Photo By Strategic Communications DLA | Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson and the nearly 300...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- As he walked out onto a makeshift stage Feb. 10, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Guy Stephey paled slightly and his eyes went wide as saucers as he looked into the audience.
In front of a crowd of nearly 300 Defense Logistics Agency team members assembled in a warehouse at the agency’s Yokosuka, Japan distribution center, Stephey appeared more than a little nervous as he raised his right hand and, following the lead of DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson, re-enlisted in the Navy.
Flashbulbs popped and team members stepped forward to congratulate Stephey as Thompson led a thunderous round of applause. For his part, Stephey stood in stunned silence as he soaked in the scene, before finally breaking into a wide grin.
Thompson said participating in the re-enlistment ceremony, part of a town hall meeting he conducted, was a highlight of the day, much of which was spent engaging with DLA’s active-duty military team members.
“It’s a highlight of my job to travel out to DLA’s locations across the globe and meet with young service members and help them understand the tremendous logistics capability DLA brings to the fight because of their hard work,” he said.
As the Defense Department’s combat logistics support agency, DLA provides nearly all the food, clothing, spare parts and energy support needed by the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, creating a unique opportunity for service members to experience a joint service environment.
“At DLA, we are you; we are sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines,” Thompson said during a visit with supply officers aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
DLA was created nearly 50 years ago to consolidate duplicate logistics functions conducted in each service branch, he explained, adding that it makes solid business sense to have one organization provide logistics capabilities when it can provide the same, if not better support and at a lower cost.
In addition to educating service members on how they interact with the agency each day, whether by eating food in the base dining facility or using spare parts to repair a weapon system, the admiral said logistics specialists should seek out opportunities to serve in the joint environment working at DLA provides.
“It’s important to maintain our sensitivity to the particular cultures inside each of the services and to take that into account while supplying what they demand. Duty at DLA is tremendously rewarding hard work,” Thompson said. “When you go back to your individual services you will be a much stronger logistician after supporting joint customers.”
Fielding questions from ship supply officers in the carrier’s wardroom, the admiral offered his thoughts on the future of military logistics in light of the increasing pressure on Defense budgets, as well as what he sees on the horizon for DLA.
“The future of DLA looks relatively stable because we sustain operations by selling goods and services to military customers, using the Defense Working Capital Fund. Our customers use appropriated funds received through their operations and maintenance accounts to pay their DLA bills,” he said. “As these appropriated fund budgets are squeezed, we at DLA are going to see our sales start to decrease as well.
Service members deployed at the tip of the spear, like those on the George Washington, may not see a dramatic change in terms of available resources, but stateside, the department is focusing on continuing to provide highly effective support to America’s warfighters while working hard to reduce costs, Thompson explained.
To take some of the pressure off customers, Thompson said, the agency reached out to its nearly 10,000 suppliers in August and asked that they make a 10 percent cut to the prices DLA pays them for selected inventory items, a savings he said he intends to pass along to customers.
About 86 percent of every dollar paid by the services to DLA pays for material support, and the remaining 14 percent covers the agency’s overhead.
“We can’t do much to lower that 14 percent, it’s a historic low, but we can work closely with suppliers to address that other 86 percent. We need to get better cost-price parity in industry for everything we buy for you, but some of our material is better suited to realize the price reduction,” the admiral said.
In just the first quarter of fiscal 2011, DLA has realized more than $100 million in savings from this initiative.
Senior leaders are also conducting a global survey of DLA’s distribution centers to determine if the current lay-down of 26 depots is positioned to best support the military’s current and future force structure. Study results are expected to help DLA’s leadership team make appropriate adjustments to the locations in which supplies are staged, as well as the mix of types and number of items on the shelves, he said.
“The key is getting the right stuff and right quantity on the shelves, reduce procurement lead times and bring the future closer to the present to remove as much of the uncertainty as we can,” said Navy Cmdr. Eric Bach, DLA Distribution Yokosuka commander. “We intend to go after service-specific issues and work those to record demand and work … to achieve the best, most economical answers.
Through Base Realignment and Closure 2005 recommendations, portions of the Navy’s contracting and consumable spare parts management mission came to DLA. Some of the Sailors in attendance voiced concerns this arrangement could dilute quality of service.
“At DLA a significant segment of our workforce is composed of military veterans. We use this to our advantage so we can address service-specific issues with respect to logistics capabilities, such as the BRAC mission changes,” Thompson said. “We are you; your experience and service-specific perspective make DLA the combat logistics enabler it is. We reflect the culture and requirements of each of the four services.”
At a breakfast meeting with active-duty team members from DLA Distribution Yokosuka, the admiral commented that part and parcel of keeping the competitive advantage having active-duty and former warfighters on staff provides is giving them the support they need to meet the requirements of their individual service branches.
“A number of things happening in the military community right now will have to be addressed inside DLA because we need to ensure we’re taking care of our military members,” he said.
One example is the department’s roll back of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which officials said will result in additional requirements and mandatory training for military team members.
DLA team members were asked to participate in the agency’s culture survey, administered this fall, as part of the organizationwide effort to measure mission and performance. Based on specific questions from the floor, the admiral said there may need to be tweaks made to the survey to ensure concerns of military team members can be complied and assessed.
“At DLA, we use the Denison Culture Survey tool to provide a consistent way of measuring how we’re doing in meeting our mission and our performance,and how we’re taking care of our team members,” Thompson said. “We need to do a better job of targeting the needs and concerns of all of our DLA team members when we administer the culture survey.”
While speaking with the sailors, about half of whom have fewer than 10 years of service in the Navy, the director dished out some professional advice on the importance of having a plan and setting career goals.
“I strongly recommend each of you create a career plan, including what you want to do for the next several assignments, where you want to serve, what jobs you want. Armed with that plan, put it down on paper, but be flexible; this should be a living document,” Thompson said. “Get feedback on your plan from several slightly more senior officers or enlisted sailors.
“There really is no time for you to waste in your active-duty career. Make every tour count. Perform well and get the right experience to ascend to the next level,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2011 12:54 |
| Story ID: | 66010 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Thompson: Joint service builds stronger logisticians, by Strategic Communications DLA, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT