SPECIAL INSERT 2010 Director’s Guidance Booklet

page 18

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2009
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Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson, SC, USN

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

from the

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Official Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Agency

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Loglines O November - December 2009 1

Director’s Guidance 2010

Contents

Gearing Up 2

Agency director marks past year’s accomplishments, drives ahead

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Drawing Down 8

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Up and Running 12

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Adding On 14

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Coming Soon 18

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Think Diversity 20

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Head Hunters 22

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Work in Progress 24

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Ten Questions with ... 30

DLA NewsWire 33

DEPARTMENTS

November - December 2009

pg 2

pg 12

pg 36

Big Business 26

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Operation Warfighter 36

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pg 26
2 www.dla.mil

There’s not much doubt when it

comes to Navy Vice Adm. Alan

Thompson’s opinion of Defense

Logistics Agency employees.

“I would put them up against any private sector or government workforce anywhere,” the DLA director said in a recent

interview with Military Logistics Forum.

As swift as Thompson is to praise his

employees, he’s equally quick to lay down

challenges to ensure the Agency he has

led since November 2008 maintains its

ability to meet customers’ evolving needs.

In October, Thompson released

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incorporating 20 initiatives in three

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and Workforce Development.

Unlike the 2009 guidance, which was

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performance objectives and the annual

budget cycle.

GEARING UP

“There are numerous current and

emerging challenges ahead for the

armed forces, Department of Defense

and our entire nation. As a result, warfighting and contingency operations,

Story by Beth Reece

Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team,

4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson,

Colo., check in with their base during a routine patrol in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice

Adm. Alan Thompson’s fiscal 2010 Director’s

Guidance aims to ensure DLA resources

and capabilities support expanded military

operations in Afghanistan.

Army Sgt. Matthew Moeller

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 3

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

2010

INITIATIVES

WARFIGHTER SUPPORT ENHANCEMENT

Ensure DLA resources and capabilities support expanded operations

in Afghanistan.

Build on existing efforts to ensure DLA supports a responsible

drawdown effort in the Iraqi theater and related military service resets.

Improve integration and performance in Base Realignment and Closure

mission areas.

Lead departmental efforts to execute alternative fuel/renewable energy

solutions for warfighters.

Design and develop a DLA retail strategy to optimize related supply-chain performance factors.

Build the Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Office to full operational capability and begin operations.

Design future Defense Distribution Center distribution and reverse logistics capability by evaluating results of a

broad agency announcement and executing accordingly.

Actively engage with the services’ program managers and program executive officers to determine how to

provide strategic support throughout logistics life-cycle management.

Revise performance metrics with key stakeholders to further align Agency performance with mission priorities.

Enhance DLA’s partnership with engineering support activities.

STEWARDSHIP EXCELLENCE

Assess and resolve remaining nuclear weapons-related material vulnerabilities.

Continue to achieve significant progress in delivering desired functionality for business processes as enabled

by Enterprise Business System enhancements.

Institute a “futures group” assessment capability. This group will conduct timely analyses of the expected

warfighter readiness and sustainment-related environment and develop potential options to ensure the

Agency can provide optimal combat logistics support.

Identify and program cost-reduction opportunities into the Program Budget Review.

Use a portfolio of processes and tools to streamline inventories while improving warfighter support in a

constrained fiscal environment.

Pilot additional means to ensure productive benefits from Web 2.0 processes and technology.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Support diversity and its related benefits through collaborative efforts focused on recruitment,

development and retention.

Use our recent culture survey results to prioritize, design and develop ways to enhance

DLA’s work environment.

Analyze and provide recommendations on the appropriate DLA forward personnel footprint at CONUS and

OCONUS locations.

Continue progress on the talent management program through emphasis on workforce planning, strategic

recruitment and training and further development of subject matter experts.
4 www.dla.mil

industrial maintenance processes and

systems-acquisition policies are rapidly

changing to meet these challenges,”

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Numerous efforts are under way

across DLA to improve daily business

processes but, Thompson said, the initiaWLYHVOLVWHGLQKLVJXLGDQFHWRSWKH

Agency’s priority list.

Warfighter Support Enhancement

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improvements to how DLA meets

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plans for future challenges of combatant

commands.

“This means logistics support of the

readiness and sustainment of America’s

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activities and others whose own efforts

are critical to preserving and enhancing our nation’s and our allies’ defense

postures,” the director said.

DLA supply centers and support

teams have worked since winter 2008

to provide material for new forward

operating bases and combat outposts in

Afghanistan. As the demand for construction items wanes and deployed forces

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support sustained operations with repair

parts and property disposal.

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down in Iraq, DLA will work with the

military services to determine disposal

and retrograde requirements and whethA Sailor removes a protective rubber gasket

used to keep foreign object debris out of a

catapult before flight operations begin aboard

the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. In

his fiscal 2010 Director’s Guidance, Defense

Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm.

Alan Thompson outlines his plan for continuing the Agency’s world-class support

to America’s Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and

Marines.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter M. Wayman

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 5

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

BUILDING ON

SUCCESS

Defense Logistics Agency achievements

stemming from initiatives outlined in the

2009 Director’s Guidance include:

Successfully contributed to the

sustained readiness of deployed forces.

The DLA Retrograde Support Team will

guide the Defense Department through

the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq

(personnel and equipment) and the reset

of those forces for follow-on operations.

Teamed with U.S. Transportation

Command and U.S. Central Command

to develop the Northern Distribution

Network to supply forces in Afghanistan.

Initiated potential alternate fuels and

renewable energy solutions for the

Defense Department and the federal

government.

Further integrated the military

services’ retail supply capabilities and

workforces into DLA’s operations at

colocated industrial sites as mandated

in 2005 Base Realignment and Closure

legislation. Also began integrating

contracting professionals who procure

depot-level reparables.

Expanded the Fusion Center to improve

situational awareness of critical

logistics-support information.

Placed all the Agency’s fi nancial

operations accounting processes under

one supporting information system.

Further refi ned capabilities for the

Enterprise Business System and

Distribution Standard System —

information systems that make daily

supply-management operations

possible.

Prepared to support humanitarian

assistance efforts such as those that

may arise from the impact of natural

disasters or the H1N1 infl uenza virus.

Conducted an extensive survey on

DLA’s organizational culture. The high

volume of responses and related

feedback are assisting senior leaders

in identifying more ways to help the

workforce successfully support the

DLA mission.

processes and policies should change to

support a responsible drawdown and reset.

Thompson also said he expects DLA’s

Defense Energy Support Center to lead

the Defense Department toward alternative fuel and renewable energy solutions.

The guidance charges DESC with leveraging research and development contracts

to ensure the delivery of hydro-treated

renewable jet fuels for Air Force and Navy

aircraft testing and algae oil-derived fuel

for Navy ship engine testing.

As the Agency assumes broader missions mandated by 2005 Base Realignment

and Closure legislation, the number of DLA

supply storage and distribution sites colocated with military service industrial depot

maintenance customers will grow from nine

to 11 in fiscal 2010. DLA will also continue

assuming ownership of retail inventory

from the services at select industrial sites

to consolidate inventories and allow for an

improved end-to-end process. The number

of DLA DLR procurement detachments will

grow from seven to eight in fi scal 2010.

“From a DLA perspective, this gives

us an expanded forward presence with

the ultimate consumers of our products

and services – very important for demand

planning,” Thompson said in the Military

Logistics Forum interview. “This increased

forward presence, coupled with our information technology capability, is going

to dramatically improve our ability to have

the right item at the right time at the right

place at the right cost.”

The Joint Contingency Acquisition

Support Offi ce, which stood up in 2008,

is slated to begin full operations in 2010

by providing a program-management

approach to contingency acquisition

requirements during combat operations,

post-conflict periods and other contingency operations.

“We will develop and maintain a

trained, technically competent, deployable cadre of acquisition experts who

remain operationally focused” and readily

available for deployment, Thompson said.

Through expanded partnerships

with military customers, the Agency will

improve end-to-end supply chain performance by increasing efficiencies in inventory, planning, investment, positioning

and delivery. Other partnerships will help

the Agency support the services’ life-cycle

management process for such items as

the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected

vehicle and other equipment systems.

And as DLA’s mission changes to face

challenges posed by base realignments,

the Agency will analyze current supplySoldiers from 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry

Regiment, set up an 81mm mortar system

during a live-fi re demonstration for the Iraqi

army at Forward Operating Base Normandy,

in Diyala, Iraq. Building on existing Defense

Logistics Agency efforts to ensure the Agency

supports a responsible drawdown effort and

related military service resets for the Iraqi

theater is part of Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan

Thompson’s fi scal 2010 Director’s Guidance.

Navy Petty Offi cer 1st Class Kirk Worley
6 www.dla.mil

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

depot operations to identify improvements

for global supply-chain management.

The director also said performance

metrics used to measure DLA’s success in

meeting customers’ needs will be revised.

“We are revising DLA’s overall performance metrics to better align our metrics

and goals with those of our customers,”

he said. Those metrics will be shared with

customers through periodic performancereview sessions to provide a common

operating picture of DLA’s performance

in support of customers and industrial

partners.

Stewardship Excellence

As the Agency works to improve

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“We will continue to assess current and

potential roles and related processes to

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A “futures group,” made of up of

analysts from throughout the Agency will

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sustainment initiatives in order to advise

Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship

USS Essex tend fuel lines while conducting a

simulated refueling at sea. Helping the Navy

test alternative fuels aboard its ships is one

of the ways the Defense Logistics Agency is

ramping up its support to warfighters.

Flatbed trucks arrive at Camp Victory, Iraq,

with excess property to be turned in to the

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office

there. Expanding Defense Logistics Agency

efforts supporting the drawdown effort in

Iraq, including demilitarization, reutilization

and transfer of excess property as managed

by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing

Service, is part of Director Navy Vice Adm.

Alan Thompson’s fiscal 2010 Director’s

Guidance.

Van Williams

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabriel S. Weber
Loglines O November - December 2009 7

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

senior leaders on potential actions that

will help DLA be as responsive as possible

to warfi ghters’ emerging needs.

Planned enhancements to the Enterprise

Business System, DLA’s information

technology backbone, are slated to continue

with the creation of EProcurement, which

will help DLA assume responsibility from

the military services for buying such

depot-level reparables as transmissions,

engines and wheels. EBS is also targeted

for expansion to modernize processes in

energy management and the reutilization,

transfer and disposal of property.

Improvements made this year to

DLA’s internal and external Web sites will

be followed in fi scal 2010 by the redesign

of DLA’s eWorkplace, the Agency’s online

knowledge-management portal where

employees can do such things as store

and share documents, view their offi cial

personnel fi les and take mandatory

training. Changes will enable employees

to take advantage of new business

collaboration and social networking tools.

And as he expects Defense Department

resources to become increasingly constrained in upcoming years, Thompson

is asking employees to evaluate Agency

initiatives and associated resources.

“We need to identify and execute

opportunities to reduce our core costs

and the related fi nancial impact on our

customers,” the director said, pointing

to information technology support and

material costs as candidates for possible

cost reductions.

Collaboration with suppliers and

customers on demand and supply planning will also help ensure the Agency is

protecting taxpayer dollars. “The biggest

single opportunity for improvement revolves around demand planning with our

customers – getting a better fi x on what

is needed, when and in what quantities,”

he said.

Workforce Development

Because the Agency’s ability to

succeed in supporting warfi ghters at

the best cost depends on its employees,

Thompson also included four initiatives

under Workforce Development.

“We must enable our workforce to

capitalize on their skills, experience and

potential, and prepare to manage the

transition as retirements increase in the

years ahead,” he said.

Initiatives include improving recruiting efforts and advancement opportunities for employees in four demographical

areas: Hispanics, white women at executive levels, blacks at executive levels and

people with certain disabilities.

“Promoting a workplace that embraces equal employment opportunity is

one of our strategies to leverage America’s

rich diversity. As DLA replenishes its

workforce in the future, EEO will play a

key role in our success,” Thompson said

in a policy statement to DLA employees

early this year.

