Special Insert in this Issue

DLA 50th Anniversary Timeline Poster

LOGLINES

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2011
DIRECTOR

F

ifty years ago our nation’s military 

was at a defining point in its history. 

America was rapidly building up its 

warfighting capabilities in response to 

threats in Europe and the Pacific, and 

this monumental push for readiness led 

to calls for centralizing logistics functions 

across the services. 

It was in this bustling, challenging 

time that the cornerstones were laid 

for what would become the Defense 

Logistics Agency, a means to integrate 

what until then had been widely different 

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

Director, Defense Logistics Agency

from the

logistics practices managed by each 

of the military branches. When the 

Defense Supply Agency was established 

in October 1961, its mission and network 

expanded quickly, tying in supply centers 

and service depots and establishing new 

subcomponents to manage contracting, 

automation and later distribution. Its 

single focus was providing world-class 

support to the nation’s warfighters. 

This fall we are in the midst of 

another defining moment in our history. 

We have reached the end of a decade 

in which our military has been engaged 

in prolonged contingency operations 

in an austere, logistically challenging 

environment. We have relied on near 

real-time innovation in weaponry and 

supply practices to sustain warfighters on 

battlefields spanning some of the most 

rugged terrain on Earth. 

It is because of the lessons DLA 

Headquarters, Defense Logistics Agency

Office of Strategic Communications

8725 John J. Kingman Road

Suite 2545

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6221

703-767-6200

E-mail: loglines@dla.mil

DLA Director

Navy Vice Adm. Alan S. Thompson

DLA Vice Director

Mae E. DeVincentis 

Chief of Staff

Frederick M. Baillie

Director, Strategic Communications

Douglas Ide

Deputy Director, Strategic Communications

Jack Hooper

Loglines Staff

Managing Editor Kathleen T. Rhem

Editor Jacob Boyer

Writer Beth Reece

Writer Jonathan Stack

Writer Sara Moore

Layout/Design Paul Henry Crank

Design Assistant Joy Brunk

Loglines is the authorized publication for the 

Defense Logistics Agency’s workforce of federal 

civilians, active-duty military and Joint Reserve 

Force augmentees at agency activities worldwide 

and industry customers of DLA. Contents of this 

publication are not necessarily the official views of, or 

endorsed by, the U.S. government, the Department 

of Defense or the Defense Logistics Agency. 

Loglines is prepared electronically, using desktop 

publishing applications; no commercial typesetting costs are involved. Photos not credited are 

courtesy of agency sources. Submissions and correspondence may be sent to the following address:

LOGLINES

Official Flagship Publication of the Defense Logistics Agency

learned supplying forces during 

operations in Vietnam, Kosovo, Iraq, and 

now Afghanistan that we have continued 

evolving, adapting our practices to 

the changing needs of warfighters and 

the capabilities available from our 

stakeholders in industry. 

On this, our golden anniversary, I 

can say that single focus on which we 

were founded 50 years ago is still at the 

heart of our operations every day. Each 

member of the DLA team, nearly 27,000 

of them at locations around the globe, 

is dedicated to ensuring every Soldier, 

Sailor, Airman and Marine has what is 

needed to stay mission ready. 

I am honored to have served for 

nearly three years alongside some of the 

most committed, determined individuals 

in the Defense Department. We are a 

single, focused team, united in our pursuit 

of logistics excellence. We are DLA. 

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Loglines l September - October 2011 1

CONTENTS

Gold-Standard Logistics 2

Established in 1961 as the Defense Supply Agency, DLA has supported 

U.S. warfighters through five decades of change and expansion.

Flying High 8

Constantly evolving business systems have marked DLA Aviation’s 

growth from World War II to today.

Fueling Up 12

What started as a Department of the Interior organization managing 

petroleum now oversees a range of energy solutions as DLA Energy. 

Supply Foundation 16

DLA Troop Support traces its roots to the War of 1812, but the 

Philadelphia-based activity remains vital to modern warfighters.

Expanding Logistics 18

From World War I trenches to mountain passes in Afghanistan, DLA 

Land and Maritime has supported ground and sea combat systems.

Evolution 22

DLA Distribution has moved from consolidating distribution 

functions to deploying support teams in two decades of rapid change. 

Property Disposal 24

Whether material needed to be reused, scrapped or sold, DLA 

Disposition Services has made sure it was done correctly.

From Offset to Digital 27

A consolidated Defense Department needed a consolidated printing 

service to serve its headquarters from its earliest days. DLA Document 

Services has accomplished that mission and more since.

DLA NewsWire 29

A Conversation with ... 30

Money Matters 34

We are DLA 36

I am DLA Back Cover

DEPARTMENTS

September - October 2011

pg 2

pg 12

pg 27

pg 22

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

50 Years of Logistics Excellence
2 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

rom the Defense Supply Agency 

to the Defense Logistics Agency; 

from a post-war concept to a 

worldwide logistics leader; from 

manual, paper-based systems to 

electronic systems that deliver instant 

results; DLA has come a long way in 50 

years. But as America’s premier combat 

logistics provider hits the half-century 

mark, its mission is as clear today as the 

day it was established: provide superb 

logistics support to America’s warfighters 

around the world. 

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara 

first established the Defense Supply 

Agency, which would later become the 

Defense Logistics Agency, 50 years ago, but 

the agency can trace its roots even further 

back, to World War II, when the fastest 

buildup of military forces in history forced 

the War Department to explore centralizing the management of military logistics 

and using uniform financial management 

practices. 

During that time, the 

War Department colocated 

50 YEARS OF WARFIGHTER SUPPORT:

Story by Sara Moore

the Army and Navy offices responsible for 

procuring petroleum products, medical 

supplies, clothing and other items. That 

move’s success led to a recommendation 

from a presidential commission headed 

by former President Herbert Hoover 

to coordinate procurement, storage, 

distribution and transportation across 

the services.

Integrated management of supplies 

and services began in 1952 with the 

establishment of a joint Army-Navy-Air 

Force Support Center to standardize supply 

terminology. The Defense Department 

and the services defined the material 

that would be managed on an integrated 

basis as “consumables,” meaning supplies 

that are not repairable or are consumed 

in normal use. Consumable items, also 

called commodities, were each assigned 

to one service to manage for all.

In the mid-1950s, the services each 

became single managers for selected 

commodities. The Army managed food and clothing. The Navy 

managed medical supplies, 

petroleum and industrial parts. In each 

category, the single manager was able to 

centralize stocks and persuade the services to adopt the same standard items.

The concept, though successful, 

fell short of the Hoover Commission’s 

recommendations. Each single manager 

operated under its service’s procedures, 

and customers had to use different 

procedures for each commodity. In 1961, 

McNamara ordered the consolidation 

of the single-manager agencies. The 

Defense Supply Agency was established 

Oct. 1, 1961, and began operations Jan. 

1, 1962. DSA took over administration 

of the Federal Catalog Program, Defense 

Standardization Program, Defense 

Utilization Program and Surplus Personal 

Property Disposal Program, and eight 

single-manager agencies became DSA 

supply centers:

1961 

Defense Supply Agency 

established. Army Lt. Gen. 

Andrew T. McNamara named as 

first director in September.

1962

President John F. Kennedy institutes 

a quarantine on the shipment of 

offensive missiles to Cuba from 

the Soviet Union during the Cuban 

Missile Crisis.

Gold-Standard

LOGISTICS

F • Defense Clothing and Textile Supply Center

 (Philadelphia);

• Defense Construction Supply Center 

 (Columbus, Ohio);

• Defense General Supply Center 

 (Richmond, Va.);

• Defense Medical Supply Center 

 (Brooklyn, N.Y.);

• Defense Petroleum Supply Center 

 (Washington, D.C.);

• Defense Subsistence Supply Center 

 (Chicago);

• Defense Traffic Management Service 

 (Washington, D.C.); and 

• Defense Logistics Services Center 

 (Washington, D.C.).

Over the next two years, DSA 

added more supply centers and service 

depots to its network. In 1965, DoD 
Loglines l September - October 2011 3

consolidated most of the services’ 

contract administration activities. 

Officials established the Defense 

Contract Administration Services 

within DSA to manage the consolidated 

functions, making it responsible for the 

performance of most defense contractors. 

One of the first depots to be brought 

under DSA was the Army general depot 

in Tracy, Calif. Bobby Parsons was a computer systems programmer there at the 

time and spent 30 years leading DLA’s 

automation efforts, retiring in 1993 as 

staff director for information services at 

DLA Headquarters. In 1963, DSA leaders 

designated the Tracy depot as the lead for 

designing automated systems, Parsons 

said. He was chosen as one of that effort’s 

leaders. Parsons said he remembers when 

DSA bought its first computer. He helped 

write the requirements for the agency’s 

computer procurement 

plan for all depots. 

“Our first computers had a few 

thousand bits of storage and the first one I 

programmed, we programmed it in actual 

computer language,” Parsons said. “You 

actually keyed in on the punch card the 

code you wanted to use. There were no 

inputs or outputs; you had to sit there 

and feed a card in and get a card out.”

Starting in 1965, DSA faced its first 

wartime operations when U.S. forces 

were deployed to Vietnam. From 1965-

1969, DSA shipped more than 22 million 

short tons of dry cargo and 14 million 

short tons of bulk petroleum to Vietnam. 

Total procurements jumped more than 

50 percent from 1966 to 1967. 

In September 1972, DSA’s responsibilities expanded even further with the 

creation of the Defense Property Disposal 

Service, which later became the Defense 

Reutilization and Marketing Service and 

then DLA Disposition Services, 

in Battle Creek, Mich. 

In 1977, DSA changed its name to 

the Defense Logistics Agency, in recognition of 16 years of growth and expanded 

responsibilities. 

In the 1980s, DLA’s responsibilities expanded even more. The 1986 

Goldwater-Nichols Reorganization Act 

designated DLA as a combat-support 

agency, and a July 1988 presidential 

order transferred management of the 

nation’s strategic materials stockpile 

to DLA from the General Services 

Administration. Soon after, DLA established the Defense National Stockpile 

Center as a primary-level field activity. 

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Vincent 

Russo, who served as DLA director from 

1986-1988, said the Goldwater-Nichols 

designation came in recognition of the 

enormous support relationship that 

Defense Department Photo

1963

Wholesale distribution 

established. 

DSA sends medical supplies 

to flood victims in Indonesia.

1964

Following a congressional resolution and 

a communist attack on a U.S. installation 

in central Vietnam, the U.S. escalates 

its participation in the Vietnam War. The 

escalation would lead to a peak of 543,000 

military personnel by 1969.

Army trucks wind along the side of the mountain over the Ledo supply road from India into 

Burma during World War II. 

1965

Defense Contract Administration 

Services established within DSA.

Defense Item Intelligence Systems 

established in Battle Creek, Mich.
4 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

1966

DSA is involved in DoD’s 

Red Ball Express to speed 

deliveries to units in 

Vietnam within 168 hours.

existed between DLA and U.S. forces 

around the world. He said he attended 

weekly meetings with the Joint Chiefs of 

Staff to keep up-to-date on support for 

military operations. 

“I was always impressed with the high 

quality of support provided by DLA to the 

combatant commands,” Russo said. “This 

situation came about due in large measure 

to two fundamental conditions. First was 

the willingness of the leadership in the 

uniformed services to provide high-quality 

personnel to man key positions within 

the command, starting with the DLA 

command position. Second was the DLA 

workforce that, on a day-in, day-out basis, 

provided only the best support possible.”

In 1990, DoD directed that virtually 

all contract administration functions be 

consolidated within DLA. In response, the 

agency established the Defense Contract 

Management Command, which absorbed 

the Defense Contract Administration 

Service. That year, DoD also directed that 

all distribution depots be consolidated 

into a single, unified material distribution 

system to reduce overhead and designated DLA to manage it. The consolidation 

was completed March 16, 1992.

Taking on distribution responsibilities from the services was a challenge, 

said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles 

McCausland, who was DLA director from 

1988-1992. 

“It was always difficult as you grew 

and got new missions assigned to you, 

because they were not given freely. 

They were given with some resistance,” 

McCausland said, noting that he worked 

for DLA four different times over the 

years. “But I think in the long run ... there 

was a realization that DLA was able to 

respond.”

The 1980s and 1990s marked many 

changes in DLA’s depot and distribution operations, said Don Brown, who 

spent 23 years working in DLA’s depot 

operations and was director of Defense 

Distribution Center Columbus, Ohio, 

from 1997 until its closure in 2008. 

During that period, DLA adopted commercial business practices to improve 

operations and services to customers, 

especially in distribution, Brown said. 

One example of this shift was when DLA 

changed its practice of consolidating 

orders to save money on transportation.

“At the time we didn’t realize what 

the inventory impact was to the people in 

the field having to have a larger inventory 

out there because they had to wait such a 

long time to get the materials shipped to 

them,” Brown said.

DLA looked to commercial practices, 

such as those used by Federal Express, 

and explored using overnight delivery to 

speed up shipments and eliminate the 

Boxes of food, clothing and equipment for 

combat troops are stockpiled for later shipment 

to the fighting front. World War II marked the 

first time the Army and Navy offices responsible 

for supplying troops pooled their efforts and 

was the beginning of what would eventually 

become the Defense Logistics Agency. 

