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DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY MARCH – APRIL 2010

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ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
DIRECTOR

R

ecent events around the globe have

placed an increased demand on the

Defense Logistics Agency. The U.S.

military build-up in Afghanistan, relief

efforts to Haiti in the wake of a deadly

earthquake, and scrutiny into contracting

and acquisition practices, on top of

DLA’s day-to-day mission, are testing the

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This historic level of activity has

drawn the attention of global media outlets, which are focusing on the agency’s

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also assisting a large humanitarian

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We have been successful in supNavy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson, SC, USN

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

from the

porting these wide-ranging operations

because of DLA’s scalable capabilities

– we are positioned to handle everything

that is being asked of us, and I believe our

capabilities can be leveraged to do even

more should the situation demand it. I

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support to Haiti relief operations for the

foreseeable future because the military

is committed to providing humanitarian

and security support until other organizations can take over the role.

I want to thank every DLA team

member for the dedication you have shown

to our mission. Because of your commitment, we have been able to keep pace

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deployed to Haiti, those surging into

Afghanistan and those drawing down in

Iraq. But, we cannot rest in our pursuit of

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our own internal business practices and

how well we manage our resources.

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Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency

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Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

703-767-6200

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DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson

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Army Brig. Gen. Margaret Boor

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Douglas Ide

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Jack Hooper

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Managing Editor Kathleen T. Rhem

Editor Heather Athey

Writer Beth Reece

Writer Jonathan Stack

Writer Dianne Ryder

Writer Sara Moore

Layout/Design Paul Henry Crank

Loglines is the authorized publication for the Defense

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

Agency activities worldwide and industry customers of

DLA. Contents of this publication are not necessarily the

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Department of Defense or the Defense Logistics Agency.

Loglines is prepared electronically, using desktop publishing applications; no commercial typesetting costs

are involved. Photos not credited are courtesy of Agency

sources. Submissions and correspondence may be sent

to the following address:

LOGLINES

Official Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Agency

have to pay a penny more for logistics

support of the armed forces than is

absolutely necessary – we must deliver

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dollar spent. This type of responsive and

cost effective supply-chain support is only

possible when we, as an organization,

are dedicated to improving our business

operations and performance while

controlling costs.

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hinges on many varied factors –

contracts, vendors, automated systems

– we must rely on the common, bedrock

value of stewardship to unite our efforts.

Stewardship is enduring and must

become woven into the fabric of DLA’s

culture. Stewardship is every employee’s

responsibility.

As DLA’s responsibilities continue

to grow, we must be able to assure our

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that we are up to the task. Embedding

stewardship in all we do enables DLA’s

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Loglines O March - April 2010 1

CONTENTS

Risk and Reward 2

Businesses, employees everywhere use risk management

daily, whether they know it or not.

Cruise Control 8

Internal controls program increases agency’s operating

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Smart Buys 12

New evaluation team increases oversight of contracts,

targets areas for improvement.

Bench Strength 14

Agency uses talent-management efforts, strategy to build

workforce of today, tomorrow.

Driving Force 16

Employees drive improvement to processes, gains in

HI¿FLHQF\IRUDJHQF\ZDU¿JKWHUV

Helping Hands 20

Agency gains recognition as a key supplier for local, state and federal

agencies looking to make the most of shrinking budgets.

SPIDERS 30

Secure, multi-function Web tool provides critical readiness,

contingency planning, asset visibility support for deployed and

GHSOR\LQJZDU¿JKWHUV

Help for Haiti 32

Agency puts supplies in pipeline, boots on ground in support of

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Ten Questions with ... 24

DLA NewsWire 27

I am DLA Back Cover

DEPARTMENTS

March - April 2010

pg 2

pg 8

pg 30

pg 20

STEWARDSHIP

Enabling Operational Excellence
2 www.dla.mil

Risk and Reward

Story by Sara Moore

R

isk management is something

that businesses and employees

everywhere use, whether they

are aware of it or not.

When making decisions

about a new business venture, an investment, or even where to go for lunch,

people naturally consider possible risks

and potential outcomes because doing so

helps determine an action’s cost in terms

of time and resources.

And in an organization of more than

25,000 employees that manages billions

of dollars worth of assets for American

taxpayers and service members on the

front lines, identifying possible risks

and preventing negative outcomes are

important to ensuring continuous levels

of support.

The Defense Logistics Agency

has turned to a process that has been

catching on across the business world

– Enterprise Risk Management – as a

means of identifying and eliminating

risks to ensure taxpayer dollars are being

spent in the best possible way, while

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ERM is a management process

that takes an organization-wide look at

identifying, assessing and communicating risks, and then taking action on those

risks, explained Jeff Stagnitti, DLA’s chief

The Defense Logistics Agency is ready with

support whenever the need arises, like when

warfighters need drinking water as pictured

here. The support is possible because the

agency minimizes risks in it’s daily operations.

Air Force Master Sgt. Dawn Price
Loglines O March - April 2010 3

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division in the Enterprise Transformation

and Strategic Planning Directorate called

risk assessment and process improvement. This new division will use ERM to

create a standardized approach to risk

management.

The goal of ERM is to develop a standardized, repeatable process of identifying and assessing risks, making recommendations to leadership for actions on

those risks, tracking the actions taken on

those risks, and being able to learn from

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and effective, Stagnitti said.

“Really what this is about is being

able to look at a wide variety of pieces of

information and intelligence and lashing

it together in a way to help us focus what

we take management action on,” he said.

“Enterprise Risk Management provides a

lens through which management action

can be focused on the important issues of

the day.”

In an organization like DLA, which

KDVPXOWLSOH¿HOGDFWLYLWLHVLQGLIIHUent geographical

locations, having

an enterprise-wide

approach to risk

management is very

important, Stagnitti

said. ERM will examine issues across the

board and at all geographic locations, he

said. The process will

look at things like

¿QDQFLDOPDQDJHment, operational

management, business processes and

planning in a multi-functional way, and

look for connections in identifying and

assessing risks.

“By doing it in an enterprise way, we

are bringing together what are similarly

focused but perhaps differently executed

functions in a variety of

different organizations and

geographic locations,” he

said.

The enterprise-wide foFXVZDVWKHUHDVRQ'/$¿UVW

looked at Enterprise Risk

Management as a possible

tool, said Bridget Skjoldal,

staff director of the audit

division in the DLA AccountDELOLW\2I¿FH6NMROGDODQG

her staff were the ones tasked

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wide approach to risk management.

After researching the subject, she

Enterprise Risk

Management is a

management process that

takes an organization-wide

look at identifying, assessing

and communicating risks,

and then taking action on

those risks.

SELF ASSESSMENT

Stewardship and

Manager’s Internal Controls

RISK

Enterprise Risk Management

IMPROVEMENT

Continuous Process Improvement

Lean Six Sigma

STRATEGY

COUNCIL

ENTERPRISE

BUSINESS

CYCLE OWNERS

STEWARDSHIP

CHAMPIONS

STEWARDSHIP

COMMITTEE

SYSTEM

PROCESS

OWNER

BUSINESS

CYCLE

TEAMS

PLFA

STEWARDSHIP

TEAMS

SITE

PROCESS

MANAGEMENT

CPI / LSS CADRE

Corrective Actions

Continuous Process

Improvement

DESIRED OUTCOMES: Efficient Processes Data Transparencies

Effective Controls Auditable Financials

Mitigation of Risks Sustainability

Enterprise Risk Management Governance

VALIDATIONS AND AUDITS

ENTERPRISE SITE SPECIFIC

PRIORITY

This graphic shows the governance for Enterprise Risk Management within the Defense Logistics Agency. The process is designed

to start with identifying risks, take corrective action on those risks, and follow-up on the results of those actions.

— Graphic by Paul Henry Crank

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
4 www.dla.mil

and her team decided ERM was a good

possible solution for the agency, and they

instituted pilot programs in the Financial Operations Directorate and at the

Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio.

During the pilot programs, the auditors

found that each organization, although

working separately to identify and eliminate risks, was identifying risk in many of

the same areas.

“So if they were working on the risks

independently, the way that they usually would, basically, each organization

would have been trying to mitigate those

risks or coming up with corrective action

independently, without the other one

knowing,” Skjoldal explained. “So what

we found was that it would be better to

look at them as an enterprise and come

up with enterprise solutions.”

The pilot programs also showed

that one organization would sometimes

identify a potential risk that another

organization had already experienced

and resolved, Skjoldal said. Communicating this information across the different

organizations within the agency would

allow the organizations to learn from

each other and develop a more thorough

approach to risk management, she said.

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DLA, because the agency’s structure

tends to make it work in “silos” rather

than as an enterprise, Skjoldal said. “And

so, while one organization might know

what their risks are, they’re not necessarily thinking about how their risks might

impact the other organizations,” she

said. “ ... ERM is set up to look across

the enterprise, and it also is set up so

that eventually anybody within an entire

organization can identify risks, so it’s not

just your senior leadership [identifying

risks].”

Now that the program is up and

running, the responsibility for ERM has

shifted to the Enterprise Transformation

and Strategic Planning Directorate, and

WKH$FFRXQWDELOLW\2I¿FHLVLQDVXSSRUWing role, Skjoldal said. The audit division

continues to work with J-5 in a collaborative relationship – providing risk topics

gathered through its internal audits, and

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Minimizing risk in financial operations helps ensure that the Defense Logistics Agency can meet

the needs of the warfighters in the field, like these Navy crew members aboard Military Sealift

Command fast combat support ship USNS Bridge on a replenishment mission in the North

Arabian Sea.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John Philip Wagner Jr.

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Loglines

O March - April 2010

5

annual audit plan.