With more DLA personnel than

ever deployed alongside warfi ghters,

the Logistics Operations and Readiness

Directorate will work with primary-level

fi eld activities to identify positions and

skills needed at remote locations so a bigger pool of potential deployers can be established. And a new Talent Management

Program run by human resources will be

used to ensure employees have the right

skills to meet current and future mission requirements through training that

addresses existing skill gaps and expands

opportunities for future growth.

Regardless of which focus area his

20 initiatives fall under, Thompson said,

they are all based on one premise: doing

what is right for the armed forces and the

Defense Department.

“Fiscal 2010 will be another demanding year for DLA and all we serve,” he

said in the guidance. “It is vital we ensure

a sustained focus on these 20 initiatives

to help meet desired outcomes in our

three strategic focus areas.”

The DLA Executive Board will monitor the status of each initiative, and developments will be reported on DLA’s public

Web site at www.dla.mil.

A worker at one of the Defense Logistics

Agency’s 25 worldwide distribution centers

loads material with a forklift. Designing future

Defense Distribution Center distribution capabilities is part of DLA Director Navy Vice

Adm. Alan Thompson’s fi scal 2010 Director’s

Guidance.

Courtesy Photo
8 www.dla.mil

rmy Col. Mike Bird is about

to move a mountain.

And he won’t be doing

it alone. Bird, the commander of Defense

Logistics Agency —

Central Command will have help from

members of his own team, a DLA support team and participants from several

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that doesn’t make the task of helping the

military services draw down a mountain

of equipment and supplies accumulated

during six years of operations in Iraq

any less daunting.

As the regional command

responsible for Agency activities in

the U.S. Central Command area of

responsibility, DLA-Central is also

DLA’s face to the combatant commander

and his staff and participates in strategiclevel planning for the operations in the

region. Bird has made planning for the

drawdown a priority since he assumed

command this summer.

Soldiers from 1404th Transportation Company, 180th Transportation Battalion, 52nd

Sustainment Brigade, lead a convoy towing

23 Stryker vehicles south from Camp Taji, in

central Iraq, to the Kuwait Naval Base as part

of the military’s drawdown of forces in Iraq.

Drawing D Army Spc. David M. Sharp

A

(Right) An aerial shot of part of the Marine

Corps Logistics Command (Forward) Retrograde Lot at Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq,

demonstrates the orderly processing of gear

that has been turned in by Marine units from

all over Iraq. Many vehicles will be received

by Defense Logistics Agency depots and

stored until the services are ready to put them

on the maintenance line and begin rebuilding.

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 9

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

“This is much more than moving a

mountain. It surpasses any logistical

challenge we have undertaken to date,

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is being sustained while we retrograde,

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Bird said.

“The drawdown is, in essence, the

return of all U.S. forces back to their

home stations and closing out the military presence that is within the country

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Logistics Operations Center lead planner for drawdown, retrograde and reset.

“Bringing back troops means bringing

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Bruce said he believes the greatest

challenge will be maintaining the

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where there’s still much uncertainty.

“If we know the exact requirements

it’s much easier to anticipate and get

what’s needed in advance and make sure

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said. “But with the drawdown in Iraq, ...

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going to be discovered until we’re well

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Since exact requirements are

unknown, Bruce said, the Agency needs

to focus on how to get the information

from the military services and how

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and respond to demands as they are

generated.

A Team Effort

“DLA-Central has a support team on

the ground in Iraq to work closely with

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Eric Gardner, DLA-Central chief of plans,

exercises and organizational support. “By

working closely with the various Agency

and military elements, DLA-Central

ensures efforts are synchronized to meet

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Gardner said a great deal of teamwork

and collaboration goes into planning a

complex operation like the Iraq drawdown.

“By leveraging the abilities of subject

matter experts from the various DLA organizations, DLA-Central helps to ensure

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information to make timely decisions on

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Excessive Excess

Bruce said the drawdown will impact

DOO'/$¶VSULPDU\OHYHO¿HOGDFWLYLWLHVWR

some extent, with the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service shouldering

the brunt of the workload.

3&RRUGLQDWLRQDQGÀH[LELOLW\DUHNH\V

LQDQ\FRPSOH[RSHUDWLRQ ́VDLG7ZLOD

*RQ]DOHV'506GLUHFWRU3$QLQÀH[LEOH

plan will snap under pressure, and an

XQFRRUGLQDWHGSODQZLOOIDLO ́

The bulk of DRMS’ mission is providing best-value services and delivering

great performance to Defense Department

customers while processing excess

material for reuse, transfer or disposal,

Gonzales said.

own Marine Cpl. M. M. Bravo

Story by Jonathan Stack
2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE

10 www.dla.mil

“We will do what we already do, but

with surges of higher volume anticipated,”

Gonzales said.

 The reutilization service already

handles the military services’ excess

property in Iraq, including disposal

of battle-damaged equipment and

demilitarization of applicable surplus

items. DRMS also has an extensive

program in place to remove scrap from

both the small forward-operating bases

and the larger more established bases.

Gonzales said her team is also handling

a portion of hazardous waste and

materials disposal.

“We’ve been preparing for this for

some time,” she said. “We now have a

contractor handling many aspects of the

day-to-day operations at our Iraq, Kuwait

and Afghanistan DRMOs because we

wanted to have more fl exibility to reposition our DLA civilians and reservists.”

In addition to the disposal contract,

DRMS has employees working all across

Iraq, not just at its four fi xed Defense Reutilization and Marketing Offi ces. Small

teams are stationed at forward locations

working with combat units and garrison

leaders to prepare for unit movements and

potential closures or handovers of facilities.

“We’re not just working with or for

the military units in Iraq, we are working

right alongside them,” she said. “Our mobilized reservists ... are doing great work

on those teams.”

Earlier this year, members of a

DRMS disposal remediation team working at a large forward-operating base in

Iraq managed removal of more than 3

million pounds of scrap from the base in

just 30 days.

Gonzales said everything DRMS is

doing to aid the responsible drawdown

is focused on benefi ting warfi ghters and

preserving American national-security

interests.

“Good management of excess

equipment in this case helps protect our

fi ghting forces from the danger that an

adversary will be able to use some of our

own equipment against us,” Gonzales

said. “Good stewardship over excess

property serves both the warfi ghter and

taxpayers.”

Bruce said the DLA teams are conducting operations in a manner that achieves

mission success while best preserving the

military forces’ fi ghting abilities.

A Soldier repacks a container of equipment

after it has been through its required customs

inspection. A big piece of the Defense

Logistics Agency’s mission involves the

drawdown in Iraq and the reset of forces and

supplies in Afghanistan.

Army Pfc. Ali Hargis
doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

Loglines O November - December 2009 11

Changing Posture

37KHZDU¿JKWHULVGHSHQGHQWRQRXU

support in [Operation Iraqi Freedom] to

provide essential functions — disposal

and reutilization, sustainment support,

distribution support. And as the nature

of the operation changes as the forces

draw down, we want to make sure that we

don’t add to the burden by continuing to

send forward supplies that are no longer

QHHGHG ́KHVDLG

Bruce said DLA wants to make sure

it’s adjusting to the changing nature of

OIF so it can anticipate future sustainment requirements.

“We are helping in bringing material

out and getting it stored in the right

ORFDWLRQIRUIXWXUHXVHV ́KHDGGHG3$

big piece is the drawdown is closely

DVVRFLDWHGZLWKWKHUHVHWDQGWKH¿JKWLQ

$IJKDQLVWDQ ́

Re-store And Reset

DLA’s distribution depot in Kuwait

— Defense Distribution Depot Kuwait,

Southwest Asia — and its other depots

in the continental United States are

H[SHFWHGWRSOD\D3UHYHUVHORJLVWLFV ́UROH

in the drawdown in Iraq and the buildup

in Afghanistan.

As service components in Iraq start

leaving the country, Bruce said, the military services will look at their supplies and

equipment and decide whether to take

items with them or leave them behind.

“In some cases, the services might

decide they don’t need those consumable materials in Iraq because they’re

drawing down the force. [But due to the

buildup, the materials might] be needed

LQ$IJKDQLVWDQ ́%UXFHVDLG35DWKHUWKDQ

transporting material all the way back

to the continental U.S., they may choose

to store that material at DDKS and save

WUDQVSRUWDWLRQFRVW ́

Bruce said much usable material will

be shipped from Iraq to DDKS, while

some of it will come back to DLA’s depots

near military units’ home stations.

These depots, mainly colocated with

the military services’ repair depots, act as

receiving and temporary storage locations.

If a Humvee comes back to an Army

repair depot, it will be received by the

DLA depot and stored until the Army is

ready to put it on the maintenance line

and begin the rebuild, Bruce said.

“There’s a big impact there for DLA

because there’s a lot of equipment that

has to come back and be repaired before

it can be provided to units to prepare for

WKHQH[W¿JKW ́KHVDLG

Inventory Impact

In addition, Bruce said, there will be

an impact on the amount of repair parts

DLA is currently supplying to support

rebuilding the equipment coming back

and going into the depot system.

“The fact that this equipment has

been used in the desert for so long

[means the military services] might have

to replace a lot of parts that they normally

wouldn’t have to replace [on a weapon

V\VWHPZLWKWKHVDPHXVDJHKRXUV@ ́

Bruce said. “We have to work closely with

the services to make sure we’re on top of

that and we know what those demands

DUHVRZH¶UHSUHSDUHGWRVXSSRUWWKHP ́

DLA’s supply centers and Defense

Energy Support Center are expected to

see a surge in business as the military

services’ requirements evolve.

“We were sustaining the force in Iraq,

and those demands are going to decrease

over time and demands in Afghanistan

DUHJRLQJWRLQFUHDVH ́KHVDLG

Bruce said, for example, DESC has to

monitor and draw down the bulk fuel it has

been providing in Iraq and Kuwait to ensure

that supply levels match demand and

the Agency doesn’t build up excess supply

when demand is increasing in Afghanistan.

Reconciling what’s supplied with

ZDU¿JKWHUGHPDQGLVSDUWRIZKDW'/$

Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson

GHVFULEHGDVHI¿FLHQFLHVDLPHGDWLPSURYing the Agency’s stewardship of resources

LQD-XQHLQWHUYLHZZLWK0LOLWDU\/RJLVtics Forum magazine.

“Ultimately, we exist to support the

ZDU¿JKWHUEXW&RQJUHVVDQGWKH$PHULcan public expect us to be good stewards.

The American taxpayer shouldn’t have to

spend a penny more on logistics support

WKDQLVQHHGHG ́KHVDLG

Air Force Senior Airman Tony R. Ritter

Air Force members of 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron take down a tent structure.

The squadron has been downsizing, which calls for consolidating material and equipment to

send to U.S. warfighters in Afghanistan. A big piece of the Defense Logistics Agency’s mission

involves the drawdown in Iraq and the reset of forces and supplies in Afghanistan.
12 www.dla.mil

The Defense Logistics Agency

is about to acquire a new

area of expertise within its

organization.

The Joint Contingency

$FTXLVLWLRQ6XSSRUW2I¿FHLVJHWWLQJ

closer to being fully manned and

beginning operations.

“We’ll declare full operational capability

when we have one fully staffed JCASO

forward expeditionary team in place,”

VDLG7LP)UHLKRIHUWKHRI¿FH¶VH[HFXWLYH

director. “We are projecting that the JCASO

will have full operational capability by the

end of 2010, as mandated by Congress.”

7KHRI¿FHFXUUHQWO\KDVVL[HPSOR\-

ees; once fully staffed, it is slated to have

about 44. Having just received approval

and resources for the organization to

begin the hiring process, Freihofer said

KHH[SHFWVWRKDYHKLV¿UVWIRXU'HIHQVH

'HSDUWPHQWFLYLOLDQSRVLWLRQV¿OOHGE\

WKH¿UVWTXDUWHURI+HVDLGKHH[-

pects the rest of the civilian and military

staff members to come onboard throughout 2010 and have the roster complete by

early 2011.