1965

Defense Personnel Support 

Center is established to replace 

clothing, textile, subsistence and 

medical supply centers.

Defense Department Photo

“It was always difficult as you got new missions assigned to you, 

because they were not given freely.”

— Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles McCausland
Loglines l September - October 2011 5

1967

The U.S. sends three military 

transport aircraft with crews 

to provide Congo’s central 

government with logistical 

support during a revolt.

1968

The U.S. starts a bombing campaign against targets 

along the Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia and Laos. 

The bombings last two years. 

need for large inventories, Brown said. 

“We said, ‘If we adopt this practice, 

what’s it going to do? It may increase 

our transportation costs somewhat, but 

what’s it going to do overall to the inventory?’” he said. “As a result of that, the 

inventory that had to be maintained was 

reduced as we got more into it.”

The 1980s was a time of huge growth 

in the automation field in general and at 

DLA in particular, Parsons said. Personal 

computers became popular and the 

agency evaluated whether to maintain 

large mainframe computers or distribute processing to employees by giving 

everyone computers, he said. Parsons 

said he was a proponent of distributed 

processing, which is now how the agency 

has operated for many years.

“That’s what I was working for, to 

give employees the capability to do their 

own processes and have the ability to 

communicate with everyone but not 

have it running in some computer room 

somewhere where us computer guys 

could turn it off or it could be down 

because it broke or we were maintaining 

it or something,” Parsons said.

During the 1980s, the organization 

that eventually became DLA Logistics 

Information Service worked with industry partners to automate the agency’s 

connection to contractors, Parsons said. 

DLA connected its systems so contractors 

could work with the agency to view requirements and get contract information. 

In the midst of all this change, DLA 

was called on to support U.S. forces in 

operations Desert Shield and Desert 

Storm. From the start of the buildup of 

troops in Saudi Arabia in August 1990 to 

the end of combat nine months later, DLA 

responded to more than 2 million requisitions, totaling more than $3 billion in 

food, clothing, textiles, medical supplies 

and repair parts. 

McCausland cited the agency’s 

performance during the Gulf War as one of 

the greatest accomplishments of his tenure. 

“As I think 

back, I can’t 

think of any 

logistics issues that weren’t totally satisfied,” McCausland said of the Gulf War. 

“I can’t think of any serious shortages of 

commodities or items that the military 

services did not receive from us in that 

combat environment. Everything they 

needed we had and got it to them in the 

appropriate time.”

After the war, then-Secretary of 

Defense Dick Cheney and then-Chairman 

of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. 

Colin Powell came to DLA Headquarters 

and thanked the staff for their efforts, 

Parsons said.

“They said that we had provided the 

best support; it couldn’t be any better,” 

Parsons said.

McCausland said he recalls Cheney 

making “a very positive statement 

that [U.S. forces] would not have been 

successful in Desert Storm without the 

support of DLA.”

DLA Headquarters also saw 

reorganization in the 1990s, with 

integrated business units for supply 

management, distribution and 

contract management being formed in 

March 1993, reducing the number of 

organizations reporting to the director 

from 42 to six. DLA Headquarters was 

relocated in 1995 from Cameron Station, 

in Alexandria, Va., to its current location 

on Fort Belvoir, Va. That decade also 

This aerial view shows the then-Defense 

Property Disposal Office at Cubi Point in the 

Philippines. The Defense Property Disposal 

Office, now DLA Disposition Services, was 

established in September 1972 to better 

manage DoD property no longer used by the 

military.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class V.C. Naegele
6 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

saw a change in how DoD selected 

contractors, placing best value above low 

bidder. The best value approach put more 

focus on quality, delivery, effectiveness 

and past performance of contractors 

and set the stage for the agency’s prime 

vendor program. 

DLA continued its shift toward 

automation in the early 1990s, when it 

was one of the first adopters of electronic 

commerce. The agency developed an 

eMall approach as early as 1993, before 

most companies were even using the 

Internet. Backed by then-Director Navy 

Vice Adm. Edward Straw, DLA’s e-commerce strategy earned the agency a Joint 

Meritorious Service Award in 1996 for 

providing improved access to higher quality products while reducing inventories 

and saving taxpayers $6.3 billion. 

Since then, DLA has continued to 

keep pace with technology and evolving 

business practices, developing various 

Web-based interfaces with customers and 

suppliers and modernizing its internal 

supply management system, the Business 

Systems Modernization program. 

BSM, the agency’s Enterprise 

Resource Planning initiative, was already 

under way when now-retired Navy Vice 

Adm. Keith Lippert took over as DLA director. He said he counts ERP as among 

both the agency’s greatest successes and 

greatest challenges during his tenure, 

which lasted five years. Lippert arrived at 

DLA in July 2001, and when the attacks 

of 9/11 happened, agency leaders debated 

whether to continue the ERP effort while 

supporting a new global conflict. 

“My final conclusion was there really 

was no good time to do an ERP business 

transformation, because there was always 

something going on that would tell you 

there are other priorities,” Lippert said. 

“So we made a decision to go ahead and 

continue the ERP effort. Everyone understood that this was going to be even more 

of a challenge because, at least in the ... 

first several years after 9/11, our business 

literally doubled.”

 BSM laid the foundation for the 

Enterprise Business System, which became the agency’s technology backbone 

in 2007, after the BSM was integrated 

throughout DLA’s supply centers. EBS replaced the Standard Automated Materiel 

Management System and Defense 

Integrated Subsistence Management 

System and has modernized the agency’s 

supply chain management practices. 

The war on terror firmly shifted 

DLA into wartime operations. One way 

the agency evolved was to enhance its 

customer-focused support, Lippert said. 

DLA had been developing this over the 

years as it worked with the services on 

demand planning and other efforts, but 

after 9/11 it improved this focus by putting more agency representatives in the 

field with customers, he said. 

A warehouse worker uses a propane-operated 

forklift to stack supplies at one of many large 

Defense Logistics Agency warehouses. 

1969

DSA provides more than 75 items to the 

Apollo 11 mission, including space suits, lifesustaining packs worn by the astronauts and 

high-gain antennas responsible for the TV 

broadcast of man’s first walk on the moon. 

1970

U.S. forces conduct bombing raids inside 

Cambodia in a further effort to disrupt the 

Viet Cong.

Curtis Lambert
Loglines l September - October 2011 7

“Over time, for various events and 

various reasons, DLA got more and more 

involved with the customers, the services,” 

he said. “DLA evolved from really a handsoff perspective with the customer to being 

very engaged, and we see that with the 

customer service representatives and the 

liaison officers and the actual DLA people 

being right there with their customers.”

Today, DLA has hundreds of employees deployed worldwide in DLA support 

teams, disposal remediation teams and 

other units. 

DLA has also expanded its role in 

humanitarian missions over the years. 

McCausland said he remembers sending 

excess supplies from the Gulf War to 

Bangladesh for typhoon relief and using 

surplus uniform fabric to make blankets 

for homeless people. Today the agency 

is one of the first responders when a 

humanitarian crisis occurs. In recent years, 

DLA has been intricately involved in relief 

efforts for the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, 

hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the 2010 

earthquake in Haiti, and the 2011 Japanese 

earthquake and tsunami, among others. 

A significant reorganization within 

DLA in 2010 aimed to create a singleagency environment. The We Are DLA 

initiative was a process of renaming the 

agency’s field activities to clearly identify 

them as parts of DLA. For example, 

Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio, 

became DLA Land and Maritime, and 

Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va., 

became DLA Aviation. DLA Director 

Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson wrote 

that he believed it would be a vital step 

forward for the agency. 

“The key to our success, now and in 

the future, may well rest on our ability to 

present ourselves as a cohesive, collaborative and forward-thinking organization. 

One in which we hold and demonstrate 

great pride in the unity of our mission, 

our values and our accomplishments,” 

Thompson wrote. 

big enhancement that the agency got.”

As it celebrates its 50th anniversary, DLA 

is also finishing its implementation of the 

BRAC 2005 recommendations, which shifted 

significant additional responsibilities to the 

agency from the services. 

In November 2010, as DLA entered its 

final year of BRAC 2005 implementation, DLA 

Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson wrote 

that BRAC 2005 “started a revolution at DLA,” 

noting the new missions and capabilities the 

agency gained.

These new responsibilities include 

managing procurement of depot-level reparables – parts that can be repaired and reused 

through their usable life – across the services, 

delivering parts directly to industrial depot 

maintenance production lines, and managing 

private contracts for commodities. As these 

responsibilities were transferred, about 2,600 

personnel were also transferred to DLA from the 

military services. 

Redding Hobby, deputy director of DLA 

Logistics Operations, who led BRAC 2005 

implementation during its final two years, 

said he believes it will be a catalyst for future 

changes in the way DLA does business. 

Providing supply, storage and distribution for 

the military services gives the agency a better 

view of expenses, he said, and the efficiencies 

achieved can be applied to other DLA sites. 

“Most of it will be an over-time savings that 

we have, being able to purchase in economies 

of scale, store and distribute property based on 

better demand planning, inventory management 

and stock positioning,” he said. “So it will be an 

advantage and an efficiency that we will gain 

over time. But that’s good, because it’s not just 

a quick fix, ... it is a long-standing and enduring 

policy change and practice and business 

change for the agency.”

Thompson agreed that BRAC 2005 will be 

a catalyst for future changes and said those 

changes will help the agency improve its 

operations and better support warfighters.

 “With the BRAC implementation efforts, 

as with all that we do to support warfighters, 

our focus remains the same: to continue 

to transform DLA into an ever more agile, 

innovative and valued logistics partner,” he said. 

“Our warfighters deserve our best effort. BRAC 

2005 is helping us to give them just that.” 

— Sara Moore

BASE REALIGNMENT AND CLOSURE

O

ver the years, DLA has been greatly 

affected by Base Realignment and 

Closure actions. 

The BRAC 1993 process closed and 

renamed several activities within the agency. It 

also created Defense Supply Center Columbus, 

Ohio, merging operations from Defense 

Construction Supply Center Columbus and 

Defense Electronic Supply Center Dayton. 

Don Brown, who spent 23 years working 

in DLA’s depot operations and was director of 

Defense Distribution Center Columbus from 

1997 until its closure in 2008, was intimately 

involved in the BRAC processes at DLA. Brown 

presided over multiple reductions in the center’s 

workforce until a recommendation in the 2005 

BRAC led to its closure.

The BRAC process has been beneficial to 

the agency, Brown said, even though it sometimes means closing facilities and shifting 

responsibilities. 

“The footprint is so large that there are 

things that you need to do to shrink it down 

and make it more efficient, to make better use 

of your resources,” Brown said. “It did bring the 

agency a lot of additional workload, too, that 

years ago they hadn’t planned on. So that’s the 

1972

DSA becomes DoD’s central 

manager of bulk fuel worldwide.

1973

DSA expands its support to 

troops by providing food items 

to overseas commissaries. 

Previously only U.S.-based 

commissaries were supported.
8 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

Flying High

Story by Cathy Hopkins

Photos courtesy DLA Aviation

A

s the Defense Logistics Agency 

celebrates 50 years of service to 

America’s military, DLA Aviation 

is celebrating almost 70 years 

of support in Richmond, Va., 

where the installation was first activated 

in 1942 as the Richmond General Depot 

under the command of the U. S. Army 

Quartermaster Corps.

World War II marked the peak of 

depot operations with more than 8,400 

people employed who were supplemented 

by 1,200 German prisoners of war housed 

on a 50-acre camp adjacent to the depot. 

Employees received, stored and supplied 

quartermaster, medical and engineering 

items. 

The ‘60s brought Vietnam, reorganization and mission expansion to the depot.

Mary Cottrell began work as a clerktypist supporting local procurement 

purchases in 1960 when the installation 

was known as the Richmond Quartermaster Depot and continues her service 

today as a supply technician clerk for 

DLA Aviation’s Aircraft and Airframes 

Division III. She has worked at the 

DLA AVIATION

Officials load reel tapes into a mainframe 

computer at the Defense General Supply 

Center in Richmond, Va., in the late 1960s. At 

the time, the automated digital network there 

was among the East Coast’s largest.

1973

Almost all U.S. military personnel depart 

Vietnam after the Paris Peace Accords. 

The last American combat troops leave 

the country April 30.

1975

DSA sends cholera vaccine to the World 

Health Organization. 

The Quality Systems Audit Program is

established to improve quality of supplies.

A
Loglines l September - October 2011 9

installation for almost 52 years.

“Back then, the procurement division 

had a total of 14 employees, including 

the boss, clerical employees, distribution, 

pre- and post-award, and four buyers,” 

she said. 

With activation of the Military General 

Supply Agency in 1960 and its absorption 

by the Defense Supply Agency in 1962, the 

depot’s mission expanded to managing 

more than 30,000 general supply items. 

Escalation of the U.S. role in Southeast 

Asia drove the workload increase and 

another name change for the installation 

to Defense General Supply Center.

By 1967, DGSC was procuring more 

than $731 million worth of general 

supplies. Managed items accounted for 

$800 million in annual sales. 

Move Toward Automation

Technological progress was dramatic 

in the mid-to-late 1960s with the installation of four new computer systems, which 

were considered high speed at that time, 

in the center’s data systems division. 

