Defense logistics agency issue - KMI Media Group

Supply
Optimizer
Redding
Hobby
Acting Director,
Defense Logistics
Agency Logistics
Operations
Directorate
Defense Logistics Agency Issue
The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community
Exclusive Interview with:
Energy Expertise O Cases and Containers O Building Partnerships
Land & Maritime, Aviation, Troop Support O Maj. Gen. Ken Dowd
Defense Logistics Agency
Special pull-out
Supplement
www.MLF-kmi.com
June 2012
Volume 6, Issue 5
Vice Adm. mArk d. HArnitcHek
Director, Defense Logistics Agency

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Military logistics ForuM
June 2012
VoluMe 6 • issue 5
Features coVer / Q&a
6
9
12
14
26
29
1
8
10
11
DLA Land and Maritime
Land and maritime supply chain develops synergies with industry partners
to drive down costs and gain efficiencies.
By Peter Buxbaum
The Shipping News
How packages, cases and shipping containers are evolving in today’s agile,
energy-conscious military. From small cases to large containers, it all
ensures the safe arrival of critical components.
By Heather Baldwin
Organizing for Success
MLF talks with major General kenneth dowd, the incoming director of
defense Logistics Agency Logistics Operations, about the success of the 1st
Sustainment command (theater) and transition to dLA.
Energy Expertise
As a primary level field activity of the defense Logistics Agency, dLA energy
is the agency’s fuel supplier, providing the equivalent of approximately 144
million barrels of fuel, energy and power, worth about $20 billion in the last
fiscal year.
By Henry canaday
deFenSe LOGiSticS AGency
SPeciAL PULL-OUt SUPPLement
exclusive interview with
Vice Admiral Mark D. Harnitchek
director
defense Logistics Agency
Building Partnerships Q&A with Amy Sajda
DLA Top Contracts FY11
DoD Procurement Technical Assistance Program
Not Up in the Air
dLA Aviation’s mission is to take the unknowns out of the aviation supply
chain, while reducing costs and wait time.
By christian Bourge
For the Troops
With nearly $15 billion in sales projected for this fiscal year, the defense
Logistics Agency’s troop Support would rank in the top third of the Fortune
500. However, it operates under conditions and constraints that similarly
sized private companies don’t.
By Hank Hogan
19
Mr. Redding Hobby
Acting director
defense Logistics Agency
Logistics Operations directorate
DepartMents
2
4
16
31
Editor’s Perspective
Log Ops/People
Supply Chain
Resource Center
inDustry interView
32
Dan Keefe
executive Vice President and Group
General manager
mantech technical Services Group

Military logistics
ForuM
Volume 6, Issue 5 • June 2012
Publication of Record for the
Military Logistics Community
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Correspondents
Heather Baldwin • Peter Buxbaum
Henry Canaday • Cheryl Gerber • Hank Hogan
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EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE
All it had to do was be boosted into space on top of a rocket, circle the earth,
come within 33 feet and sync up its orbit with the International Space Station,
before being grabbed by a robotic arm and placed into a docking position. And so
far, Dragon has performed as expected/hoped/prayed it would. Another huge step
in the use of unmanned platforms for resupply has been demonstrated by SpaceX’s
Dragon spacecraft.
While certainly not the first use of unmanned space modules to resupply
in-orbit platforms, it was the first by a commercial company in what is hoped will
be the first steps toward a more commercially-based space operation, where the
government is not bearing all the cost burden for some space missions where their
overhead costs could make missions much more expensive, especially if the U.S.
Jeffrey D. McKaughan
Editor-iN-CHiEF
has to rely on the space agencies of other countries. While much of the research and development was funded by
NASA, along with the carrot of a $1.6 billion supply contract, SpaceX is counting on other customers in this brave
new (commercial) space world.
Unmanned supply missions are proving their worth in Afghanistan. Harsh terrain and a poor ground network
make overland supply difficult, and constant threats at almost every point along those routes are road markers for
alternative supply options. Aircraft—manned and unmanned—are taking up the slack and saving lives, especially
when delivering routine necessities like water and fuel. While distance and other complexities are apparent between
supplying the ISS and a mountaintop FOB, supplies are supplies and unmanned is unmanned.
In essence, the SpaceX long-range supply mission is reflective of supply chains everywhere. When the number
of routes and/or options are limited, the cost to maintain and operate that supply chain will be high. Case in point,
the PAKGLOC. Routes into Afghanistan are either difficult or long, and in most cases, both! U.S. planners had been
anticipating some form of supply chain interruption, so when Pakistan closed the route, other routes were available—albeit
they take longer and cost more, but they are keeping the supply chain functioning.
As an aside, if you look at the family of KMI Media Group magazine’s listed below, you will note a difference
from the last issue—we have added a new magazine! Launching in June is KMI’s 11th title, Border & CBRNE
Defense. It will cover the homeland security, border patrol and CBRNE
communities across the military, federal, state and local governments. With the
same style and depth of coverage as our other 10 titles, BCD is focused on the
decision-makers and the operators out on the frontlines of homeland defense.
Border Threat Prevention and CBRNE Response
Border
Protector
Michael J.
Fisher
Chief
U.S. Border Patrol
U.S. Customs and
Border Protection
Military Logistics
Forum
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KMi MeDia group Magazines anD websites
Border & CBRNE
Defense
SPECIAL SECTION:
Integrated
Fixed Towers
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June 2012
Volume 1, Issue 1
Leadership Insight:
Robert S. Bray
Assistant Administrator for Law
Enforcement/Director of the Federal Air
Marshal Service
Wide Area Aerial Surveillance O Hazmat Disaster Response
Tactical Communications O P-3 Program
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Military Medical
& Veterans
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Health Care
Collaborator
Lt. Gen.
Patricia D.
Horoho
Surgeon General
U.S. Army
Commanding General
U.S. Army Medical
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Dedicated to the Military Medical & VA Community
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Ground
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May 2012
Volume 16, Issue 3
Who’s Who
NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU
MAJ. GEN.
DAVID L. HARRIS
Director, J-3/7
National Guard Bureau
En Route Medical Evacuation O San Antonio Military Health System
Veterans Affairs Police O AFMS Contracts
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LOG OPS
DynCorp International, Force Protection
Industries, Oshkosh Defense and McLane
Advanced Technologies have announced a new
joint venture—Mission Readiness—to serve the
U.S. and coalition forces’ essential vehicle maintenance
needs in austere combat environments.
Mission Readiness is a standalone company
exclusively dedicated to bringing its collective 170
years of team experience in the manufacture and
logistical support of land vehicles.
“There is no job more important than
keeping our troops safe and mission-ready,” said
James Grazioplene, Mission Readiness chief executive
officer. “Mission Readiness is 100 percent
focused on ensuring that the warfighter will have
the vehicles they need for the fight, every day.”