:KHQ-&$62¿UVWVWRRGXSLQ

it was as a DOD-level entity housed at the

Defense Logistics Agency’s Fort Belvoir,

Va., headquarters. Now a part of the

Agency, aligned under the Acquisition

Management Directorate, the organization is charged with providing acquisition

support for joint operations involving

DOD and other government agencies.

7KHRI¿FHDOVRRYHUVHHVH[SHGLWLRQDU\

contracting conducted during combat

RSHUDWLRQVWKHSRVWFRQÀLFWSHULRGDQG

contingency operations.

According to planners, JCASO will

deploy as a joint-staff organization to

augment a combatant commander’s

VWDII:KHQWKHRI¿FHLVFDOOHGIRUZDUG

in a contingency, it will help the jointforce commander provide oversight and

program management at the operational

level over the array of contracts and

contractors throughout the combatant

commander’s area of operations.

If a joint task force has been

established to help facilitate mission

success, JCASO typically will have a

liaison present at that level and location

to assist in overseeing contracted efforts

for the particular joint operating area,

Freihofer said.

“The team itself will be multifunctional and will have expertise in a number

of capabilities, including engineering,

logistics planning, contracting and

acquisition,” he explained. “Additionally,

we’ll have ‘reach-back’ to other JCASO

team members at Fort Belvoir for legal,

UP AND

RUNNING

¿QDQFLDODQGRWKHUVXSSRUWFDSDELOLWLHV

including a liaison to our interagency

partners to assist with the whole-ofgovernment approach to shaping and

managing a contingency scenario.”

JCASO employees also have been involved in policy and doctrine development.

“[JCASO] has augmented the U.S.

Joint Forces Command to help build joint

training packages for non-acquisition

personnel and participated in several

[joint military exercises],” Freihofer said.

Full operational capability for JCASO

is in line with DLA Director Navy Vice

$GP$ODQ7KRPSVRQ¶VZDU¿JKWHUVXSport enhancement initiatives as outlined

in his 2010 Director’s Guidance.

The team got a chance to prove

their value in this arena earlier this

year when it participated in two joint

military exercises: Austere Challenge

2009 in Germany and Terminal Fury

2009 in Hawaii. Eight people deployed

to each theater, six personnel to perform

contracting duties and two to observe and

write after-action reviews.

“We actually [acted and deployed] the

way JCASO will in the future to provide

the combatant commander acquisition and

program-management support for contracting capabilities he will deploy during

actual combat operations,” Freihofer said.

Story by Jonathan Stack

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 13

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

In a memorandum written after

the exercise, U.S. European Command

Deputy Commander Navy Vice Adm.

Richard Gallagher said the JCASO team

learned valuable lessons that would enhance their construct by partnering with

the command.

)UHLKRIHUVDLGKLVWHDPEHQH¿WWHG

because the exercises provided a rich

environment in which to demonstrate

the effectiveness of JCASO processes

and how well-received the team is at the

military component level

Through this participation, JCASO

garnered attention as a strong and developing organization within the operational

contract support community, he said.

“We’ve worked shoulder to shoulder

with the assigned joint operational

contract support planners at the

combatant command staffs to help

GH¿QHDQGVKDSHWKHLUUROHVLQZRUNLQJ

the operations and contingency plans to

ensure contractor needs are accounted

for and built into the scenarios from the

JURXQGÀRRUXS ́)UHLKRIHUVDLG

Gallagher wrote that once JCASO

reaches full operational capability in 2010,

he expects the organization will become an

invaluable enabler to joint operations.

“Operational contract support is and

will continue to be a matter of national

interest both because of the mission

LWVXSSRUWVDQGWKHVLJQL¿FDQWGROODUV

that are leveraged in support of the U.S.

forces,” he said.

)UHLKRIHUVDLGKLVRI¿FHKDVDOUHDG\

provided a proof of concept for managing contractors accompanying the force

through engaging in USEUCOM and U.S.

3DFL¿F&RPPDQGH[HUFLVHV

“Once [JCASO] is fully staffed,

DLA will be at the forefront in helping

provide [operational contract support]

solutions when an immediate response is

required during humanitarian-assistance

or disaster-relief situations or during

contingencies,” he added.

JCASO ORGANIZATION

LEGAL

EXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR

Executive

Assistant

OPS OFFICER DEPUTY

DEPUTY OPS ASSISTANT

DEPUTY OPS GS-15 GS-14 FUNCTIONAL EXPERTS (3)

SES

POLICY

MANAGER

JCASO FORWARD

DIRECTOR

LOGISTICS

PLANS OFFICER

ENGINEER

QUALITY

ASSURANCE REP

MISSION

SUPPORT

MISSION

SUPPORT

MISSION

SUPPORT

QUALITY

ASSURANCE REP

LOGISTICS

PLANS OFFICER

ENGINEER

JCASO FORWARD

DIRECTOR DEPUTY ENGINEER ENGINEER

GS-13/

GS-14

FINANCE GS-13/

GS-14

PROCUREMENT

ANALYST GS-14

JOINT OPERATIONAL

CONTRACT SUPPORT PLANNERS (7)

at Combatant Commands

JOINT OPERATIONAL

CONTRACT SUPPORT

PLANNERS (7)

at Combatant Commands

DIRECTOR

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

* *

* * *

*

DEPUTY

POLICY MANAGER GS-15

ARMY AIR FORCE NAVY CIVILIAN at COCOMs

LEGEND

* DEPLOYABLE

Chart reflects organizational construct once fully staffed.
14 www.dla.mil

Adding

On

Story by Dianne Ryder

With additional new

missions and responsibilities resulting from

Base Realignment and

Closure 2005 legislation, the Defense Logistics Agency is

moving beyond the traditional wholesaler

role toward being a full-scale logistics

provider.

“The BRAC supply and storage

changes are about realignment and consolidation, not about closures, which is

warfighter readiness.

As part of this change, DLA’s point of

handoff to customers has shifted, as well.

Where supply shops industrial sites were

once DLA customers, they are now part

of DLA, and DLA provides needed repair

parts directly to maintenance production

lines.

“BRAC supply and storage is a key

driver for broadening DLA’s responsibilities and capabilities and has extended the

Agency increasingly forward with warfighters and maintainers,” Terrell said. 

Another BRAC recommendation

involves a “new mission for the Agency,

managing procurement of depot-level

reparables.

This mission was once performed

by the military services, but now DLA is

responsible for procuring parts that can

be repaired at or below the depot-maintenance level. These parts include transmissions, engines and starters. The BRAC

DLR procurement recommendation

also includes consumable item transfer.

Consumable items are those that are used

and not repaired, like nuts, bolts, washwhat people traditionally think when they

hear ‘BRAC,’” said Louise Terrell, acting 

executive director of DLA’s Strategic

Programs Directorate.

“BRAC supply and storage benefits 

the Department of Defense as a whole

by reducing redundancies, streamlining

operations, and improving warfighter 

support,” she said. “Through these BRAC 

changes, the military services and DLA

are integrating similar activities across

the defense logistics supply chain and

closing logistics seams.”

One of the three BRAC supply and

storage recommendations addresses supply, storage and distribution, or SS&D,

and represents a shift in DLA’s current

responsibility. By consolidating SS&D

functions, inventory and personnel from

the military services to DLA at various depot-maintenance sites, DLA can

manage a single national inventory while

improving speed, accuracy and reliability

for its customers — ultimately improving

Two Airmen replace a seal on a vehicle

transmission at Kunsan Air Base, Republic

of Korea. The Defense Logistics Agency has

assumed responsibility for procuring transmissions and other depot-level reparable

spare parts from the military services under

the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure

decisions.

Additional reporting by Amy Clement, Defense Supply

Center Richmond Public Affairs Office

Air Force Senior Airman Jonathan Steffen

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 15

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

ers and gaskets. Although DLA already

managed these items, additional consumable items are being transferred from the

services to DLA, so this represents an

expansion of this mission.

Amy Sajda, supervisory procurement

analyst in DLA’s Acquisition ManagePHQW2I¿FHDQGWKHLQGLYLGXDOUHVSRQVLble for implementing the BRAC decisions

regarding depot-level reparables and

privatization, explained the Agency’s part

of the DLR mission.

“It’s pretty much the same as you’d

do at the house when your lawnmower

breaks down, you take it to a repair shop

where they may replace the engine, transmission or starter with new parts. Well,

now we’re purchasing the new repair

parts for the services. And the services

DUHUHWDLQLQJLWHPPDQDJHPHQW¿QDQFLDO

PDQDJHPHQWDQGHQJLQHHULQJ ́VKHVDLG

Commodity management privatization, or simply, privatization, is the third

recommendation and involves creating

vendor contracts to do the supply, storage

and distribution for major commodLW\OLQHVVSHFL¿FDOO\WLUHVFRPSUHVVHG

gases and packaged petroleum, oils and

lubricants. As of August 2008, all DLA

privatization contracts for these commodities in the continental United States

have been fully implemented.

“The law required us to privatize

certain commodities and those commodiWLHVZHUHDFWXDOO\VSHFL¿HGLQWKH%5$&

ODQJXDJH ́6DMGDVDLG

She explained that creating the

privatization contracts for tires was

simpler than for the other commodities

because procurement of any gases must

include their containers or cylinders, and

packaged petroleum, oils and lubricants

included other chemicals, as well.

“So we expanded the BRAC directive

a little bit. Now we have a contract for

gases and cylinders and a contract for

chemicals and [packaged petroleum, oils

DQGOXEULFDQWV@ ́

“Day One, or the initial transfer of

functions from the military services to

DLA, has been a relatively smooth transiWLRQ ́VDLG)UDQ:DOLQVN\DFWLQJGHSXW\

executive director of DLA’s Strategic

Programs Directorate and the individual

responsible for implementing the BRAC

 A Sailor recharges oxygen bottles for a self-contained firefighting breathing apparatus aboard

the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. Under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure legislation, the Defense Logistics Agency has privatized management of several major commodity

lines, including gases and cylinders.

Navy Seaman Eboni C. Cameron
16 www.dla.mil

ensures parts needed to maintain

the largest transport aircraft in the

PLOLWDU\ÀHHWDUHUHDGLO\DYDLODEOHZKHQ

needed. Parts come to the C-5 MIC shop

from DLA’s Defense Distribution Depot

Warner Robins, which is colocated with

the shop and DLA’s Warner Robins

detachment.

“We make sure the parts for the C-5

FRPHLQRQWLPHDQGJHWWRWKH$LU)RUFH

PHFKDQLFVDVTXLFNO\DVSRVVLEOH ́VDLG

Mike Williams, C-5 material, storage and

distribution chief at DLA Warner Robins.

Chris Jones, a supply technician in

the C-5 MIC shop, has an essential part in

the repair cycle of the weapon system. He

makes sure the depot-level reparable items

that have been removed from the aircraft

during programmed depot maintenance

are returned to supply in a timely fashion.

“The clock is running to get the

reparable parts back into supply and into

UHSDLUWRVXSSRUWWKHZDU¿JKWHU ́-RQHV

VDLG3)URPWKHWLPHWKHQHZRUVHUYLFHable part is issued to the mechanic, the

unserviceable item should be received

EDFNIURPPDLQWHQDQFHZLWKLQGD\V ́

If the part is not received in a timely

IDVKLRQ-RQHVIROORZVXSZLWK$LU)RUFH

maintenance personnel to ensure the

turn-in is completed.

Williams, who transferred in place

IURPWKH$LU)RUFHWR'/$DORQJZLWKKLV

crew of seven, said he is pleased with the

transition.