DGSC was receiving more than 4,500 

requisitions a day, which were processed 

around the clock. The center became 

home to one of the largest data processing facilities on the East Coast.

Cottrell said she remembers the 

transition from typewriters to computers. 

“I remember one girl sitting at a control 

desk and we were inputting data into 

computer terminals called Phase 4,” she 

said. “At noon she would tell us to stop and 

take the reel tapes to the main computers in 

data systems. Then, if there were any errors, 

we would re-input the data.”

In the 1970s, things got even busier. 

More employees worked on the installation, 

and workloads increased to include 

additional federal supply classes such as 

ecclesiastical and mortuary supplies. 

Alma Charles, acting deputy director 

of DLA Aviation Supplier Operations and 

chief of Commodities Division II, started 

in 1972 as an inventory management 

intern straight out of college. 

“At that time, all training was on site 

and on the job,” she said.

In 1981, DGSC started communicating 

with its headquarters across the miles, both 

visually and vocally, using a predecessor to 

current video-teleconferencing equipment 

called the Gemini 100 Electronic Blackboard. Gemini was a leased system that 

used telephones and specially designed 

blackboards for graphic and voice 

communications between DLA and its 

field activities.

Charles said that early in her career, 

employees typically specialized in one 

area and did not often work in more than 

one area.

“When I first came to the center, 

we were a stovepiped organization,” 

Charles said. “Supply, procurement and 

technical operations were divided into 

separate areas. Inventory managers were 

responsible for ... the whole nine yards 

for an item. Unless you were a self-starter, 

you didn’t learn about other disciplines.”

Meggan McCarter, who started 

with DGSC in 1981 in the Office of Data 

Systems and is now deputy director of 

DLA Finance Richmond, said there was 

no standardization across the directorate. 

“Nothing touched systemically,” she 

said. “We were an inventory control 

point with general supply items.” 

In the early 1970s, Charles said, the 

center had none of the automation it 

takes advantage of today. Work was done 

on paper forms.

“As inventory management 

specialists, we got the demands, the 

customer forecasts and generated 

purchase requests to initiate the buy. We 

documented all we did on a ‘Big M,’ Form 

690, a key tool of inventory managers,” 

A Defense General Supply Center team 

member searches for a reel tape for one of the 

Defense Supply Agency’s earliest computers.

1975

President Gerald Ford orders U.S. military 

forces to proceed with the planned 

evacuation of U.S. citizens from Cambodia.

1976

Helicopters from five U.S. naval 

vessels evacuate about 250 

Americans and Europeans from 

Lebanon during fighting between 

Lebanese factions.

1977

DSA renamed 

Defense Logistics Agency.
10 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

paperwork. POPS increased sales dramatically in general items like building lighting, 

batteries and film.” 

Brenda Longest, who retired from 

DSCR in 2007, served as the supply chain’s 

chief marketing officer in the 1990s.

“POPS is often cited as the original 

DoD effort to take advantage of standard 

commercial practices in conducting 

logistics support for America’s military 

services,” she said.

Aviation Focus

In 1985, DGSC assumed management 

of aviation structural components, laying 

its foundation as a key contributor to 

aviation support throughout DoD.

In 1990, DGSC fielded additional 

systems to enhance its processes. The 

Automated Inventory Management 

Support System facilitated the 

recommended buy decision process 

and established the activity’s first local 

area network, linking employee desktop 

computers to mid-tier and mainframe 

computers. The DLA Pre-Award 

Contracting System is still in use today. 

DGSC’s organizational structure changed 

from functional stovepipes to product 

centers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

By 1992, DGSC had changed from 

a functionally based organization to a 

commodity-based one.

“The move was a critical step to 

eliminate communication barriers 

between major directorates and have 

individuals from a variety of disciplines 

sit together,” said Cindy Kubat, who was 

the deputy leader of Product Center 7 

and is currently deputy director of DLA 

Installation Support in Richmond. “Item 

managers, acquisition, equipment and 

quality assurance specialists were moved 

to physically sit together in the same 

location, even though the directorate 

reporting structure remained in place.”

Kubat said training empowered 

employees to make decisions without 

going to their direct chain of command, 

and business plans were built to define 

product center goals.

“The intent was that each group 

working the same federal supply classes 

would be in the same location and solve 

problems immediately, versus sending 

forms across bays and buildings,” she said.

Charles said. “The biggest change for me 

was moving from manual to automation.”

In 1984, DGSC developed the Paperless 

Order Placement System, the Defense 

Department’s initial electronic commerce 

and data interchange application. POPS 

passed customer requisitions to suppliers 

for immediate direct shipment from commercial stocks rather than from government warehouse inventories. 

“POPS was when we still had a lot of 

general items we managed, like batteries 

and film that were readily available from all 

kinds of suppliers,” McCarter said. “It was 

a way to get a request out the same day to 

the supplier by electronic data interchange, 

auto phone, mainframe or fax and avoid 

time and costs associated with manual 

Workers at the Defense General Supply Center 

assemble fabric lines for parachutes. 

1977

Defense Contract Administration Services 

Region Los Angeles is responsible for the design, 

property and quality assurance of NASA’s ApolloSoyuz space project, the first joint flight of the U.S. 

and Soviet space programs.

1979

DLA provides medical

supplies to earthquake

victims in Pakistan.

“We documented all we did on a ‘Big M,’ Form 690. ...The biggest 

change for me was moving from manual to automation.”

— Alma Charles,
Loglines l September - October 2011 11

All disciplines came under one 

umbrella, and employees became multifunctional, Charles said.

“Product center leaders were required 

to know about each discipline. IST leads 

had control over the whole product,” she 

continued. “It was almost like cradle to 

grave. It was all about supporting the 

warfighter.”

Charles said original equipment 

manufacturer divisions were also piloted 

under product centers, allowing for further 

refinement of business plans and increased 

communication.

 “This organizational innovation swept 

from DGSC to other DLA supply centers 

and eventually to DLA Headquarters,” 

McCarter said.

In 1996, the Defense General Supply 

Center’s name changed to Defense 

Supply Center Richmond. Shortly after 

the new name took effect, agency leaders 

started talking about supply chain management, McCarter said.

“It was about the time (the agency) 

started a Virtual Prime Vendor Program 

and began discussions to update our 

automated systems to the current Business 

Systems Modernization. In an initial step 

toward a supply chain focus, the agency 

also made federal supply class transfers 

between field activities. The agency was 

looking at how it organized work, and the 

idea of managing by supply chains came 

into being,” she said. “The cradle-to-grave 

approach allowed each supply chain to 

focus on a certain area, which led to better 

relationships with suppliers.”

Business Systems Modernization

In 2000, Business Systems Modernization was formally initiated as a new 

major acquisition program within DLA. 

“We transferred to BSM because the 

[older] systems were becoming technologically dated,” Charles said. “Everyone felt 

like we had made too many Band-Aids to 

[the previous system] and it was time to 

cure the problem, so the agency contracted 

out for a state-of-art system competitive 

with commercial industry.” 

In 2004, DSCR prepared the center 

to manage supply chains rather than 

supply classes and prepared for BSM 

deployment. Big Bang, the name coined 

for the deployment and reorganization, 

affected the entire workforce, physically 

relocating 2,000 employees on the center 

and changing job titles for some. 

Also during this time, BSM replaced 

legacy computer systems to improve customer support, lower operational costs 

and streamline operations. 

“BSM and its resulting reorganization 

within DLA Aviation made DLA and its 

field activities customer and supplier 

facing, making it easier for customers and 

suppliers to do business with one entity 

within DLA,” said Amy Gonzalez, a DLA 

Aviation change management specialist. 

DSCR forged another link in the supply 

chain concept by standing up a DLA Land 

and Maritime detachment at the center and 

an aviation detachment in Philadelphia in 

2004. The stand-ups marked the establishment of supply chain detachments at the 

DLA inventory control points, transforming 

the agency from a lead center concept to a 

supply chain focus. 

“With rollouts of personnel and items 

completed in 2006, BSM allowed the center to leverage the benefits of commercial 

off-the-shelf software and reengineered 

business practices to enhance customer 

support,” Gonzalez said. 

— continued on next page

Workers put up a sign at the Richmond 

Quartermaster Depot, the facility where DLA 

Aviation resides today in Richmond, Va.

1980

The Meal, Ready-to-Eat, adopted 

as the main U.S. military combat 

ration, is tested by Defense Depot 

Mechanicsburg, Pa., throughout 

1980.

1982

President Ronald Reagan orders the deployment of 1,200 Marines 

to serve in a temporary multinational force to facilitate the 

restoration of the Lebanese government’s sovereignty.
12 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

— continued from previous page

BRAC 2005

DSCR’s mission expanded greatly 

between 2007 and 2009 with the 

implementation of Base Realignment 

and Closure 2005 legislation. DSCR 

privatized its supply storage and 

distribution management of tires, 

packaged petroleum, oil and lubricant 

products, and compressed and 

liquefied gases. The center also 

broadened its mission as a supply 

chain provider beyond its traditional 

wholesale role when it moved into 

consumer-level retail supply logistics.

During this timeframe, DSCR 

activated six industrial support activities and five depot-level reparable 

activities, moving aviation closer 

to military industrial maintenance 

production lines and the artisans 

performing weapon system repairs.

In July 2010, DSCR changed its 

name to DLA Aviation, unifying its 

more than 3,900 employees across the 

U.S. and more closely aligning it to the 

larger DLA enterprise. 

Today, DLA Aviation manages 

1.3 million repair parts and supply 

items, conducts business with more 

than 5,400 suppliers, serves 24,500 

customers, and processes 6.41 million 

customer orders annually. 

“This year, we celebrate five 

decades of supply chain support to our 

military aviation customers,” said Air 

Force Brig. Gen. Scott Jansson, DLA 

Aviation commander. “This longevity 

is a credit to the dedicated service 

of many thousands of government 

civilians and military personnel, 

past and present, who’ve maintained 

a laserlike focus on meeting our 

warfighters’ needs.” 

Story by Chris Goulait

Photos courtesy DLA Energy

warfighter with comprehensive energy 

solutions in the most effective and 

efficient manner possible,” said Navy 

Rear Adm. Kurt Kunkel, DLA Energy 

commander. “Our 1,100 dedicated 

professionals stationed around the world 

have one goal in mind, that of supporting 

the overall DLA Energy mission. Each 

ith a history that spans 

more than 70 years, dating 

back to World War II, 

Defense Logistics Agency 

Energy provides the Defense 

Department and other government 

agencies the energy they need to 

accomplish their missions. 

“Our workforce is, and always 

has been, committed to providing the 

Fueling Up DLA ENERGY

An Air force jet prepares for a mid-air refueling. 

1983

DLA opens Headquarters DLA Europe to strengthen 

communications with joint commands and military 

service headquarters in Europe.

1985

The Defense Property Disposal 

Service is renamed Defense 

Reutilization and Marketing Service.

W
Loglines l September - October 2011 13

and every day, no matter how difficult 

or challenging the task, DLA Energy 

employees exceed all expectations 

by meeting the warfighters’ energy 

requirements.”

The organization was originally an 

entity of the Department of the Interior 

known as the Army-Navy Petroleum 

Board, which administered petroleum 

requirements during World War II. In 

1945, the organization was transferred 

to the War Department and became the 

Joint Army-Navy Purchasing Agency. 

The organization underwent several 

name changes, but its mission of meeting 

petroleum requirements remained 

essentially the same until 1962. At 

that time, what was then the Defense 

Petroleum Supply Center became a part 

of the new Defense Supply Agency. In 

1964, DPSC was renamed the Defense 

Fuel Supply Center and designated as 

the single entity to purchase and manage 

DoD’s petroleum products and coal. 

In 1973, DFSC progressed from 

wholesale fuel central procurement to 

a more comprehensive mission as the 

integrated material manager for DoD 

petroleum. Under Phase I of IMM, 

the organization began managing the 

acquisition, storage, distribution and sale 

of fuel, with its responsibilities ending 

upon delivery to installations. Phase II 

began in 1991, expanding the ownership 

of bulk petroleum products to include 

most bulk storage installations. 

DFSC’s mission expanded further 

in 1990, adding the supply and 

management of natural gas to its 

portfolio. Under this program, 

the services’ natural gas 

requirements were consolidated 

and centrally procured to provide 

natural gas to customers when 

this was found to be cheaper than 

using gas from local distribution 

companies. 

The center began a new chapter in its 

history in 1998 when it was renamed the 

Defense Energy Support Center. The name 

change brought a new mission to build an 

energy program aimed at moving out of 

energy infrastructure management and 

into energy product management. 

The initiative to deregulate electricity 

A refueling team member prepares to 

refuel a helicopter in this undated photo.

The Defense Fuel Supply Center progressed from 

wholesale fuel central procurement to the integrated 

material manager for Department of Defense petroleum.

1988

DLA assumes management of the nation’s stockpile 

of strategic materials from the General Services 

Administration. Soon after, DLA establishes the 

Defense National Stockpile Center as a primary-level 

field activity.

1986

The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes during 

liftoff in January 1986.
14 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

managing bulk aviator’s breathing oxygen 

and liquid nitrogen. 

“Since [the aerospace energy business 

unit] already provides full supply chain 

management and serves as the DoD 

IMM for all other bulk cryogen products 

used by the military, both products fit 

perfectly into the [directorate’s] product 

portfolio,” said DLA Energy Director of 

Aerospace Energy Sharon Murphy.