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important sources of input for Enterprise

Risk Management, said Jeffrey Curtis,

director of enterprise transformation and

strategic planning. The ERM program

will take input from many different

sources, including agency employees,

senior leadership, Government

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Department of Defense Inspector General

reports, and compile it graphically to

show the likelihood of different scenarios

happening and the impact those things

would have. This graph, called a heat

map, gives leaders a clear picture of what

areas need to be focused on, he said.

“What you end up looking for is

things in the ‘high and the right’ – things

in the upper right corner of a quadrant,”

he explained. “[That means] there’s a

decent chance it would happen and if it

did, the consequences would be very unacceptable. Those are the types of things

we’re going to look at.”

Curtis and Skjoldal both stressed

that even with a robust risk management

program, organizations have to accept

some risk. This “risk appetite” means

that all risks do not go away, but risks are

managed to an acceptable level, Skjoldal

said. Curtis agreed, adding that not all

risks can be controlled, and leaders have

to make decisions about where to apply

their resources.

“What this does is make sure that

we’re leveraging to the maximum extent

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address risk,” Curtis said. “I think to just

Enterprise Risk Management helps the

Defense Logistics Agency supply U.S. service

members with the tools they need to respond

to any crisis, such as these medics with the Air

Force Special Operations Command treating

a Haitian man at the Troussaint L’Ouverture

International Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

after the earthquake that devastated the city

this winter.

Air Force Master Sgt. Russell E. Cooley IV

Loglines

O March - April 2010

5
6 www.dla.mil

kind of ‘wing it by the seat of our pants’ –

we might be going after risks that are neither likely nor very impactful, which isn’t

the best use of taxpayer dollars. Those are

dollars that could have been spent in a

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An example of how ERM helps ensure

taxpayer dollars are being spent in the

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cial reporting. DLA has been striving to

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reports is accurate and complete, for

several years, Stagnitti said.

 Applying ERM principles to that

process allowed leaders to look at the

agency’s business processes from an

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standpoint, he said. Then value-stream

mapping is used to document what

happens at each step in the business

process and determine the value it

generates for customers. This not only

allows leaders to identify and test

management controls, but also gives

them comparable data about business

practices so they can identify areas for

improvement, he said.

“You end up having an auditable,

traceable set of numbers,” Stagnitti

said of the process. “You can have

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and be able to track it all the way back to

individual sets of activities that created

those results, which will position us for

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Enterprise Risk Management is vital to an

organization like the Defense Logistics

Agency, which keeps U.S. troops around

the globe mission-ready. Here, U.S. soldiers

help the crew of a Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon

helicopter from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson

unload food and supplies at the airport in Portau-Prince, Haiti.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Barker

6 www.dla.mil
Loglines O March - April 2010 7

striving for for years.”

In that situation as in many others,

the “enterprise” aspect of ERM is what

really made the difference, Stagnitti said.

During the value-stream mapping, people

from different parts of the agency with

different perspectives come together,

which allows them to see common issues

and themes they needed to address.

“When you see themes recurring and

rippling across multiple functions, that’s

a pretty good indication that that is a risk

area that you want to address,” he said.

“And that helps us from the standpoint

of using ERM as a way to focus management energy. That shines a light on an

area that we want to take a good, hard

look at.”

When ERM helps identify an area

that needs action, that will be where leaders apply continuous process improvement, Curtis said. After action is applied,

Stagnitti’s division will then follow up

with managers’ internal controls and

statements of assurance to make sure the

improvements are taking hold and making a difference.

Having all the elements of the risk

management process – identifying,

assessing, taking action, and checking

progress – in one division creates a

“closed-loop” process that will ensure

issues are taken care of and taxpayer

resources are spent in the best possible

way, Stagnitti said.

Because DLA’s mission is so vital to

America’s military, it is important to have

a process like ERM in place to make sure

the agency’s resources are spent where

they are really needed, Skjoldal said.

ERM will allow leaders to identify areas

that may not need as many resources,

and areas where those resources could be

moved, she said.

“[Then] I think you can make those

conscious decisions about where to use the

resources wisely, because we know we’re

not getting more resources,” she said.

The Defense Logistics Agency provides the

supplies warfighters need to accomplish their

missions, including essentials like food and

water. Enterprise Risk Management helps the

agency ensure its resources are being spent in

the best way possible to keep the warfighters

equipped and fed.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John Philip Wagner Jr.

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
8 www.dla.mil

Story by Dianne Ryder

“What gets checked gets done” — the phrase appears

on promotional signs posted throughout Defense

Logistics Agency buildings around the globe.

It also sums up the mission of the Managers’

Internal Control program, which was established

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effectively it uses its resources.

Since April 2009, the MIC program has been part of

the agency’s Enterprise Transformation and Strategic

Planning Directorate, headed by Jeffrey Curtis.

Part of the 2009 Director’s Guidance dictated creation

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amount of risk the agency encounters when conducting its

operations in support of customers, Curtis said.

While it’s impossible to mitigate all risk, the DLA direcCRUISE

Control

The Defense Logistics Agency

Managers’ Internal Control

program helps the agency

operate efficiently to get

warfighters what they need.

8 www.dla.mil

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Loglines O March - April 2010 9

tor is required to provide reasonable asVXUDQFHLQDQDQQXDOUHSRUWWRWKH2I¿FH

of the Secretary of Defense that effective

controls are working to reduce possible

risks, he said.

“To do right by the MIC program and

to leverage the new mission of risk management, we set up a new division called

Risk Assessment and Process Improvement,” Curtis said.

The risk assessment division encompasses the MIC program, continuous

process improvement and “risk management proper,” Curtis said.

The risk management team helps

identify issues the agency needs to address and improve, he said, through the

process-improvement model known as

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analyze, improve and control.

“But it’s kind of all for naught if you

don’t control the [issues] and make sure

[corrective actions stay] in place,” he

explained.

Curtis said that’s where Thomas

Doyle, program manager for the MIC

program, and his staff come in.

“[They make] sure that we don’t

slip back into our old ways and that we

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measured, analyzed and improved,”

Curtis said.

Doyle said the internal controls

program objectives are very similar

to the stewardship objectives laid out

in DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan

Thompson’s 2010 Director’s Guidance.

Both strive for increased effectiveness

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and regulations, and increased reliability

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reporting.

“I think we complement [the

objectives] well because stewardship is like an umbrella ... and the

MIC program takes it from the bottom and brings it back up,” Doyle

said.

As program manager,

Doyle solicits a letter from

each assessable unit, which

includes most DLA headquarters

Managing risk and controlling processes

means the Defense Logistics Agency can

focus its efforts on supplying warfighters, like

this Airman, with what they need.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Merrill
10 www.dla.mil

GLUHFWRUDWHVDQGSULPDU\OHYHO¿HOG

activities. Each director and commander

must certify management understands

internal-control responsibilities and

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that controls are in place and working as

intended.

If controls are not working, Doyle

requests a plan of corrective action to

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material weaknesses and one operational,

but I personally attribute that to the

rigorous internal controls [required for]

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“And that’s what we’re trying to do

[for the program overall], add a little

more rigor to the process and see if

anything comes up. We want to ensure

we have the process in place to discover

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if they exist.”

In 1982, Congress passed the Federal

Managers Financial Integrity Act, which

requires federal agencies to establish and

maintain a system of internal controls,

and to annually assess the controls and

report on the results.

Doyle said many of DLA’s managers

mistakenly perceive the internal controls

program as a routine reporting requirement, with an assessment letter and

report due every year in June.

“It’s more complicated than that,”

Doyle said. “It’s a self-assessment and

there’s a whole process involved ... that’s

the word we’ve been trying to get out.”

Getting the word out involves training

approximately 30 MIC administrators who

help Doyle monitor and execute the internal controls program across the enterprise.

A Marine stages gear during a mock

deployment drill for a readiness and

preparedness exercise. The Defense

Logistics Agency works hard to control its

operational processes so customers and

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class D. Keith Simmons

warfighters get best-value support.
Loglines O March - April 2010 11

“Every year we put together a

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administrators from headquarters and

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give them additional training and focus

where we think we need to improve our

processes,” Doyle said.

In most cases, Doyle said the MIC

administrators are taking this on as a

collateral duty. Both Doyle and Curtis

agree that the challenge is ensuring the

administrators consider their duty a

priority.

Curtis said he ensures the reporting

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“We certainly don’t want to do it

simply because we were told to ‘check

the box,’ or do the minimum amount

required, and I think that’s a battle [Tom]

has fought over the years.”

“What we’d like to do is actually leverage this to help identify the issues where

there is a material weakness and we

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addressing those and then to follow up

and make sure we do close the items that

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Doyle and Curtis also agree that

implementing effective internal controls

and maintaining stewardship excellence

are everyone’s responsibility, not just that

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Doyle explained that just because one

RUJDQL]DWLRQGRHVQ¶WUHSRUWDQ\GH¿FLHQcies in the process of getting a product

to a customer doesn’t mean there aren’t

issues in the bigger picture.

From a big-picture perspective, he

said, the product goes through various

steps and it’s important for each organization to identify any weaknesses throughout the process.

In addition to being ranked highly

for an effective internal controls program

by OSD in past years, Doyle said DLA

received awards in 2007 and 2008 for

increasing program awareness among its

employees.

“We recognize that we don’t have

a perfect program, but we have a good

program and we’re continually trying to

make it better,” Doyle said.

An Airman checks the landing gear on a KC10 Extender aircraft at an undisclosed base

in Southwest Asia. At the Defense Logistics

Agency, maintaining internal controls is vital

to ensuring warfighters get supplies like

spare parts and fuel.