3,WKHOSVWKH$LU)RUFHEHFDXVHWKHLU

supply is shrinking. With DLA coming on

ERDUGLWUHOLHYHV$LU)RUFHDVVHWVDVIDU

as money and personnel. DLA is taking

An Airman repairs a C-5 Galaxy aircraft

engine at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The

Defense Logistics Agency is improving support in the C-5 cargo plane material inventory

control shop at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.,

by removing redundant processes and layers

to get materials directly to customers faster.

Air Force Airman 1st Class Kenny Holston

decisions regarding supply, storage and

distribution.

“DLA is moving beyond BRAC;

we’re now in a new business. We’re

bringing things together under one roof

for procurement of DLRs. We’re in the

consumer-level, or retail, supply, storage

and distribution support business, and

timeliness of response to the customer

LVRIHYHQJUHDWHULPSRUWDQFHQRZ ́

Walinsky said.

By avoiding redundant processes and

layers, DLA can better meet production

schedules by delivering materials directly

to the customer in hours and minutes

rather than days and weeks.

An example of this improved

HI¿FLHQF\DQGWUDQVIHUULQJLQSODFHLV

DSSDUHQWDW5RELQV$LU)RUFH%DVH

Ga. This is where the C-5 Galaxy cargo

plane material inventory control shop

in the Aircraft Product Support Division

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

Loglines O November - December 2009 17

The below sites have already joined the Defense Logistics Agency under Base Realignment and

Closure 2005 decisions or are slated to in coming years.

* Anticipated activation date as of September

Depot-Level Reparable

Procurement Operation

6/2008 DLA Oklahoma City

(supporting Oklahoma City Air Logistics

Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.)

6/2008 DLA Ogden

(supporting Ogden Air Logistics Center,

Hill Air Force Base, Utah)

11/2008 DLA Warner Robins

(supporting Warner Robins Air Logistics

Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.)

11/2008 DLA Philadelphia

(supporting Naval Inventory Control Point,

Philadelphia)

11/2008 DLA Mechanicsburg

(supporting NAVICP Mechanicsburg, Pa.)

2/2009 DLA Huntsville

(supporting Army Aviation and Missile

Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.)

2/2009 DLA Warren

(supporting Army Tank-automotive and

Armaments Command, Warren, Mich.)

6/2010* DLA Albany

(supporting Marine Corps Logistics

Command, Albany, Ga.)

10/2010* DLA Aberdeen

(supporting Army CommunicationsElectronics Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J.)

2nd Quarter of Fiscal 2011*

DLA Corpus Christi (at Corpus Christi Army

Depot, Texas)

3rd Quarter of Fiscal 2011*

DLA Anniston

(at Anniston Army Depot, Ala.)

Supply, Storage and

Distribution Sites

10/2007 DLA Warner Robins

(supporting Warner Robins Air Logistics

Center)

2/2008 DLA Oklahoma City

(supporting Oklahoma City Air Logistics

Center)

7/2008 DLA Ogden

(supporting Ogden Air Logistics Center)

8/2008 DLA Cherry Point

(supporting Navy Fleet Readiness Center East,

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.)

10/2008 DLA Jacksonville

(supporting Navy Fleet Readiness

Center Southeast, Naval Air Station

Jacksonville, Fla.)

2/2009 DLA North Island

(supporting Navy Fleet Readiness

Center Southwest, Naval Air Station

North Island, Calif.)

5/2009 DLA Norfolk, Naval Station

Norfolk, Va.

7/2009 DLA Puget Sound, Naval

Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance

Facility, Naval Base Kitsap, Wash.

9/2009 DLA Albany (Material Control

Center)

(supporting Marine Corps Maintenance

Center Albany, Ga.)

2/2010* DLA Tobyhanna

(supporting Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa.)

9/2010* DLA Barstow

(supporting Marine Corps Maintenance Center

Barstow, Calif.)

2nd quarter of fiscal 2011*

DLA Corpus Christi

(supporting Corpus Christi Army Depot)

3rd quarter of fiscal 2011*

DLA Anniston

(supporting Anniston Army Depot)

responsibility for managing moving,

VWRULQJDQGVKLSSLQJWKHPDWHULDOV ́

Williams said.

To date, more than 1,950 positions

have transferred in place from the military services to DLA at nine DLA SS&D

VLWHVVXSSRUWLQJFXVWRPHUVDW$LU)RUFH

DLUORJLVWLFVFHQWHUV1DY\ÀHHWUHDGLQHVV

centers, naval shipyards, and a Marine

Corps maintenance center. The four remaining DLA SS&D sites will activate by

September 2011.

Seven DLR procurement management detachments, with a total workforce of more than 320, have made the

transition, and two more are expected

WRIROORZE\6HSWHPEHU2I¿FLDOV

said more than 2,270 total personnel

at SS&D sites and DLR detachments,

including contractors, have been bringing their expertise to bear helping DLA

improve business practices and support

WRZDU¿JKWHUV

In an interview with Military Logistics

)RUXPHDUOLHUWKLV\HDU'/$'LUHFWRU

Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson said,

3)URPD'/$SHUVSHFWLYH>WKH%5$&

recommendations] give us an expanded

forward presence with the ultimate

consumers of our products and services

— very important for demand planning.

This increased forward presence,

coupled with our IT capability, is going

to dramatically improve our ability to

have the right item at the right time at the

ULJKWSODFHDWWKHULJKWFRVW ́

Integration of business processes is

also necessary for BRAC implementation

because each service has its own

business processes for SS&D and DLR

SURFXUHPHQW)RUWKHIXQFWLRQVWKDW

transfer from the services to DLA, service

processes will ultimately be merged with

DLA processes, blending best practices

across DOD.

2I¿FLDOVVDLGWKH$JHQF\ZLOOFRQWLQXH

to work through the BRAC recommendations and implement process, policy and

systems changes aimed at delivering optimized support to customers in mission areas realigned to DLA. They also reiterated

WKDWWKH$JHQF\¶VFRUHYDOXHRIZDU¿JKWHU

support is at the heart of each action.

“As DLA and the services continue to

work together on BRAC implementation

and related savings, the focus will remain

the same: providing logistics excellence

ZKLOHPD[LPL]LQJZDU¿JKWLQJFDSDELOLW\

DQGHI¿FLHQF\ ́7HUUHOOVDLG
18 www.dla.mil

MY DOCUMENTS

MY COMPUTER

RECYCLE BIN

eWORKPLACE

A

n icon located on the computer

desktop of every Defense

Logistics Agency employee will

soon link users to one Web site

that provides every job-related

resource they should need.

Since its debut in 2003, eWorkplace

has been an online knowledgemanagement portal where employees

could do such things as store and share

documents, take mandatory training on

topics like antiterrorism, read DLA policy

statements, and view their Electronic

2I¿FLDO3HUVRQQHO)LOH

A new, more user-friendly version is

scheduled to launch in November.

“The current eWorkplace has become

outdated, so we’re taking our original

eWorkplace concepts and re-architecting

them to take advantage of things like

business collaboration and social

QHWZRUNLQJ ́VDLG'DYLG)DOYH\'/$¶V

executive director for enterprise solutions.

The redesigned eWorkplace will

make it possible to later introduce

COMING SOON

Story by Beth Reece

An Improved eWORKPLACE

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 19

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

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The current eWorkplace does include

links to helpful sources like the Defense

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system and internal Agency job listings,

but the new version will offer a broader

range of resources, said Julia Karns,

eWorkplace program manager for the

Defense Logistics Information Service, in

Battle Creek, Mich.

“The new portal will make it easier for

employees to get to all of the applications

they need on a daily basis to perform

their jobs instead of having to pile their

browser with [bookmarked Web sites]

and having to remember where all those

links take them,” she said.

Users will have time to become

comfortable with the new version

before more comprehensive changes

and additions are added in the 12 to 18

months following the launch, added

Kenneth Surprenant, chief of the DLIS’

Data Visibility Division.

“Our immediate focus will be on

converting eWorkplace’s existing

Web 2.0 concepts, which refer to a

broad range of tools and applications

that facilitate interactive information

sharing, interoperability, user-centered

design and collaboration on the

Internet. Examples include Web-based

communities and social-networking sites

similar to the popular commercial sites

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The re-design of eWorkplace is among

the 20 initiatives set forth by DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson in his

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The initial launch will include the

same functionality eWorkplace currently

offers, but in a more familiar, Microsoftbased environment.

“The real estate of the page, or how it

looks, will be more consistent with what

people are seeing when they go onto the

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into the system, it’ll be searchable,

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existing eWorkplace, users tend to have

capabilities and ensuring employees are

comfortable with the product,” he said.

$PRQJIXWXUHDGGLWLRQVLVD3)DFHbook-like” capability that would help

match employee skills with Agency needs.

“Let’s say we had a requirement to

put together a special skilled team to be

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said. “A new capability in eWorkplace

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have the right skills and who also have

the ability to be part of an emergency

response team.”

eWorkplace could also be used for

collaboration, such as when teams create

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“You would have the ability to see all

the folks you’re collaborating with right

on your computer screen, along with a

copy of the product you’re working on.

You’d also be able to pass control [of the

document] to others as you work together

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everyone with privileges to access it.”

BUSINESS COLLABORATION

SOCIAL NETWORKING

WEB 2.0 CONCEPTS

INTERACTIVE INFORMATION SHARING

WEB-BASED COMMUNITIES
20 www.dla.mil

Think

Diversity

Story by Heather Athey

Question:

How do you eat an elephant?

Answer:

One bite at a time.

The old joke isn’t trite for

members of the Equal

Employment Opportunity

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they submitted their annual report

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federal Equal Employment Opportunity

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2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 21

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

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labor relations monitor in the Business

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“We want to ensure we are an employer of choice and have

the credibility to attract high-quality candidates in the future.”

— Suellen Bunting

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22 www.dla.mil

Story by Dianne Ryder

“One of the big problems is DLA has

not really done a lot of recruiting from a

corporate perspective,” Vigil said.

She noted that there had been some

organizational recruiting in subordinate

commands, such as the Defense

Distribution Center, in New Cumberland,

Pa., and Defense Supply Center

Columbus, Ohio.

To date, the cadre has held initial

meetings and plans to convene

monthly. Members will be trained via

the Recruitment Assistance Division

of the Defense Department’s Civilian

Personnel Management Service and could

potentially receive contractor-sponsored

recruiter training as needed.

Though cadre membership is a

collateral duty for DLA employees,

Vigil said she estimates a commitment

of only about 10 hours a month for each

member. Future recruitment events may

involve more time, especially if a career

fair is outside of the cadre member’s

working area.

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sponsors nationwide recruiting events,

and DOD sponsors nationwide recruiting events. We will be participating in

those, so there will be a [temporary duty]

requirement,” Vigil said.

Though Vigil said she hasn’t “pointed

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for speaking engagements at career fairs.

Since members are representatives for

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 “We wanted to ensure there was

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Agency at recruitment events,” Vigil said.

She added that while many of the

cadre members have been recruiting for a

number of years, others are new to it.

“It’s a good way to pool ideas and

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arrangement where we’re all learning

from each other,” she said.

As many of DLA’s senior employees

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Vigil said, it was important that the

cadre also include the perspective of the

Agency’s interns.

“We need to have a youthful perspective when we’re recruiting at colleges

and universities. It’s easier for interns to

relate to the college students than a GS-15

equivalent,” she said.

Another group Vigil wanted representation from is the Agency’s Equal

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recruitment areas as well.

“In addition to general recruiting

that we’re doing, we also ... need to

increase our Hispanic representation,

representation of employees with

targeted disabilities, white women

throughout the Agency, and African

Americans in top positions,” she said.

The Agency is also developing a corporate recruitment plan, which Vigil said

was approved at the end of September.

I

n private industry, savvy human

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corporations. In the military,

recruiters meet with potential

candidates to see if they have the right stuff

to be Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen or Marines.

At the Defense Logistics Agency, a

select group of employees now has the

opportunity to help shape the Agency’s

future recruitment efforts.

