothing items, and 

organizational clothing and individual 

equipment,” said Kenneth Gunn, KYLOC 

program manager. “Soldiers have the 

ease of ordering from a Web-based catalog and receive an order that has been 

individually picked, packed and shipped 

to their location in theater.” 

— Kathy McPeak

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia

Corporate Communications
28 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

1. As a career Soldier with more 

than 23 years in uniform, what 

did you know about the Defense 

Logistics Agency prior to assuming

command of its Pacific operations? 

Looking back, I knew very little 

about DLA, mostly identifying it with 

supplying subsistence and limited 

repair parts, and I would have miserably failed a multiple-choice test on 

its various acronyms. As part of the 

team for two years, I have learned 

DLA is a tremendous combat multiplier with an extremely dedicated, 

professional work force. I would have 

been a more effective logistician had 

I known this earlier in my career, and 

that shows the importance of telling 

our story and working aggressively to 

educate customers on the Agency’s 

capabilities.

2. What past experiences prepared 

you to command logistics operations in the world’s largest theater? 

Once I became a logistician, I 

spent most of my time in forward 

support battalions supporting heavy 

brigade combat teams. Successful 

command and control in that environment requires a well-developed 

combat service support plan, coupled 

with clear commander’s intent and 

ensuring both are disseminated to 

the lowest level. I employed the same 

process in developing our plan of 

attack for supporting the vast Pacific 

area of responsibility with dispersed 

Col. Bill McCarv 

Defense Logistics Agency - Pacific commander discusses mission challenges and opportunities.

Combat Multiplier Pacific Area of Responsibility Forward Buyers Paci

DLA capabilities — develop a plan, 

provide clear intent and then ensure 

my entire work force understands 

both and that they have my trust to 

move out and execute. 

3. With much of DLA’s focus on the 

Middle East, little visibility is given 

to operations in the Pacific. Why is 

this theater important?

Supporting two wars presents an 

incredible challenge and deserves to 

be everyone’s main effort. However, 

the rest of the world has not taken 

a timeout while we are focused on 

Southwest Asia. Turn on the news

and you see threats like North Korea’s

latest missile challenge, extremists in

the Philippines, and political unrest 

in China. Six of the world’s largest 

militaries are operating in the Pacific, 

and its economic importance cannot 

be understated. China, Japan, South 

Korea and India — all important 

trading partners — use the Pacific as 

their primary shipping lane for trade 

with the U.S. A threat in this region 

could have devastating economic 

effects on not only us, but the rest of 

the world. 

Defense Logistics Agency Photo
Loglines l September - October 2009 29

v er

ific Partnership DLA Branding Embedded Planners Demand Signals F

by DLA Public Affairs

4. What do you believe is the most 

significant logistics challenge facing warfighters in the Pacific, and 

how is DLA responding? 

The Pacific AOR is primarily an 

air/maritime theater, and because of 

the sheer size and scope of the area 

of operations, the biggest challenge 

is overcoming the distance. The primary lines of communication are by 

air and sea, and this is compounded 

because DLA does not have a fixed 

infrastructure or personnel in much 

of the AOR. DLA-Pacific is working to 

overcome these challenges by embedding planners at warfighting headquarters to ensure requirements and 

planning support are identified on 

the front end. This requires personnel growth in the form of planners, 

but such growth is an investment 

DLA can’t afford not to make. 

5. How is DLA perceived by the 

military services in the Pacific? 

DLA has a great reputation 

across the military service components. Initiatives like the Defense 

Distribution Center establishing 

the Defense Distribution Depot 

Yokosuka, Japan, Okinawa Detachment, the Defense Energy Support 

Center standing up a field office on 

Guam, the Defense Supply Center 

Philadelphia’s Forward Buyers and 

Pacific Partnership work, among 

others, have established trust with 

customers in the Pacific. They know 

DLA hears their requirements and 

is working to deliver solutions. 

We need to continue embedding 

ourselves and moving customerfacing personnel forward to further 

improve support.

6. What do you find challenging 

and rewarding about commanding 

operations so far away from 

the Agency’s Fort Belvoir, Va., 

headquarters? 

The biggest challenge is communication, and I’m not talking 

about time zone differences, although 

those certainly present a challenge. 

Sometimes it’s difficult to communicate requirements because so many 

people lack experience in this theater.

 Partnership DLA Branding

There is widespread understanding 

of overseas operations in Europe 

and Southwest Asia because many 

have completed tours there, either in 

uniform or as civilians, but that’s not 

always true for the Pacific. This can 

be a limiting factor as we make the 

case for additional resources.