Air force Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
12 www.dla.mil

Smart Buys

Story by Beth Reece

T

om Rosenthal is not an impulsive

shopper. Whether he’s buying

prosthetic implants or screening

equipment for newborns,

the Defense Supply Center

Philadelphia contracting specialist

rethinks every move he makes when

spending taxpayer money on service

members’ supplies.

“People may believe we’re just

placing orders and buying things, but

it’s not that simple. I’d say 90 percent of

our day is spent gathering information,

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the decisions we make really are right for

our customers,” Rosenthal said.

A new group called the Operational

Evaluation Team was created in January

to help ensure Defense Logistics Agency

contracts, particularly those with

in distribution, and one in reutilization

and marketing.

At the end of the review, DLA will

have a repeatable process that can be

used to ensure vulnerabilities are identi-

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contracting vehicles – present and future,

said Simone Reba, deputy director of

Financial Operations, who is leading the

team through the Afghanistan review.

“What we’re really doing is brainstorming, reviewing the details of these

contracts, and the end-to-end business

process to see if they’re structured in a

way that could potentially expose us to

risk,” she said. “It’s a lot like what we do

in our personal lives. We don’t want to be

vulnerable to identity fraud, for example,

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ourselves against it.”

Agency continuous process improvement facilitators at the Defense Supply

Center Philadelphia and in the Enterprise

Transformation and Strategic Planning

Directorate are helping the team comb

through acquisition documentation using

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NQRZQDV'0$,&ZKLFKVWDQGVIRUGH¿QH

measure, analyze, improve and control.

“The idea is to help the team identify

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in Afghanistan, are not vulnerable to

vendor fraud.

The group is conducting “an intense

self-assessment that will help us further

enhance the performance of DLA’s

acquisition mission,” DLA Director Navy

Vice Adm. Alan Thompson said, adding

that the assessment is not intended to

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activities for criticism.

The team has 90 days to analyze

current contracts for food, fuel, building

materials, distribution and disposal in

Afghanistan for potential fraud vulnerabilities, contract and internal-control

weaknesses, and possible price improvements. Contracts currently under review

include one contract in subsistence, one

in construction and nine in energy, one

The Defense Logistics Agency’s Operational

Evaluation Team is helping ensure contracts

such as those for construction and building

materials used by troops in Afghanistan are

not vulnerable to vendor fraud.

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Kim Allain
Loglines O March - April 2010 13

any vulnerabilities that need to be

corrected and then see if those same gaps

or issues apply to the contracts within the

VFRSHRIRXUWHDP7KHUHPD\EHVSHFL¿F

improvements to individual contracts,

but there may also be some broader

enterprise-level improvements that we

can make with regards to acquisition

processes as a whole,” said Kevin Quick,

FKLHIRIWKH'/$&3,2I¿FHZKLFKLVSDUW

of the Enterprise Transformation and

Strategic Planning Directorate.

The long hours contracting specialists spend doing market research and

evaluating contract bids from top vendors

is similar to work done using standard

continuous process improvement or

streamlining techniques, Quick said.

“We all may not necessarily frame our

work as a continuous process improvement event, but those events, such as the

Operational Evaluation Team’s, bring

common terminology, a proven approach

and consistency of execution across the

agency for improvements to our business

model,” he explained.

Team recommendations are due to

Thompson in mid-April and are expected

to include correction strategies to be

FDUULHGRXWE\VSHFL¿FNH\SOD\HUV

“We are looking at all aspects of

acquisition management and the endto-end business processes associated

with acquisitions. Solutions may involve

changes to existing procurement overVLJKWSURFHVVHVPRGL¿FDWLRQWRH[LVWLQJ

UHSRUWVDQGDGGLWLRQDOV\VWHPÀDJV,W¶V

really too soon to say,” Reba said.

Solutions will also go outside the

acquisition community, she said, because

contract administration is not just a

FRQWUDFWLQJRI¿FHU¶VUHVSRQVLELOLW\

“Contract administration is the

responsibility of many,” added Navy

&PGU(ULF0RUJDQH[HFXWLYHRI¿FHULQ

the Acquisition Management Directorate.

“Outside the contracting chain, there

are quality assurance representatives

DQG¿QDQFHSURGXFWLRQRYHUVLJKWDQG

technical types involved.”

Adapting to change has become a

reoccurring theme among DLA’s acquisition professionals. The agency was created in 1961, but has undergone numerous reorganizations in the ensuing years

to better manage business processes. In

2007 the agency established the Acquisition Management Directorate to ensure

proper management and oversight of

DLA’s acquisition programs enterprisewide.

Since then, senior acquisition executives have been placed at each supply

center to head local contracting efforts,

and the Center of Excellence for Pricing

was created to help ensure contracts are

LQWKHEHVWLQWHUHVWVRI'/$ZDU¿JKWHUV

and taxpayers.

“The incorporation of lessons learned

as a means of achieving continuous

improvement is a strategy consistently

employed by the agency and a central

tenet of our acquisition program,”

said Nancy Heimbaugh, DLA’s senior

procurement executive and director of

Acquisition Management.

Rosenthal, who has worked as a

contracting specialist for more than four

years, expects change to be a constant in

WKHDFTXLVLWLRQFDUHHU¿HOG

 “We work with a commercial market

that’s always changing and there are

always new ways of doing things. What

may be law in acquisition today may be

amended tomorrow,” he said. “So we

are continually learning and making

improvements to the way we go about

awarding contracts.”

The agency employs 3,000 acquisition

professionals who process about 11,200

QHZFRQWUDFWDZDUGVDQGPRGL¿FDWLRQVWR

existing contracts each day.

The Defense Logistics Agency contracts

with commercial distributors to provide food,

fuel, building materials and more for service

members around the world.

Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith

Loglines O March - April 2010 13
14 www.dla.mil

I

n the sports world, teams vie for access

to the most talented and experienced

players to form the foundation for a

top-notch, winning program. Managers and coaches also devote much time

and money to honing the skills of the

players already on their rosters.

The same thing is true at the Defense

Logistics Agency, where a team of human

resources experts is working to ensure the

agency makes the best use of its time, talent

and dollars to turn out a world-class team.

Even before DLA Director Navy Vice

Adm. Alan Thompson released his 2010

Director’s Guidance calling for more

focus on workforce development and

excellence in the management of agency

resources, DLA’s Human Capital Program

'HYHORSPHQWRI¿FHXQGHUWKHJXLGDQFH

of staff director Sandra Miller, had been

working to address workforce skill gaps.

Miller’s team had also been developing human-resource metrics, conducting

competency assessments and surveys,

and coordinating with the DLA Training

Center to develop leadership programs

that give the agency evidence of how its

human resources strategy is performing.

Examining processes to make better

use of resources is something Miller

said her team has pursued for a long

time. One of the most important longterm aspects on which she said the team

concentrates to save time and money

is identifying skill gaps, or areas where

employees’ abilities may be lacking, and

providing them training. The Human

&DSLWDO3URJUDP'HYHORSPHQWRI¿FH

works closely with the DLA Training

Center on this process, which falls under

the Talent Management umbrella.

Laurie Hall, a human resources

specialist on Miller’s staff, manages

the agency’s Talent Management

initiative, which contains three prongs

of activity: workforce planning through a

systematic, integrated, competency-based

process; strategic recruitment through

implementation of refreshed recruitment

tools and approaches; and improvements

to training and development through

implementation of strategies to address

existing skills gaps, enhance readiness for

future mission requirements, and expand

opportunities for individual growth.

Hall said that DLA employees likely

¿UVWVDZWKHWHUP3WDOHQWPDQDJHPHQW ́LQ

the 2009 Director’s Guidance, which called

for human resources to expedite progress

on DLA’s Talent Management Program.

Story by Dianne Ryder

But Miller’s team had already been

involved with TM by conducting analyses

and surveys prior to release of the 2009

Director’s Guidance to see what types

of knowledge and skills the agency

needed to perform better and where to

put employees with those skills to do the

most good.

Miller said the team has successfully

LGHQWL¿HGWKHNQRZOHGJHVNLOODQGDELOLW\

gaps in various job series.

37DOHQW0DQDJHPHQWLVWKHXPEUHOOD

to bring all activity together in a thoughtIXOGHOLEHUDWLYHZD\ ́VKHVDLG

3$OORIRXUHIIRUWVZLWKLQ70VKRXOG

EHFRPSHWHQF\EDVHG ́0LOOHUFRQWLQXHG

3:KDWZH¶UHVWULYLQJWRGRLVWRDQDO\]H

the current requirements and determine

ZKHWKHUZHKDYHWKRVHFRPSHWHQFLHV ́

According to the 2010 Director’s

Guidance, TM supports an enterprisewide strategy to ensure DLA’s workforce

has the right skills to meet current and

future mission requirements. Hall said

competency-gap analyses help the team

develop recruitment, as well as training

and development strategies and apply reVRXUFHVWRUHPHG\WKRVHLGHQWL¿DEOHJDSV

3'/$¶V7DOHQW0DQDJHPHQWDSSURDFK

encourages us to be much more strateBENCH STRENGTH
Loglines O March - April 2010 15

gic in what we focus on – and spend our

dollars on – in the human capital arena.

Through workforce planning and competency gap assessment, we are identifying

how DLA might best use limited resources to ensure its workforce is prepared to

meet today’s and tomorrow’s mission

UHTXLUHPHQWV ́+DOOVDLG

2I¿FLDOVVDLGDNH\WRWKLVLQLWLDWLYH¶V

success are the senior executive-level

leaders who have responsibility for workforce capability in assigned occupations

including DLA’s mission critical occupations. Known as functional community

managers, these leaders ensure DLA has

the right people with the right skill sets.