DLA was designated the executive 

agent for bulk petroleum in August 2004, 

and DESC took on responsibility for the 

management of all DoD bulk petroleum, 

with an emphasis on improving efficiency 

and minimizing duplication and redunSoldiers in World War II prepare for a fuel convoy. The Army-Navy Petroleum Board, DLA Energy’s earliest incarnation, managed petroleum during 

the war.

As states deregulated, DLA Energy awarded contracts for 

electricity in the same manner as it did for natural gas.

in the U.S. added still another mission 

to DESC’s responsibilities. As states 

deregulated, DLA Energy pursued and 

awarded contracts for electricity services 

for DoD and federal agency installations in 

the same manner as it did for natural gas. 

DESC also took on the Air Force’s 

role as the integrated material manager 

for space-related products and services, 

providing support and business 

solutions to DoD, other federal agencies, 

government contractors and academic 

institutions. Later, the activity began 

1990

DoD directs the consolidation of all 

distribution depots of the military 

services and DLA into a single, 

unified material distribution system.

1989

The U.S. deposes general, dictator and de facto 

Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega in 

Operation Just Cause.

Army Gen. Colin Powell becomes the youngest 

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
Loglines l September - October 2011 15

dancy within the supply chain. 

“This has truly been a joint 

partnership among the military services, 

combatant commands and DESC, 

with each contributing to the initial 

achievements of the program,” Bill 

MacLaren, then-deputy director of the 

Executive Agent Office, said on the first 

anniversary of the designation.

DESC incorporated emerging areas 

of renewable and alternative methods 

to satisfy customers’ energy needs 

into its mission in 2009. As the nation 

embraced conservation, the need for 

energy security and a renewed awareness 

of environmental impacts, DESC focused 

on solutions to meet these challenges, 

said Kim Huntley, then-DESC director. Its 

business units continued to pursue solar 

power, hydrogen power, synthetic fuels 

and other alternative fuel and renewable 

energy sources. 

“We are continuing a step further 

in our energy support commitment to 

our customers,” Huntley said at the 

mission’s launch. “We are branching 

off, engaging and embracing the 

technology, science advancements and 

emerging opportunities in the field to 

ensure our provided energy solutions 

remain unsurpassed for our customers’ 

requirements and sustainment goals.”

DESC became DLA Energy in July 

2010 as part of the We Are DLA initiative. 

Despite changes in organization structure 

and an expanded mission, DLA Energy 

continues supporting warfighters and managing the energy sources of the future. 

“In the years to come,” Kunkel said, 

“DLA Energy will continue to evolve and 

transform. We must and we will become 

even more effective and efficient to meet 

warfighters’ needs. In a time when world 

events can produce an evolving and 

ever-changing environment, DLA Energy 

will continue to steadfastly support 

energy requirements, remain agile to 

address emergent energy needs, and 

aggressively engage to support potential 

new energy solutions.”

Fuel hoses connect two ship conducting a 

refueling at sea.

Workers lay pipeline for the movement of 

petroleum.

1991

In response to the Iraqi invasion of 

Kuwait, the U.S. and 31 other nations 

deploy forces to Saudi Arabia to 

liberate Kuwait in operations Desert 

Shield and Desert Storm.

1991

DLA supports operations Desert 

Shield and Desert Storm with 

more than $3 billion in food, 

clothing, textiles, medical 

supplies and repair parts.
16 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

Supply

Foundation

Story by Janeen Poulson

Photos courtesy DLA Troop Support

local seamstresses to create uniforms in 

their homes.

As the years went on and new 

wars were waged, the need for support 

increased. During the Civil War, an 

additional 10,000 

seamstresses were hired 

to make uniforms for 

Union Soldiers. In 1926, 

the organization moved to 

a larger facility in South 

Philadelphia and was 

renamed the Philadelphia 

Quartermaster Depot. 

The newly constructed 

building offered more 

office space and included 

a factory. This was just 

in time for the ramp up of more than 

8 million service members fighting in 

World War II.

The DLA Connection

In 1961, when Secretary of Defense 

Robert McNamara decided that all military logistics organizations were to come 

together, the Philadelphia Quartermaster 

Depot fell into the fold. 

By 1965, American troops were 

receiving support from all across the 

United States. Clothing and textiles were 

procured in Philadelphia. The Defense 

Subsistence Supply Center in Chicago 

provided food for the troops, while 

the Defense Medical Supply Center in 

Brooklyn, N.Y., supplied pharmaceuticals 

and medical equipment. The two organizations moved operations to Philadelphia 

that year, and the Defense Personnel 

or almost 200 years, Defense 

Logistics Agency Troop Support 

and its precursor organizations 

have been behind the scenes 

ensuring mission success for the 

nation’s men and women in uniform. Its 

foundations have evolved into the current 

organization: a $14 billion entity with four 

supply chains providing medicine and 

medical supplies, food and water, uniforms, 

and construction material and equipment. 

The Beginning

The history of DLA Troop Support 

dates back to the War of 1812, when 

Schuylkill Arsenal in Philadelphia housed 

the guns, ammunition, and clothing and 

textiles needed to fight the three-year war. 

Once the war ended, the arsenal 

changed its mission to manufacturing, storing and supplying clothing and 

textiles for the troops. To assist in this 

mission, Schuylkill Arsenal employed 

DLA TROOP SUPPORT

The organization that 

eventually became DLA 

Troop Support moved into the 

Philadelphia Quartermaster 

Depot in 1926.

F

1992

DLA supports Hurricane 

Andrew relief efforts in 

Florida.

1991

Supplying support to American combat 

forces during operations Desert Shield 

and Desert Storm, DLA earns the Joint 

Meritorious Unit Award.
Loglines l September - October 2011 17

Support Center was officially established. 

DPSC also played a key role when DLA 

took responsibility for managing troop 

feeding and commissary support in the 

early 1970s. The organization continued 

to adapt to changing military operations 

until the end of the millennium. 

Building on the Foundation

The 1990s brought about change 

for DPSC. At the start of the Gulf War, 

the Base Realignment and Closure 

Commission decided the closure, 

realignment and merger of organizations 

across the country would be more 

effective and fiscally responsible. The 

Defense Industrial Support Center, 

located in northeast Philadelphia, was 

on the list for closure. DISC procured 

general and industrial needs for the 

troops. In 1995, the BRAC Commission 

ordered the elimination of DISC, and the 

management and responsibilities of the 

general and industrial commodities were 

transferred to DPSC. With DISC’s 1999 

disestablishment, DPSC was renamed 

Defense Supply Center Philadelphia and 

moved from the city’s south to its current 

location in northeast Philadelphia.

With BRAC, DSCP’s responsibilities 

were expanded to include construction 

material and general industrial items. 

With four supply chains supplying essentials to the nation’s men and women in 

uniform, DSCP became one of the largestproducing agencies within DLA.

Not Just War

While the overall goal of DSCP 

was superior warfighter support, the 

organization had an active role in 

peacetime missions and humanitarian 

relief efforts as well. From hurricanes 

Andrew and Katrina to the rebuilding 

and support of Bosnia and Haiti, DLA 

Troop Support has been on the forefront 

of providing food, medicine, building 

materials and supplies to those in need 

around the world. 

One of the biggest humanitarian missions occurred during Operation Unified 

Response in Haiti. After the country 

suffered a devastating earthquake in 

January 2010, DSCP ensured the U.S. 

Naval Ship Comfort was fully stocked to 

provide medical aid to those affected by 

the tragedy. 

One DLA

The concept of We are DLA was 

established by DLA Director Navy Vice 

Adm. Alan Thompson in 2010. The director’s goal was for all DLA organizations to 

have an overall sense of unity.

“My guidance at the start of this 

project was to build a concept that would 

strengthen our position as the leader in 

defense logistics in name and in spirit, 

so that we can achieve our full potential 

as an enterprise,” Thompson wrote in 

a message to DLA employees when the 

concept was initiated.

As a part of this initiative, DPSC’s 

name was officially changed to DLA 

Troop Support. Today, the primary-level 

field activity continues to provide the 

best support to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen 

and Marines worldwide. With more 

than $14 billion in sales in fiscal 2010, 

the organization continues to do its part 

to establish DLA as America’s leading 

combat logistics support agency.

On July 13, 2011, Navy Rear Adm. 

David Baucom took the helm of DLA 

Troop Support as its second commander. 

“It is my honor and privilege to lead 

an organization so rich with history and 

with such an important mission,” Baucom 

said. “We will continue to focus on providing exceptional support for the warfighter, 

now and well into the future.” 

Fabric for uniforms waits for seamstresses 

at the old Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot 

during World War II.

1994

DLA deploys an initial element to 

support operations in Haiti and 

establishes its first contingency 

support team.

1993

Base Realignment and Closure 

legislation consolidates many DLA 

functions, closing locations in South 

Carolina, California, Ohio and Utah.
18 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

Expanding

Logistics Story by 

Michael L. Jones

D

efense Logistics Agency Land 

and Maritime, a vital component 

of the DLA family that supports 

the nation’s warfighting efforts, 

has undergone numerous 

transformations and emerged as the 

highly regarded logistics support 

operation it is today.

The installation in Columbus, Ohio, 

has a storied history. Expanding logistics 

demands during World War I created an 

emergency need for new military depots, 

and Columbus was selected for its strategic 

access to three important railroad lines. 

DLA Land and Maritime’s core 

was formed through a series of Base 

Realignment and Closure actions that 

resulted in DLA’s creation of Defense 

Supply Center Columbus in 1996. The 

center’s importance is exhibited by its 

participation in every major military 

engagement since World War I. In fact, 

warehouses built in 1918 were still used 

throughout the 1990s.

DLA Land and Maritime’s ability to 

meet the needs of military operations 

worldwide was spotlighted by its selection 

DLA LAND AND MARITIME

Defense Construction Supply Center 

employees process incoming and outgoing 

items in the 1970s. The facility managed more 

than 352,000 items, provided warehousing 

services to the Defense Civil Preparedness 

Agency and handled emergency equipment for 

the General Services Administration.

1997

The U.S. military airlifts 900 

personnel from Sierra Leone 

as the capital city is overrun by 

marauding troops.

1995

Based on the 1988 Base Realignment 

and Closure recommendation to 

close Cameron Station, Va., DLA 

Headquarters and its colocated 

activities move to Fort Belvoir, Va.
Loglines l September - October 2011 19

for the 2011 Commander in Chief’s 

Annual Award for Installation Excellence.

“For more than 93 years, logisticians 

here at Defense Supply Center Columbus 

have supported worldwide military 

operations with time-critical logistical 

support,” said Army Brig. Gen. Darrell 

Williams, DLA Land and Maritime 

commander. “The name of the installation 

has changed 14 times over this period, 

but what hasn’t changed is the quality of 

our Defense Logistics Agency Land and 

Maritime workforce and its commitment 

to providing world-class support to our 

nation’s warfighters. From support to the 

Army and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan 

to material support to our Navy in the 

shipyards, the 3,100 associates of DLA 

Land and Maritime take great pride in the 

spare and repair parts we deliver around 

the world to all of the military services.” 

DLA Land and Maritime serves 

more than 24,000 military and civilian 

customers around the world. The 

organization also works with more 

than 10,000 contractors who play a 

pivotal role in fulfilling its mission as 

a worldwide logistical supply chain 

manager. 

DLA Land and Maritime also 

supports humanitarian relief requests 

from across the globe. Food, clothing 

and emergency equipment – anything 

that might be needed in an emergency 

situation – have been delivered when 

requested. DLA Land and Maritime provided assistance to Japan in response to 

its earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accidents and delivered emergency logistical 

support to U.S. citizens in New Orleans 

in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Improving efficiency in managing 

the complexities of those logistical 

challenges is an area in which DLA Land 

and Maritime continues to demonstrate 

sustained progress. DLA Land and 

Maritime customer representative Bill 

Bartley, who represents DLA to 2nd 

Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp 

Lejeune, N.C., and has been with the 

agency for more than 25 years, noted 

how much the agency has improved its 

efficiency and customer service during 

his time.

“We didn’t have computers to rapidly 

retrieve account information like we do 

now,” Bartley said. “Everything was done 

manually. Each time we got an order or 

inquiry from a customer, we had to go 

to this huge room of file cabinets and 

search folders for stock numbers, and 

then we had to search additional folders 

to ensure we had the customer’s account 

history correct. It was tremendously 

time consuming, and customer response 

times were often measured in hours, not 

minutes like our computerized systems 

enable us to do today.”

Williams explained that nurturing 

logistical efficiencies required both 

patience and firm, steady leadership to 

keep all eyes fixed on the goal of rapid and 

reliable responses to customer requests. 

A knowledgeable cadre of civilian and 

military members in senior management 

positions has been crucial to DLA’s ability 

to adapt each technological transition and 

emerge an even better logistics supply 

chain organization. 

DLA Land and Maritime’s deputy 

commander has been a decades-long 

member of that team.

“I’ve had the opportunity to help 

navigate the push to improve the agency’s 

warfighter support capabilities over 

the last 10 years, and ... we’ve worked 

our way through some major customer 

support and business process shifts to 

dramatically improve the way we do 

business,” James McClaugherty said. 