 The most rewarding aspect of my 

job is freedom to operate within the 

director’s intent. The challenges in 

this theater are many, and overcoming them takes creative solutions. But 

being surrounded by some of the best 

logisticians in the business makes the 

process of developing and implementing solutions a pleasure. 

7. You make an effort to educate

visitors to DLA-Pacific extensively 

on the scope of the theater’s mission

— why? 

It’s my job to ensure DLA does 

not overlook the AOR because it is 

consumed by supporting operations 

in Southwest Asia. The Navy has 

turned over many of its operational 

 Branding Embedded Planners Demand Signals F
30 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

Multiplier Pacific Area of Responsibility Forward Buyers Pacific Partnership 

DLA has a great 

reputation across the 

military services . . . 

They know DLA hears 

their requirements and 

is working to deliver 

solutions

logistics capabilities to DLA and cannot prosecute its Pacific campaign 

without [the Agency’s] support. 

That’s a sobering thought in a predominately maritime theater. I try to 

meet and travel with all DLA leaders 

when they visit the AOR to brief them 

on our problem set. Every time we 

have had visitors, the feedback has 

been overwhelmingly positive, and 

we encourage folks to come our way.

8. One of your initiatives has been 

to brand the Agency’s Pacific organizations under the DLA umbrella. 

What was behind that decision?

If you visited various DLA 

field offices on Oahu, Hawaii, two 

years ago, each had a different sign 

prominently identifying its higher 

headquarters — DSCP, DDC, the 

Document Automation & Production Service, etc — with little to no 

overall DLA identification. This 

caused several problems because 

most DLA customers don’t know the 

various “alphabet soups” that make 

up the Agency and much of our work 

force had a stovepipe mentality. The 

DLA-Pacific Region leadership team 

decided to change this and agreed 

upon common signage for all field 

offices that displayed the DLA-Pacific 

Region brand. We educated our work 

force that each of us represents all 

DLA capabilities, regardless of our 

particular area of expertise. Today, 

if a customer comes into a DSCP 

office with a fuel question, someone 

gets him to the right DESC office that 

can work his problem. Customers 

know if they find an office with the 

DLA-Pacific Region brand they will 

get their logistics solution. Our customers and leadership have endorsed 

this “one DLA” approach, and I 

believe we have institutionalized this 

with our Pacific work force.

9. What’s the one thing you would 

like every Agency employee to 

know about DLA’s operations in 

the Pacific theater?

The Pacific is a dynamic and 

challenging theater with a great 

DLA work force that represents the 

Agency positively. I encourage people 

to think about doing a tour in this 

AOR; they would find it professionally and personally rewarding.

10. What do you see as the future 

for DLA in the Pacific?

There is tremendous business 

opportunity in the Pacific in the near 

and long term. The relocation of the 

3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and 

its subordinate headquarters from 

Okinawa to Guam is expected to 

generate more than $11 billion in new 

construction, not counting sustainment business to follow. It is imperative DLA get its footprint there now 

so we are there when warfighters 

need us. Guam is just one example of 

growth across the AOR. Long term, 

it is essential that DLA embed in the 

warfighters’ future planning process. 

Because the services are divesting 

more and more of their logistics 

capabilities to DLA, it’s imperative 

we be part of the planning process to 

assist in logistics estimate development and identify demand signals 

at the earliest opportunity so we can 

keep warfighters ready. 
Loglines l September - October 2009 31

Story by Beth Reece

BUILDING

BLOCKS

 Beth Reece

Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, like these from the

561st Military Police Company, based at Fort Campbell,

Ky., are being supported by the Defense Logistics Agency

with everything from food and lumber to air conditioning

units and fuel.

— Photo by Marine Sgt. Pete Thibodeau

Loglines l September - October 2009 31
32 www.dla.mil

T

he harshest logistics environment 

on earth: That’s how Navy Cmdr. 

Trent Kalp describes Afghanistan’s bomb-laden dirt roads and 

craggy mountain ranges. 

“We have a saying in the office that 

everything here is hard. We’re landlocked, with no seaports and poor roads. 

There’s also a knowledgeable enemy out 

there who knows logistics is key to the 

fight, so our food and fuel trucks are being targeted,” said Kalp, commander of 

the Defense Logistics Agency’s Support 

Team-Afghanistan. 

DLA employees have been working since winter to supply material for 

eight new forward operating bases and 

more than a dozen small combat operating posts that will be home to nearly 

20,000 troops who deployed to southern 

Afghanistan during the summer. 