:RUNLQJRQEHKDOIRIWKH'/$IXQFtional community managers are the DLA

FCM points of contact who are generally

GS-15-level managers. Hall said the DLA

FCM POCs work closely with the FCMs,

with work groups within their functional

communities, and with Human Resources

to conduct workforce planning and to

develop recruitment, training and development, and other strategies to close any

LGHQWL¿HGFRPSHWHQF\JDSVZLWKLQWKHLU

assigned occupations. These FCM POCs

essentially monitor the overall health of

their respective functional communities

on a day-to-day basis, she said.

Because they are close to the work of

the community, the FCM POC’s recommendations are likely to be on-target

and can bolster upper-level management

support for recruitment and training

strategies, Hall said.

The primary challenge for initiatives

like Talent Management, which

cannot be measured in direct cost

savings, is determining if recruiting

efforts and training strategies are

successful. However, Human Resources

is developing a Talent Management

3+HDOWK,QGH[ ́DVHWRIPHDVXUHPHQWV

to help DLA and individual functional

communities determine if Talent

Management strategies are working, to

learn whether the agency is narrowing

competency gaps and if it is attracting

and retaining a highly skilled, diverse and

agile workforce, she explained.

,QDGGLWLRQ'/$¶VDGRSWLRQRIWKH

Decision Lens Tool will help the Agency

decide which Talent Management

initiatives will be funded. Decision Lens

is a software solution built on the premise

that collaborative decision-making

LVEHVWRI¿FLDOVVDLG/HH:LGPD\HU

D¿QDQFLDODQDO\VWLQ'/$)LQDQFLDO

2SHUDWLRQV¶,QWHJUDWLRQDQG&RUSRUDWH

2SHUDWLRQVRI¿FHVDLG'/$ZLOOEH

implementing the automated tool in the

next program budget review cycle to

assist the agency with resource decisions.

37KH>SURJUDPEXGJHWUHYLHZ@SURcess is a manually intensive process and

UHTXLUHVXSIURQWNQRZOHGJH ́KHVDLG

3:HDUHKRSHIXO'HFLVLRQ/HQVZLOOUHduce the time-consuming effort related to

developing multiple options and adjustPHQWVIRUODWHEUHDNLQJGHFLVLRQV ́

:LGPD\HUDGGHGWKDW'HFLVLRQ/HQV

ZLOODOORZWKHDJHQF\WRSULRULWL]HLWV

budgetary requirements based on DLA

principal voting members’ criteria and

collaborative decision-making.

3:RUNLQJGLUHFWO\ZLWKDIDFLOLWDtor from Decision Lens, we have built a

model tied directly to the 2010 Director’s

*XLGDQFH ́KHVDLG

Hall said this new approach will help

DLA identify and fund critical Talent

Management initiatives that will help keep

the agency’s workforce mission-ready.

3:LWKOLPLWHGGROODUV\RXFDQ¶WIXQG

everything, but Decision Lens has the

potential to help the agency use its dollars strategically in ways that support the

'LUHFWRU¶V*XLGDQFH ́VKHVDLG

Product Specialist Jose Ramos (left), Infrastructure Support Branch chief, Sharon Ferris, and

Equal Employment manager, Ruben Filomeno, all with Defense Supply Center Philadelphia,

speak with customers at a 2009 recruitment fair in Puerto Rico. Recruiting the right candidates

for Defense Logistics Agency jobs is part of the agency’s workforce strategy.

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Defense Logistics Agency Photo
16 www.dla.mil

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Driving Force

Story by Sara Moore

A

ndres Villa has a story to tell.

The 27-plus-year veteran of

the Defense Logistics Agency’s

distribution operation in San

Joaquin, Calif., has spent his

FDUHHULQVHUYLFHRIZDU¿JKWHUV9LOOD

served in the military for three years

before joining the DLA team in 1983 and

though he’s eligible to retire this summer,

he said he wants to stay on so he can share

his knowledge with the next generation of

agency employees.

His philosophy is that by showing

WKHQHZHPSOR\HHVDOOWKHEHQH¿WVWKH\

get from working for DLA, he will inspire

them to give their best to the agency.

“I think it gives [the new employees]

a little pride in that the depot is giving

them so much, they [should] want to give

in return,” he said.

Villa has already shared some of that

knowledge with people halfway around

the world. After working for 26 years

at the Defense Distribution Depot San

Joaquin, Calif., Villa deployed to Iraq in

October 2008 and used his expertise to

help the developing Iraqi army.

A distribution process worker supervisor, Villa was part of a four-person DLA

advisory team that spent seven months

teaching Iraqi soldiers and civilian workers supply and warehouse procedures.

When the team arrived at Camp

Taji, the Iraqi army had no warehousing

system and was using paper ledgers to

keep track of supplies, Villa said. They

had to teach the Iraqis “from the bottom

up,” he said, showing them everything

from how to establish locations to

Andres Villa, fourth from left, poses with members of the Iraqi army and civilian warehouse workers

at Camp Taji, Iraq. Villa, a distribution process worker supervisor at Defense Distribution Depot

San Joaquin, Calif., was part of a four-person Defense Logistics Agency team that deployed in

October 2008 to assist the Iraqi army with supply procedures.

The Defense Logistics Agency has a mission vital to the success of American military operations across the globe. But the DLA

mission would never be accomplished if it not for the employees who work daily to keep every part of America’s premier combat

logistics support agency running smoothly. From filling supply requests to managing childcare services at agency field activities to

teaching the Iraqi army supply management processes, employees are what make the difference at DLA.

Andres Villa
Loglines O March - April 2010 17

A

nother employee making a difference for DLA is Tracy Charles,

the child development services

coordinator for Defense Supply

Center Columbus, Ohio. A 10-

year DLA veteran, Charles is responsible

for overseeing the Child Development

Center at DSCC where she tracks quality

assurance and helps the center’s contractors maintain Defense Department

FHUWL¿FDWLRQ6KHDOVRSURYLGHVDVVLVWDQFH

and oversight for the relocation and

family advocacy programs under Morale,

Welfare and Recreation.

Charles said the best part of

her job is being able to provide

DSCC employees with a nurturing

entering items into a database. He

advised Iraqi army personnel on lean

processes while re-warehousing freight

from old Iraqi army depot locations to

new locations.

He also advised and assisted the Iraqi

army in storing millions of dollars of

Foreign Military Sales freight and tracked

receipts of FMS material bought by the

Iraqi government, totaling more than $67

million.

Villa said he appreciated learning

about a new culture and enjoyed working

with the Iraqi soldiers.

“They were just real good people to

work with; they were real friendly to us,”

he said.

Villa is especially proud of an incentive program he helped create for the

Iraqi soldiers and civilians working in the

warehouses. The program rewards top

performers with a day on the coalition

side of the base – shopping at the Post

Exchange, eating at the dining facility and

going to the movies. The program was

Villa’s idea after he saw the poor quality of food Iraqi workers were eating, he

said, and he put in a lot of work to get the

program approved.

The Iraqi soldiers were very grateful

for the chance to spend a day on the coalition side of the base, Villa said. It was

personally rewarding for him, he said, to

see them get a good meal at the dining

facility and buy things for their families

at the PX.

“That was the biggest joy that I got

out of it, just to see their expressions,” he

said. “It was a great experience.”

Back at DDJC, Villa manages more

than 80 employees in the Air Lines of

Communication, a small parcel and packing area in the containerization consolidation point. Villa’s crew processes

KLJKSULRULW\VKLSPHQWVIRU863DFL¿F

Command customers and is also re-positioning stock to prepare for shipments to

and from bases affected by Base Realignment and Closure legislation.

Villa said the best part of his job is

NQRZLQJKHLVVXSSRUWLQJZDU¿JKWHUV

He said his time in Iraq allowed him to

VHHKRZ'/$EHQH¿WVWKHVHUYLFHPHPbers there, and really brought home the

importance of his job.

“Just being there to support them, for

whatever they need, is very satisfying for

me,” he said.

environment for their children.

“It’s awesome to see parents who’ve

never had their children in daycare before

drop off and leave feeling completely

comfortable,” she said. “You know, I’ll

have parents come in that say, ‘I was just

not ready to do this. I didn’t think my

child was ready, but [the center does]

such a great job, it makes doing my job so

much easier.’ That makes it really worthwhile, to know that they’re doing their job

and not worrying about the safety of their

kids – knowing that they’re loved, cared

for and learning.”

Prior to working at DSCC, Charles

spent seven years in Germany working

for child development services on an

Army base. Transferring to a mostly civilian organization was a big adjustment,

she said, but she really enjoys working for

'/$DQGVSHFL¿FDOO\DW'6&&

“Everybody’s super hard-working and

really dedicated and we have a great time,”

she said. “I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”

She said she is looking forward to the

expansion of the CDC this year, which is

expected to increase its capacity from 162

children to 282.

Tracy Charles
18 www.dla.mil

H

alfway across the world, another

DLA employee works hard to

make sure the agency’s mission

RIVXSSO\LQJZDU¿JKWHUVJHWV

accomplished.

Clancy Duncan, an operations

officer in the Joint Logistics Operations

Center for Defense Energy Support

Center-Europe and Africa, supports

bulk fuel sourcing for U.S. European

Command, U.S. Africa Command, and

U.S. Central Command.

Duncan’s job involves close stewardship over the Turkey Northern Ground

Line of Communication into Iraq, support

to all military service exercises, including

U.S. Air Force weapons training deployments, and support to NATO partnership

missions.

Being colocated in the region with

the military commands his team serves

means that Duncan and his colleagues

are often the DLA face to customers, he

said. JLOC personnel closely support the

missions of their regional command customers, sometimes deploying with units

on exercises.