Twenty-four individuals from DLA’s

various organizations and primary-level

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corporate recruitment cadre under the

Talent Management Initiative, part of

Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan

Thompson’s 2010 Director’s Guidance.

As part of his Workforce Development

focus area, the Talent Management program supports an enterprisewide strategy

for ensuring the workforce has the right

skills to meet current and future mission

requirements, Thompson wrote.

The cadre is part of the program’s

emphasis on strategic recruitment through

implementation of innovative recruiting

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the face of DLA to potential employees.

The concept was to gather volunteers

who are knowledgeable about their

individual organizations and the Agency

as a whole to contribute ideas on how to

reach potential employees, said Elizabeth

Vigil, a human resources specialist

in DLA’s Human Capital Program

Head Hunte

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE
Loglines O November - December 2009 23

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

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with their organization’s mission.

“A brochure only says so much. It’s

really important for people to have more

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they need to be aware of what DLA does,”

Vigil said.

Vigil also said she hopes to increase

“virtual recruiting” opportunities in the

future so the Agency can target people in

different geographic locations.

She said Agency managers are equally

supportive of the cadre’s goal to increase

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Agency vacancies.

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frustration and that they really would like

to do some targeted recruitment,” she said.

Vigil reiterated that managers are

concerned about the possibility of losing

a large part of their trained workforce to

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“So we really need to start focusing

on building a good pipeline of individuals

to come into federal government to take

those positions,” she said.

7KH¿UVWVWHS9LJLOVWUHVVHGLVHQsuring people in local communities are

aware of DLA and its mission through

good marketing and branding practices.

“Recruitment is so important to any

organization; it’s the best way that we

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well,” she said.

rs

2009 Corporate Cadre Members

Defense Supply Center Columbus: Robert Boggs

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia: Ruben Filomeno

Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va.: Laurie Darrisaw

and Angela Holmes

Defense Energy Support Center: Frank Pane, Stan Jasiczek

and Phyllis Webster (alternate)

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service: Amber Gentry-Upston

and Lawrence Edmonds Jr

Defense Distribution Center: Mike Hasuga

DLA Enterprise Support: Nicole Daddario

and Candace Given (alternate)

Human Resources: Elba Lopez-Parks and Liz Vigil

Logistics Operations and Readiness: Nancy Brown

and Wendy McKinney

Acquisition Management: Mickey Zayas

Financial Operations: Steve Turley

DLA Accountability Office: Steven Pigott

Small Business Programs: Greg Thevenin and Yolanda Webb

General Counsel: Ruth Vetter and Young Lee

Equal Employment Opportunity: Cynthia Sexton
24 www.dla.mil

2010 DIRECTOR’S GUIDANCE

Story by Jonathan Stack

The Defense Logistics Agency

processes about 11,200 new

contract awards and modifi cations to existing contracts each

day, and a new venture under

development is expected to help the Agency execute these actions more effi ciently.

DLA’s Enterprise Procurement

project, which planners said will also

support DLA’s future acquisition needs

and mission requirements, is scheduled

to be fully operational and deployed

by November 2011 and will mark a

milestone for the Agency’s use of this type

of technology, offi cials said.

“EProcurement is an effort within

DLA to standardize the procurement

[tools] used throughout the Agency,” said

Robert Gee, DLA business process analyst.

“It’s the fi rst time DLA has attempted to

standardize procurement software.”

As a tool within the Agency’s

Enterprise Business System, the

technology backbone that makes DLA’s

daily supply-management operations

possible, EProcurement is slated to take

the place of DLA’s legacy contracting

system and integrate fully with Enterprise

Business System. The project will be used

for writing contracts, including simplifi ed

acquisitions, long-term contracts,

service contracts and performance-based

logistics contracts.

Air Force Col. Mike Claffey, deputy

director for business process manageensure successful implementation. During the build phase, which was recently

completed, work plans were created,

test documentation development began,

technical environments were built, and

software confi guration started, Webster

said.

Gee said DLA provided SAP with a

number of functional requirements, such

as the capability to create solicitation and

award documents that contain pertinent

contractual dates, contract clauses, statements of work, and delivery schedules

for all types of contracts used by DLA’s

primary-level fi eld activities.

The EProcurement software will fi t

within parameters dictated by state and

federal government, DOD and allied

foreign governments’ procurement

regulations.

Development and deployment of

EProcurement as a replacement for

legacy contracting systems is part of a

ment in the Acquisition Management

Directorate, said that when EProcurement is fully implemented, it will be the

Agency’s single contract-writing tool —

the fi rst in the Defense Department.

“EProcurement will allow the user

to have the capability of automated

forms generation and enhanced reporting; the buyer will be able to manage

[contract] clauses and have streamlined

document generation,” Claffey explained.

“And a great new feature allows the buyer

the ease of maintaining all documents in

one place.”

The development is an enterprisewide

effort, and plans call for EProcurement

to be used in stateside and overseas

locations throughout the Agency’s eight

supply chains.

“During the EBS rollout, DLA entered

into a strategic development project with

[software maker] SAP America Inc. to

assist in the adaptation of its Supplier

Relationship Manager Software suite for

public-sector procurement,” said Chris

Webster, former DLA EProcurement

process owner. “EProcurement was

born out of that exploratory effort as

an Enterprise Business System postproduction product improvement.”

DLA began working with SAP

and Accenture in 2002 to develop the

EProcurement software.

Planners said the EProcurement

solution is being carried out in phases to

Work in Work in

Progress
Loglines O November - December 2009 25

doing what is right for the armed forces and department of defense

stewardship initiative outlined in the

2010 Director’s Guidance, which is aimed

at bringing EBS-enabled business process

HQKDQFHPHQWVRQOLQH

37KHWHVWSKDVH>VWDUWHG@LQWKH

2FWREHU1RYHPEHUWLPHIUDPH ́:HEVWHU

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:HEVWHUVDLG'/$ZLOOJDLQPDQ\

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integration with core enterprise resource

planning software [the Enterprise

Business System] and eliminate disparate

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“DLA will have a single contract-writing

capability for the entire Agency with a

standard set of clauses and forms, which

DUHHDVLHUWRPDLQWDLQ ́

Gee said many local contracting

clauses are being developed by each

$JHQF\¿HOGVLWHEXWEHFDXVHWKHUHZLOO

now be a standard procurement system,

“By implementing EProcurement,

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will come from such things as increased

visibility of supply-chain weaknesses or

problems through business intelligence,

leading to a faster reaction time,”

:HEVWHUVDLG

:HEVWHUVDLGWKHRQHV\VWHPDSSURDFK

will reveal a variety of improved metrics

and potential improvements in the time

it takes from procurement request to

GHOLYHU\RIVXSSOLHV$QGKHVDLGWKH

improvements in data standards and data

management will improve sustainment

and reduce periodic interruptions in the

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“I think it’s a challenging project, but

we have a lot of experience from all over the

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human performance team set up to make

sure all the users and buyers are trained

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IRUZDUGWRDVXFFHVVIXOGHSOR\PHQW ́

DLA will be able to consolidate those into

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“EProcurement will bring all of the

procurement and acquisition functions

XQGHURQHDSSOLFDWLRQVXLWH ́:HEVWHUVDLG

“It will vastly improve acquisition visibility,

response time to partners and communication between all the DLA elements that

PDQDJHZDU¿JKWHUVXSSRUWPLVVLRQV ́

He said EProcurement will allow the

Agency to present a single face to industry

instead of different DLA organizations

XVLQJGLIIHUHQWV\VWHPV(3URFXUHPHQW

will also meet the DOD-mandated system

interface and procurement data standard

UHTXLUHPHQWV

“Our user community will have a

VWDQGDUGORRN ́*HHVDLG

He said that if DLA has a buyer that

works in Columbus, Ohio, for example,

that buyer could move to an Agency site

LQ%DWWOH&UHHN0LFKRU3KLODGHOSKLD

DQGWKHV\VWHPZLOOVWLOOORRNWKHVDPH
26 www.dla.mil

I

f the Defense Logistics Agency were

a private-sector company, its annual

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would place it near communications

giant Sprint Nextel on Fortune

0DJD]LQH¶VOLVWRIWRSSHUIRUPLQJ

businesses.

DLA executes more than half a million contract actions annually in support

RIZDU¿JKWHUV¶DQGRWKHUFXVWRPHUV¶UHTXLUHPHQWVFRXUWHV\RIWKHDFTXLVLtion professionals working throughout

the Agency.

The Acquisition Management

Directorate, helmed by Nancy Heimbaugh,

is the backbone of DLA’s contracting

and buying operations. As DLA’s senior

BIG BUSINESS

Story by Heather Athey

procurement executive, Heimbaugh is

responsible for developing, applying

and overseeing the acquisition policies

that help the Agency’s staff buy what

ZDU¿JKWHUVQHHGWRVWD\PLVVLRQUHDG\

“The Defense Logistics Agency is

proud of its role as America’s combat

logistics support agency,” she said in

recent testimony before the House

Armed Services Committee. “As large and

diverse as our mission is, it continues to

evolve and grow in direct response to the

needs of the Defense Department and

ZDU¿JKWHUV ́

Acquisition is a core competency at

DLA and a key contributor to the success of

its mission, Heimbaugh said. And stewardship is key to DLA’s acquisition strategy —

ensuring the Agency obtains the best value

for every taxpayer dollar spent.

To aid in overseeing its enormous

acquisition mission, the Agency established a separate Acquisition ManagePHQW'LUHFWRUDWHLQDQGSODFHGWKH

FKLHISURFXUHPHQWRI¿FHUDVLWVGLUHFWRU

to ensure proper emphasis is placed on

management and oversight of DLA’s

acquisition programs. More recently, seSailors from the supply department of aircraft

carrier USS George Washington move

pallets of produce on the flight deck during a

vertical replenishment in the Pacific Ocean.

Warfighters get fresh produce thanks to the

efforts of the Defense Logistics Agency and

its prime-vendor contracting program.

Navy Seaman Adam K. Thomas
Loglines O November - December 2009 27

nior executives were placed into “head of

contracting activity” positions at each of

the Agency’s four major buying activities

to keep close watch on how effectively

DLA buys what customers need.

At the strategic level, Heimbaugh

said, her team’s goal is to develop a

comprehensive portfolio of acquisition

solutions that represent the best practices

for buying the different types of goods

and services DLA acquires for customers.

“In implementing that goal, we work

to develop approaches that address our

FXVWRPHUV¶VSHFL¿FQHHGVDQGWKHVSHFL¿F

challenges they face,” she said.

Customer Responsiveness

Drawing on lessons the Agency

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needs during operations Desert Shield

DQG'HVHUW6WRUPLQWKHHDUO\V

acquisition leaders adapted a privatesector best practice for improving

pharmaceutical support to customers.

Known as the prime-vendor model,

the concept allowed DLA to empty its

warehouses of inventory and reduce costs

for customers while accelerating delivery,

often to fewer than 48 hours from the

time the order was received.

“Perhaps

PRVWVLJQL¿FDQWO\

transitioning from

maintaining stock in

government warehouses

to relying on

commercial distributors

provided our customers

access to the vast array

of pharmaceuticals

available in the

commercial sector,”

Heimbaugh said. “By contracting with

commercial distributors to handle our

pharmaceutical orders, we improved

customer service and drastically reduced

overhead costs.”

After the initial pharmaceutical

success, the Agency deployed the

prime-vendor model and variants of the

concept to support worldwide customer

requirements for medical and surgical

equipment; subsistence; maintenance,

repair and operations materials; metals;

and special operations requirements.

“Most recently, we have adapted the

prime-vendor model to meet the challenge of supporting the military services’

requirements for jet fuel in Afghanistan.

Our fuel prime vendors are responsible

for the total supply chain, using multiple

supply points and arranging transportation for delivery to Bagram Air Base,”

Heimbaugh said.

Use of fuel prime vendors has reduced DLA’s vulnerability to fuel shipment

disruption, she said.