Mission Readiness provides a best value,
low risk, technically superior, global solution for
TACOM LCMC, through its unique team, which
blends the expertise, experience and commitment
of its four large partners. Mission Readiness’ effectiveness
and reliability are proven: collectively the
team currently supports 94 percent of the MRAP
PEOPLE
Matthew Beebe has
been assigned as deputy
director, Defense Logistics
Agency acquisition, Defense
Logistics Agency, Fort
Belvoir, Va. Beebe previously
served as executive
director, operational
contract support, Fort
Belvoir, Va.
Army Reserve Colonel
Francisco A. Espaillat,
has been nominated for
appointment to the rank
of brigadier general, and
for assignment as mobilization
assistant to the
deputy director (individual
mobilization augmentee),
Defense Logistics Agency,
Fort Belvoir, Va. Espaillat
4 | MLF 6.5
New Land Vehicle Support Venture
is currently serving as
project manager, combined
arms tactical trainers
(Army Guard Reserve),
Program Executive Office-
Simulation, Training
and Instrumentation,
Orlando, Fla.
Edward Case has been
assigned as vice director,
Defense Logistics Agency,
Fort Belvoir, Va. Case previously
served as director,
Defense Logistics Agency
information operations,
Fort Belvoir, Va.
Brigadier General
Susan A. Davidson,
deputy commanding
FOV in-theater defined as Afghanistan, Iraq and
Kuwait, as well as CONUS, with a footprint of
more than 17,000 personnel on the ground today.
“In the past year, the Department of Defense
message from Dr. Ashton Carter to industry has
been loud and clear: be leaner and more efficient,”
said DynCorp International chairman
and CEO Steve Gaffney. “Through this team we’ve
answered that call for efficiency and enhanced
the value to the government. We pulled together
the absolute best providers of MRAP FOV support
in an innovative, standalone company that keeps
costs to the customer at a minimum while maximizing
customer focus.”
“Force Protection takes great pride in the
vehicles we have built and in the lifesaving performance
of the RCV and MRAP fleets in general,”
said Michael Moody, president, Force Protection
Industries. “We look forward to helping to sustain
these vehicles as vital components of our Armed
Forces for many years to come by helping to
provide essential, best value total life cycle support
services.”
general/director of
operations, Military
Surface Deployment and
Distribution Command,
Scott Air Force Base,
Ill., has been assigned
to commander, Defense
Logistics Agency-
Distribution, Defense
Logistics Agency, New
Cumberland, Pa.
Brigadier General David
A. Harris, vice commander,
Air Armament Center, Air
Force Materiel Command,
Eglin Air Force Base,
Fla., has been assigned
to commander, 96th Test
Wing, Air Force Materiel
Command, Eglin Air Force
Base, Fla.
Compiled by KMi Media Group staff
“The Mission Readiness team will deliver superior
MRAP design and production expertise and
extensive in-theater sustainment experience to the
warfighter,” said John Urias, president of Oshkosh
Defense. “Together, we can offer new levels of
MRAP performance to warfighters—supporting
an expanding range of critical missions, and ultimately
getting them home safely.”
“Technology-driven solutions are essential
for streamlining operations, saving money and
sustaining a military prepared for the future,”
said Drayton McLane, chief executive officer,
McLane Advanced Technologies. “The industry
knowledge and technology experience within
the Mission Readiness team will manage fleet
resources efficiently, keep costs under control, and
enable military readiness.”
The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC issued a request
for proposals on June 7, 2011, for contractor
logistics sustainment and support for the
MRAP FOV. The five-year contract is valued at a
total of more than $3 billion, if all options are
exercised.
Colonel Michael T.
Brewer, who has been
selected for the rank
of brigadier general,
commander, Arnold
Engineering Development
Center, Air Force Materiel
Command, Arnold Air
Force Base, Tenn., has been
assigned to commander,
412th Test Wing, Air
Force Materiel Command,
Edwards Air Force Base,
Calif.
Colonel Cedric D. George,
who has been selected
for the rank of brigadier
general, commander,
76th Maintenance Wing,
Oklahoma City Air Logistics
Center, Air Force Materiel
Compiled by KMi Media Group staff
Command, Tinker Air
Force Base, Okla., has been
assigned to commander,
Warner Robins Air Logistics
Complex, Air Force Materiel
Command, Robins Air
Force Base, Ga.
Colonel Allen J.
Jamerson, who has been
selected for the rank of
brigadier general, chief
of staff, Headquarters Air
Force Materiel Command,
Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, Ohio, has
been assigned to director,
security forces, deputy chief
of staff, logistics, installations
and mission support,
Headquarters U.S. Air Force,
Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
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The Defense Logistics Agency has long sought to save money for
the U.S. Department of Defense by aggregating the purchasing power
of the military services and agencies on millions of items of parts and
supplies. In an era of tight military budgets, and with drawdowns from
theaters of operation further constricting spending, the DLA’s missions
of savings and efficiencies have become all the more emphasized.
The practices employed by DLA’s land and maritime supply chain
group in Columbus, Ohio, are examples of how innovative acquisitions
and contracting strategies can pay off for DoD as a whole. The fact that
two supply chains, land and maritime, came to be managed together
was coincidental, but it has yielded synergies which promote savings
and efficiencies. The group has also developed synergies with industry
partners, primarily in the form of long-term contracts and strategic
alliances, to drive down costs and gain efficiencies. The vendor companies,
for their part, work consistently to do the same.
“The DLA land and maritime group’s overall mission is to support
two supply chains for DoD,” said Ben Roberts, DLA’s deputy director,
land supplier operations. “The land supply chain involves largely spare
parts to repair or rebuild land-based systems like tanks, HMMWVs and
MRAPs. On the maritime side, we also manage spare parts to support
maritime system and there is also a heavy component of electronic
parts that cross different types of weapons systems.”
Management of the two supply chains coexisted in Columbus
before they were organizationally aligned in 2005. “The workforce was
already here,” said Roberts. “We do get some efficiencies managing the
two supply chains together.”
“There are OEMs, distributors and manufacturing representatives
that we do business with that are common to both the land and
6 | MLF 6.5
Land and maritime suppLy chains innovate
to generate efficiencies.
By peter BuxBaum
mLf correspondent
maritime supply chains,” added Stephen
Rodocker, director, DLA land
and maritime strategic programs.
Overall, the group manages some 2.4
million items, as many as 67,000 of
which generate significant activity.
“DLA has the enormous task of
providing the armed services and
other agencies the full spectrum of
logistics and technical services,” said
John Bryant, vice president and gen-
John Bryant
eral manager of joint and marine
programs at Oshkosh Defense. Oshkosh is one of the largest suppliers
of wheeled tactical vehicles to the U.S. military.
“DLA provides over 80 percent of the spare parts to keep equipment
mission ready,” Bryant added. “DLA has long leveraged competitive
contracts to keep costs down. But at a time of drawdowns and
shrinking budgets, there is additional pressure to lower costs. All this
is happening as the volume of equipment coming back and in need
of repairs is increasing.”
Oshkosh has had a strategic supplier alliance with DLA since 2008
through which the company supports the agency with parts supplies
and services. “We collaborate very closely with DLA,” said Bryant. “We
incorporate lean strategies to lower costs and improve quality and we
incorporate advanced demand planning and quality control to provide
parts the customer needs at very affordable rates.”