This close involvement with the

customer is part of his job that Duncan

enjoys, he said. “This level of support

enables us to immediately reach back to

the regional headquarters to work quickly

and resolve issues, with clear understanding of customers’ concerns, as you’re

right there with them,” he said.

Duncan has worked for DLA for two

years, after spending time in the Army.

He said he enjoys the challenges his job

presents him, and he’s glad to be a part

of DLA.

“DLA has always had a great reputation, and I’m proud to be a member of the

team,” he said. Defense Logistics Agency employees work

hard behind the scenes to ensure supplies,

like these being loaded into a C-2A Greyhound

aircraft headed for Naval Station Guantanamo

Bay, Cuba, reach service members in the field.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicole Bieneman

Clancy Duncan
Loglines O March - April 2010 19

A

lthough DLA is made up mostly

of civilian employees, there are

also many dedicated service

members working hard to keep

the agency moving forward.

One such service member is Air Force

Tech. Sgt. Matthew Whitman.

Whitman, a quality assurance

representative for Defense Energy Support

Center Americas-East, has been in the

military for 13 years and has spent the last

four with DLA.

Whitman said he enjoys working with

his civilian counterparts, many of whom

have military experience, because they’ve

all been great mentors to him.

“The DESC leadership and

supervisors are great people to work for,”

he said. “They are always placing you

in situations [where you can] improve

yourself.”

In late January Whitman deployed

for temporary duty at U.S. Southern

Command in Miami, where he

augmented the USSOUTHCOM DESC

OLDLVRQRI¿FHUMRLQWSHWUROHXPRI¿FHU

for all fuel requirements for the military

relief operations in Haiti, following a

devastating earthquake there.

Whitman said he plans to stay in the

Air Force and work his way up to the rank

of chief master sergeant.

Villa, Charles, Duncan and

Employees making a difference at the Defense

Logistics Agency ensure warfighters in the

field get what they need, when they need it.

Here, Navy Seabees remount a water tower

after completing a roofing project at the Bai

Bureh Memorial Community Hospital in Lungi,

Sierra Leone.

Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Morris

ENABLING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Whitman
20 www.dla.mil

HELPING HANDS

Story by Beth Reece

T

eachers without classroom

computers, hurricane victims

in need of food and water, and

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&DOLIRUQLDDOOKDYHRQHWKLQJLQ

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can help them.

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ZDU¿JKWHUVLWLVDOVRJDLQLQJUHFRJQLWLRQDVDNH\VXSSOLHUIRUORFDOVWDWHDQG

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and hurricanes.

3'/$SOD\VDPDMRUUROHLQWKH

domestic support mission for the

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DISASTER RELIEF

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as meals, water and medical supplies to

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assesses what it needs to respond

and requests support from the

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The Defense Logistics Agency

provides agency-managed items like

meals, water and medical supplies to

the Federal Emergency Management

Agency for use in relief efforts

following such natural disasters

as floods, fire and hurricanes,

such as Hurricane Ida (left) and

2005’s Hurricane Katrina, that occur

throughout the United States.

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of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and unleaded

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VWRFNYLVLELOLW\DVDQ\RI''&¶VGLVWULEXtion facilities. The team processed more

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Lauretano said.

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the most people who needed help were.

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Loglines O March - April 2010 21
22 www.dla.mil

'/$)(0$LQWHUDJHQF\DJUHHPHQWZDV

created as a result of lessons learned

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direct support we can provide to them in

time-sensitive situations.”

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ORWRISUHSODQQLQJSUHVWRFNLQJDQGSUH

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)(0$EHUHDG\WRUHVSRQGWRDGRPHVWLF

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center for troop support. The Defense

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to help plan relief efforts.

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

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Distribution process workers Jed Ballesteros,

left, and Wayne Anders communicate with a

truck driver delivering supplies to survivors of

Hurricane Ike from Defense Distribution Depot

San Joaquin, Calif.

Scott Woosley
Loglines O March - April 2010 23

weapons, computer equipment, body

armor, night-vision equipment and more

from DLA on an “as is, where is” basis.

The program is supported by the Defense

Reutilization and Marketing Service’s

/DZ(QIRUFHPHQW6XSSRUW2I¿FH

DRMS also manages the Computers

for School program, which enables

schools from kindergarten through high

school to receive excess DoD computer

equipment.

“It makes good sense to provide this

service to our schools, because otherwise,

a good majority of these computer

systems would be destroyed or recycled

for their usable components. It also

makes sense because these students are

our future,” said K-marie Logan, chief

of DRMS’ Reutilization, Transfer and

Donation Branch.

Participating schools must apply

online and arrange property pickup.

Military units turning in excess equipment can also canvas local schools to see

which ones are in need, then designate

DSUHIHUUHGVFKRRODVWKHEHQH¿FLDU\RI

their equipment via DRMS’ Computers

for School Web site, Logan said.

More than 3,800 schools are currently enrolled in the program and 250

schools received more than $21 million worth of IT equipment to schools

WKURXJKRXWWKHQDWLRQLQ¿VFDO

she said.

)LUHDQGDYLDWLRQRI¿FLDOVZRUNLQJ

for the U.S. Forest Service can also take

advantage of excess property through the

'R')LUH¿JKWHU3URJUDP,Q-XO\'506

transferred to the USFS critical helicopter

parts – primarily helicopter engines,

transmissions and drive-shaft assemblies

– to support two USFS “Firewatch”

helicopters.

“For around $35,000, we pulled more

than $30 million worth of parts. That’s

an amazing $1,000 to $1 in savings for

WKHGHSDUWPHQW ́VDLG-RKQ%URZQLQJ

contract representative for the Firewatch,

DQDLUFUDIWWKDWDOORZVFUHZVWRGHWHFW¿UH

from 8,000 feet in the air.

6FKRROVDOVRUHDSWKHEHQH¿WRI'/$¶V

buying power, as the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia provides fresh fruit and

vegetable deliveries to schools through

the United States Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.

By using long-term contracts with mostly

small-business vendors, DSCP provided

more than $82 million of produce to 46

states, three territories and the District of

&ROXPELDLQ¿VFDO

Though Lauretano said the agency is

still working with DoD, the Department

of Homeland Security and the military services to generate implementing

guidance, soon state and local governments will be able to purchase the latest

anti-terrorism services and technologies

through existing DLA contracts, rather

than rely solely on excess property managed by DRMS.

37KHELJEHQH¿WRIWKHSURJUDPLVLW

allows state and local governments to

take advantage of DLA discounts. When

you buy in bulk, you get a cheaper price.

State and local governments are always

strapped for cash and they don’t buy

as much as DLA buys,” Lauretano said.

“State and local governments will be able

to use our contracts and personnel to

facilitate the purchase of these items. It’s

a good partnership and a great way for

DoD to contribute to the security of the

50 states and local communities.”

Marine Corps Reserve Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mark Bowen discusses supply issues with a

representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Bowen deployed to Texas with

the Deployable Distribution Center to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Ike

devastated the region in 2008.

Scott Woosley
24 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

1. As the Defense Logistics Agency’s

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EHLQJDJRRGVWHZDUGPHDQWR\RX"

My view of being a good steward

means being better in your job

every day and understanding how

your job impacts other parts of your

department and the organization.

That will allow your organizational

unit, large or small, to achieve

operational excellence. Stewardship

is everyone’s responsibility.

+RZGR\RXKHOS'/$SXUVXH

RSHUDWLRQDOH[FHOOHQFH"

$VWKH&)2,VHHWKH¿QDQFLDOUHsults of how DLA delivers support and

services in terms of dollars and cents,

EXW,KDYHOLWWOHLQÀXHQFHRYHUKRZWKDW

support gets provided. I do, however,

make recommendations to the DLA

senior leadership based on my assessPHQWRIWKRVH¿QDQFLDOUHVXOWVWRWDUJHW

cost-reduction opportunities.

My primary role is working with

DLA senior leaders, operators and

support staff to address stewardship

issues. This means I am focused

on facilitating improvement at the

individual transaction and process

level. There is no “silver bullet.” This

is hard work that requires dedicated

effort and persistence.

Tony Poleo

Chief Financial Officer Provides Insight on Agency Stewardship Initiatives and Improvements

Responsible Stweardship Operational Excellence Auditability Asse

<RX¶YHGHVFULEHGVWHZDUGVKLS

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EXVLQHVV+RZGRHVDSSO\LQJ

FRPPRQVHQVHKHOSWKHDJHQF\

VXSSRUWZDU¿JKWHUV"

This goes to an item I discuss

with new headquarters Financial

Operations employees. When they

are new to an area, they have the

best opportunity to look at the job

and the processes used to complete

it through their past experiences to

see if what they are learning passes

the common sense test. I tell them

to ask questions about our processes

so we guard against developing blind

spots and a false sense of security in

our current processes. We should be

able to explain why a process is being

done a certain way: if we can’t, we

should change it.

We have a tremendous

opportunity for improvement

when you step back and ask basic

Defense Logistics Agency Photo
Loglines O March - April 2010 25

et Safeguards Sound Business Decisions Enterprise Risk Management

by DLA Public Affairs

questions in a disciplined way.

This is the core principle of most

continuous process improvement

techniques. Improvements should

increase quality, reduce cycle time,

and minimize required rework,

which should lead to more effective

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:KDWGRHVVWHZDUGVKLSPHDQ

WR'/$HPSOR\HHVDQGKRZGRHVLW

DIIHFWWKHLUMREV"

It means making sure they do

all they can to produce the most

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they spend and that they safeguard

agency assets. This goes to the key

DUHDVRIHIIHFWLYHQHVVHI¿FLHQF\DQG

control otherwise known as doing

LWULJKWWKH¿UVWWLPHHYHU\WLPH

The easy thing for employees to

remember when performing their

everyday duties is, “If this was my

business, what decision would I make

and what information do I need to

make the right decision?”