“DLA’s

annual sales to

customers through

prime vendors,

including fuel, are

approximately

$8 billion and a

VLJQL¿FDQWSRUWLRQRI

these sales represent

VXSSRUWWRZDU¿JKWHUVGHSOR\HGWR

the U.S. Central Command area of

responsibility,” Heimbaugh said. “These

service members receive the same highquality support through prime-vendor

contracts as service members stationed

inside the continental U.S.”

Part of what makes these acquisition

models portable — so they work stateside

as well as overseas — is the Agency’s work

to pursue pricing excellence.

Keeping Prices Right

,Q'/$HVWDEOLVKHGD&HQWHURI

Excellence in Pricing and tasked its staff

with reviewing contract prices across the

Agency, detecting overpricing and conducting corrective action.

More than 95 percent of DLA’s

contracts are competitive, and this

competition is the basis for determining

the price [for goods] on a contract in

conjunction with price/cost analysis

and best value decisions, said Catherine

Benavides, of DLA’s Procurement

Integrity and Pricing Division.

3>,W¶VLPSRUWDQWWRZDU¿JKWHUVWKDW

DLA practice pricing excellence because]

it’s a matter of public trust,” Benavides

said. “DLA is required to obtain the best

value for the taxpayer’s dollar while compensating its contractors fairly for goods

and services purchased.”

Center of excellence analysts have

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have been recouped from the responsible

contractors to date, and analysts expect

WRUHFRYHUDQDGGLWLRQDOLQWKH

future.

“The center’s analyses have also been

responsible for pricing-related improvements in a number of DLA’s prime-vendor

programs that are expected to result in

future savings of approximately $1 million

“The Defense Logistics

Agency is proud of its role as

America’s combat logistics

support agency.”

— Nancy Heimbaugh

Air Force Senior Airman Ben English drains fuel from an R-12 refueling truck at Andersen Air

Force Base, Guam, to sample it prior to use. Warfighters get the jet fuel they need through

contracts executed by the Defense Logistics Agency.

Air Force Senior Airman Shane Dunaway
28 www.dla.mil

annually,” Heimbaugh said.

Benavides said DLA adjusts prices

it charges customers as circumstances

warrant, but these changes are governed

by several guidelines: The price has to

be high enough to cover DLA’s costs to

provide the item or service, and it has

to be stable or consistent enough that

the military services can budget for the

VSHFL¿FLWHPV

“The other side of this coin is the

price DLA has to pay to its suppliers. In

YHU\VWDEOHPDUNHWV'/$XVHV¿UP

¿[HGSULFHFRQWUDFWVZKHUHWKHSULFHLQ

the awarded contract never changes,”

she said. “The remainder of contracts

DZDUGHGKDYH¿[HGSULFHVEXWFRQWDLQDQ

economic price adjustment clause.”

7KLVFODXVHSURYLGHVÀH[LELOLW\LQWKH

contract to revise the price up or down

EDVHGRQVSHFL¿HGFRQWLQJHQFLHV7KH

frequency of these price changes is determined by how stable the market is for the

price or service, which also contributes

to whether the price changes annually,

quarterly or daily.

“For example, most fuel contracts

are adjusted daily or weekly based on

a selected index that tracks the average

price of fuel for a product and market,”

Benavides said. “The price of the product

on that contract then changes to keep in

step with the selected index.”

Maintaining pricing excellence is

part of the directorate’s overall focus on

acquisition oversight and incorporating

industry and federal best practices.

Keeping Watch

DLA also relies on review programs

both by management and at the peer

level to monitor its adherence to federal

acquisition regulations. Procurement

Management Reviews, periodically

conducted at each of the Agency’s buying

activities, aim to evaluate the integrity of

the procurement process, assess business

practices and ensure statutory requirements are met.

“They also focus on results achieved

by the organization and include an indepth technical assessment of acquisition

planning, contract solicitation, the award

and post-award process and a compreKHQVLYHUHYLHZRIWKHFRQWUDFW¿OHV ́VDLG

Rusty Wells, also of the Procurement

Integrity and Pricing Division.

New peer review program, currently

in coordination among DLA’s contracting

sites, will be shaped around the Agencylevel program and will focus on identifying

best practices to be shared with primaryOHYHO¿HOGDFWLYLWLHV:HOOVVDLG

“The program will ensure that

FRQWUDFWLQJRI¿FHUVDUHLPSOHPHQWLQJ

negotiation policy and regulation

consistently, improve the quality and

effectiveness of the contract process, and

facilitate sharing of lessons learned,”

he said.

Though the recommendations from

the peer review program will be advisory

LQQDWXUH:HOOVVDLGVLJQL¿FDQW¿QGLQJV

could result in changes to a contract.

“On at least one occasion, a procurement management review alerted us to a

systemic weakness that necessitated comprehensive revisions to the acquisition

programs at one of our buying activities,”

Heimbaugh said.

New Faces, New Lessons

These reviews are also important as

DLA accepts the additional depot-level

reparable procurement mission from

the military services, she said. DLRs are

spare parts that can only be repaired at

the depot-maintenance level, such as

transmissions, engines and starters.

“As the result of Base Realignment

and Closure decisions, DLA’s mission

has expanded beyond consumable items

to include the acquisition of depot-level

reparable items and responsibility for

complete privatization of the Defense

Department’s management of tires,

chemicals, petroleum, oils and lubricants,

and compressed gases and cylinders,”

Heimbaugh said.

Accepting these new missions means

DLA must integrate the acquisition

professionals coming from these military

service sites into its existing team.

“Before BRAC, DLA hadn’t purchased

DLRs, and there’s a different type of

knowledge required for buying these

LWHPVEHFDXVHRISURGXFWVSHFL¿FDWLRQV

and manufacturing challenges,” said Amy

Sajda, supervisory procurement analyst

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As these new members are integrated

into DLA, leaders hope to transfer to

them the Agency’s knowledge of consumable item purchasing and gain knowledge

based on their history of purchasing

DLRs, she explained.

“Over time, we hope to have buyers

who can go anywhere in the Agency

and who have the wherewithal to look

across the DLA enterprise and identify

A recruit examines his newly issued Navy

working uniform at Recruit Training Command.

The uniform will replace the current working

uniform. The Defense Logistics Agency is

working with the Navy to provide these new

uniforms to Sailors worldwide.

Scott A. Thornbloom
Loglines O November - December 2009 29

opportunities for joint operations with the

military services or strategic contracts,”

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things that pass the ‘man on the street

test’ — asking ‘what would you pay for this

deal?’”

The ultimate goal of this skill and

knowledge integration is to enhance war-

¿JKWHUVXSSRUWYLDDVWUHDPOLQHGSURFHVV

and better prices and delivery, she said.

“Initial reviews at our depot-level

reparable detachments indicate we will be

able to share good ideas and adopt many

best practices from our new DLA team

members,” Heimbaugh said.

In addition to knowledge sharing

among established and new procurement

professionals, the Acquisition Management Directorate is heavily invested in the

continuing education of its workforce.

Driving Forward

Ninety-eight percent of DLA’s acquisition workforce is funded by customer

purchases, so DLA is very cognizant of the

impact its hiring decisions have on the

prices its customers pay, said Gabrielle

Zimmerman, Defense Acquisition Workforce coordinator in the Procurement

Integrity and Pricing Division.

“DLA’s acquisition workforce strategy

is to strengthen the current workforce

through developmental opportunities

in order to build and maintain the skills

necessary for continued outstanding

performance,” she said. “Our emphasis is

RQFUHDWLQJHI¿FLHQFLHVDVDQDOWHUQDWLYHWR

increasing resources.”

Competency assessments pinpoint

areas where training will be most

EHQH¿FLDOVKHVDLGDQGWKH$JHQF\

monitors its employees’ compliance

Mission:

Ensure all contracting policy,

systems, program management and

operations are in support of

the Agency’s strategic objectives.

Senior procurement executive

and staff support principal

development, application and

oversight of DLA acquisition policy,

plans, programs, operations and

functional systems.

Vision:

Acquisition excellence with integrity.

Fast Facts:

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$SSUR[LPDWHO\PLOOLRQFRQWUDFW

DFWLRQVLQ¿VFDO

95 percent of contract actions

were competitive

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items on long-term contracts

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to small business

Acquisition Workforce:

FRQWUDFWLQJ

OLIHF\FOHORJLVWLFV

SURGXFWLRQDQGTXDOLW\

RWKHUFDUHHU¿HOGV

Additional Missions:

Joint Contingency Acquisition

 6XSSRUW2I¿FH

Defense National Stockpile Center

with Defense Acquisition Workforce

Improvement Act requirements to ensure

they have the training and experience

necessary to perform acquisition work.

Tracking the continuous learning

required by DAWIA also encour-ages

employees to stay sharp and expand their

knowledge.

Zimmerman said DLA also has a

robust intern program for its largest

DFTXLVLWLRQ¿HOGV2FRQWUDFWLQJDQG

production, quality and manufacturing.

Interns participate in a two-year

developmental program of training and

on-the-job experience that earns them a

OHYHOWZRFHUWL¿FDWLRQLQWKH¿HOG

“For the past several years, we have

aggressively hired interns. We currently

have 399 contracting interns in place

at our buying activities and plan to hire

DSSUR[LPDWHO\LQWHUQVLQ¿VFDO

 ́+HLPEDXJKVDLG37KHVXFFHVV

of our acquisition program is built

RQVHYHUDONH\HQDEOHUV«WKH¿UVWRI

which is our outstanding and diverse

acquisition workforce.”

The Agency uses the Student Career

Enhancement Program to provide work

opportunities for college-level students

while augmenting its workforce. Successful SCEP graduates are automatically

eligible for the intern program in their

FDUHHU¿HOG

“Intern programs replenish the

workforce as more seasoned employees

retire,” Zimmerman said.

Looking Ahead

Planning for future needs — in terms

RIZDU¿JKWHUUHTXLUHPHQWVDQGZRUNIRUFH

bench-strength — are part of what

Heimbaugh sees as a successful strategy for

“Ninety-eight percent of the Defense Logistics Agency’s

acquisition workforce is funded by customer purchases, so

the Agency is very cognizant of the impact its hiring decisions

have on prices customers pay.”

— Gabrielle Zimmerman

meeting the challenges ahead, she said.

“Given the size of our acquisition

program, we are prepared to face major

FKDOOHQJHV«>EXW@ZHDUHFRQ¿GHQW

we will be successful in meeting these

challenges and those that will follow,”

she said.

Acquisition

Management

Directorate
30 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

1. How did your background in

federal acquisition prepare you to

be component acquisition executive

and manage the Defense Logistics

Agency’s worldwide acquisition

operations?

I started my career in Navy

civil service and was later accepted

into the Defense Leadership and

Management Program, part of which

is to attend a professional militaryexperience school. At the Industrial

College of the Armed Forces, I got

the experience necessary to be a

senior leader. Working for DLA

interested me because of its large

FRQWUDFWLQJPLVVLRQ2DQLFH¿WIRU

me coming from the Navy supply

community. I joined DLA right

after ICAF graduation in 2001 and

worked extensively in acquisition

at headquarters until accepting

the head of contracting position at

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia.

The combination of my Navy staff

and operational experience and

P\KHDGTXDUWHUVDQG¿HOGOHYHO

operational experience with troop

support prepared me to be the senior

acquisition executive.

2. In the past two years, DLA has

established a separate acquisition

directorate and placed senior

executives as heads of contracting

at its four major buying activities.

:KDWEHQH¿WVGRHVWKLV\LHOGIRU

WKH$JHQF\DQGIRUZDU¿JKWHUV"

Establishing a separate Acquisition

Management Directorate ensures we

Nancy Heimbaugh

Acquisition Chief Discusses Hot Topics in Defense-Related Procurement

Acquisition Operations Prime Vendor Model Integrated Logistics Continuou

place proper emphasis on management and oversight of DLA’s

acquisition programs. Placing senior

executives at the four major buying

DFWLYLWLHVZLOOHQVXUHWKHHI¿FDF\DQG

integrity of the acquisition process in

each of DLA’s eight supply chains.