Besides providing advantageous pricing, Oshkosh’s alliance with
DLA has reduced wait time for orders, more accurate demand
www.MLF-kmi.com

forecasting, lower administrative costs and a streamlined negotiation
process. “As a result, a comprehensive contract can last several years,”
said Bryant, “as opposed to establishing large numbers of contracts
with a sole-source vendor and pricing purchase orders one at a time.
It’s much more efficient for the customer and it works well for us also.”
Strategic alliances and long term contracts are among the cornerstones
of DLA’s strategy to drive efficiencies to the land and maritime
supply chains. “Long-term contracts with suppliers enable us to
reduce the time is takes to put something on contract and allows us
to reduce inventory and better support our customers,” said Rodocker.
DLA has established these relationships with Navistar, Force Protection
and AM General, as well as with Oshkosh and others.
“These programs take a top-down approach and are very structured,”
Rodocker added. “We establish a charter with each company to
lay out goals to be achieved. We always focus on improving customer
support and reducing the costs of the products.”
The approach starts with creating joint teams among DLA and
company representatives to manage certain products or classes of
products. “We establish a battle rhythm with our suppliers and we
meet with them regularly,” said Rodocker. “We establish joint steering
groups to work on issues and problems and to come up with
resolutions and we track how they are doing. We have found that this
approach results in a much improved working relationship with suppliers.”
Around 65 percent of the dollars spent on land spare parts and
30 percent in the maritime supply chain are now managed through
long-term contracts, typically lasting three to five years. “It has had a
huge impact,” said Roberts. “It reduces labor costs because you don’t
have to spot buy every time there is a requirement. It also reduces
inventory levels and provides better customer service.”
There are a number of criteria that DLA looks for to place items
on long-term contracts. “They should have stable technical characteristics,”
said Rodocker. “Items with good spend histories and recurring
demand are also key for long-term contracts. That is also what companies
are looking for to provide us with a good business deal.”
The DLA land and maritime group has an arrangement with AM
General LLC, an HMMWV OEM, designed to reduce inventory levels
while improving customer support. “AM General provides spare parts
to HMMWV rebuild lines at the Red River and Letterkenny army
depots,” explained Roberts. “They plan the requirements and leverage
their commercial as well as DLA’s organic supply chains in order to
deliver parts to production lines at the depots.”
The DLA-AM General arrangement has succeeded in reducing
inventory levels as well as line stoppers, situations necessitating a
work stoppage because of the lack of parts, according to Roberts. The
program has rebuilt over 43,000 HMMWVs since the inception of the
program.
Another example of such a strategic alliance revolves around the
supply of water purification systems. DLA engaged Aqua-Chem Inc.
through a competitive bidding process to perform demand forecasting
for water purification equipment as well as stocking and supporting
DLA customers directly with those systems.
WHEN
DLA, TACOM, LEAD, RRAD AND MMA WANTED A SURE-FIRE PARTS DELIVERY SYSTEM,
WE HAD AN ANSWER.
In fact, we helped drive the development of a Customer Pay program that mandates the only
time our OEM gets paid is when a part is delivered to the military assembly line. The following
results speak for themselves: No G-coded vehicles coming off the lines • Parts inventories reduced from $100 million to
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“The idea is to tap into industry capabilities and expertise to do a
better job than we could do on a macro level,” said Rodocker. “In this
way we are able to reduce costs, improve parts support and provide
better troubleshooting for the customer.”
Oshkosh Defense has several long-term contracts with DLA land
and maritime, including the recently awarded hybrid long-term contract.
“What we did was to identify this population of parts that had
significant recurring demand to make them eligible candidates for
long-term contract coverage,” said Lorinda Lewis, Oshkosh Defense’s
director of DLA programs. “We did a lot of analysis to help DLA understand
the buying patterns of the customer from us and from DLA and
helped them to determine appropriate parts to add to the contract. We
also estimated annual demands for the parts.”
Hybrid covers a variety of products that are included on many platforms.
“They are not unique to one specific vehicle,” said Lewis. “DLA
is looking for coverage. If there is enough demand it can be added to a
long-term contract. It saves DLA the administrative burden of issuing
one-time contracts over and over.”
Each contract has its own performance specifications, most of
them surrounding on-times deliveries. When products are added to
existing long-term contracts, the performance criteria applicable to
that contract automatically prevail for those added parts. Many of the
parts contracts have users, rather than DLA, ordering parts directly
from the vendor.
Demand planning is one of the cornerstones of streamlining supply
chains. Both DLA and its vendors engage in this activity.
Lean Management of Logistics: Warfighter
Support and Stewardship Excellence
June 25th – 27th, 2012 • Washington, D.C. Metro Area
KMI Readers Save 20% off the
standard all-access fee with code: KMI_MLOG
Vice Admiral John T.
Blake, USN, Integration of
Capabilities & Resources,
Deputy Chief of Naval
Operations
Heidi Shyu, SES,
Acquisitions, Logistics and
Technology, Assistant
Secretary of the Army
Major General Wendy
M. Masiello, USAF,
Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Contracting, Assistant
Secretary of the Air
Force for Acquisition
Redding Hobby, SES,
Deputy Director of Logistics
Operations, Defense
Logistics Agency
Gail Jorgenson, SES,
Director of Acquisitions,
U.S. Transportation
Command
Rear Admiral Patricia
E Wolfe, Director – Joint
Reserve Force, Defense
Logistics Agency
www.MilitaryLogisticsSummit.com
8 | MLF 6.5
In the early 2000s, DLA deployed a planning and forecasting
module from Manugistics, a company which has since been absorbed
by JDA, and integrated that with its SAP enterprise resource planning
system. DLA started feeding Manugistics with data in 2003. In 2006,
all items subject to demand forecasting—around 80,000 faster moving
products with recurring demand—were in the system.
Manugistics gathers historical demand data and applies those
through algorithms to several different categories of items that DLA
carries. Current programmatic intelligence, as well as seasonal and
cyclical elements, can also be added to the forecasting mix.
“The accuracy of the demand forecast depends on the item and on
its design stability,” said Roberts. “Demand for new systems such as the
MRAP, which was first fielded in Iraq, is more difficult for any statistical
forecast to plan. The system can take into account current demand
information supplied by customers.”
“Oshkosh uses advanced demand planning allows us to provide
very quick contract pricing and very quick product delivery,” said Bryant.
“We are working with the DLA supply chains to constantly refine
demand planning and refine prices to drive parts prices down over
time and in order to provide just-in-time deliveries to customers. It
allows us to provide a precisely quoted price and to complete delivery
a short period of time after a request for quote is issued.”
One demand planning technique that Oshkosh Defense has refined
is to analyze demand for products based by demand stream. In other
words, demand for a part is analyzed separately depending on whether
part was ordered on a long-term contract, short-term contract, or spot
buy.
“This gives us better visibility into patterns of demand and it has
allowed us to refine the demand planning process,” said Lewis. “When
we look at each demand stream individually we can see how demand
is changing from the perspective of the customer base and it enables
us respond to customers appropriately. It allows us to adjust on-hand
quantities to better match demand patterns. Analyzing demand streams
as a group produced a lot of noise and in variability of demand. We
also use an application that allows us to see how accurate our demand
planning is.”