:KDWGRHV'/$¶VSXVKIRU

VWHZDUGVKLSH[FHOOHQFHPHDQWR

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Stewardship is about enabling

operational excellence. By improving

stewardship, we will have reliable,

consistent and timely information

to make decisions that best support

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see the impact of our stewardship

efforts by the reduced time it takes

to process and ship orders. They

may see it when DLA collaborates

ZLWKWKHPRQIXWXUHQHHGV,IZH¿QG

DUHDVWRLPSURYHHI¿FLHQF\WKH\ZLOO

see the results in the form of reduced

costs.

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DVDSULPDU\IRFXV'/$VSHQW

PXFKRILWVWLPHSXUVXLQJDXGLW

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DXGLWDELOLW\RYHUODS"

DLA’s stewardship effort will

HYHQWXDOO\OHDGXVWRDQXQTXDOL¿HG

or “clean” audit opinion on our

¿QDQFLDOVWDWHPHQWV%XWWKLVZLOO

be a byproduct of comprehensive

review of and improvements to our

business processes, systems and

controls. Documented, repeatable

and controlled business processes

ZLOOOHDGWRPRUHHIIHFWLYHZDU¿JKWHU

support and reduced costs. This is

the real-value proposition because it

is the core of achieving stewardship

excellence.

A clean audit opinion will

merely validate that we are good

stewards of the resources that have

been entrusted to us. We are all

DLA employees, but we also are all

taxpayers and as such, we should

demand every tax dollar produce as

PXFKZDU¿JKWHUVXSSRUWDVSRVVLEOH

$VD'/$VHQLRUOHDGHUZK\LVLW

LPSRUWDQWHPSOR\HHVDWDOOOHYHOV

PDNHVRXQGEXVLQHVVGHFLVLRQV"

A sound business decision is one

made after looking from one end

of a process to the other to see how

a change in one area will affect the

entire process. Sometimes we look

at what a part of a process is doing

and think work can be better accomplished if we make a change. But

before making a change, we need to

Improvements to business

processes should increase

quality, reduce cycle time,

and minimize required

rework, which should lead

to more effective warfighter

support and reduced cost.
26 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

llence Auditability Asset Safeguards Sound Business Decisions

understand how that change affects

the entire business cycle and how

it impacts other parts of the headTXDUWHUVRU¿HOGFRPPDQGRUJDQL]Dtions, and their respective people,

systems and processes. It may be

that a change made to one part of the

process will make the business cycle

and corresponding organizations less

HIIHFWLYHDQGRUHI¿FLHQW

We can see this by using our

Enterprise Business System suite

as an example. We begin with a

standard, repeatable, documented

process. If a single system change is

made to accommodate a particular

UHTXHVWE\RQO\RQH¿HOGFRPPDQG

or supply chain, we may realize an

improvement in that area, but then

we will likely have additional system

costs down the road as updates to

EBS occur. Unique processes also

introduce more control risk since

many times different or additional

controls need to be implemented to

adequately control and monitor the

unique processes. We need to take

into consideration these factors to

make well-informed, sound business

decisions.

(QWHUSULVH5LVN0DQDJHPHQW

LVSDUWRI'/$¶VSODQIRUWDUJHWLQJ

DUHDVWKDWFDQEHFRPHPRUH

HI¿FLHQW+RZGRHV(50¿WLQ

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6LJPD"

ERM is the process the

director and senior leaders will

use to target strategic risk. CPI/

LSS are the tools currently used

once areas are targeted to improve

process effectiveness and lower

costs. ERM capability is currently

being developed by the Enterprise

Transformation and Strategic

Planning Directorate.

+RZGR'/$¶VHIIRUWVWRSXUVXH

VWHZDUGVKLSPDWFKWKRVHRIRWKHU

'HIHQVH'HSDUWPHQWDJHQFLHV"

DLA reports our stewardship

progress in the department’s

Financial Improvement and

Audit Readiness plan. The plan

provides a roadmap showing how

the department plans to reach

a position where it can provide

and defend timely, accurate and

UHOHYDQW¿QDQFLDOLQIRUPDWLRQ

sustain improvements made through

HIIHFWLYHLQWHUQDOFRQWUROSURJUDPV

and eventually receive an audit

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As a result of our stewardship

focus, DLA has made great strides

in documenting our agency’s entire

business in 10 end-to-end business

F\FOHV:HKDYHLGHQWL¿HGDUHDV

ZLWKJDSVRUGH¿FLHQFLHVWKDWQHHG

corrective-action plans to address

them. We will execute those plans to

UHVROYHGH¿FLHQFLHV2XUDSSURDFK

is connected to our vendors and

customers and integrated within

DLA. We have used this end-to-end

approach to meet departmental

requirements since 2007 and I am

proud to say DLA is a recognized

leader in the department’s FIAR

effort.

:KDWJRDOVGRHVWKHDJHQF\

XOWLPDWHO\KRSHWRDFKLHYHE\

SXUVXLQJVWHZDUGVKLSDWDOO

RUJDQL]DWLRQDOOHYHOV"

While we perform many

business-like functions, DLA is not

a business – it is a combat logistics

support organization. We owe it

to those who serve our country

around the world every day to aspire

to stewardship excellence at all

organizational levels.

I encourage everyone to visit our

stewardship Web site at

https://headquarters.dla.mil/

stewardship/default.asp

to stay abreast of DLA’s progress.
Loglines O March - April 2010 27

DLA NewsWire

T

eamwork and lightning-fast

execution helped get the Army

spare parts for much-needed semipermanent bridges in Afghanistan this

winter.

Mabey & Johnson Ltd. of Lydney,

England, which began building semipermanent bridges during World War

II, manufactures its “logistics support

bridge,” which can be used to replace

damaged civilian bridges, create new

URXWHVIRUZDU¿JKWHUVRUVLPSO\XSJUDGH

URXWHVWRDFFRPPRGDWHKHDYLHUWUDI¿F

Because it comes in sections composed of a variety of standard parts –

panels, transoms, decks, bracing members, ramps and beams – the bridge can

accommodate all types of vehicles. The

modular design allows for a number of

GLIIHUHQWFRQ¿JXUDWLRQVIRUDZLGHUDQJH

of loads and spans.

According to Jim Losey, a land

weapon system support manager in the

Land Weapons Systems Division, of

Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio,

the Army is using the bridges to create

QHZURXWHVVRZDU¿JKWHUVFDQFRQVHUYH

fuel and avoid dangerous areas.

“The Army had acquired the bridges

Compiled by DLA Public Affairs

but a lot of parts were missing,” Losey said.

The Army had about 60 LSB sections,

or about 4,500 meters of bridge, but

VLQFHWKHVHFWLRQVZHUHQ¶W¿HOGHGWKURXJK

the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and

Armaments Command, the parts didn’t

go through the provisioning process to

ensure proper management and adequate

spares, he said.

 That’s when the Army came to the

Defense Logistics Agency for help. But

there was a problem – all the national

stock numbered-items were managed by

NATO and the Army wasn’t listed as a user.

Losey said getting the bridge parts

into theater involved the Columbus

supply center, DLA headquarters, DLACentral Command, the Defense Logistics

Information Service and Defense Supply

Center Philadelphia.

 “We were able to work with DLIS

to process requisitions for all their

requirements – some 54 documents

worth $1.4 million in parts – all this

within a week,” Losey explained. “By the

time the requisition hit the system, we

had [contract] awards.”

By mid-January, Mabey &

-RKQVRQEHJDQ¿OOLQJIRXUIRRW

Quick Action Supplies Army with

Bridge Parts

containers obtained from DLA’s

Defense Distribution Depot Europe, in

Germersheim, Germany, with DSCPmanaged parts destined for Bagram and

Kandahar, Afghanistan.

“They did it in record time,” said

Marine Lt. Col. Rolando Guzman,

Customer Operations division chief in

the Land Weapons Systems Division at

DSCC, who played a key role in seeing

that the parts were made available.

— Tony D’Elia

Defense Supply Center Columbus

Public Affairs Office

Army Capt. James Reid

Army Capt. James Reid

A new Mabey & Johnson Ltd. Bridge replaces a ruined bridge in Afghanistan. The Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio, helped get the Army

spare parts for the British company’s modular bridges.

Australian and American combat engineers

work to rebuild a bridge in Afghanistan.
28 www.dla.mil

DLA NewsWire

Commercials Showcase Agency Support

I

f a picture is worth a thousand words,

then Defense Logistics Agency customers should be learning volumes

soon when some new commercials begin

appearing online and over the military

airwaves.

A DLA production crew spent two

days in Battle Creek, Mich., recently

assisting the Defense Logistics Information Service in preparing commercial-style announcements to increase

customer awareness of DLIS’ role in

LQWHUQDWLRQDOFRGL¿FDWLRQFRQWLQJHQF\

support and operation of DLA’s Customer Interaction Center.

2I¿FLDOVVDLGSUHYLRXVFXVWRPHU

contacts and surveys indicated some

customers were not aware of DLA and

DLIS support.

“We looked at venues in which we

could reach out to the military services

[in the U.S.] and abroad to get the word

out to a larger customer segment,”

Projects Speed

Delivery of Stock

Data to Customers

T

he Defense Logistics Agency’s

Defense Logistics Information Service

is participating in two data research

and development projects that aim to

get information on available products to

ZDU¿JKWHUVIDVWHU

Because an increasing number of

manufacturers are providing product

descriptions on their public Web sites,

DLIS is working to research, interpret

and format that product data and make it

DYDLODEOHWRWKHZDU¿JKWHUVZKRQHHGLWLQ

the Federal Logistics Information System.

