The Nation’s Combat Support Logistics Agency

WARFIGHTER ALWAYS

Warstopper

Program 

and Industrial 

Capabilites

Bill Sismour, 

Industrial Capabilities Team Lead

John Patti, Industrial Specialist

Clothing & Textiles

November 16, 2023
WARFIGHTER ALWAYS

Acronyms in this Presentation

• DLA – Defense Logistics Agency

• C&T – Clothing & Textiles

• ICP – Industrial Capabilities Program

• MSC – Major Subordinate Command

• IBP – Industrial Base Planning

• IS – Industrial Specialist

• DNAD – Domestic Non-Availability Determination

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Warstopper Program – One DLA 

Industrial Readiness Tool

Program Background:

• DLA’s industrial readiness program for DLA 

managed consumable items

• Government investment needed when readiness 

demand is higher than the commercial industry is 

able or willing to invest

• The National Defense Authorization Act for 1992 

and 1993 emphasized industrial base preservation, 

as a result the DLA “Warstopper” Program was 

created

Program Characteristics:

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• Mission: Ensure availability of DLA 

commodities where unavailability would 

“stop” a warfighting capability

• Demand: Items with a validated War 

Reserve Requirement or surge demand in 

wartime

• Production: Lead times that will exceed 

the industrial capability to meet the 

wartime requirement

Investment 

Type

Description

Preservation of 

Capability/Capacity

• Cold Start Preservation

• Industrial Base Maintenance 

Contract

Surge Capability • Material investments

• Buffer Stocks 

• Equipment 

• Access to Commercial Inventory

Annual Baseline Budget ~$45-50M

Preferred Readiness Solution Hierarchy:

• Good supply chain management practices

• Acquisition strategies

• Surge clauses

• Warstopper investment
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Supporting Tools for Investments: 

Risk Analysis Process to identify

Investment Opportunities

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Supplier

Outreach

Risk Identification and 

Analysis Process

Industry News, 

Associations & 

Subscriptions

DLA 

Data

OSD & Services 

(e.g., War 

Reserve/Surge 

Requirements)

Integrated 

Support 

Team

Validate Risk 

(Level 1)

~2 months

Identify root causes 

& Industry Solutions 

(Level 2)

~4 months

Industrial 

Specialist 

Request 

Budget/Funds

Implement 

Mitigation 

Strategy

Industrial 

Specialist

Identify 

Potential 

Risks

IB (e.g., Conferences, 

symposiums, light 

survey, site visits & 

other interactions) 

Supplier

Risk

IB Risk

Mitigation

Congressionally Mandated

Recurring/Annually

Annually

Recurring

Recurring

Recurring

DLA Leadership

Specialty 

Steel

Medical 

Readiness

Hydrazine & 

Dinitrogen Textroxide

TF-33 Engineering and Supply 

Chain Analysis

Past Investments:

Industrial 

Specialist
WARFIGHTER ALWAYS WARFIGHTER ALWAYS

Warstopper Investment 

Strategies

Preservation of 

Capability/Capacity

• Cold Start Preservation

– Mitigates risk for items with infrequent 

demand signals through Diminishing 

Manufacturing Sources and Material 

Shortages (DMSMS) solution for 

extension of production or support to 

maintain the availability of products

• Industrial Base Maintenance

– Invest to offset fixed costs to maintain an 

industrial capability/capacity in a warm 

state to facilitate a rapid ramp up of 

production when a surge occurs. 

Readiness Investments

• Buffer Stocks 

– Raw material buffer stocks to decrease 

lead-time for items during time of national 

emergency

• Equipment 

– Use of funds to purchase capital equipment 

for surge capability and capacity during 

contingency events 

• Access to Commercial Inventory

– Purchase Access to Rotating Vendor 

Managed Inventory 

• Guaranteed quantity

• Guaranteed delivery times 

• Maximize coverage

• Minimize investment

• Fees for inventory management & 

stocking

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Preservation of Capability/Capacity

How It Works

30

Preservation of Capability/Capacity – Loss of Production – Plant Shutdown

Domestic Supplier 

Required for Continued 

sustainment and 

Readiness

Below MSR (e.g. 