DLA’s strategy of combining long-term contracts with demand
planning has reduced inventory levels and saved DLA and the taxpayers
money. “Inventory levels would definitely be higher because we would
have to make spot buys at higher material costs,” said Rodocker.
From Oshkosh’s perspective, the process is all about reducing
costs and improving deliveries and quality over time. “We are constantly
re-examining and remapping the entire value chain in all of
our commodity and service areas to make continuous improvements,”
said Bryant. “We work hard to ferret out inefficiency from the earliest
stage of the value stream and the lowest level supplier all the way to
customer delivery.”
“DLA is seeking cost reduction across its range of contracts,” said
Lewis. “They are taking a hard-nosed approach to any price increases.
If we have a cost increase, no matter how insignificant, they are looking
for an explanation for why our costs and theirs went up. We work
hard with our own supply base and challenge them. We can sometimes
evaluate an opportunity to buy in larger quantities in order to reduce
costs for the customer when we see that there is demand across multiple
demand streams.”
“We are not that different than big businesses in the private sector,”
said Roberts. “They develop long-term contracts and good working
relationships with key suppliers and so do we. Working with and
building our industrial base is one of our key focuses.” O
www.MLF-kmi.com

At first glance, the containers used to ship
military equipment and supplies around the
world appear not to have changed much over
the past half-century. Walk into any shipyard
and the same cranes seem to be moving the
same containers they moved roughly 60 years
ago when container sizes became standardized
worldwide.
A closer look, however, will reveal some
significant evolutions in these containers as
well as in the hard cases used to transport
everything from weapons and electronics
to medical supplies. Many of them have
chemical agent resistant coatings on them.
A growing number have electromagnetic
interference (EMI)/radio frequency interference
(RFI) protection to keep signals from
emanating outside or coming into the container.
Some have been cleverly engineered
into energy-efficient shelters while others,
through high-tech GPS tags, can be tracked
and inventoried anywhere in the world.
As of May 2012, the Department of
Defense owned 333,486 registered containers,
according to the Military Surface Deployment
and Distribution Command’s (SDDC)
Global Container Management (GCM)
branch. Between 7,000 and 10,000 of that
total were added in the last five years. Just
under half the total inventory is comprised of
the 20-foot container, by far the most common
container in the system.
“The 20-foot container is number one
because of its ease of use,” said Thomas
Catchings, programs, systems and training
lead for SDDC’s GCM branch. “It can be
moved by a large or small element. You can
stack them, you can put them on a truck.
When we ship equipment overseas, once the
20-foot container gets there, it can be used
for force protection, for storage and more.
That kind of agility is what we’re looking for.”
GCM is currently working with other
military organizations to create a comprehensive,
single-source solution for tracking
how packages, cases and shipping
containers are evoLving in today’s
agiLe, energy-conscious
miLitary.
By heather BaLdwin
mLf correspondent
all containers in the DoD system throughout
their life cycles, from procurement to
disposal. “It will be a system for anyone in
DoD to go into and have total visibility on
a container—where it is, the maintenance
cycle, the money owed on it,” said Catchings.
“Today, we have different buckets for all that
information with different people covering
different lanes throughout the container life
cycle.” Catchings expects funding for this
program to begin flowing in fiscal year 2013.
The complexities of creating such a system
are apparent when one considers the
overwhelming number of variables in today’s
container designs. Sea Box Inc., for instance,
currently offers hundreds of designs and is
adding three or four new ones every week in
response to customer requests, said Sea Box
President Jim Brennan.
While most of these designs are one-time
custom builds, Brennan has observed several
overarching trends, mostly related to the
military’s efforts to go green. For instance,
sandwich panel construction is increasingly
popular. Unlike corrugated steel, sandwich
paneling is built using multiple layers of
foam, fiberglass and other insulating materials
bonded together. “It’s equally as strong as
corrugated, but it’s insulated,” said Brennan.
“So you can get more insulation in the same
amount of space [as corrugated], or you can
get the same insulation in less space. You then
use less energy and that’s the trend—moving
toward more energy efficiency.”
A similar shift is occurring in the area of
insulating paint, which uses thermally reflective
materials to reduce heat transfer through
the coating, thereby reducing the energy
needed to cool a container’s interior. Sea Box
has offered this option for about five years but
only recently has Brennan noticed an uptick
in interest. “It’s been growing slowly because
it’s expensive,” he said, “but people are starting
to look more at their total energy life cycle
costs and the reflective paint reduces those
costs over the long term.”
In response to the U.S. Army’s efforts
to reduce energy usage housing soldiers in
Afghanistan and elsewhere, Sea Box recently
rolled out the Collapsible Re-deployable Shelter
(CRS). The CRS is built from a shipping
container with high-grade insulation in the
walls and roof. It includes LED lighting and
an electrical package, and it collapses to 2 feet
in height for shipping. When four collapsed
shelters are stacked, they are the same size
and shape as a standard cargo container, making
them easy to move via ship, truck and rail.
The Army recently finished six months of
testing the CRS and other similar solutions at
Fort Devens, Mass. Brennan anticipates the
written results of that testing to be delivered
in June. In the meantime, a major defense
contractor just ordered a CRS complex with
EMI shielding. “EMI-shielded collapsible shelters
are brand new,” said Brennan, adding that
the shelter will be complete by August.
“More customers are asking for EMI/
RFI shielding and chem/bio features,” echoed
Jason Raffaele, director of engineering at AAR
Mobility Systems. “Our customers are putting
more people and electronics in shelters
deployed to austere environments, requiring
ever-increasing cooling capacity and dehumidification.”
AAR Mobility Systems traces its history of
providing turn-key mobility and sustainment
solutions to 1963 when it began manufacturing
aluminum cargo pallets for the U.S.
Air Force. Today, it continues to support the
defense marketplace via the prototype, design,
manufacture, integration and life cycle support
of a wide variety of shelters, containers,
CROPs and flat racks, pallets and palletized
systems, and integrated platforms.
Beyond the growing number of requests
for EMI/RFI shielding, Raffaele said the military
is placing increased emphasis on weight
and energy efficiency. “Lighter systems mean
more payload and less fuel,” explained Mark
www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 9

Pickett, marketing director for AAR Mobility
Systems. “We are always looking for lighter
weight, lower cost materials that support mission
requirements.” At the same time, AAR is
working side by side with customers to address
their growing desire for alternative energy and
energy generation/storage in shelter systems.
“We are collaborating with industry partners
that complement our mobility platforms to
leverage a strong integration experience” for
green energy, Pickett said.
The push towards lighter weight and
increased durability is affecting containers
of all sizes. In response to a call from special
operations and others for lighter cases,
Cases2Go, a distributor of top quality shipping
cases, and partner Dynamic Innovations
created Carbon Armor cases, a line they
rolled out in mid-2011. The cases leverage
the unique characteristics of carbon fiber
reinforced plastics, an advanced composite
using continuous fiber in a thermoplastic
matrix. Carbon Armor is half the weight of
aluminum with six times aluminum’s torsion,
tensile and strength. It is twice the
strength of steel.