,QWKH¿UVWSURMHFWDIRFXVHG

Web crawler was acquired to extract

characteristic data from the computer

code embedded in Web sites. The

crawler seeks out and collects very

VSHFL¿FLQIRUPDWLRQVXFKDVSURGXFW

characteristics from multiple pages on

a site and is programmed to know the

difference between valuable information

and irrelevant information like

advertisements and navigation buttons.

Because of this distinction, the crawler

only collects what it is ordered to collect.

Focused Web crawlers are trainable, scalable, and can support complex

information-gathering requirements,

RI¿FLDOVVDLG7KHVHWRROVKDYHEHHQXVHG

to identify duplicate part information

residing in current systems and streamline data content to only that which is

necessary to maintain.

They are one of the ways DLIS can

take advantage of publically available

information to search commercialvendor part data to help catalogers

identify missing or outdated information

to continuously improve data quality,

RI¿FLDOVVDLG

Catalogers can use these tools to

monitor procurement-part history to

provide timely and accurate data for

item planning, and help manage stock

levels, obsolescence and demilitarization

requirements. Experts said the technology also allows for work to be done

with a speed and accuracy level that

meets and sometimes exceeds the current

practices, and at a lower cost.

The second project involves study

of a data-drawing extraction and coding

explained Brenda Ellis, DLIS’ Customer

Outreach branch chief.

)RU$UP\&KLHI:DUUDQW2I¿FHU

%U\DQW&DUH\LWZDVKLV¿UVWWLPHEHLQJ

involved in a Defense Department video.

Carey was one of two DLIS personnel

appearing in a piece prepared about the

NATO Master Catalogue of References

IRU/RJLVWLFVDGDWDEDVHRIFRGL¿FDWLRQ

information available on DVD and online, that contains more than 16 million

NATO stock numbers, 31 million part

numbers, 2 million manufacturer codes

and 23 million user registrations.

“Having been a user, I can see how the

information in the video will help people

understand the tool and what they need to

do to get the right data,” Carey said.

Viewers hoping to get a deeper understanding can watch DLIS employee

Brad Gilbert as he demonstrates how the

NMCRL can help identify items.

“Hopefully, it will help people understand the value of the tool – especially for

coalition forces – and that it will motivate

them to buy the product,” Gilbert said.

The commercials will be offered for

use on the Pentagon Channel and the

Armed Forces Television Network, in an

effort to reach DLA customers overseas.

The videos are also expected to be available via DLA’s public Web site.

— Tim Hoyle

Defense Logistics Information Service

Public Affairs Office
Loglines O March - April 2010 29

system that features the ability to extract

characteristic data from unformatted

sources such as portable document formats or paper engineering drawings. The

system uses an optical character recognition program along with data modeling

techniques to organize characteristicrelated information into a form that

can be automatically uploaded into the

characteristics segment of an NSN record

in FLIS.

During testing, the system was able

to scan, extract and format characteristic data from 50-page or larger DLAproduced standard microcircuit drawings

in two minutes or less. Experts said this

is a fraction of the time a human would

require to perform the same task, and

analysis of the system’s results showed

an extremely high level of accuracy.

Together, the two approaches show

VLJQL¿FDQWSURPLVHIRULPSURYLQJ

data quality and by testing the two

SURFHGXUHVWRJHWKHU'/,6RI¿FLDOVVDLG

the organization was recently able to use

a batch loading process to improve the

characteristic data segments of more

than 200 NSNs.

Providing accurate and complete

characteristic data descriptions for more

than 15 million national stock numbers in

the Federal Logistics Information System

is one of the most important challenges facing DLIS

catalogers,

RI¿FLDOVVDLG

:DU¿JKWHUV

depend upon the

GHVFULSWLRQVWR¿QG

the repair parts and

provisions that they need, and missing or

inaccurate descriptions can mean wasted

time, money and resources if the wrong

item is ordered, they explained. Through

such initiatives, DLIS is pursuing

continuous process improvements

that are expected to result in better

stewardship of resources and better

VXSSRUWWRZDU¿JKWHUV

— Tim Hoyle

Defense Logistics Information Service

Public Affairs Office

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

ON CATALOGING, VISIT 

HTTP://WWW.DLIS.DLA.

MIL/DLIS-K/DEFAULT.ASP

Coming in 2010 to a Trade

Show Near You

The Defense Logistics Agency Enterprise booth is scheduled to appear

at the conferences and workshops listed below. Stop by and let the staffers

answer your questions about the agency and show you how to optimize

your business with DLA.

U.S. Special Operations Command Industry Conference 2010

June 15-17 — Tampa, Fla.

AUSA Logistics Symposium and Expo

June 22-24 – Richmond, Va. www.ausa.org

National Guard Association of the United States 2010

Aug. 20-23 — Austin, Texas

Modern Day Marine

Sept. 28-30 — Quantico, Va.

$LU)RUFH/RJLVWLFV2I¿FHUV$VVRFLDWLRQ

Oct. 12-14 — Orlando, Fla. www.loanational.org

Department of Defense Maintenance 2010

Oct. 12-14 — Fort Worth, Texas www.sae.org

AUSA Annual Symposium and Expo

Oct. 25-27 — Washington, D.C. www.ausa.org

Naval Expeditionary Forces Symposium and Expo 2010

March 1-3 —Virginia Beach, Va. www.defensetradeshows.com

Association of the United States Army Installation Management

Command Symposium

March 29 – April 1 — San Antonio www.ausa.org

National Logistics Conference—Booth 423

April 12-15 — Miami, Fla. – DLA Director Speaking. www.ndia.org

Marine South

April 21-22 — Camp Lejeune, N.C. www.militaryexpos.com

Worldwide Logistics Workshop

April 26–30 — Huntsville, Ala.

General Services Administration Expo – Booth 1536 & 1538

May 4-6 — Orlando, Fla. http://expo.gsa.gov

Defense Energy Support Center Worldwide Energy

May 10-12 – National Harbor, Md. www.desc.dla.mil

USA Guard Bureau Logistics Symposium and Expo

May 10-12 — Louisville, Ky.
30 www.dla.mil

A

Defense Logistics Agency

technology system is becoming

the Swiss Army knife of Webbased logistics applications

– a multi-function tool for

customers, vendors and analysts.

The Support Planning Integrated

Data Enterprise Readiness System,

known as SPIDERS, is a secure Web

application used by DLA and the Defense

Supply Center Philadelphia for readiness,

contingency planning and asset visibility.

“It is a data repository that connects

vendors that produce supplies with DLA

analysts who look at the supply chains

and customers that will receive the supplies,” said Carmen Viola, DSCP IndusWULDO3URJUDPRI¿FHFKLHI

The system allows vendors to see the

agency’s requirements throughout its

supply chains, Viola said, and allows DLA

analysts to identify critical

materials within the supply

chains to help better manage critical control points.

The system also gives DLA

customers access to tools and

information about supplies

and services they need, he

said, noting that more than

70 percent of SPIDERS users

are customers.

Viola said military customers can select a supply

class and a country and then

receive a directory of vendors

able to meet their needs.

SPIDERS integrates data from multiple sources to give a complete picture of

vendor capabilities, he said. The system

captures capacity and capability data

from vendors in the United States and

overseas, so units will know immediately

if vendors can supply what they need,

when they need it.

Customers can also run inventory

reports and mission-tracking status

reports on operations ration shipments

sent overseas.

The system has a module to support

locations outside the continental U.S.

known as the Industrial Base Extension

program, or IBEX. This program captures data on OCONUS logistics supplies

and services from commercial logistics

providers around the globe and Viola said

it is very useful to deploying units.

“The scope of the IBEX program

is to gather information invaluable to

operational planning and execution in

many remote places around the world,”

Viola said.

The IBEX program answers questions

like whether the ports are deep enough to

support ships, if the roads can accommodate 40-foot shipping containers, where

XQLWVFDQ¿QGFROGVWRUDJHWRSURWHFW

short-shelf-life items, and how quickly

units can feed and shelter refugees or

victims from a disaster.

It also provides customers access to

data such as warehousing and transportation assets, heavy-lift equipment and

in-country knowledge, including roads,

ports and railways.

“This geographic information is what

can make or break an operation,” Viola

said.

SPIDERS also offers deployed troops

another unique capability –

the Deployment Tool Book.

“It’s basically an electronic version of national

stock number-level info for

Story by Jonathan Stack

The Swiss Army Knife of Web-based Logistics Applications

The Defense Logistics Agency

Support Planning Integrated

Data Enterprise Readiness

System allows customers to

run inventory reports and mission-tracking status reports on

operations ration shipments

sent overseas, such as those

pictured here.

30 www.dla.mil

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Leah Stiles
Loglines O March - April 2010 31

deploying or deployed troops,” said Heidi

Byers, Deployment Tool Book program

manager. “They can go on there and

download a version to their desktop. It

gets updated every day at 4 a.m., so they

always have a live version of it.”

The book provides detailed assistance

to deploying or deployed units in obtaining critical supplies and equipment they

need to plan and execute their missions.

“It gives them ideas of what kind of

items they’ll need for their mission based

on the region – cold or warm climate,”

%\HUVVDLG3,WEHQH¿WVWKHWURRSVE\

helping them decide how many critical

items they’ll need, depending on the size

of the unit.”

The Deployment Tool Book covers

the following classes of supply:

– Subsistence

– Individual equipment

– Petroleum, oils and lubricants

– Construction

– Personal-demand items

– Medical

– Repair parts

The tool book also presents

contact information for the DLA

OLDLVRQRI¿FHUVDWWKHFRPEDWDQW

commands and customer support

representatives at the military services’

major subordinate commands. In

addition, it contains descriptions

of DLA’s regional commands and

their contact information, as well as

contact information for DLA commodity

managers and prime vendors.