“DLA Land and Maritime’s warfighter 

readiness support ratings are at an 

Women pack bearings in 1942 to support the 

World War II effort at the Columbus, Ohio, 

facility then known as the Columbus General 

Depot. The facility expanded to more than 576 

acres during the war, and storage capacity 

grew to more than 13 million square feet.

1999

The Electronic Commerce Mall

launches.

1998

The U.S. launches air strikes against suspected 

terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and a 

suspected chemical factory in Sudan.

Defense Fuel Supply Center is renamed 

Defense Energy Support Center.
20 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

all-time high, and that’s amazing when 

you factor in the vast number of weapon 

systems and service requirements 

we’re supporting in some of the most 

challenging logistical arenas in the world. 

DLA Land and Maritime is meeting and 

often exceeding the expectations of our 

military forces.”

As those expectations grow, DLA 

Land and Maritime’s workforce has 

kept essential parts moving smoothly 

and swiftly through the supply chain. 

After expanding to a workforce of more 

than 10,000 at the beginning of World 

War II, BRAC actions and other force 

realignment activities have streamlined 

the organization’s staff to about 3,100 

employees. 

Though leaner, today’s DLA Land and 

Maritime has gained efficiencies by absorbing strategic operational detachments 

and now boasts operational capacity in 

54 locations worldwide, McClaugherty 

said. With 12 detached Defense Logistics 

Agency depot-level reparable and supply 

storage and distribution units, DLA Land 

and Maritime supports supply requirements at Army depots, Navy shipyards, 

and Marine Corps logistics centers. 

Collectively, they ensure that more than 

2.1 million spare and repair parts reach 

military and other federal agencies on 

time to help ensure mission success. 

Recently retired DLA Land and 

Maritime employee Etta Kephart recounted the impact of the agency’s focus 

on increasing efficiencies during her 

almost 30 years of service. Kephart spoke 

of using mimeograph machines, carbon 

paper and massive filing cabinets as her 

primary work tools in fulfilling daily 

customer requests.

“It wasn’t very coordinated in the 

beginning, but the ingredient that made 

the most difference then and until I 

retired was the attitude of commitment 

every DLA associate displayed,” Kephart 

said. “Every success we enjoyed as the 

agency grew was built on that foundation 

of commitment.”

As the agency introduced computing 

technology to help improve its service 

capability, it also launched an enhanced 

customer service initiative with the 

deployment of customer teams at its core, 

Kephart said. With new desktop processing capabilities that networked with their 

mainframes, the teams developed procedures to make DLA Land and Maritime a 

better supply support organization. 

Kephart was selected to help staff 

the first customer team. Shortening 

Crane operators off-load supplies in 1943 

at the Columbus Quartermaster Depot. 

Employing more than 10,000 employees, the 

installation became the largest joint military 

supply installation in the world during World 

War II.

2000

Defense Contract Management 

Command becomes a separate 

agency, the Defense Contract 

Management Agency.

1999

The Business Systems 

Modernization 

program is initiated.

“The name of the installation has 

changed 14 times, but what hasn’t 

changed is the quality of [the workforce] and its commitment to our 

nation’s warfighters.” 

— Army Brig. Gen. Darrell Williams
Loglines l September - October 2011 21

order fulfillment times, reducing parts 

backorders and streamlining workload 

processes were just a few targeted 

improvement areas the team worked on 

initially, she said.

Working with officials at Robins Air 

Force Base, in Warner Robins, Ga., on supplying electronic aviation parts, the team’s 

efforts were immediate. It pushed the 

agency’s fulfillment rate from the low 50th 

percentile to higher than the 85th. 

“It was like we could see each other 

growing and changing, becoming more 

focused as we experienced each new success in improving our customer service 

performance,” Kephart said.

Williams said that DLA Land and 

Maritime has integrated that customer 

service philosophy into the foundation of 

its organizational culture. The philosophy 

continues to generate positive benefits for 

the agency’s customers worldwide.

“Military actions during the past 

decade have pressed logistics managers 

to further improve operational support 

activities,” Williams said. “One of the 

changes DLA enacted in response was the 

forward deployment of customer service 

professionals to provide direct support 

to military forces on battlefields. This 

adjustment provided an almost-real-time 

customer service response to the needs of 

warfighters. Equipment, spare parts and 

anything else needed is promptly delivered through DLA’s worldwide integrated 

supply chain.” 

DLA Land and Maritime’s support of 

the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle is one of the more visible battlefield 

examples of how the strategy of forward 

deployment immediately and dramatically impacted warfighter readiness, said 

Richard Curry senior program analyst 

and team leader. 

“The MRAP was conceived through 

real-time field collaborations between 

forward deployed support teams and 

military operators,” he said. “With the 

immediate goal of protecting military 

members in battle, the MRAP went from 

production to fielding in an unprecedented 159 days. That timeframe represents 

an unparalleled logistical support feat 

that establishes the new standard for 

logistics support operations. 

“With 52 variants of the vehicle in 

use by all branches of the military, DLA’s 

MRAP support involves more than 200 

people, $650 million in inventory and 

nearly 42,000 parts,” he continued. “This 

focused logistics support is the reason for 

the MRAP’s stellar Afghanistan readiness 

level of 94 percent, which was sustained 

during the past year.” 

Today, DLA Land and Maritime 

continues to supply the armed forces with 

more than 2 million spare and repair 

parts, generating more than $5 billion in 

sales during fiscal 2010. 

An electronics engineer uses an X-ray machine 

to inspect electronic components at the 

Product Test Center at Defense Supply Center 

Columbus. The Product Test Center employs 

electronic and mechanical labs to provide 

accurate and timely test data for items 

managed by the Defense Logistics Agency.

A Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle 

is off-loaded for transfer to a unit where it 

will provide added protection for today’s 

warfighters. DLA Land and Maritime supports 

nearly 40,000 MRAP parts, which support 52 

MRAP variants used by the nation’s military 

services.

2001

The global war on terrorism begins in 

Afghanistan as U.S. troops battle against 

al-Qaida terrorists and Taliban supporters in 

Operation Enduring Freedom.

2001

Terrorists crash four commercial 

planes into the World Trade Center, the 

Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, 

Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001.
22 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

Evolution

Story by Stacy Umstead

Photos courtesy DLA Distribution

Defense Management Review Decision 

902 directed all supply functions be 

consolidated under the Defense Logistics 

Agency.” 

Scott Rosbaugh, director of DLA 

Distribution Process and Planning and a 

DLA employee since 1991, explained that 

the consolidation’s goals were reducing 

costs, improving customer support, 

reducing redundant infrastructure and 

overhead, and standardizing policies and 

procedures. 

“At that time, there were over 25,000 

employees performing the distribution 

work across the services,” he said. 

“Additionally, each service had its own 

distribution and warehouse management 

operating systems and ways of doing 

business.” 

In 1990, the merger of Defense Depot 

Tracy and Sharpe Army Depot in California 

resulted in the formation of Defense 

Distribution Region West and Defense 

Distribution Depot San Joaquin, Calif. 

The 1991 consolidation of Defense 

Depot Mechanicsburg and New Cumber- D land Army Depot in Pennsylvania 

efense Logistics Agency 

Distribution provides support 

to America’s military through 

its network of 26 distribution 

centers.

“DLA Distribution is an organization 

grown out of a consolidation of servicespecific supply functions,” said Navy 

Rear Adm. Thomas Traaen, DLA 

Distribution commander. “In 1990, 

DLA DISTRIBUTION

DLA Distribution employees check a turbine 

into storage in Jacksonville, Fla. More than 

10,000 team members provide distribution 

support to military operations, exercises and 

humanitarian relief efforts.

2004

Tsunami waves kill thousands in South Asia 

after the most powerful earthquake to strike 

the Indian Ocean since 1964.

2003

DLA provides fuel, food, 

clothing, medical supplies and 

construction equipment for 

operations in Iraq as Operation 

Iraqi Freedom begins.
Loglines l September - October 2011 23

created the Defense Distribution Region 

East and Defense Distribution Depot 

Susquehanna, Pa.

Defense Distribution Depot Memphis, 

Tenn., became the site of Defense 

Distribution Region Central. Region East 

managed eight depots, and regions Central 

and West managed 10 each. 

“Further consolidation of overhead 

functions resulted in the inactivation of 

Region Central in 1993. Management of 

its distribution depots moved to regions 

East and West,” Rosbaugh said. 

In 1994, Ogden and Hill depots in 

Utah were consolidated as one organization. That year also saw the organization’s first overseas depot established in 

Germersheim, Germany.

In May 1997, DLA took steps to 

consolidate distribution management 

even further, eliminating one of the two 

remaining regions. 

“After DLA performed an extensive 

analysis of potential site locations for the 

consolidated Defense Distribution Center 

headquarters, an announcement was 

made on Sept. 16, 1997, selecting New 

Cumberland, Pa., as the site for the new 

DDC,” Rosbaugh said. 

DDC was officially established Oct. 1, 

1997, and expanded its mission to include 

distribution facilities in Hawaii and Japan 

within two years. 

In 1999, DLA took over map distribution from the National Imagery and 

Mapping Agency. An office was established 

in Richmond, Va., with mapping support 

offices positioned worldwide.

“After the turn of the new millennium, DLA began to move even closer 

to America’s warfighters,” Rosbaugh 

said. “The mission was expanded, and 

distribution facilities were established in 

Kuwait, Guam, Korea and Sicily.” 

2006 saw the establishment of DLA’s 

deployable depot, a scalable operation 

tasked with the receipt, storage, issuance, 

shipping and in-transit visibility of supplies 

needed for relief efforts within the continental United States.

Since its establishment, the deployable 

capability has grown beyond providing 

support to humanitarian relief efforts and 

into overseas contingency operations. In 

2010, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates 

issued the first request for DLA to deploy 

the command’s expeditionary team to 

Kandahar, Afghanistan. 

“This expeditionary capability provided distribution support of wholesale 

material in support of joint forces located 

in-country and led to the establishment 

of DLA’s 26th distribution center in 

Kandahar, Afghanistan,” Traaen said. 

More than 600 items, including 

repair parts, kit assemblies, clothing and 

other consumable items are managed at 

the center. 

 “Almost 26,000 receipts and issues 

have been processed since this distribution 

capability was established,” Traaen said.

Since DDC’s formal establishment in 

1997, more than 350 million receipts and 

issues have been processed, supporting 

military and government agencies.

Renamed DLA Distribution in 2010, 

this primary-level field activity continues 

to evolve and expand to meet warfighter 

requirements. More than 10,000 employees provide distribution services to 

customers around the world. 

“DLA Distribution will continue 

to deliver excellence as in the past, 

exceeding customer expectations, 

addressing imminent requirements and 

transforming how the organization does 

business in order to remain a premier 

distribution provider,” Traaen said. 

A DLA Distribution Mapping employee 

moves mapping products at a warehouse 

in Richmond, Va. DLA Distribution assumed 

responsibility for mapping products in 1999.

2005

DoD identifies DLA as the single agency 

to manage multiple aspects of supply and 

storage processes as part of the Base 

Realignment and Closure Act 2005. 

2005

DLA distribution systems increase to 26 

distribution depots worldwide.

DLA provides humanitarian support to 

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims.
24 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

Property

Disposal

Story by Timothy Hoyle

Photos courtesy DLA Disposition Services

B

efore 1972 congressional hearings 

determined the need for a more 

efficient and accountable way to 

do business, the control of excess 

and surplus property was left to 

the military services themselves. The report 

on the findings of the 1972 hearings chaired 

by Sen. John McClellan recommended that 

defense property disposal be centralized for 

better control and accountability. 

Defense Supply Agency General Order 

31 acted on that recommendation by 

creating the Defense Property Disposal 

Service, which combined those missions 

into one, establishing the first network of 

local operating sites to collect and manage 

the flow of property from the services.

“The program was just out of control,” George Morgan, former Defense 

Reutilization and Marketing Office 

Tampa, Fla., chief, said in a 1997 

interview. 

According to the order, the new field 

activity was charged with managing 

personal property disposal, including 

the reutilization of usable assets. Sales 

of surplus items to the public continued, 

but there was a greater effort to ensure 

items that either threatened public 

safety and security or could be used to 

harm U.S. forces were demilitarized, or 

DLA DISPOSITION SERVICES

Soldiers visit the Defense Reutilization and 

Marketing Office Berlin warehouse during the 

1980s to screen property they are considering 

for reuse at their unit.

2007

DLA extends its enterprise to 48 states and 

28 countries, working hand in hand with 

military services around the globe.

2006 

DLA’s Enterprise Business System is fully 

implemented throughout DLA’s primarylevel field activities in Philadelphia, 

Richmond, Va., and Columbus, Ohio.
Loglines l September - October 2011 25

made incapable of fulfilling their original 

purpose.

Nancy Rheaume started at the 

Defense Property Disposal Service in 

1974. She said she remembers that in the 

beginning, the field activities operated 

quite independently from the thenDefense Supply Agency headquarters 

and didn’t have much contact with the 

corporate level. But as she progressed in 

her career, which spanned 33 years and 

saw her rise to become deputy director of 

what was then the Defense Reutilization 

and Marketing Service, she saw more 

involvement from DLA Headquarters 

and saw her activity evolve along parallel 

lines with the agency overall, she 

explained. 

