Air Force general takes command of DLA Energy in headquarters ceremony

Photo By Christopher Goulait | Incoming DLA Energy Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark McLeod speaks during his assumption of command ceremony July 23. (Photo by Christopher Goulait)  

FORT BELVOIR, VA, UNITED STATES

07.23.2014

Story by Terry Shawn 

Defense Logistics Agency   

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark McLeod took command of Defense Logistics Agency Energy July 23 during an assumption of command ceremony at the McNamara Headquarters Complex.

DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek presided over the ceremony as McLeod accepted the command colors from DLA Energy Acting Commander Army Col. Peter Crean before an audience of family, friends, DLA senior leaders and DLA Energy employees.

After welcoming the McLeod family to DLA Energy, Harnitchek said he was delighted that McLeod was chosen to lead the organization.

“You’re coming to a great team, an A team, the big leagues – this is the varsity,” Harnitchek told McLeod during the ceremony.

Harnitchek praised DLA Energy’s mission success including its close work with the Air Force and the cost-saving conversion from military-specification jet fuel to commercial jet fuel.

“[DLA Energy is] going to save us about half of that $13 billion that we have pledged to give back to the [Defense] Department,” Harnitchek said. “Of course it’s not all about money. Money is sort of the fuel, if you will, that makes DLA go. It’s all about meeting operational requirements, and DLA Energy has done that fantastically.”

Harnitchek said he was proud of the DLA Energy workforce for its fuel support to Afghanistan and for its prowess in acquisition through the use of reverse auctions.

“We talk to our [suppliers] about who wants to sell us fuel, and we have an auction, and [the price] doesn’t go up but it goes down,” Harnitchek said “Who’s going to sell us a gallon of fuel at the lowest price? DLA Energy has put $1.5 billion in the bank in savings using that innovative way to do that.”

After noting the success of DLA Energy in the rebalancing of fuel assets in the Pacific, Harnitchek spoke of the field activity’s response to Super Storm Sandy in late October 2012 when, through a contingency contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, DLA Energy provided diesel fuel for emergency responder vehicles.

“We did that in a heartbeat, but we also gave fuel to the police, the fire departments, to the Red Cross, the hospitals, the folks that ran the network so we could get the stock exchange up the next morning, airports and gas stations,” Harnitchek said. “So in about two weeks, we pumped well over 5 million gallons of gas to everybody who needed it."

“That was a wild time and whatever the requirement was, you guys thought of it before it was actually required and you would deliver,” he added. “Just a great example of what DLA Energy does.”

Prior to his arrival at DLA Energy, McLeod, who entered the Air Force in 1986, served as the director for logistics, engineering and security assistance for U.S. Pacific Command headquarters at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. He was responsible for the planning, coordination and integration of strategic logistics, engineering and security cooperation in support of the U.S. National Defense Strategy in order to build U.S. and partner capacities to accomplish the PACOM mission across the Asia-Pacific theater.

“Mark comes with a rock-solid reputation,” Harnitchek said. “With McLeod in command, DLA Energy will be doing even more.”

After thanking his family for enduring 14 moves during his military career and thanking the DLA family for welcoming him and his family back into the community, McLeod addressed the audience with some thoughts about his DLA Energy command.

“I have, like Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, been a consumer and a user of your products for many years and in many parts of the planet,” the incoming commander said. “In most recent experience, out in PACOM, I saw the quality of work that you did. Very impressive. This is a world-class organization.”

McLeod said it was important for him to learn what DLA Energy does and to do his part to help DLA Energy accomplish the things that are important to the organization.

“What you guys do on a daily basis; that is tremendously exciting,” McLeod said. “The thing I look forward to most in this relationship is getting to know you, as many of you as possible. Working together with you guys and not only working, but sharing things, because ultimately that’s what enhances us, I think as a team, and I really look forward to that.”

Following the ceremony, a reception with the workforce and the official party was held in the auditorium rotunda.

• Date Taken: 07.23.2014
• Date Posted: 07.31.2014 15:38
• Story ID: 137876
• Location: FORT BELVOIR, VA, US