3. Since adopting the prime-vendor

model, DLA has accelerated item

delivery, emptied warehouses of

stockpiled items and reduced costs

passed along to customers. How

has the model helped the Agency

VXSSO\ZDU¿JKWHUVLQ6RXWKZHVW

Asia?

$VLJQL¿FDQWSRUWLRQRI'/$¶V

annual $8 billion in prime-vendor

sales represents support for deployed

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timely, high-quality support for

their material requirements through

prime-vendor agreements as do

their counterparts stationed in the

continental United States.

Defense Logistics Agency Photo
Loglines O September - October 2009 31

us Process Improvement Long Term Viability Acquisition Workforce Development

by DLA Public Affairs

4. What solutions does the Agency

offer customers with requirements

incompatible with prime-vendor

contracts?

DLA pursues tailored vendor

logistics solutions that align directly

with customer requirements when

they’re incompatible with primevendor programs. For example, our

industrial product-support vendor

contracts deliver repair parts directly

LQWRVKRSÀRRUELQVLQPLOLWDU\

service maintenance and repair

facilities. The integrated logistics

partnership in support of the Army’s

Humvee reset program provides the

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while postponing government

acquisition of and payment for the

part until the point of use.

5. There is a major focus at DLA

on continuous improvement. How

does the Acquisition Management

Directorate work to continuously

LPSURYHVXSSRUWWRZDU¿JKWHUV"

DLA’s commitment to

Continuous Process Improvement

can be seen in its fresh fruit and

vegetable acquisition program. A

VLJQL¿FDQWUHGXFWLRQLQGHPDQG

made it impossible to maintain the

QHWZRUNRIQDWLRQZLGHEX\LQJRI¿FHV

that previously made daily purchases

from small vendors on local markets.

Instead, we awarded a series of 35

regional contracts, each set aside

for small-business participation, to

provide the same high-level support

to local military customers and

schools participating in the U.S.

Department of Agriculture Farm-toSchool program.

Incorporation of lessons

learned is important to continuous

improvement. DLA’s approach can be

seen in the second generation of its

Fleet Automotive Support Initiative,

which provides automotive parts

to customers worldwide. DLA built

XSRQLWV¿UVWH[SHULHQFHWRGHYHORSD

program that provides global support

and maximizes small-business

XWLOL]DWLRQ)RUW\¿YHSHUFHQWRI

the requirement — about $279

million over four years — is reserved

exclusively for small-business

participation at the prime-contract

level.

Our goal is to have every member

of the workforce use CPI tools and

methods to make improvements.

We recently appointed a focal

point to ensure plans are in place

WRIDFLOLWDWHWDQJLEOHEHQH¿WVDQG

intangibles, like increasing customer

and employee satisfaction. We are

UHDOL]LQJHI¿FLHQFLHVHYHU\GD\PRVW

recently via a revamped procurement

management review program and are

establishing milestones and timelines

for additional formal CPI projects.

6. DLA prides itself on dedicating

a portion of its acquisition to small

EXVLQHVVHV:KDWEHQH¿WVGRHV

this yield for the stakeholders

involved?

DLA is a major contributor to the

Defense Department’s socioeconomic

program, having awarded 32

percent of contract dollars — about

$7.9 billion — to small businesses

GXULQJ¿VFDO'/$¶VVXSSRUW

of America’s small businesses

helps maintain a vibrant domestic

industrial base that provides

HVVHQWLDOSURGXFWVWRZDU¿JKWHUVDW

competitive prices.

7. Acquiring consumable items

available from a single source once

presented problems for the Agency.

How does DLA’s strategic sourcing

policy help mitigate sole-source

concerns?

Consumable items available

only via a single source, often the

original equipment manufacturer,

once presented a major challenge.

DLA has developed strategic supplier

alliances with more than 50 of
32 www.dla.mil

TEN QUESTIONS WITH. . .

Acquisition Operations Prime Vendor Model Integrated Logistics

these suppliers, and the long-term

agreements replace our transactional

purchases of individual parts and

incorporate large numbers of items.

Through economies of scale, they

reduce prices and generate inventory

savings while shrinking lead times

and improving item availability.

In short, they provide many of the

EHQH¿WVRIFRPSHWLWLYHDFTXLVLWLRQV

We have extended this approach

to parts from multiple sources,

competitively awarding long-term

contracts for items that can be

logically grouped together. Seventysix percent of our awards, measured

in dollars, are long-term contracts.

To date, this strategic sourcing

program has generated more than

$335 million in inventory savings

while improving material availability

for covered items from 85 percent to

91 percent.

8. DLA depends on the industrial

base to supply what customers

need. How is the Agency

partnering with private industry

to ensure a strong industrial base

now and into the future?

DLA’s industrial base is a critical

enabler of acquisition mission

success. We work closely with

industry partners to maintain the

base’s long-term viability, monitor

its health, address issues and

intervene directly when necessary

to protect the stability required to

produce designated “warstopper”

items. We do this through prudent

investment of congressionally

provided warstopper funding,

which has been used, for example,

to maintain surge capability of

the sole-source producer of nerve

agent antidote auto-injectors and

to ensure availability of fabric used

to manufacture chemical protective

suits. We also incorporate surge and

sustainment requirements into longterm contracts for go-to-war items,

leveraging the competitive process

to ensure our ability to support

mobilization requirements at the

least cost to customers.

9. DLA’s daily contract execution

is due to the work of more than

3,000 acquisition professionals

throughout the Agency. What

steps has DLA taken to help its

workforce pursue acquisition

excellence?

DLA has consistently had

leadership appropriate to the size

and complexity of its acquisition

mission as well as an aggressive

oversight program to maintain

the integrity of its processes. The

separate Acquisition Management

Directorate at headquarters, led by

the senior procurement executive,

strengthens this program.

DLA carefully monitors

compliance with the Defense

Acquisition Workforce Improvement

$FWDQGIXO¿OOPHQWRIFRQWLQXRXV

learning requirements to ensure its

workforce is fully trained and jobready. The Agency is using Defense

Acquisition Workforce development

funds to help subsidize training

and is planning for the future by

aggressively hiring interns. The

Agency currently has 399 contracting

interns at its buying activities and

plans to hire about 230 interns in

¿VFDO

7KHVFKHGXOHG¿VFDOUROORXW

of the EProcurement module of

DLA’s Enterprise Business System

will be a critical enabler of the

acquisition mission. As DLA’s single

contract-writing tool, EProcurement

will automate contract processes,

enhance administration capabilities

and provide greater visibility so the

Agency can continuously monitor

and manage contract performance.

10. What do you see as the future

for acquisition at DLA?

Given the size of our acquisition

program, it’s inevitable that we

will face major challenges. The

deployment of EProcurement is

a major undertaking. Similarly,

the integration into DLA of depotlevel reparable buyers [under 2005

Base Realignment and Closure

legislation] who formerly reported

to the military services will be a

near-term challenge. We also face

PRUHVSHFL¿FFKDOOHQJHVVXFKDVWKH

issue of counterfeit microelectronics.

+RZHYHU,DPFRQ¿GHQWZHZLOO

be successful in meeting these

challenges and those to follow. We

have the people, processes and

technology to provide best-value

support to the military services, and

I know we will continue to provide

HIIHFWLYHVXSSRUWWRZDU¿JKWHUVZKLOH

serving as good stewards of taxpayer

dollars.
Loglines O November - December 2009 33

DLA NewsWire

Columbus Supply

Center Helps Field

New Vehicles

D

efense Logistics Agency project

managers at Defense Supply Center

Columbus, Ohio, and the Defense

Logistics Information Service, in Battle

Creek, Mich., are working with a defense

contractor to ensure spare parts are

available for the military’s new all-terrain

vehicle.

“We’re starting on the right foot with

[the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected

All-Terrain Vehicle], beginning with

provisioning. This effort will help with

forecasting and procurement of these

items.” said John Dreska, DLA deputy

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle

project manager.

Oshkosh Defense, a subsidiary of the

Oshkosh Corp., has ramped up to make

more than 5,200 of the new all-terrain

vehicles, and DLA is responsible for supplying sustainment spare parts.

Dreska said DSCC will be able to

leverage an existing corporate contract

with Oshkosh and that many items are already in the supply system because some

M-ATV parts are also found on other

Oshkosh vehicles or MRAP variants.

The new M-ATV has a Caterpillar C7

370-horsepower engine, Michelin tires,

6SHFWUH[)LUHWUDFH¿UHVXSSUHVVLRQV\Vtems and Allison transmissions –items

already supported by DLA supply chains,

he said.

“We don’t have to start from scratch

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'/,6LVVODWHGWRKRVW¿YH0$79

provisioning conferences between

September and May. This early start

on provisioning will help produce more

complete data than was available with

earlier MRAP variants, Dreska said.

The primary mission of the M-ATV

is to protect troops in Afghanistan from

mines, improvised explosive devices,

rocket-propelled grenades, explosively

IRUPHGSHQHWUDWRUVDQGVPDOODUPV¿UH

— Tony D’Elia

Defense Supply Center Columbus

 Public Affairs Office

Compiled by DLA Public Affairs

Puget Sound

Employees Join DLA

T

he Defense Logistics Agency added

205 supply and logistics professionals to its rolls recently when the Navy

transferred its supply, storage and distribution functions at Fleet and Industrial

Supply Center Puget Sound, Wash.

The transfer is part of 2005 Base

Realignment and Closure decisions to

transfer SS&D functions from the Navy to

DLA’s Defense Supply Center Columbus,

Ohio.

Navy Capt. Stephen Shapro, FISC

Puget Sound’s former commanding

RI¿FHUH[SODLQHGWKDWDVUHJLRQDOL]DWLRQ

of stand-alone supply departments

DURXQGWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVWUHSUHVHQWHG

an opportunity for the Navy to do

business better and smarter, so now

does the transfer of supply, storage and

distribution functions to DLA as an

integral part of the joint operating force.

Navy Cmdr. Chris Anderson,

commander of the new DLA Puget

Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate

Maintenance Facility gave a brief history

of FISC Puget Sound and thanked the

stakeholders involved in making the

transfer a success.

Closing out the transfer ceremony,

DSCC Deputy Commander James

McClaugherty remarked on the potential

synergy of bringing the Navy and DLA

teams together

“A great leadership principle is

that people working together have a

better chance of winning together,”

McClaugherty said. “I believe that’s what

BRAC had in mind looking down the

road, bringing individuals committed to

excellence around the country, putting

them together to do important work

critical to this nation’s security.”

— Debra Perry

Defense Supply Center Columbus

Public Affairs Officer
34 www.dla.mil

DLA NewsWire

sions that directed all supply, storage

and distribution functions at service-run

maintenance depots, industrial sites and

VKLS\DUGVWUDQVIHUWR'/$WRRSWLPL]H

military readiness.

Trisha Pidcock manages one of the

DLA Ogden shop service centers in Cassell’s division and said the mechanics her

team supports have come to rely greatly

on Point of Use. “They actually get really

upset when we talk about taking material away from it or moving it in any way,

shape or form,” she said. “They don’t

want it to go anywhere; they absolutely

love it. ... Some of them don’t even have

to get out of their chair; they just swivel

and there’s their part.”

Barbara Simbro, chief of supply at

DLA Ogden, said her intent is to expand

Point of Use wherever it makes sense.

“We’re after high turnover, high

volume, and high replacement factor-type

material,” Simbro said. “For example, ...

the ramp shop is responsible for producing ramps for the C-130s. ... We were able

WRUHGXFHWKHLUÀRZGD\V>WKHDPRXQWRI

time to produce the ramps] from 150 days

to 100 days. And we did so by placing the

material at the point of use, so no longer

does the mechanic have to wait for parts.”