A big change Rheaume said she 

noticed in the early years of DPDS was 

that the activity had to get in touch with 

its military customers, many of whom 

weren’t very happy about having given up 

the responsibilities of property disposal. 

“You really had to reach out to the 

military community and understand 

the needs of what they had,” Rheaume 

said. “It wasn’t as important what 

DRMS needed; it was really important 

in how you provided that service to the 

customer. Of course you saw the same 

thing going on with DLA as they were 

assuming more and more missions because 

of [Base Realignment and Closure] and all 

that. It felt like we were reaching out and 

becoming way more customer focused at 

the same time, both sets of organizations.”

DPDS was renamed the Defense 

Reutilization and Marketing Service in 

1985 to reflect efforts to promote the 

reuse of property and recoupment of 

taxpayer investments. Shortly thereafter, 

DRMS personnel began harnessing 

technology to automate its inventory 

procedures. Later 

in the decade, the 

DRMS Automated 

Information 

System – or 

DAISY – began 

capturing digital 

records of property being turned in, 

scrap commodities on hand, and the final 

disposition of items in the inventory. 

The field site at Kirtland, N.M., 

became the first one with a live DAISY 

terminal in July 1990. Using the terminal 

to compile digital records enabled the use 

of online inventory information when the 

first DRMS website went live in 1994.

Giving customers access to data 

on global inventory earned DRMS 

recognition as one of the Ford 

Foundation’s 25 national finalists in 

the 1999 Innovations in Government 

competition. The nomination noted 

that the website reduced customers’ 

dependence on in-person screening 

systems and made more than $5 billion 

in goods available to government and 

eligible nonprofit 

groups in 1998 alone, 

according to a press 

release at the time.

“It has not been 

easy for us to harness 

this new technology,” 

Navy Capt. Richard Feierabend, then 

DRMS commander, said at the time. 

“A team of wonderfully dedicated 

professionals learned the new ways of 

channeling information from existing 

systems into Web-based applications.”

Like the services the activity supported, DRMS leaders realized changes in the 

size of the military would mean changes 

to the infrastructure that supported it. 

Beginning in April 1997, 54 field operating sites were closed to consolidate 

“It felt like we were reaching out 

and becoming way more customer 

focused at the same time.” 

— Nancy Rheaume

Navy F-14 Tomcat parts are disposed of in Iraq 

to prevent their misuse.

2008 

The Joint Contingency Acquisition Support Office 

stands up at DLA to oversee expeditionary contracting 

during combat, post-conflict and contingency 

operations.

2008

DLA focuses on Continuous Process 

Improvement, a structured, five-step problemsolving process that helps employees see beyond 

a problem’s symptoms to find solid solutions.
26 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

operations in the U.S. within 68 locations. 

Regional and international headquarters 

were also consolidated in one headquarters 

element with regional directors helping 

oversee geographic areas. 

The beginning of 1999 saw a new 

era in sales as the Commercial Venture 

Program began to seek a firm with the 

commercial expertise — especially in 

niche markets — that might generate 

more proceeds from usable property 

sales. Later that year, a scrap sales pilot 

program that would find a business to 

handle the sale of ferrous, nonferrous 

and nonmetallic scrap was announced. 

Today, interested buyers can follow these 

sales through a website, http://www.

govliquidation.com, where Government 

Liquidation conducts its online auctions.

A leadership milestone came in 

February 2006 when Paul Peters became 

the first civilian director of DRMS. His 

successor, Twila Gonzales, continues the 

tradition of improvement with her own 

capability studies, work to develop leaders at all levels, and efforts to promote a 

world-class mindset in her workforce. 

Then-DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. 

Robert Dail presided at the March 2008 

change of responsibility ceremony when 

Gonzales came on board. “DRMS is an 

integral part of the support we render 

to men and women stationed around 

the world. In the past couple years, Paul 

Peters has pushed the idea of a DRMS 

that is forward deployed and out in front 

with the troops,” Dail said at the event.

The 2010 We Are DLA campaign gave 

DRMS its new name – DLA Disposition 

Services – which carries on the original 

DPDS mission in many ways.

DLA Disposition Services disposes of 

excess property received from the military services. The inventory changes daily 

and includes thousands of items, including air conditioners, vehicles, clothing, 

computers and more. In fiscal 2010, more 

than 51,000 military units and organizations turned in more than 3.7 million 

items to DLA Disposition Services. 

“The hard work that is under way will 

transform DLA Disposition Services into a 

world-class organization,” Gonzales said.

The Resource Recovery and Recycling 

Program conserves natural resources, 

reduces waste products and returns revenue to the military services. The Precious 

Metals Recovery Program significantly 

reduces the need for DoD to purchase 

metals such as gold, silver and platinum 

through the recycling of precious-metalbearing scrap. 

Laura Green was the program 

manager for the precious metals recovery 

effort for 28 years. During that time, 

the effort recovered metals worth $127 

million. More than $10 million worth of 

material was recovered in just the first 

half of 2011. 

“I have memories that will always 

make me smile,” she said.

Current contingency missions have 

DLA Disposition Services civilians serving alongside combat forces in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. They are part of a worldwide presence, with people serving in 16 

foreign countries, two U.S. territories and 

41 states. 

During a July 8 visit, DLA Director 

Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson complimented DLA Disposition Services 

team members and leaders for what he 

called “significant progress over the past 

several years” in meeting the challenges 

tied to operations, stewardship and 

management.

“As much as any major component of 

DLA,” he said, “you’re on the right path 

and making steady progress.”

His remarks echo a widely quoted 

phrase that has become an unofficial motto 

for DLA Disposition Services: “Anticipate 

and deliver. Be exceptional.” 

An employee at Defense Reutilization and 

Marketing Office Berlin works at a receiving 

desk that saw items totaling an average of 

$500,000 added to the inventory each month 

in the 1980s.

2009

DLA begins planning the drawdown 

of equipment and supplies in Iraq.

2009

The Northern Distribution Network, a 

supply line used to resupply U.S. forces 

in Afghanistan, becomes operational.
Loglines l September - October 2011 27

From Offset

To Digital 

Story by Keith Beebe

D

efense Logistics Agency 

Document Services can trace its 

origins back to the beginning of 

the Defense Department. The 

organization is now the primary 

document solutions provider to the U.S. 

military, responsible for printing and 

high-speed, high-volume duplication as 

well as for procuring these services from 

commercial sources. It also provides 

DoD with solutions for the conversion, 

retrieval, output and distribution of digital 

documents

It began in 1949 with the concurrent 

establishment of the Department of 

Defense and its Defense Printing Service, 

Washington, D.C. The first printing facility 

was located in the basement of the newly 

built DoD headquarters, the Pentagon.

The Army Adjutant General 

Reproduction Plant, Navy Central 

Processing Plant and Air Force 

Headquarters Plant were consolidated 

into DPS on Nov. 1, 1949. The 

organization’s charter, signed by Louis 

Johnson, the nation’s second secretary 

of defense, was to provide common 

printing services for the departments 

and agencies of the new DoD. While 

the DoD Administrative Management 

Council directed its policy, the Office of 

the Secretary of the Navy managed and 

controlled DPS. 

DPS was to be run differently than 

other DoD activities. It was not given funds 

to operate for each fiscal period, but was 

run as a business, a model used throughout the Defense Logistics Agency today. 

Charging for its services and products, 

DPS was DoD’s first Industrial Fund, now 

Frank Wengert punches pages in preparation 

for spiral binding at the DLA Document Services 

facility on Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

DLA DOCUMENT SERVICES

2010 

The We Are DLA campaign is launched to create a single agency 

identity and build a greater sense of community among DLA 

employees. 

2010 

DLA works with the Army to develop 

the Operation Enduring Freedom 

Camouflage Pattern uniform, which 

provides better concealment for 

Soldiers in Afghanistan.

Beth Reece
28 www.dla.mil

Defense Logistics Agency — 50 Years of Logistics Excellence

Defense Working Capital Fund, activity. 

The success of this new industrial 

funding brought the transition of the 

Navy Publication Division, formerly 

funded with appropriated dollars, to the 

Navy Printing Service in September 1951. 

Eight years later, DoD gave industrial 

funding to the Navy Publication and 

Printing Service.

Executive Order 12134 of May 9, 

1979, titled Printing Services within the 

Executive Office, established the organization as the “President’s Printer.” 

The Department of the Navy and NPPS 

were assigned to support the Office of 

Administration at the White House with 

printing and duplication services.

Steve Sherman began his career with 

the organization that year as a management 

intern. He worked in the customer service 

departments of the Philadelphia and the 

Newport, R.I., NPPS facilities. Sherman 

joined the organization as a key strategic 

decision was made to embrace new 

technology to provide document services. 

He saw the first use of computers, digital 

files and electronic page printers in 

comparison to offset printers and ink-onpaper operations. 

Sherman was in charge of technology 

assessment in the late 1980s at the print 

shop at the Washington Navy Yard. His 

job was to assess what was being used in 

the printing industry and apply it to DoD’s 

printing environment to gain efficiencies.

“The first print-on-demand system 

using the technology of the day was for 

the Navy,” Sherman said. “NPODS, or 

the Navy Print on Demand System, ... 

printed the documents on demand from 

a database of digital files of specification 

and standards documents. They were 

printed as needed instead of bulk printing, 

storing the hard copies and shipping from 

a warehouse.”

Defense Management Review 

Decision 998 in April 1992 directed the 

consolidation of all DoD printing and 

duplicating operations, with the Navy 

serving as the designated single manager. 

The financial success of the past continued 

through the use of the Defense Working 

Capital Fund. 

In addition to its 150 current Navy 

plants, NPPS assumed control of nearly 

200 Army, Air Force, Marine and DLA 

facilities. DoD’s commercial printing 

procurement program was also given to 

NPPS to manage. This consolidation of 

printing facilities and functions prompted 

DoD to move NPPS’s management and 

mission support to DLA on Oct. 1, 1996.

At the same time, another name change 

was made to more accurately describe the 

new activity’s role in transitioning DoD to 

digital-based management. The organization became the Document Automation & 

Production Service, better known as DAPS.

Now aligned with DLA Information 

Operations, the former DAPS became DLA 

Document Services as part of the We Are 

DLA campaign of 2010.

DLA Document Services today 

manages more than 150 documentproduction facilities located with its 

customers on U.S. military installations 

worldwide and at specific government 

locations, including the Pentagon and 

the White House. It provides a full 

portfolio of document services, ranging 

from traditional offset printing to online 

documents. DLA Document Services is 

also recognized as a transformation agent 

actively moving DoD toward the use of 

online documents and services. 

Sherman, that management intern in 

1979, is now the director of DLA Document 

Services. He has been with the organization 

through more than half of its 60 years of 

existence under various names.

“The experience I’ve had during this 

time has given me the honor of becoming 

the organization’s director,” he said. “I 

am also honored to have a role in the 

evolution of the organization from the days 

of the printing press to how we are today, 

transforming the DoD to the use of digital 

documents.”

A DLA Document Services team member 

displays CDs that hold information from 

Navy aperture cards, which were older data 

storage systems converted by DLA Document 

Services.

Photo courtesy DLA Document Services

The consolidation of printing facilities and functions prompted 

DoD to move NPPS’s management and mission support to DLA.

2010 

DLA works side by side with the U.S. military 

and nongovernmental organizations to provide 

humanitarian aid to the survivors of the magnitude 

7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti.

2011 

DLA celebrates its 

50th anniversary.
DLA NewsWire DLA Strategic Communications 

Loglines l September - October 2011 29

New technology is helping Defense 

Logistics Agency Aviation provide the 

military services with parts in less time, 

with lower scrap and at lower cost.

Dale Roberts, program manager 

for the Aviation Casting and Forgings 

Program Assistance Team, explained that 

many DLA Aviation metal parts are made 

from “sand castings,” where molten metal 

is poured into sand molds created by 

pressing wood patterns into special sand 

that is held together with binding materials to retain the shape.

“These sand castings have an advantage 

in that very complex internal shapes can 

be created inside of a casting using internal 

sand molds that are removed after the 

metal cools by breaking up the sand and 

pouring it out of an available opening,” 

Roberts’ said. “Though possible, it may 

not be practical to ‘hog out’ complex 

internal spaces by machining that are easily 

produced using sand castings.

“However,” he added, “skilled craftsman 

traditionally construct the patterns using 

wood and similar materials, which can take 

weeks and is an expensive process.”

As part of DLA Aviation’s castings 

program, Roberts, Air Force Capt. Alex Mol 

and Advanced Technology International’s 

Keith Sturgill met with John Danko, 

president of Danko Arlington, to see new 

technology his company is implementing 

to produce specialized aviation castings 

economically, Roberts said.

“DLA Aviation has visited their 

facilities in the past, as part of ... trips that 

bring DLA Aviation personnel to foundries 

and forges to see the technology and meet 

with people in the industry,” Roberts said. 

“Since the last visit in September 2010, 

they made the decision to adopt new 

New Technology Speeds Delivery of 

Metal Aviation Parts, Decreases Scrap

technology that allows an even faster 

response to the needs of DLA customers.”

Danko said his business uses rapid 

prototyping, in which drawings are converted to physical patterns by a computer.