Insufficient or 

Intermittent Demand)

Minimum 

Sustaining 

Rate (MSR)

=

Warfighter

Direct Vendor 

Deliveries

Customer Sales

Loss of Supplier 

Without 

Preservation 

Action

Industrial Base Maintenance Contract

(IBMC) is established to cover the fixed 

cost to keep plant. Fixed cost portion of 

the production and sale of product is 

used to offset the IBMS costs. Establish an IBMC

Preservation of Capability/Capacity - Cold Start

Infrequent product (e.g., NSN) demand signal leading to loss of production for the product 

Note: This can lead to loss of tooling, specifications, drawings, qualification, skilled labor, etc. 

One example is associated with systems that have extended service life and need consumable 

part, many not ordered for years, required to further sustain these extended systems.

Tooling

Drawings

Specs

Skills

Materials

Loss of a Product Without Preservation 

Action – (Diminishing manufacturing 

Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS))

This type of preservation 

investment uses the Diminishing 

Manufacturing Sources and Material 

Shortages (DMSMS) solution for 

extension of production or support 

to maintain the availability of 

products. 

Establish Contract to 

enable continued 

production of a part(s)
WARFIGHTER ALWAYS WARFIGHTER ALWAYS

Readiness Investments 

How It Works

31

Warfighter

Material Investment

Material Buffer Investment

Access to Commercial Inventory

Equipment Investment

Distributor

Warstopper Contracted 

Safety Stock

Commercial Customers

Direct Vendor 

Deliveries

Customer Sales

Leverage sock 

rotation as part of 

normal business 

operations

Supply Chain

Commercial products can be more 

effectively rotated, large customer 

pool, than DLA. Avoid spoilage due 

to product shelf-life expiring.

Prepositioning of material reduces 

lead-times for supporting surge and 

sustainment during national 

emergencies and contingencies. 

Buffers created when prepositioned 

material or components is required 

by more than one supplier. Material 

retains pedigree, qualifications, 

certs, and ownership – not 

Government Furnished Material.

Equipment investment needed when 

the readiness demand is higher than 

the commercial industry is willing to 

invest. Equipment is maintained and 

available for demand surge.

Upstream 

Supplier

Raw Material & 

Components

Stock rotation 

typically 

required

Equipment used 

to meet readiness 

order

Material used to meet 

readiness order

Stock rotation 

as appropriate

Stock rotation is typically required to 

ensure the freshest stock and/or latest 

configuration or specification is available 

for surge in readiness demand production.

Materials and/or 

components Materials and/or components consumed are 

replaced with the money from the sale of the 

products at full price. No new money is 

required to restock the prepositioned material.

WARFIGHTER ALWAYS

Continuous Vigilance

33

Around the Clock, Around the World......

DLA

CUSTOMERS SUPPLIERS
WARFIGHTER ALWAYS

Points of Contact

34

Sharon Croll

DLA Industrial Capabilities and 

Warstopper Program Manager

Ft. Belvoir, VA

Sharon.Croll@dla.mil 

Joie Coppedge

DLA Aviation 

Richmond, VA

Joie.Coppedge@dla.mil 

Eugene Mitchell

DLA Land and Maritime

Columbus, OH

Eugene.Mitchell@dla.mil 

Joan Estelly

DLA Construction & 

Equipment

Philadelphia, PA 

Joan.Estelly@dla.mil

Carolyn Shivers

DLA Troop Support

Industrial Capabilities Office

Philadelphia, PA

Carolyn.Shivers@dla.mil 

William Woltjen

DLA Medical

Philadelphia, PA

William.Woltjen@dla.mil 

Kelly Floyd

DLA Subsistence

Philadelphia, PA

Kelly.Floyd@dla.mil 

William Sismour

DLA C&T

Philadelphia, PA

William.Sismour@dla.mil