“When I look down the road, I don’t
see anything replacing this technology,” said
David Root, president of Cases2Go.
In addition to the growing demand for
lighter weight, Root said his customers, like
the customers of shipping container manufacturers,
are increasingly requesting EMI/
RFI shielding on Cases2Go products. While it
isn’t yet possible to integrate an effective EMI/
RFI lining during the production of plastic
or fiberglass, Cases2Go’s Carbon Armor cases
offer an optional expanded metal mesh that is
co-molded with the carbon fiber case wall to
provide EMI/RFI shielding.
“Case design is in a constant state of movement
with the evolution of technology,” Root
observed. Today, cases are lighter, stronger
and more technologically advanced than ever
before. At the same time, they are shrinking.
“There’s a trend toward smaller,” said Root.
“Everything is compressing in size.”
Smaller size, unmatched durability and
electronic equipment protection are the hallmarks
of Pelican Products Inc.’s new Pelican
HardBack Series, cases made to protect
devices such as laptops, tablets, e-readers
and other small electronics. “We are targeting
digital survival with this series,” said Dan
Klepacz, product manager, worldwide government
market for Pelican, a leading manufacturer
of reusable transport cases for all
environments. “The HardBack Series is travel
armor for computing devices.”
10 | MLF 6.5
Answering a call from customers
for sleeker, more stylish
products, Pelican worked
in a design partnership with
BMW DesignWorks to create
the cases. They combine BMW’s
design prowess with wellknown
Pelican features such as
crush resistance, a watertight
seal and an automatic pressure
equalization valve that prevents
vacuum lock, making the cases
easier to open at any altitude.
They also include anti-scratch
foam inserts to protect delicate
electronics.
As cases and containers get
more technologically advanced
and the equipment inside them
becomes more advanced, the
military is taking a harder
look at how to keep track of
everything. While many cases
already include passive RFID
tags, Klepacz said the past two years have seen
growing demand for GPS and active RFID tags
that can reveal case contents at a distance
and/or enable a case owner to pinpoint the
geographic location of his case.
In response, Pelican “is looking into this
capability more, trying to figure out how to
integrate it, investing more money in it and
working with outside companies to figure out
the best solutions,” said Klepacz. The capabilities
of these advanced tags go far beyond
inventory and location. “If there’s a shelf life
to a part, you could tag it and it would send
out a signal when it’s coming to its end of life,”
explained Klepacz. “Or if you have weapons in
storage, the tag could signal when there’s too
much humidity. Or if you are transporting
medical gear that is temperature sensitive, the
tag can send a signal when interior temperatures
are nearing their limits.” Advanced tags
also can measure shock, vibration and other
motion for sensitive electronic equipment.
In response to another military challenge,
the problem of stacking cases of different
sizes, Pelican last year launched its Inter-
Stacking Pattern (ISP) Case. The system is
compatible across six different case sizes, from
4 to 25 cubic feet of storage. “Normally, case
ribs prevent containers of unlike size from
stacking. We came up with a pattern that,
no matter what size case, it will stack,” said
Klepacz. Undercuts also make the case useful
once it is deployed. For instance, a printer
shipped in one of Pelican’s ISP cases can be
removed at its final destination and the case
David Root
Dan Klepacz
transformed into a table for
the printer. This multi-use
functionality cuts down on
shipping requirements, ultimately
saving the military on
inventory and shipping costs.
“The business of military
cases definitely has evolved
with all the green initiatives,”
said Klepacz. This year, Pelican
will roll out 45 new cases
and lighting products, a sharp
increase from the dozen or so
it typically averages.
The military’s search for
green shipping solutions goes
all the way down to the packaging
on the products it uses.
Brian Koester, vice president
of engineering for Advanced
Military Packaging, a division
of AD Inc., said last year he
received a letter from TACOM
that explained how the military
was going green and asking suppliers like
AMP to evaluate the packing materials they
are using.
“We can’t get entirely away from polymers,”
said Koester, “but we are now trying to
use more corrugated products.”
Koester explained that polymers such as
polyethylene and polystyrene provide the best
cushioning but don’t break down in landfills.
Corrugated products, though they break
down in landfills and are effective in some
cushioning applications, don’t rebound once
compressed and so can’t entirely replace the
environmentally-unfriendly polymers. Take
an 80-pound hydraulic pump, for instance.
“We have to put it in a vapor-proof bag, like a
bag of potato chips,” he explained. “In the bag,
we have to cushion the pump so it is protected
from impact and at the same time won’t puncture
the bag. We are trying to look for more
corrugated solutions to accomplish this.”
Currently, Koester is examining a new
corrugated product similar to cardboard but
with a thin wood facing. “It would add extra
strength and would be disposable,” said Koester.
If the material passes Koester’s evaluation,
he will seek to get it TACOM approved, further
boosting the command’s percent of green
packing. O
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief
Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com
or search our online archives for related stories
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
www.MLF-kmi.com

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JMIC’s Loaded on
a J-MIP

Q: In terms of the equipment that came out of Iraq, how much is
still in Kuwait?
A: We started the big drawdown last year when the president [gave
orders on] October 21, and we were done by December 18—about 58
days. During that time, we’ve been clearing out all that gear. Our last
vehicle left on March 25, was loaded on the ship out of Kuwait and
headed back to the States. We just made a video news clip of it being
offloaded at the Port of Beaumont, Texas, and then transported to its
final destination—the 1st Cavalry Museum at Fort Hood.
Of the total pieces, we moved well over 4,900 pieces of rolling
stock, [which were] out of Kuwait in less than 100 days. We had
some very great systems in line from the Army Materiel Command
[AMC] and the Defense Logistics Agency [DLA], so we’re able to
account for the items here in theater. Everything that came out of
Iraq has been shipped to CONUS or incorporated into other stocks.
12 | MLF 6.5
The 1st Sustainment Command
(Theater) was a focal point
for the smooth retrograde of people
and equipment from Iraq. That
success and the lessons learned
are being used as a model for planning
the Afghanistan drawdown.
In the October 2011 issue of Military
Logistics Forum, we had the
chance to sit down with Major General
Kenneth Dowd and talk about
the elements of the command that
came together to get the job done.
As Dowd prepares to leave 1TSC
for his new job as the director of
logistics operations for the Defense
Logistics Agency, we wanted to do
an exit interview of sorts to see
where the command will go from
here and how his experiences have
prepared him for DLA.
Major General Kenneth S. Dowd is the commander
of the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater).
He was commissioned through the ROTC program
upon graduation from Cumberland College,
Williamsburg, Ky., in 1979. His military education
includes the Quartermaster Basic and Advanced
Course, Logistics Executive Development Course,
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Armed Forces Staff College
and the U.S. Army War College. In addition, he holds a master’s degree
in logistics management from the Florida Institute of Technology.
Dowd has served in numerous command and staff positions throughout
his career. His assignments include: commander, 299th Forward Support
Battalion, Schweinfurt, Germany (with operational deployment to
Bosnia); chief, Logistics Operation Center, and DA DCSLOG, Washington,
D.C.; commander of the 1st Armored Division Support Command (with
combat deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom); assistant
deputy chief of staff for logistics, U.S. Army Europe, and the executive
officer to the Army G4; director of logistics, engineering and security assistance,
U.S. Pacific Command, Camp Smith, Hawaii; director for logistics,
U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., where he directed all
logistics and engineering planning and operations in support of Operations
Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. While there, he led the development
and planning for the significant and historical logistics efforts that
the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater).
Dowd’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service
Medal, Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Defense Meritorious
Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters,
Army Commendation Medal with Silver Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Army
Achievement medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters.
The job has been completed. As you know, during the first Gulf War, all
that accounting was done back in CONUS, so pushing this capability
forward allowed us greater efficiency and effectiveness in retrograding,
redeploying or reposturing all U.S. property and equipment here.
Q: Geography is the biggest obvious difference between retrograde
from Afghanistan versus that in Iraq. That being said, how will the
system processes that were so successful coming out of Iraq and
Kuwait work in the Afghanistan scenario?
A: We had a couple of ROC [rehearsal of concept] drills earlier this
spring in which we highlighted the requirements for this drawdown
effort and were able to take lessons learned and apply them
to Afghanistan. As you know, Afghanistan is landlocked, and the
PAKGLOC [Pakistan ground lines of communications] is closed right
now.
www.MLF-kmi.com

We used a lot of things we developed in Iraq, like the RPAT [redistribution
property accountability team] yards, where units can bring
gear and turn it in, and the retro-sort yards, where they can turn in
any kind of excess equipment. In Afghanistan, we have three different
sites that are working with that same process.
We go through the sustainment brigades and inventory everything.
If it’s serviceable, we put it back into the supply system. If it’s
un-serviceable, we’ll go ahead and de-militarize it. Last month alone,
at one of the turn-in sites they re-collected about $120 million worth
of various items—and that was not equipment, but stuff that was
turned in, tentage for example.
Units are starting to clear the battlefield and we’re starting the
same process as in Iraq. We’re accounting for containers early on
right now, and making sure the vehicles are clean and ready to move.
We’re using the air piece to move the gear out of Afghanistan to
places like Jordan. Then, we will ship it home from there.
Q: The basic processes that you put in place that work so well, up
to the RPAT and up to the actual shipping of it—those systems are
very similar to what was used in the Iraq scenario.
A: You’re exactly right, and the same types of property accountability,
synchronizing movement of resources out of theater, force protection
measures, redistribution and transfer of excess equipment, and
command partnerships. The only thing that’s a little harder is the
process to move it because we have to use so much airlift capacity.
Q: Was 1TSC involved in working on the plans for preparing for
that surge recovery and general retrograde?
A: Yes. We developed the plan in Iraq, but in Afghanistan, we had
planners forward. Now we have part of my headquarters, the TSC
Forward, pushed into Afghanistan. Its effort is to do that synchronization
of logistics to make sure we can continue to sustain the fight.
But as the fighting season goes on, you start to retrograde gear out
that’s excess, battle damaged, or stuff that can get out.
We moved part of my headquarters out of Kuwait into Afghanistan
to help synchronize the logistic goal retrograde efforts. The
commitment and engagement with senior leaders in that theater is
essential to the drawdown process.
Q: We last spoke toward the end of 2011. You made a point of talking
about the jointness of the command, 1TSC, to include civilians
as well. Can you address that now as you’re looking back on the
whole process and how it came together?
A: Yes. At any one time, we had about 18,000 folks within the command—that
included active, Reserve, sister service and civilians. So
I actually had airmen, two companies that were driving trucks from
Kuwait into Iraq, doing our truck driving because I had the short fall
amount of trucks as there was so much demand for transportation.
I also used Navy customs teams to handle all of the agriculture
inspections. I pushed about 24 of those experienced team members
into Afghanistan, to get the customs clearance process started there.
The civilian contractors and AMC with their civilians have helped
us do the processes and management of equipment—it’s a total team
effort, and I refer to it as a “LOG Nation.” I don’t care what patch
you wear; everyone’s trying to work it from a logistical standpoint in
order to make it better for the warfighter.
The biggest takeaway is out of those 18,000 people, 66 percent
were Reserve or National Guard. They were trained up in places
like Camp Shelby and other places back in the States, and arrived
here and became my transportation companies, my RPAT experts,
customs teams, all those things—[they] just did an outstanding job.
Q: Can you tell me what the footprint looks like of 1TSC, where
it’s located, and what you think that footprint will look like a year
from now?
A: Right now, my headquarters is at Fort Bragg, and I have part of
my command here in Kuwait. I have a smaller portion of my command
in Afghanistan that’s starting to build as we start to work the
retrograde and other events.
In a year, I would look at just a little bigger footprint in Afghanistan
as we get into the retrograde and bring in other units to help us.
Those are called the CMRE [CENTCOM Materiel Retrograde Effort],
[and will] help us do the retrograde. I’ll still have a small footprint
here in Kuwait.
At Fort Bragg, we’re going to take a hard look at developing
some of our teams who helped train folks in CONUS, as units start
to move back there on what logistic things we’ve worked through
the war, just to keep our skills up. As you’ve seen, more units will
probably be back in CONUS, and work those relationships with units
and CONUS.
Q: What experiences at 1TSC have helped prepare you for your new
role coming up with DLA?
A: I’ve been blessed as a solider: 33 years in the Army, the last five
having been deployed—three years at CENTCOM and two years here
at the 1st TSC. At CENTCOM, having to develop the plans for the
surge into Iraq and the plus up in Afghanistan, and the withdrawal
of forces out of Iraq and developing those plans and then coming into
this command to execute those, has just been really outstanding. It’s
allowed me to go to the DLA and work with those great Americans
as we work the Afghanistan drawdown, be able to talk to those folks
about the realities of what goes on over there and the fight, and how
we can help from the DLA perspective to contribute to leverage our
capabilities to support the warfighter.
Q: Is there anything you’d like to add about the men and women of
1TSC as you get ready to transition out?
A: I’ve worked with all these great folks over the last 22 months. I
would just say we’ve got a tremendous military with these young
men and women of all services. I sometimes think we forget that
the real heroes have families that are back in CONUS who allow
these warriors to come forward, be on point and do all this great
work. I want to make sure we thank the families, because they’re
going through stresses and separations just as these young men
and women in combat are going through. I often think we don’t say
thank you enough to them, because they’re a part of this big team
also. O
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan
at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 13

As a primary level field activity of the Defense Logistics Agency,
DLA Energy is the agency’s fuel supplier, providing the Department of
Defense and other government agencies with comprehensive energy
solutions in the most effective and efficient manner possible. DLA
Energy provides a host of ground, marine and aviation fuels as well
as space and missile propellants, chemicals and gases, utility fuels and
electricity. In addition, DLA Energy is the DoD’s center of expertise for
alternative fuels and renewable energy and serves as the executive agent
for DoD’s bulk petroleum supply chain.