“We now use stereolithography to 

convert a computer-based model of the 

geometry and dimensions into a 3-D 

print, an exact pattern of the needed 

part,” he said.

Roberts added, “It is like watching the 

‘replicator’ on Star Trek, as the computer 

literally prints a three-dimensional object 

before your eyes, including voids, passageways and internal spaces that may 

not be visible.” 

With this new system, “there is no 

need to use precious work space for 

storage of traditional patterns that are 

used infrequently, when it can be printed 

out as needed for a small production run, 

then disposed of or recycled,” he said.

“This new equipment will enable 

the company’s existing foundry, pattern 

and machine shop divisions to quickly 

and accurately produce mold patterns 

for parts in days instead of weeks and at 

much lower cost,” Danko said. “The use 

of computer-aided design to move paper 

to production helps to create optimum 

patterns, reducing scrap. It is exciting 

using new technology in a traditional 

industry.” 

The computer model simplifies the 

making of the casting molds, Roberts said.

“You can handle it just like the real 

thing, but on a computer screen,” he said. 

“You can turn it in 3-D and look at it from 

every angle.”

It would take weeks for a craftsman to 

make a physical wooden casting model, 

compared to making one with a computer 

with a few clicks from a computer mouse, 

Roberts said.

“The benefit to DLA and the warfighter is that rapid prototype of patterns 

reduces lead time and cost. For infrequent 

buys in small quantities, economies 

of scale [work] against us. However, 

reducing set-up costs with new technology 

helps us reverse that trend,” he said. 

— DLA Aviation 

2011 Department of Defense 

Maintenance Symposium & Exhibition

www.sae.org/dod

November 14–17, 2011 • Fort Worth Convention Center • Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Achieving Readiness through Effi ciency and Effectiveness in Maintenance Operations

P110796

Administered by 

for the U.S. Department of Defense

Key issues to be addressed at the Symposium include:

• Gaining effi ciencies in Department of Defense maintenance operations

• Responding to rapid acquisition sustainment challenges

• Exploring public & private sector roles in DoD’s maintenance industrial base

P110796 DOD Symposium Horz Ad.indd 1 5/10/11 4:52 PM
30 www.dla.mil

A Conversation with . . .

administration. That was a very big 

project that went very well. That was 

a case where the military services 

weren’t sure we could do that for 

them, so there was some hesitation 

and foot dragging. Subsequently 

that’s been moved; that’s a separate 

agency now. But it was Defense 

Contract Management Command 

when we had it, now it’s the Defense 

Contract Management Agency.

Lippert: Despite the pain and 

agony that everyone went through, 

the enterprise resource planning 

implementation and the business 

transformation, because I think DLA 

is reaping the benefits of that now 

and will continue to improve on those 

benefits into the future. 

I would say that the 

overall performance of the 

agency during that time 

improved dramatically in 

terms of the availability 

of material and the back 

order reductions that 

certainly improved the 

readiness of our deployed 

forces. We had record 

availability and back order 

reductions during that 

time, and I think it made 

a big difference. The cost 

recovery rate was reduced 

dramatically. I also felt that 

the overall professionalism 

of the workforce was improved and 

was going in the correct direction.

We spent time with forward 

positioning of material during that 

time and ended up opening the distribution depots in Kuwait, Sigonella 

[Italy], Guam and Korea, and also 

improving the inventory accuracy of 

all the material across the distribution depots, which I think improved 

our performance and also helped 

reduce costs for all the services.

What were some of the biggest 

challenges you faced?

Lippert: We spent a lot of time 

focusing on the cost recovery rate, and 

we were fortunate in one way of implementing enterprise resource planning, 

What were some of DLA’s 

major accomplishments 

during your time as 

director?

McCausland: One of 

the things we did was we 

started to do commodity 

buying. We started the 

direct vendor delivery, 

rather than warehousing 

everything and shipping 

it to the customer. For 

many, many items we were 

able to ship directly from 

the vendor. These were 

things that had started 

in a couple different places but 

weren’t really implemented across 

the agency. Probably the first item 

we did that with was X-ray film that 

we purchased from Eastman Kodak 

Company. That had been going on for 

years, and we took that model and 

applied it to many different items.

During that time we also took 

over all the distribution responsibilities for the military departments. 

That was a major change. It took a lot 

of effort and was at times somewhat 

difficult. But the folks responded very 

well, and it got accomplished. 

Back when I was a director, we 

did break out contract administration into a separate mission. We also 

took on added responsibilities from 

the military departments for contract 

Two Retired DLA Directors Take a Look Back at Their Experience and Service to the Defense Logistics Agency Defense Logistics Agency Photos

Air Force Lt. Gen. 

Charles McCausland

1988 - 1992

Navy Vice Adm. 

Keith Lippert

2001 - 2006

Lt. Gen. Charles McCausland a
31

DLA Strategic Communications

Loglines l September - October 2011

which certainly led to efficiencies.

The doubling of the business gave 

us much more flexibility, but the 

bottom line was that there was a lot 

of increase in productivity because 

people were working harder and the 

U.S. industrial base was responding 

much better to our requirements. 

There were other challenges, such 

as doing corporate climate surveys. 

As I wandered around and talked 

to the workforce, I was always very 

uplifted because I thought of the 

positive reaction I was getting, but 

when you read the corporate climate 

surveys, there was a lot of dissatisfaction in terms of communications, 

professionalism of management 

and leadership. We really didn’t 

address the issues from a systematic 

perspective. That led to use of the 

Denison model, hiring an executive 

coach, leadership and management 

training, all of which improved the 

professionalism of the workforce. 

I’ve seen some most recent results of 

the Denison culture survey, and the 

improvements continue at DLA in 

the professionalism of the workforce.

We ended up with the ERP being 

a huge cultural change, and we had 

to deal with all of that. That led to 

spending a lot of time to make that 

effort work, but in the middle of 

all that we had some natural disasters occur, particularly Hurricane 

Katrina. That led to a lot of DLA 

support to the unfortunate victims 

of Hurricane Katrina, but it also led 

to discussions about how we at DLA 

were not prepared for this sort of 

thing. We added inventory levels and 

talked with the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency about responsibilities. That led to a lot of agreements and improvements in how to 

handle these situations in the future. 

Did you see the agency experience 

any growing pains during your 

tenure as things changed naturally 

with time?

McCausland: You always have 

change, and you always have those 

kinds of things happen. The military, 

we come and go, and we had some 

very good military people in various positions, but it was that core of 

Senior Executive Service and right 

down to journeyman civil service folks 

that are there. They know their jobs, 

and they respond quickly. They’re 

really the backbone of the agency.

What is your perspective on DLA’s 

history leading up to your tenure?

McCausland: Everything that 

DLA does is essentially a function 

that was formerly performed by one 

of the military services, so they had to 

transfer that function to the Defense 

Supply Agency and then the Defense 

Logistics Agency. Those were not 

easy things to do. It was not easy for 

the services to give up some of those 

responsibilities, and it was not easy for 

DLA. It was sort of difficult because 

you had a customer who just gave you 

his total fuels responsibilities and now 

he’s the customer. If you do anything 

wrong he’s going to remind you of 

that. So it was always difficult as you 

grew and got new missions assigned 

to you, because they were not given 

freely. They were given with some 

resistance. But I think in the long run, 

and of course I went back and forth to 

the Air Force as well as being at DLA, 

there was a realization that DLA was 

able to respond, they seemed to have a 

better handle on how to get monies to 

accomplish things, so there were times 

when a military service gladly gave us 

something because they felt that they 

couldn’t adequately fund that operation and we were able to do it. 

Lippert: Even before I was 

the director, I was commander of 

the Defense General Supply Center, 

which is now DLA Aviation. DLA 

was formed 50 years ago with the 

idea of buying common items for the 

services so there was one voice from 

the Department of Defense to industry 

and the services were not competing 

against themselves. DLA did that job 

very well with the procurement function and then the initial distribution 

functions. Over time what happened 

was, for various events and various 

reasons, DLA got more and more 

involved with the customers, the 

services, either by design or even 

almost being forced into it by defense 

management review decisions and 

Base Realignment and Closure decisions. But DLA evolved from really 

a hands-off perspective with the 

customer to being very engaged, and 

we see that with the customer service 

nd Vice Adm. Keith Lippert
32 www.dla.mil

A Conversation with . . .

reps and the liaison officers and the 

actual DLA people being right there 

with their customers, providing 

feedback to DLA so that DLA can be 

a better supplier of the services and 

the material that’s required. That has 

been a major improvement and focus 

on DLA’s part and something that I 

inherited that I think was very well 

conceived and very well directed to 

make all that happen. 

What was the relationship between 

the headquarters and field activities 

when you were the director?

McCausland: I would hope it 

was good, but it’s very difficult to say. 

I had been in DLA four times. I had 

been at a supply center, had been at a 

service center at Battle Creek [Mich.], 

had been at a contract administration 

region and at HQ as director. I had a 

lot of experience in different locations. 

When I became the director and came 

to headquarters, I knew everybody 

there. I didn’t need a primer or anything when I got there. I sort of knew 

what was going on, which was really to 

my advantage.

What do you think were the most 

significant changes DLA went 

through during your tenure as 

director?

Lippert: I would say there were 

two things. One was the business 

transformation and the software 

implementation of the ERP effort. 

That has taken DLA from an activity 

that was basically in the 20th century 

into a modern logistics system in the 

21st century – state of the art – and 

the agency will continue to reap the 

benefits of all that. The other one is just 

the overall workforce professionalism 

improvement. The culture climate 

surveys and the Denison models are 

very important for the future of that 

agency in improving its effectiveness 

and its efficiency.

How much of a role did DLA play 

with humanitarian missions?

McCausland: After the Gulf 

War, a lot of the items that were no 

longer needed in Iraq and Kuwait were 

sent off to Bangladesh for a typhoon 

relief operation. I remember blankets 

for the homeless. We would get various 

demands for 3,000 or 10,000 blankets 

to be given to homeless people in 

various cities. 

We had an employee who 

worked on those kinds of things, 

and he figured out that we had a lot 

of surplus materials from buying 

uniforms. And we had a lot of 

material that was all of a sudden 

obsolete because they changed 

uniforms. So this employee came up 

with a blanket for the homeless for 

$1. He could take this material, send 

it off to the prison industry, they 

would sew it up, put a hem around 

the edge and it cost $1. The other 

blankets cost $26-$28, so there was 

a huge savings there. That was a 

fellow named Mr. [Ralph] Quigley, 

and we called it the Quigley Blanket. 

He saved hundreds of thousands of 

dollars, just with that idea of using 

that old material that way. 

What are your thoughts on the 

state of the agency today?

McCausland: I’d say keep 

doing what you’re doing. You do 

it very well, and I think time has 

shown that. I was there when they 

established it. I was at the electronic supply center in ‘62 when 

[former Defense Supply Agency 

Director Army] Lt. Gen. [Andrew 

T.] McNamara came and activated 

the agency. He and I chatted about it 

years later when I became the director, and I recalled some of the items 

in his speech and he was surprised 

that I remembered all those years. He 

was really the father of DLA, and he 

was around through my tenure. 

Lippert: I think DLA continues 

to evolve and to improve, and that 

does not surprise me. I think there’s 

been continuing good leadership 

and direction for all that. I think 

the mission continues to grow; it’s 

growing not because of DLA being an 

organization that’s trying to take over 

missions, but because the missions 

are being sent to DLA because of the 

professionalism of the workforce. 

I think that is all very positive. 

We certainly see that in the [Base 

Realignment and Closure] decisions 

and all the effort that’s been going 

on, and I think the overall improved 

communications among the services 

and DLA. So I remain very positive in 

terms of the direction and the focus 

of improving communications with 

the customer and improving on-time 

performance and reducing costs. 

I think these are very critical, not 

only right now, but with the added 

emphasis of budget reductions, I 

think DLA is well positioned to face 

those and offer solutions into the 

future. 

What do you feel have been DLA’s 

greatest strengths throughout the 

years?

McCausland: DLA employees 

have a very clean, defined mission, 

and they know what that is. Second 

is, organizationally, they have a lot of 

advantages. Nobody really tells them 

how to organize, what to do or where 

to do it. That makes it much easier. 

Within the military departments, 
Loglines l September - October 2011 33

logistics is just one piece of the 

department and that logistics piece 

has all the controls and such that go 

with the department. DLA sits by 

itself and is pretty much able to call 

its own shots. And with the funding 

situation, you pretty much run on 

your own money. Whatever money 

you earn is how you run your agency. 

If you don’t make money, then you 

can’t do things. Financial incentive is 

there. It’s a very good model. 

Lippert: If I had to sit down and 

talk about what are the strengths of 

DLA, they are what they have been 

historically and continue to be: the 

quality and professionalism of the 

workforce. DLA has the talent and 

the ability to do some amazing things 

because of the dedication and professionalism of the workforce.

The second thing is that DLA has 

the great ability, which often goes 

unappreciated, to get obligational 

authority because of the professionalism of DLA’s comptroller’s office and 

its working relationship with the Office 

of the Secretary of Defense to get the 

money that’s needed to keep or have 

the obligational authority to award 

contracts and make things happen. I 

think that is really very impressive.