Working seven days a week, sometimes at 16-hour stretches, DLA support 

reps deployed to Bagram Air Base and 

Kandahar Airfield are reaching back to 

the Agency’s supply and distribution centers daily to orchestrate logistics support 

for the buildup. 

Food, lumber, tents, cots, bunk beds,

air conditioning units, repair parts,

electrical and plumbing parts, fuel —

almost everything the troops need, DLA

is sourcing it.

Building Blocks

Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and roadside bombs have made providing material there a major challenge for the Defense Logistics Agency. Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and roadside bombs have made providing material there a major challenge for the Defense Logistics Agency.

A map of Afghanistan illustrates the country’s

lack of infrastructure and seaports — both

major challenges the Defense Logistics

Agency faces as it provides material for

troops there.

The Defense Logistics Agency began working last winter to supply material for nearly

20,000 troops — like Marine 1st Sgt. Robert

Pullen from the 8th Marine Regiment — who

deployed to new forward operating bases

and small combat operating posts in southern Afghanistan during the summer. — Photo by Marine Sgt. Pete Thibodeau

Army Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden
Loglines Loglines l September - October 2009 September - October 2009 33

“The amount of construction going 

on here and the amount of material being 

used is just phenomenal,” said Kalp, who 

is deployed from the Agency’s Defense 

Supply Center Richmond, Va. “DLA 

worked way ahead of the power curve 

to pre-position construction material in 

theater, and supplies continue flowing in. 

Every day just gets busier and busier.” 

Building an Infrastructure

In June alone, more than 1,000 containers of construction material — all of it 

provided by DLA’s Defense Supply Center 

Philadelphia — were received through 

the newly opened Northern Distribution 

Network and sent south to U.S. Marines, 

Kalp said.

More than 5,000 of 13,000 re-locatable buildings, or RLBs, had also arrived 

in Afghanistan by early June, he added. 

Resembling shipping containers much 

like those used to haul goods along U.S. 

highways, RLBs are built specifically for 

housing and can be connected to create 

“trailer cities.” Their collapsible sides 

make them easy to stack and ship. 

Shower and latrine trailers have also 

been sent to the theater, as well as air 

conditioning units for tents and the more 

sophisticated RLBs.

“You can’t just buy the ‘house.’ You’ve 

got to connect these living spaces to the 

electrical, sewer and water grids,” DLACentral Deputy Commander Bill Bennett

said. “And you can’t have power unless you

generate it, so we’re sourcing generators, too.”

“The amount of construction going on here and the amount 

of material being used is just phenomenal.”

— Navy Cmdr. Trent Kalp 

Loglines l September - October 2009 33
34 www.dla.mil

DLA is even providing well completion kits that engineers need to tap wells 

for potable water, he added. 

“If you think about what it takes to 

build a city to house all the people who 

live in it, that’s what we’re doing,” Bennett said. “We’re also providing cables 

and conduits to wire living spaces for 

telephone and Internet service.”

When engineers discovered they 

needed additional electrical and plumbing materials, they came to DLA believing 

the Agency could quickly respond, said 

Army Maj. Joseph Faris, who deployed to 

Afghanistan in January from the Defense 

Distribution Center.

“They believed we’d be able to get 

these items fast, and we did manage to 

get a tremendous amount of material for 

them,” Faris said. 

With thousands of troops southbound

— far from the food distribution network

already in place in Kabul — DLA established an air distribution hub to move

Supreme, the sole supplier of food for U.S.

forces in Afghanistan, closer to customers. The hub is at Camp Bastion, the

United Kingdom’s base adjacent to the U.S.

Marines’ Camp Leatherneck, in Helmand

province.

Faris worked closely with his British 

Even the matting used to construct 

airfield runways was provided by DLA 

distribution centers in Kuwait and 

Susquehanna, Pa.

“With these square aluminum panels, 

you can build an airport where there was 

once just sandy desert,” Bennett said.

Supplying a growing force in southern 

Afghanistan is difficult enough without 

modern roads, but limited routes to get 

goods into country make it even harder, 

said Navy Cmdr. Michael Curran, a Defense Supply Center Richmond employee 

who spent February in Kandahar.

“One of the constraints was that we 

could not have military personnel in 

Engineers in Afghanistan install wiring on

new living quarters, known as relocatable

buildings, which were provided by the Defense Logistics Agency.

U.S. Army Photo

“If you think about what it takes 

to build a city to house all the 

people who live in it, that’s what 

we’re doing.” 

— Bill Bennett

counterpart, navy Cmdr. Richard Whalley, 

of the United Kingdom Joint Forces Support Headquarters, to establish the air 

distribution hub.