DLA Energy bought the equivalent of approximately 144 million
barrels of fuel, energy and power, worth about $20 billion in the last
fiscal year. That total included petroleum products for aircraft and
ships; diesel fuel and gasoline for vehicles; heating oil, natural gas, coal
and electricity for installations; aerospace fuels and products for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), DoD, and the
commercial space launch programs; and small quantities of alternative
fuels for the military services’ testing and certification programs.
Although the military services are occasionally granted local purchase
authority to buy fuels in unique circumstances, DLA Energy buys
more than 99 percent of fuels used by the U.S. military. “By purchasing
our customer’s requirements in aggregate we get buying power,”
explained Director of Supplier Operations Mark Iden. “Rather than
having each military service buy its own fuel requirements independently
with its own acquisition office and service-specific contracting
methods, we provide the overall DoD purchasing leverage, do it in a
consistent manner, and generally issue solicitations for our recurring
buys on set schedules that industry has grown accustomed to over the
years.”
Iden noted that “for the bulk petroleum products, we generally
buy the products from the producers and manage the supply chain
end to end.” DLA Energy does not own the assets that distribute
these petroleum products throughout the supply chain. DLA Energy
arranges transportation via U.S. Transportation Command activities,
the Military Sealift Command and the Military Surface Deployment
and Distribution Command. But DLA Energy is responsible for ensuring
the on-time delivery of these products to their end-use customers.
Iden also noted that DLA Energy owns the bulk fuel products generally
up to the point of sale to their customer, which typically takes place at
the wing of the aircraft or into the piece of equipment being refueled.
14 | MLF 6.5
fueL By the BiLLions of gaLLons.
By henry canaday
mLf correspondent
Tied in with this fuel-ownership role is DLA Energy’s responsibility to
fund the sustainment, restoration and modernization requirements for
the military services’ fuel storage and distribution systems that contain
this DLA-owned fuel.
For bulk purchases of conventional fuels like JP8 aviation turbine
fuel, JP5 naval aviation turbine fuel and F76 ship propulsion fuel, DLA
Energy obtains requirements from their customers and then puts out
a request for proposal, explained Research and Development Strategic
Energy Analyst Jeanne Binder. “Our bulk petroleum business unit then
receives the bids and evaluates them, seeking the lowest total cost to
the government,” Binder said. Then an indefinite delivery/indefinite
quantity award is made for a one-year delivery period, with an estimated
quantity and a guaranteed lift of 75 percent of this volume. The initial
price is adjusted weekly or even daily based on changes in commercial
fuel indexes.
Other purchases of conventional fuels, for example of the diesel fuel,
gasoline or heating oil handled by DLA Energy’s Direct Delivery Fuels
business unit, are conducted in a similar fashion, except that these
can result in multi-year requirements contracts with up to five-year
delivery periods. All RFPs are posted on the Federal Business Opportunities
website. The vast majority of purchases, for both bulk petroleum
products and for the direct delivery products, are competitive, and all
acquisitions comply with both Federal Acquisition Regulations and
Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, noted Iden.
DLA Energy bulk fuel purchases are also subject to small business
set-aside rules. DLA Energy is currently working with the Small Business
Administration to consider an increase in the size definition of
small refineries. “Over the years, the number of small refineries has
diminished as these refineries have been bought out or have merged
or consolidated with other firms, thereby losing their current small
business status,” Iden explained. “A revised small refinery size determination
could help us increase the number of potential small business
participants in our key bulk petroleum acquisition programs.”
DLA Energy is also actively engaged with the military services in
support of their current efforts to test and certify a number of new
alternative fuels. Binder said the major difference for purchases of the
new brand of alternative fuels is that these are generally for a small
quantity specifically requested by the military services for testing and
certification purposes. The quantities requested range from a couple
www.MLF-kmi.com

hundred to a couple hundred thousand gallons, compared with more
than 4 billion gallons for the bulk fuel purchase programs. However,
the one-time buys of alternative fuels are still competitively bid on by
several alternative fuel suppliers.
Iden said DLA Energy plans to stick with its basic fuel procurement
processes as the alternative fuel program matures into larger acquisition
volumes. “It is tried and true, industry is comfortable with it, and
they know when the RFPs for our recurring acquisition programs
will come out.” However, one possible change in DLA Energy’s bulk
petroleum acquisition programs is a shift toward more commercialspecification
type fuels. “Instead of military specification JP8, we may
see a move to the Jet A commercial specification fuel used by the airlines,”
Iden noted. “We are in the beginning phases of this conversion.
It is not fully approved, but we are beginning the necessary steps in that
direction. Using a commercial specification fuel may make it easier for
refiners to supply us and may broaden our potential supplier base.”
All alternative fuels approved as a replacement for military specification
fuel for military use will be drop-ins, and will be blended with
conventional fuels, thus having the same performance characteristics
as the straight conventional fuels. So far, the Air Force has an updated
military specification for JP8 blended with coal, natural gas or biomass
converted to liquid by the Fischer–Tropsch (FT) process, Binder noted.
Original prices for purchases of the FT product ranged from $4 to $7
per gallon.
The Navy and Army are working on their FT certification, and the
services are also testing hydrotreated renewable fuels, with completion
expected next year. “They are also starting on sugar to hydrocarbons,”
Binder noted. For operational buys, in contrast to testing and certification,
the price of alternative fuels will also be important. “Prices are
going down,” Binder observed. For the latest purchase of 350,000 gallons
of biofuel l for the Navy, the price was $26 per gallon.
“When we started purchasing biofuels three years ago, the price was
in the mid-$60 per gallon range,” Iden said. “Recently, we have seen the
price drop by a factor of two or three for our more recent contracts.”
The next step in gaining economy of scale for alternative fuels will
come with larger purchases in the range of millions of gallons. “It’s a
chicken-and-egg thing,” Iden said. “You must have volumes to lower
cost. But to ramp up to the larger volumes, it will take time for the
costs to come down.”
DLA Energy’s purchases of alternative fuels will be set by customer
requirements. The Navy has set a goal of 50 percent of its fuel coming
from blends of alternative fuels by 2020, and the Air Force wants the
same portion for its domestic fuels by 2016. DLA Energy has calculated
that these goals translate into 387 million gallons of alternatives
blended into JP8 and 336 million gallons blended into JP5 and F76.
Iden emphasized that these are still just goals and objectives. “The
assumption is alternatives will be competitive in price with conventional
fuels by time we buy them for operational requirements.”
Private companies play a very important role in getting fuel to DLA
Energy and to the field where these fuels are needed. For example,
the Supreme Group supplies primarily jet fuel to DLA, according to
John Segleski, managing director for fuels. Volumes vary month by
month, but are typically between 4 to 10 million gallons each month.
Segleski said Supreme delivers this fuel to a range of locations across
Afghanistan.