ACHIEVING THE DEFENSE LOGISTICS ENTERPRISE

‘Point Of Use’ Builds

Trust Between DLA,

Air Force

O

gden Air Logistics Center, at Hill Air

Force Base, Utah, is responsible for

an estimated 7.5 million production

hours annually. When Air Force mechanics there need a part, sometimes they

simply can’t afford to wait.

With a seemingly endless stream

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cycling through for maintenance and

repairs, along with missiles and an array

of other items, workers in hangars and

shops across the base can do their jobs

faster with immediate access to parts.

And that is exactly what they get with the

Defense Logistics Agency’s new “Point of

Use” concept.

“We’re allowed to have a set [amount]

of stock forward here in the [shop service

center],” said Nikki Cassell, chief of

DLA Ogden’s Electronics, Missiles and

Software Materials Support Division.

“Part of that stock that we’re allowed to

have here, we’ve shared in [bins] out on

WKHÀRRU6RZKHQWKHPHFKDQLFKDVWKH

need for material, all he has to do is walk

a couple feet to his [bin].”

DLA Ogden falls under the authority of Defense Supply Center Richmond,

Va., the Agency’s aviation demand- and

supply-chain manager. DLA Ogden was

activated in July 2008 as part of 2005

Base Realignment and Closure deciDecember 1 - 4, 2009

The Marriott Crystal Gateway

Arlington, Virginia

www.defenselog.com

Guest Speaker

Defense Logistics Agency Director

Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson
Loglines O November - December 2009 35

DAPS Travis received the request

on a Saturday, and the labels were to be

made from both magnetic and adhesive

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The DAPS Travis team produced

and delivered the customer’s

order more than 7,500 miles

away in just over a week. The

timely response and delivery

meant scheduled maneuvers

by the division would not be

delayed now that their containers were properly labeled. A

message from division leaders

noted their high appreciation of

DAPS’ efforts.

'$36LVD¿HOGDFWLYLW\RIWKH

Defense Logistics Agency aligned with

its Information Operations Directorate

and is the document solutions provider

to the Department of Defense.

— Keith Beebe

Document Automation & Production Service

Public Affairs Officer

T

he Travis Air Force Base,

Calif., facility of the Document

Automation & Production Service

UHFHQWO\¿OOHGDQXUJHQWUHTXHVWIURP

elements of the 25th Infantry Division

in Qatar for color labels depicting

the division’s logo. The division

needed the labels quickly to

mark shipping containers for a

redeployment of its units.

Based in Hawaii, the 25th

Infantry Division has deployed

several times to Qatar, Iraq and

Afghanistan.

The DAPS Travis facility speFLDOL]HVLQSURGXFWLRQRIODEHOVGHFDOV

stickers and banners for customers,

and its mission includes production

RIPLOLWDU\LGHQWL¿FDWLRQIRUDLUFUDIW

ÀRZQE\WKH86$LU)RUFHDQG1$72

allies. DAPS is the main decal producer

for the Air Force, including the USAF

LGHQWL¿FDWLRQOHWWHUVDQGWDLOQXPEHUV

for all aircraft.

Rather than reducing material in

Point of Use bins, current plans are to

increase the 5,000 item types currently

available through the bins to more than

25,000 by 2010, Simbro said. That

equates to at least 15 percent of the items

DLA provides at Hill AFB being available

through Point of Use.

Simbro said the entire concept might

seem counterintuitive to some in the

VXSSO\¿HOG36XSSO\W\SHIRONVDUHWDXJKW

all of our lives: inventory accountability, inventory trackability and inventory

serviceability – tight controls,” she said.

“You just don’t give away the material or

put it out loose somewhere where someone can just take it.”

Point of Use changed all of that,

Simbro said. “What we’ve done is build a

trust between production and supply.”

2QHRIWKHEHQH¿WVWRWKDWWUXVW6LPbro said, is a reduced hoarding of parts

by mechanics, something generally done

out of uncertainty about when more parts

would be available again.

“Mechanics and production types are

more apt to give us real, accurate data

on replacement factors and units per

DVVHPEO\ ́6LPEURVDLG3:H¿QGWKDWLW

assists the mechanics in producing end items quicker, because they don’t have

to tear down an end item, order all the

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and sometimes up to 13 days to receive

the material.”

“There’s no waiting,” Burrow said.

“They need a part, they just come and

get it. It gets them back in production. ...

It keeps them at the bench, keeps them

working, everybody’s happy.”

Dave Pedersen, a production material

technician in Cassell’s division, devised

a scanning system to make getting parts

easier for mechanics while maintaining

accountability for purchases.

“When the mechanic needs a part,

he’ll come over here to the cabinet,”

Pedersen said. “He’ll scan the bar code,

ZKLFKLGHQWL¿HVWKHSDUWWKDWKH¶VWDNLQJ

And then he’ll scan his badge number.”

Pedersen also implemented a

physical card system to be used in

tandem with the scanner, which provides

a second means of tracking inventory.

Simbro said this trust-based system works only if the customers taking

the parts scan every item they get from

a Point of Use bin so it gets charged

appropriately. To maintain inventory

control, she said, mechanics are made

aware that any missing items are charged

for, as well. “They have to understand it’s

important, because if they don’t charge

it out, they mess up the supply chain in

terms of replenishment and we won’t

know how many of what type to bring

back in for them.”

— Stephen J. Baker

Defense Supply Center Richmond

Public Affairs Office

Production Service Fills Order Fast

So Warfighters Can Redeploy
36 www.dla.mil

OPERATION

WARFIGHTER

Story by Beth Reece

A

rmy Spc. Clay Henson learned

KRZWRDLPDQGVKRRWDULÀHDW

age 4 while hunting rabbits with

his granddad in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The skill came to him so naturally

that when he saw a Discovery Channel

program about the U.S. Army Sniper

School in his early teens, Henson knew he

wanted to be an infantryman.

He enlisted after high school in 2006.

But before his 21st birthday, Henson —

a gunner for the 101st Airborne Division

— lost his dream job to a roadside bomb

in Iraq on April 29, 2008.

Henson is still recovering from the

blast, which lodged a quarter-inch chunk

of shrapnel in his brain. But a Defense

Logistics Agency partnership with the

Army’s Warrior Transition Command

gave the combat veteran a chance to

rediscover the art of aiming and shooting

— this time with a camera.

The new DLA program, called

2SHUDWLRQ:DU¿JKWHURIIHUVWHPSRUDU\

work assignments to service members

recuperating from injuries suffered

in Iraq and Afghanistan. As one of

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assigned to the DLA Enterprise Support

Multimedia Division and served as an

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events until being selected for a 60-

warrior transition units throughout the

United States. The command also links

service members with employment or

education opportunities as they transition

back to the Army or return to civilian life.

“In the Army’s experience, Soldiers

who keep mentally and physically active

recover faster than those who just stay in

day photography internship with the

1DWLRQDO5HFRQQDLVVDQFH2I¿FHWKDW

began Aug. 31.

“We want to give wounded service

members meaningful activity outside

the hospital environment and help them

transition to the civilian workforce should

they decide to leave the military,” said

%UHW1LFKROV'/$¶V2SHUDWLRQ:DU¿JKWHU

program manager.

The Defense Supply Center

Richmond, Va., has already made similar

arrangements with local medical centers

run by the Department of Veterans

$IIDLUVEXW2SHUDWLRQ:DU¿JKWHULV

working to establish an Agencywide

policy for carrying out the partnerships,

Nichols said.

The program is currently being

tested in DLA Enterprise Support and

will expand to include all headquarters’

directorates later this year, followed by

an Agencywide launch in early 2010. The

staged rollout, Nichols said, will allow

DES time to smooth out potential kinks

and create formal guidelines.

Nichols began working with the

Warrior Transition Command in Crystal

&LW\9DLQ-XO\WR¿QGVHUYLFHPHPEHUV

interested in the program. The command

oversees the care of more than 9,500

wounded and ill Soldiers assigned to

36 www.dla.mil

Army Spc. Clay Henson

Army Spc. Clay Henson
Loglines O November - December 2009 37

the barracks, so these work assignments

are considered part of the recovery

process,” Nichols said.

The Warrior Transition Command

helps government agencies like DLA

¿QGVHUYLFHPHPEHUVZKREHVWPDWFK

their criteria and work type by giving

them access to a database that contains

resumes of interested individuals. DLA

supervisors may interview potential

candidates, and details of work

assignments are usually informally

arranged between supervisors and

individual service members’ Warrior

Transition Unit, Nichols said. Because

the Soldiers are usually still undergoing

therapy, work schedules typically cover

about 20 hours per week.

“Some of the participants are able to

work more than others, but technically

speaking, they’re not DLA employees.

They’re on the military’s rolls and the

military is paying them,” Nichols said.

“This is good for DLA because supervisors

don’t have to budget for another salary,

and they don’t have to have the authority

to hire in order to take advantage of these

partnerships.”

The experience was valuable for

Henson, whose plans include leaving

the Army and starting a new career in

For more information

call Bret Nichols at

703-767-7263

or e-mail

bret.nichols@dla.mil

photography.

“I learned a lot just from being able

to interview for a job as a photographer,”

he said. “I know what kinds of things I

should do differently and how to better

present myself as a professional.”

Multimedia Division Chief Ken

:KLWHKHDGVDLG+HQVRQZDVDSHUIHFW¿W

for his small staff.

“Specialist Henson came along at just

the right time for us, and his photography

skills are exceptional. This program is a

wonderful chance for DLA to help service

PHPEHUVZKRVDFUL¿FHVRPXFKIRUXV

every day,” Whitehead said.

While the Warrior Transition

Command was created to assist the large

number of service members injured in

Iraq and Afghanistan, it also helps those

who have medical disabilities that require

them to leave the military. Those Soldiers

are also great candidates for work

assignments with DLA, Nichols said.

Another example is Army Maj.

Warren Spencer, who was evacuated

to Walter Reed Army Medical Center

when doctors determined he needed

a pacemaker to control his irregular

heartbeats last year. After surgery,

Spencer was assigned to the Fort Belvoir

Warrior Transition Unit to await a

medical evaluation board that would

determine whether he could stay on active

duty or would need to retire.

When Spencer learned about the

temporary work assignments at DLA, he

“jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

“My occupational specialty is logistics,

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Spencer, who began working with DESEnergy, which provides support to the

Defense Energy Support Center, in August.

“This experience will give me a head start

as I transition back to the civilian world

and begin a new civilian career.”

If left to Nichols, every Soldier under

the Warrior Transition Command’s care

would earn work experience at DLA, he

said.

“This is by far the most rewarding job

I’ve had in my entire career. I’d hire all

these guys if I could,” he said.

Loglines O November - December 2009 37
I AM

My name is:

Anette Adrian

I am:

A transportation management specialist at the Defense Distribution 

Depot Europe, in Ger mersheim, Germany, and a local national.

Describe your job in a sentence:

I am responsible for all over-ocean container bookings for DDDE. 

These bookings are for delivering customer orders in the U.S. Central 

Command, U.S. Africa Command and U.S. European Command areas of 

responsibility. 

How long have you worked for DLA?

I have worked for DLA for three years. 

What’s your favorite thing about working at DLA?

The working atmosphere here at DDDE is great, and being a DLA 

employee is very satisfying. It is rewarding getting the chance to be part 

of the end-to-end supply-chain process. I understand America’s 

commitment to wor ld peace and the risks our warfighters 

endure every day.

What’s your best memory of working here?

DDDE has given me the chance to train and learn other 

transportation-related jobs so I can perform tasks in multiple 

subject areas. DDDE’s team spirit is something I will remember 

forever, and the transportation team members help each other in 

achieving the ultimate goal of supporting warfighters.

How do you make a difference to warfi ghters?

By ensuring all booking documentation and requests are 

accurately completed allowing fast and efficient processing of 

containers through the sea ports. This enables warfighters to have 

the necessary commodities to perform their missions. 

ution t ibut

p

to perform