“Supreme had been getting food into 

southern Afghanistan using a combination of trucks, airplanes and helicopters, 

but they couldn’t reach as many locations 

in a day as they needed to flying back and 

forth from Kabul,” Bennett said. 

When the air hub opened for its first 

day of business on June 1, 11 missions 

were flown without incident.

“Supreme has sustained some 

significant casualties in the last years — 

hundreds of casualties, while getting our 

people fed,” Bennett added.
Loglines l September - October 2009 35

Pakistan and we could not bring U.S. 

military vessels into the [Pakistani] port 

of Karachi,” Curran said. 

By partnering with U.S. Transportation Command and Military Surface 

Deployment and Distribution Command, 

Curran was able to track the shipping status of items in the pipeline and give commanders “some level of predictability” on 

when their material would arrive.

“We had a very complex schedule and 

short lead times to get the initial bases up 

and running to what we call ‘initial operating capability’ so they were ready when 

the first troops arrived,” Curran said.

Sustaining the Force

DLA employees on the battlefield 

are now beginning to see the influx of 

troops for which they’ve spent six months 

preparing. After the units arrive, Kalp 

said, DLA’s focus is expected to shift from 

supporting the surge to sustaining it as 

military operations increase. 

Customers will need parts for wartorn equipment and a way to dispose of 

other materials, so the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service is currently 

partnering with engineers to de-mine 

land for a new excess property center at 

Kandahar Airfield.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Darrell 

Armstead, a Defense Logistics Information Service employee deployed to the 

Defense Reutilization and Marketing 

Office in Bagram, is already scoring 

rave reviews for supporting customers 

throughout the country.

“Armstead took it upon himself to get 

training from the ground maintenance 

guys here working on [Mine Resistant 

Ambush Protected vehicles], so he could 

go out to our DRMO yard here on base 

and find the spare parts needed to help 

get these vehicles back up and running,” 

Kalp said. 

Armstead has helped put about 50 

MRAPs back on the road, Kalp estimated, 

saving millions of dollars on parts that 

may have been destroyed or reutilized 

elsewhere.

“This is about building the base 

camps, then building the sustainment for 

the increase of forces and their equipment,” said DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. 

Alan Thompson in a June interview with 

Military Logistics Forum.

“We’re moving material over predominately dirt roads of several hundred 

miles, through high mountain peaks and 

under constant insurgent attack. It’s a 

big challenge, and we work closely with 

USCENTCOM and U.S. Transportation 

Command,” Thompson added. 

As troops continue moving into 

southern Afghanistan, DLA’s presence 

there will also grow, Faris said. DLA 

Support Team-Afghanistan will maintain 

positions in Bagram, but several team 

members will be relocated to Kandahar to 

help plan a much smaller military expansion in the west. 

DLA’s work in Afghanistan is a 

good example, Faris added, of how the 

Agency’s field activities work together for 

warfighters’ benefit.

“We do it everyday, but you don’t 

always see it,” he said. “Our customers 

are pleased with our support. They realize 

we are a national provider and we bring a 

ton to the table.” 

The Defense Logistics Agency provided matting

used to construct airfield runways such as this

one at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. 

Courtesy Photo
36 www.dla.mil

vironment in a timely, cost-efficient and 

responsive manner,” said Michael Dobbs, 

chief of environment, safety and occupational health for DDC. “As we work to 

complete the final stages of cleanup, I can 

think of no better recognition as the site 

is transferred for community reuse.”

One recent notable success stems 

from the use of thermally enhanced soil 

36

RESTORING

MEMPHIS

vapor extraction, a fairly new technology that removed more than 15,000 

pounds of contaminants from the former 

depot’s soil. By cleaning up the soil so 

effectively, this method saved taxpayers $2.5 million in groundwater cleanup 

that wasn’t required and enabled DDC to 

meet restoration goals ahead of schedule, 

Dobbs added.

C

leanup efforts at a former 

Defense Logistics Agency depot 

in Memphis, Tenn., are proof 

the Agency is an environmental 

steward worth imitating.

Environmental restoration efforts at 

the former depot were praised as among 

the Defense Department’s best this year, 

earning the Secretary of Defense’s 2009 

Environmental Restoration Award.

The depot was closed in September 

1997 as a result of decisions made by 

the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure 

Commission, but the Defense Distribution Center, with headquarters in New 

Cumberland, Pa., has overseen the restoration program since 1993.

“Cleanup efforts at the former 

Memphis depot have always been aimed 

at protecting human health and the enAerial view of Memphis, Tenn., shows vast

areas under environmental restoration at the

Defense Logistics Agency’s former depot.