To further help deploying units,

SPIDERS has a container calculator,

which helps units determine their supply

transport needs.

For instance, if a deploying or

deployed unit needs to transport 25,000

ready-to-eat meals, SPIDERS will

instantly calculate the number of 20-

or 40-foot shipping containers, C-130

Hercules cargo aircraft, CH-46D Sea

.QLJKWKHOLFRSWHUVDQG¿YHWRQWUXFNVWKH

unit will need to do the job.

“It’s one of the easiest and most-used

tools in SPIDERS,” Viola said.

Because of user demand, the

SPIDERS container calculator has been

expanded to include air frames, trucks

and helicopters, Viola said.

“SPIDERS has been around for a

long time and continues to grow in new

and exciting ways as the needs of our

customers change and further drive how

our system evolves,” he said.

A video exploring the benefits of SPIDERS is available at:

http://www.dla.mil/dlapublic/

dla_media_center/video/video.aspx

DEPLOYMENT TOOL BOOK

CONTAINER CALCULATOR

IBEX

INVENTORY REPORTS

An airman reviews in-flight checklists of an aircraft that will airdrop 40 container delivery system

bundles of ready-to-eat meals and bottles of water while flying over Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The

Defense Logistics Agency Support Planning Integrated Data Enterprise Readiness System,

also known as SPIDERS, has a container calculator, which helps units determine their supply

transport needs.

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Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey

For more information about SPIDERS

or to sign up for an account, visit:

https://spiders.dla.mil
32 www.dla.mil

S

ince a magnitude 7.0 earthquake

struck Haiti, leaving thousands

of people displaced and without

access to food, water and medical

care, the Defense Logistics Agency

has been working side-by-side with the

U.S. military and nongovernmental

organizations to provide humanitarian

aid to the survivors.

Immediately after the quake hit, DLA

began coordinating with U.S. Southern

Command, which had partnered with the

State Department and U.S. Agency for

International Development to assess the

need for humanitarian support.

In the following weeks, DLA deployed

a support team to Joint Task Force Haiti

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requests for ready-to-eat meals, bottles of

water, medical supplies, health and comfort

items, fuel, maps, repair parts for military

equipment and construction materials.

As the recovery and rebuilding

efforts progress, DLA has continued

its support of humanitarian operations

by deploying a multi-function support

team in support of Joint Task Force

Haiti to participate in Operation

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providing logistics support to U.S. forces

conducting humanitarian and disasterrecovery missions.

Story by DLA Strategic Communications

OPERATION UNIFIED RESPONSE

Help for

Haiti Port-au-Prince

HAITI

The support team is composed of

representatives from the agency’s major

supply chains, which provide food,

clothing, medical items and fuel, as well

as repair parts for aircraft and ground

vehicles. Specialists in distribution,

disposal and reutilization are also part of

the team.

Marine Col. Gary Wiest, commander

of DLA Support Team – Haiti, led the

team’s deployment and stand-up of

DLA operations in Haiti. Wiest is from

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home to DLA’s aviation and supply chain,

where he serves as deputy commander of

operations.

“So far, DST operations have focused

on establishing support for bulk fuel and

subsistence. As the theater matures, we

expect requirements for building and

construction supplies and repair parts

will grow,” Wiest said early in the support

team’s deployment.

The DST is embedded with Joint

Logistics Command Haiti, whose headquarters is manned by the Army’s 3rd

Expeditionary Sustainment Command.

Wiest said the team lives and works in a

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have dedicated satellite communications

support, provided by Defense Logistics

Information Service, to accomplish their

mission.

Wiest said the U.S. is making a

difference in providing security, medical

care and food to the Haitian people.

In addition, Defense Energy Support

Center quality assurance representatives

maintain a constant presence in Haiti,

ensuring infrastructure and damage

assessments are completed. The DESC

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join the DLA Assessment Team just days

after the quake. The assessment team’s

initial two- to three-day assignment on

the ground in Haiti aimed to assess,

evaluate and report damage to the port

and petroleum terminal receipt and issue

infrastructure.

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assessments under extremely hazardous

conditions following the severe quake

and aftershocks, and according to DESC

Americas East Commander Army Col.

Bill Keyes, the information provided by

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ability to initiate fuel support operations

in concert with U.S. Southern Command.

After the initial assignment, one of the

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– Michael Meacham – remained in Haiti

to continue providing critical information

to DESC and USSOUTHCOM while serving

as a subject matter expert for Joint Task

Force Haiti and 3rd Expeditionary Support Command.

DLA is also maintaining a presence Additional reporting by members of the Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio, Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, Defense Supply

Center Richmond, Va., Defense Energy Support Center and Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service public affairs offices.
Loglines O March - April 2010 33

aboard the Navy hospital ship USNS

Comfort, which has been in Haiti since

mid-January providing life-saving medical

care to survivors of the earthquake.

Michael O’Connor, Defense Supply Center

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expert, has been on the Comfort since

just before its departure and has been

providing blog-style updates about his

experiences.

DLA has continued to provide food

and water for earthquake survivors and

U.S. forces in the region.

Working with industry vendor

partners, the Defense Supply Center

Philadelphia provided 2.7 million readyto-eat meals in support of the World

Food Program, coordinating its effort

with the U.S. Agency for International

Development. The meals were allocated

by USAID to support the World Food

Program’s plans for 15 distribution sites,

including orphanages and hospitals.

DLA also coordinated with the

Federal Emergency Management Agency

to replenish the emergency agency’s

stocks of 1.5 million ready-to-eat meals

FEMA sent to Haiti.

In addition to providing food, DLA

sourced construction material in support

of Port-au-Prince pier reconstruction.

DLA also provided hundreds of tents and

cots to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba, which is being used as a hub for

humanitarian supplies headed to Haiti.

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continue to work around the clock to

support the Haiti relief efforts.

The Defense Supply Center Columbus,

Ohio, has been issuing spare parts –

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to welding equipment – to the Army,

Navy and Marine Corps operating in

Haiti. DSCC is helping supply two Marine

Expeditionary Units that have been

deployed to Haiti, as well as some Army

units.

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit

and the 24th MEU both deployed to Haiti

in January. The 22nd had just returned

from a seven-month deployment, and the

Air Force C-17 Globemaster III planes, from

437th Air Wing, Charleston Air Force Base,

S.C., air deliver 14,000 bottles of water and

14,500 meals, ready to eat, and humanitarian

rations, to be distributed by members of the

United Nations, in the outer lying area of Portau-Prince, Haiti. The Defense Logistics Agency

has been heavily involved in relief efforts following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, providing

food, water and construction materials, and

supplying U.S. military units involved in the

humanitarian operations.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

24th had been preparing for a sevenmonth deployment. Both units are being

supplied through DSCC and DSCP, the

latter of which provided medical supplies to them before they departed Camp

Lejeune, N.C.

“Logistically, they’re in good shape,”

Bill Bartley, a customer support

representative at Camp Lejeune, said of

the 22nd MEU. “The system is working

the way it’s supposed to.”

Bartley said the MEU asked for water

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and “human remains pouches” about a

week later.

The Defense Distribution Center’s

Supply Chain Transportation division has

been running an around-the-clock operation to support disaster-relief efforts in

Haiti. DDC SCT is responsible for coordinating transportation requirements for

DDC’s vendor base, including providing

carriers, documentation and guidance as

freight moves to its destination.

As of early February, SCT had booked

containers for the transport of more than

500,000 bottles of water and more than

700,000 ready-to-eat meals. SCT was

also arranging transportation to the port

of Jacksonville, Fla., for more than 1.2

million bottles of water, more than

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cylinders of propane.

The Fort Lewis, Wash., Defense

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two days in early February searching

its inventory for critical support items.

The supplies were sent to a Haiti relief

consolidation point in Albany, Ga.,

and consisting of 14 pallets of medical

equipment valued at $174,803 and

several other loads of property including

640 insect protection nets, stretchers,

bandages, water cans and sleeping bags.

“The ability to support the Haiti

assignment has encouraged at all levels

of various organizations,” said Paula

Newland, Fort Lewis property disposal

specialist. “The cooperation creates a

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make a difference for others in a time of

disaster.”

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I AM

My name is:

Marine Col. Gary Wiest

I am:

Deputy commander of operations at the Defense Supply Center

Richmond, Va ., but I am currently commander of DLA Support Team – Haiti.

Describe your job in a sentence:

As DSCR deputy commander, operations, I have led the integration of

supply, storage and distribution units into DSCR as a result of Base

Realignment and Closure 2005 legislation, and I coordinate DSCR’s support of

contingency operational planning and oversee all military personnel matters.

I currently command the recently established and deployed multi-functional

DLA Support Team – Haiti. DST- Haiti is linked to Joint Task Force Haiti Logistics,

which is led by the Army’s 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command.

How long have you worked for DLA?

I have worked at DLA for 2 1/2 years.

What’s your favorite thing about working for DLA?

Through my DLA support team experiences, first in Iraq and now Haiti,

I have been exposed to DLA’s vast logistics capabilities, resources and

expertise. My background has been primarily in aviation repair

Parts, but as a member of the DSTs, I have been exposed

to DLA’s subsistence, construction, bulk fuel, distribution,

disposal and reutilization, and logistics information

management missions.

What’s your best memory of working here?

Serving as commander of DLA Support Team – Iraq

and facilitating the integration of six supply, storage and

distribution units into DSCR and DLA.

How do you make a difference to warfighters?

By always keeping the men and women serving in or supporting

our armed forces in mind, I strive to focus my attention and

actions on issues that will ease their burden as they accomplish

their mission.