Third is the ability to award 

contracts in a very professional 

manner. I think all of those are going 

to continue to be focuses for DLA, 

but I think the added pressure is 

going to be to make sure that costs 

are controlled or reduced to the 

absolute degree that they can be, 

because of the pressures that the U.S. 

budget is facing. I think those are 

going to be very important as we look 

into the future. 

From your perspective as a DLA 

employee and customer, how did 

you see the agency evolve through 

the years?

McCausland: When I was 

back in the Air Force, I would be in 

meetings and someone would have a 

negative comment and I would have 

to speak up and say that’s not true. 

That was always sort of challenging. When I was in Vietnam, I had a 

supply squadron, and we had a large 

communications facility on base – 

like 600 airmen – and we provided 

them all their supplies. One of the 

items we supplied was electronic 

parts. I had a friend in the electronics 

supply center in Dayton, Ohio, and 

he would send me a back order list 

of what items were due to our unit in 

Vietnam. The back order list would 

come in and have five or six items out 

of thousands of electronic items that 

we had ordered. The support was just 

amazing, absolutely amazing. 

When the Gulf War was started, 

as far as I could tell, we were never 

asked by anybody, “Can you support 

this war logistically?” We got troop 

levels and data for subsistence 

responsibilities and special 

uniforms. All that information came 

to us, and we responded to it. But 

when the decision makers were 

deciding, are we going to go there or 

not, no one ever said, “Are we going 

to be able to support it logistically?” 

I guess there’s two answers to that 

question. One is maybe they forgot 

to ask, which is sort of strange, 

but maybe they just assumed that 

because we had done well for so long 

with everything else we did, there 

was no doubt that we could do that 

job. Of course, we did it. I sort of 

fall upon the second option. They 

probably just knew that we had done 

so well for so long that we certainly 

could handle that responsibility. 

Admiral Lippert, you came to DLA 

right before 9/11. Can you describe 

what the agency was like when 

you started?

Lippert: Before I came to DLA, 

I was the commander of the Naval 

Supply Systems Command and chief 

of the Navy Supply Corps. When I 

received my orders, I was already a 

customer of DLA, but I went out and 

visited with a lot of DLA customers 

before taking over, just to get their 

feedback on how DLA was doing. To 

be perfectly honest, there was a lot of 

criticism. The criticism was coming 

in two areas. One was that DLA was 

too expensive to operate, which was 

the cost recovery rate that services 

were paying for the material. And 

there were a lot of complaints about 

the response time, how long it was 

taking the material that the services 

were requesting to actually get them 

to the customer.

So those were the two big criticisms I was receiving. To be point 

blank, this had manifested itself a lot 

more seriously than I anticipated, 

because there were actual threats 

from the Office of the Secretary of 

Defense and the services to close 

DLA and give the mission back to the 

services, which was a pretty dramatic 

threat. One of the things that we had 

to deal with initially was a plan to 

improve all that, so that this great 

organization could continue. 

Join us next issue for a conversation with two more retired DLA Directors, 

Navy Vice Adm. Edward Straw and Army Lt. Gen. Henry Glisson 
34 www.dla.mil

Money Matters

T

he Defense Travel System, a fully 

integrated and automated travel 

management system that replaced 

the older paper-based system, 

has helped Defense Department 

travelers save time and money since its 

introduction. 

DTS enables travelers to create 

temporary duty orders, select reservations, receive approvals, generate travel 

vouchers and receive split reimbursement 

between their bank accounts and the 

government travel charge card vendor.

 “DTS replaced paper orders and 

vouchers, which were time-consuming 

and costly,” said Melissa Butler, defense 

travel administrator for the Defense 

Logistics Agency. 

The savings gleaned using DTS rather 

than paper documents is substantial, 

said Donna Iden, DLA Travel Services 

Division chief. 

“The current rate for processing DTS 

documents is $1.22, and paper vouchers 

processed by [the Defense Finance and 

Accounting Service] are $29.42,” Iden 

said. “Using DTS is a cost avoidance of 

$28.20 per DTS transaction.” 

If DLA travelers submit 

their vouchers in a timely 

manner after returning from 

their missions – five business 

days according to the Federal 

Travel Regulation – they can be reimbursed within three to five business days.

“The fast reimbursement once the 

voucher is approved means it’s less likely 

the traveler will incur late fees,” Butler said. 

“The turnaround for payments is better 

using the automated process than DFAS 

processing claims on paper. Those claims 

could take 30 or 45 days to reimburse the 

traveler depending upon workload.”

Another DTS benefit is it provides a 

reporting capability that allows administrators to track the status of travelers’ 

documents and perform administrative 

tasks quickly. 

“Using DTS to process travel provides 

real-time access to documents. We can 

monitor if the traveler has departed, if 

they’re waiting due to mission changes 

or if there is a problem processing the 

document anywhere along the way,” 

Butler said. “In the paper world, the order 

could be anywhere in the routing process. 

Somebody has the paperwork and 

travelers have to track down the order 

using valuable time and taking away from 

other mission needs.”

DTS supervisors can verify documents 

that require action. In addition, back-ups 

are automatically on the routing list, so if 

a primary supervisor is not available, the 

mission is not delayed. Another supervisor can take action to approve travel or 

TRAVEL SYSTEM 

BENEFITS Story by Jonathan Stack

Photo Illustration by Paul Crank
Loglines l September - October 2011 35

DLA Strategic Communications

process reimbursements, she said.

The system also allows for lower travel 

costs. By using DTS, employees are able 

to receive reduced costs for airfare or rail 

travel using the GSA City Pair Program. 

“If employees travel today or three 

weeks from now they are still going to 

receive the same rate using the City Pair 

fares,” Butler said. “Supervisors can 

manage their travel budget better and 

estimate costs more accurately.”

Through the Commercial Travel 

Office contract, employees also save 

money if they must change their travel 

arrangements for mission requirements.

“If the flights were city pairs and travelers change their airfare, they typically 

won’t have to pay for a whole new ticket,” 

Butler said. “They’ll pay a standard 

$16.50 CTO fee, but in most cases not 

incur [other] additional ticketing costs.”

Travelers going through a commercial 

vendor could pay a change fee between 

$100 and $150 as well as the price of a 

whole new ticket.

“By utilizing the GSA City Pairs, we 

can keep the cost down. Travelers can 

change their ticket five times, and they’re 

still only going to pay additional CTO fees 

in most cases if they’re going to the same 

location,” she said.

While employees are traveling, it is 

important that they keep all their receipts 

to fill out their travel vouchers, Butler said.

Some receipts for low dollar amounts 

may not be required, but they’re good to 

have, she said, adding that receipts are 

mandatory to claim lodging and anything 

higher than $75.

Butler said it’s also good for travelers 

to keep a hard copy of all vouchers they 

file in case they are audited. 

“DTS keeps [vouchers] electronically 

in the system for six years and three 

months, but things can go wrong,” she 

said. “If [employees] have a backup copy, 

they will be prepared.”

DTS users should follow the tabs 

across the screen when they are preparing orders or filing vouchers, Butler said.

“It’s going to guide them through the 

different pages,” she said. “If they start 

skipping around and they’re a new user, 

they might miss something.”

The government is constantly modifying how the system works to enhance it and 

make it more user friendly, Butler said. The 

website offers training materials such as 

Photo Illustration by Joy Brunk

demonstrations, Web-based training and 

distance learning, which help make DTS 

more user friendly.

“If travelers take the time to watch a 

demonstration, read a [pamphlet] or ask 

some questions before they get started, the 

training will definitely make it easier for 

them to use the system,” Butler said. 
36 www.dla.mil

We are DLA

declared most of the materials excess and 

required the majority of them be sold.

The activity has sold $7 billion worth 

of materials since then, Favors said. “The 

money we’ve made is used to run the organization, so we’ve been self-supporting for 

a number of years and will continue to be 

in the future,” he said.

Today, the activity employs 90 

people and stores 21 commodities at 

10 locations around the United States. 

These commodities range from base 

metals such as zinc, cobalt and chromium 

to precious metals such as platinum and 

iridium. While most of the commodities 

are still considered excess and awaiting 

purchase, a few remain in demand for 

military equipment. Beryllium is used to 

create structural components for aircraft 

and nuclear weapons, for example, and 

germanium is used in fiber optics.

DLA Strategic Materials is no longer 

what Favors called a “buy and hold” organization. Since 2006, officials have worked 

to create a new business model that gives 

the activity more flexibility to meet the 

Defense Department’s material needs.

“As the world has changed and 

countries like China and India have 

become more industrialized, the need for 

raw materials has grown,” Favors said. 

“Our mission is still the same – to have 

materials ready in the event of a national 

emergency – but now we look to being 

more responsive to the services’ needs.”

Favors and his staff sent a report to 

Congress in April 2009 recommending 

that the National Defense Stockpile be 

reconfigured into a strategic materials 

security program. This would move DLA 

Strategic Materials from a traditional 

stockpile model to one of acquisition 

support and commodity expertise, 

Favors said. The new model would give 

STRATEGIC

MATERIALS

Story by Beth Reece

Photos by John Reinders

DLA Strategic Materials employee John Eller packs excess tin for 

shipping from a DLA Strategic Materials storage site in Point Pleasant, 

W.Va., in 2004.

lobal competition for raw materials is increasing, but one Defense 

Logistics Agency activity is 

ensuring the Defense Department 

has access to critical items, like 

titanium and lithium, that are necessary 

to build military equipment. 

“In my mind, DLA Strategic Materials 

is like an insurance policy or a risk manager. We’re here to assess global markets 

and know where to get raw materials even 

when availability is low,” said Ronnie 

Favors, administrator of the activity.

When the lead time for specialty 

G steel needed to produce Bradley Fighting 

Vehicles soared to about 18 months in 

2005, Favors’ staff contracted with industry 

to reduce the time to about two months. 

The contract also created a buffer of extra 

material for periods of peak demand.

“DLA Strategic Materials played a 

large role in establishing the specialty 

steel buffer we now have in place and 

helps make sure the Department of 

Defense doesn’t run short of raw materials at critical times,” said Luis Villarreal, 

manager of the Warstopper Program, 

which protects industry’s ability to 

produce equipment the military needs to 

meet wartime requirements.

Formerly known as the Defense 

National Stockpile Center, DLA Strategic 

Materials was created in 1939 to help the 

nation avoid dependence on foreign 

sources of supply, especially 

during a national emergency. By the early 

1990s, the activity 

stored more than 

80 commodities at 

77 storage locations 

around the country. 

In 1992, Congress 

MANAGING
Loglines l September - October 2011 37

DLA Strategic Communications

the activity flexibility to decide which 

materials it should purchase to meet the 

military’s needs.

“We will do much more outreach with 

the services to see what their requirements 

are, as well as research the global market 

for strategic materials,” Favors said. 

Rather than buying and storing large 

quantities of raw materials, the activity 

expects to purchase stock based on the 

military’s projected need for a set period 

of time, he added. Putting storage and 

management in the hands of manufacturers who will ultimately use the material 

to create equipment will also help save 

money because DLA Strategic Materials 

will not need to pay to store it on leased 

government property, he said. 

Favors’ staff is working ahead of 

legislative changes to ensure military 

customers have access to the raw materials 

they need. Strategic material experts have 

partnered with the Air Force to mitigate 

a shortage of rhenium, a component 

in super alloys used in high-efficiency 

jet engines, for example. Employees at 

Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., have been 

recycling jet engine turbine blades to 

recover the chemical, but DLA Strategic 

Materials is working to broaden the 

program to avoid shortages for the Army 

and Navy.

“We think this program has a lot of 

promise because there are a couple of 

other materials we can recover in the 

process,” Favors said.

To meet a shortage of titanium ballistic 

plate used by the U.S. Army Armament 

Research, Development and Engineering 

Center to build gunner protection kits and 

other components that improve warfighter 

survivability, strategic materials experts 

are working on a contract that will meet 

estimated demands.

“We’re also taking our current 

inventory of germanium and upgrading 

it to a different form that would be more 

useful, especially for some of the Air 

Force’s aerospace projects,” Favors said.

The United States’ reliance on 

imports of nonfuel mineral materials 

is rapidly expanding because current 

mining and environmental laws make it 

a challenge to acquire those materials on 

American soil, Favors added. 

“Access to material is a major topic 

in the industrial base world,” he said. 

“But I believe our new model will serve 

the military and American taxpayers well 

as we work toward reducing the risk of 

shortages in material.” 

Workers prepare strategic material for 

shipment overseas.
I AM

My name is:

Mary “Bootsie” Cottrell

I am: 

Supply Clerk, Office Automation, in DLA Aviation.

How long have you worked at DLA? 

Since Feb. 23, 1960. More than 51 years.

What is your best memory of working at DLA? 

In October 1976, Lady Bird Johnson paid a visit here to tour the 

American Freedom Train that had historical antiques and other 

artifacts. After her tour, she visited the center restaurant. I 

was in the crowd, and it was so exciting to be in her presence.

What is your favorite thing about working for DLA? 

There are two things. First, family members before me worked 

here, and it is an honor to have followed in their footsteps. 

Second, it is truly an honor and I am proud that I have been able 

to help our military on a daily basis in my job for all of 

these years.

How have you seen DLA grow over the years?

It has grown tremendously. We have gone from working 

many hours with manual tasks to being almost fully automated. Technology has been the biggest growth. 

Mary Cottrell