More than two-thirds of the depot — 414

acres — have been returned to the Memphis

community for reuse.

Courtesy Photo

Story by Beth Reece

A current view of the former Defense Distribution Depot Memphis, Tenn., property. Courtesy Photo
Loglines l September - October 2009 37

Public briefings and community focus 

groups also helped make the restoration 

program a success.

“We met with the local people, sat 

with them and listened to their concerns 

with the goal of answering any questions 

they had. We also built relationships 

with community leaders, and I think 

we earned the trust of the community,” 

Dobbs said.

Memphis resident Ulysses Truitt is 

so confident the land is now clean he said 

he’d buy it himself if he had the money. 

“It’s just that clean, environmentally. 

In fact, the buildings there are now fully 

occupied, with something to the tune 

of 1,400 employees working for private 

industry,” he said.

Truitt worked at the former depot 

for 34 years, starting as a warehouseman 

and eventually becoming the director of 

installation services and environmental 

protection before he retired and joined 

the Restoration Advisory Board.

The former depot consists of the 

main installation and Dunn Field, where 

hazardous materials were buried and an 

underground storage tank had leaked 

contaminants. 

“Back in the 1940s, the federal government was bringing mustard gas back 

from the war. They took it to Dunn Field, 

neutralized it, dug a trench and buried it,” 

Dobbs said. “In the 40s and 50s, this was 

standard disposal practice.” 

A series of studies in the 1980s led to 

the depot’s placement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund 

National Priorities List for hazardouswaste cleanup in 1992, and a cleanup 

management team was established with 

representatives from the Defense Distribution Center, the EPA, and the Tennessee 

Department of Environment and Conservation. The team became the Base Realignment and Closure Cleanup Team upon 

announcement of the depot’s closure. 

Since 1998, 414 acres — more than 

two thirds — of the former depot have 

been found environmentally suitable for 

transfer and returned for community 

reuse. Another 228 acres were restored in 

2008 and are in the process of transfer.

“DDC made a commitment that we 

would see it through to restore the property, and we’re doing that,” Dobbs said. 

“We’ll be putting final remedies in place 

next year, then the rest of the property 

can be transferred.”

The depot was activated in 1941 and 

operated by the U.S. Army until DLA took 

it over in 1963. In its prime, the depot 

received, warehoused and distributed 

about 107,000 tons of supplies per year 

to military services and some civilian 

agencies. The depot’s close proximity to 

the Port of Memphis, major interstates 

and Memphis International Airport made 

it one of the Defense Department’s busiest distribution points. 

The Agency also has ongoing restoration projects at other DLA sites, said Phil 

Dawson, DLA’s director of environment, 

safety and occupational health.

“Wherever DLA has had a presence, 

when we leave that property, we try to 

leave it as we received it or in better 

condition. We want to make sure we’re 

protecting human health and the environment,” Dawson said. 

Members of the Restoration Advisory Board

discuss cleanup efforts at the former Defense

Distribution Depot Memphis, Tenn.

Courtesy Photo

Vice President Joe Biden (second from left) and Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn (right)

presented the Environmental Restoration Award to Defense Logistics Agency representatives

during a June 3 ceremony at the Pentagon. Receiving the award were: (from left) DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson; Michael Dobbs, environmental program manager for the Defense Distribution Center; DDC Commander Marine Brig. Gen. Peter Talleri; DDC Public Affairs

Officer Stacy Umstead; and Nanette Werner, environmental restoration lead for DLA Enterprise

Support’s Environmental Office.

Courtesy Photo
I AM

My name: 

Steve Wright

I am: 

A warfighter support representative, responsible for providing 

logistical assistance to Air Force, Army and Navy service components 

in Okinawa, Japan.

Describe your job in a sentence: 

I serve as the principle DLA liaison officer to warfighters on Okinawa .

How long have you worked for DLA? 

I have been with DLA since 2002 and a federal employee since 1994. 

Before that, I served in the U.S. Air Force.

What’s your favorite thing about working for DLA? 

The opportunity to deploy on DLA support teams. You get to see 

how DLA supports warfighters at the ‘tip of the spear’ and have the 

opportunity to enjoy cultural experiences like those offered in the 

Philippines and Korea . 

What’s your best memory of working here? 

Seeing the Defense Distribution Depot Yokosuka, Japan,

Okinawa Detachment become a reality after six years of 

deliberation. 

How do you make a difference to warfighters? 

By being that ‘go-to’ coordinator for all DLA customer readiness issues while providing the logistical tools and training needed for customers to accomplish their mission.

 providing

 customers to accomplish their