“Supreme has been operating in challenging environments for
more than 50 years, and has been providing services in Afghanistan
for over 10 years,” Segleski stressed. “Supreme made a commercial
decision to establish regional distribution centers to facilitate
improvements in supply chain performance and has developed excellent
infrastructure and storage facilities close to point of consumption
on military bases, thereby reducing risk and enhancing service to the
warfighter.” The company operates a robust supply chain, with multiple
sources, multiple suppliers, multiple entry points and multiple local
partners. “Supreme has the capability to move large volumes in what is
a long, 90-day, supply chain.”
Solazyme is working with DLA Energy and the U.S. Navy in fuel
certification for the scale-up in renewable oil technology, said Bob
Ames, vice president of Fuels Commercialization.
To date, Solazyme has delivered what it believes to be the largest
quantities of microbially-derived advanced biofuels in history, including
over 600,000 liters of in-specification jet fuel and marine diesel to the
Navy. “Since 2008, we have had several contracts with DLA Energy to
deliver to the Navy increasingly larger quantities of algae-derived fuels,”
Ames said.
In 2009, Solazyme contracted with DLA Energy to provide over
80,000 liters of algae-derived renewable F76 marine diesel fuel to
the Navy. A second 2009 contract was for production of algae-derived
renewable JP5 naval jet fuel. In 2010, Solazyme entered into a third
contract to produce up to 566,000 liters of renewable F76 fuel. The
Navy funded the contract option for purchase of 283,000 liters, which
the company anticipates producing through the second half of 2012.
“We believe that our performance of this third contract progresses the
completion of the technical testing and certification program for our
algae-derived fuel,” Ames said.
Solazyme’s algae-derived fuels have been successfully tested in
multiple Navy vessels. Its algae-derived jet fuel was tested successfully
in May 2011 in a MH-60S Seahawk helicopter test flight using the fuel
in a 50 percent blend with petroleum-derived jet fuel. This Seahawk
flight was the first-ever military aircraft to fly on an algae-based jet fuel.
The Navy also tested Solazyme’s marine distillate fuel in a destroyer
over a 20-hour voyage up the California coastline. A biofuel speed record
was set by the Navy when testing Solazyme fuel in a landing craft utility
vehicle. The Navy has also supplied Solazyme’s algae-derived diesel
to Maersk Shipping Line, which tested the fuel in a 300-meter Maersk
Kalmar container vessel over a one-month, 6,500-nautical mile voyage.
Solazyme fuel was also successfully tested in a Navy frigate, USS Ford.
Solazyme agreed in December 2011 to supply 10 percent of the
total feedstock required under a Navy contract for 100,000 gallons of
renewable jet fuel and 350,000 gallons of renewable marine diesel.
This new contract will be fulfilled by Solazyme in conjunction with
Dynamic Fuels and represents the single largest purchase of biofuel in
government history. The fuel will be used as part of the Navy’s efforts to
develop a Green Strike Group composed of vessels and ships powered
by advanced biofuel.
The company is now taking steps toward supplying commercial
quantities of tactical fuels, renewable JP5 and F76 to DLA and the Navy
for operational use.
Ames said fuels refined from Solazyme’s oil offer superior environmental
benefits when compared to a majority of other biofuels.
Life cycle greenhouse-gas emissions are reduced by a minimum of 66
percent when used for road transportation, as determined by Life Cycle
Associates, an independent carbon intensity measurement firm. O
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan
at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 15

SUPPLY CHAIN
ATK has received orders totaling more
than $266 million for small caliber ammunition
under an indefinite delivery/indefinite
quantity (IDIQ) contract with the U.S.
Army Contracting Command, Rock Island.
This order includes a mix of 5.56 mm,
7.62 mm and .50-caliber military ammunition
to be produced at the Lake City Army
Ammunition Plant in Independence, Mo.
ATK has operated the Lake City plant since
April 2000.
“ATK is honored to be the Army’s
industrial partner at the Lake City Army
Ammunition Plant, collaborating in the
operation and maintenance of the nation’s
largest ammunition production facility,”
Body Armor
Point Blank Enterprises Inc., a
leader in the production of soft body
armor and related protective solutions,
announced that it has been awarded
a firm-fixed-price contract from the
Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to
provide improved outer tactical vest
and outer tactical vest components
to support U.S. Army and U.S. Air
Force personnel. This contract has a
maximum value of $119.9 million and
the company expects the first year’s
value to be approximately $50 million
with three one-year option awards
thereafter.
Commenting on this latest award,
Jim Henderson, chief executive officer,
stated, “We continue to receive large
volume orders from the U.S. military
and government given our past proven
performance, our ability to produce
high volume quality products on time,
and for our never-ending commitment
to innovation and safety. We are proud
to be a chosen supplier to the U.S.
government and it’s with great pride
that we continue to produce life-saving
products for America’s servicemen and
women.”
16 | MLF 6.5
Ammunition Deliveries
said ATK Small Caliber Systems Vice President
and General Manager Kent Holiday. “Since
2000, we have delivered more than 11
billion rounds of ammunition in support of
our nation’s warfighters while modernizing
the facility, increasing capacity, improving
productivity and efficiency, and doing so in
a safe and responsible manner.”
The Army and ATK are nearing completion
of a $276 million modernization project
at the Lake City facility. This includes the
capacity to increase production of the new
5.56 mm Enhanced Performance Round.
ATK has delivered approximately 250
million of these rounds since transitioning
to production in 2010.
Lockheed Martin
completed delivery of the
79th and final C-5 Galaxy
aircraft of the current
Avionics Modernization
Program at a ceremony at
Travis Air Force Base, Calif.,
on April 27.
“We are very proud of
our AMP team,” said Greg
Ulmer, vice president of the
C-5 program. “This delivery
continues the ever-growing
legacy of the C-5 Galaxy and
the critical role it plays in
Last C-5 AMP Delivered
supporting the warfighter
across the globe for many
years to come.”
Aircraft 70-448 will be
assigned to the Air Force
Reserve 433rd Airlift Wing at
Lackland AFB in San Antonio.
The AMP program is
the first part of a two-step
modernization process. AMP
began in 1998 and incorporates
a mission computer,
a glass cockpit with digital
avionics, autopilot capabilities
and state-of-the-art
communications, navigation
and surveillance components
for air traffic management.
The second phase of the
C-5 modernization effort is
the Reliability Enhancement
and Re-Engining Program.
Of the 79 C-5s that received
the AMP modifications, 52
will be upgraded with newer,
quieter CF-6 engines and
more than 70 additional
improvements as part of the
transition to becoming a
C-5M Super Galaxy.
www.MLF-kmi.com

SUPPLY CHAIN
General Dynamics NASSCO has delivered
USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13) to the U.S.
Navy. The ship is named in honor of the
slain African-American civil rights leader from
Mississippi who served as the state’s first-ever
field secretary for the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Construction of the USNS Medgar Evers
began in April 2010. NASSCO has incorporated
international marine technologies and
commercial ship-design features into T-AKEclass
ships, including an integrated electricdrive
propulsion system, to minimize operating
costs during each ship’s projected 40-year
service life. During the course of the decadelong
T-AKE Program, NASSCO has implemented
more than 20,000 ideas to drive down costs and
improve quality and more than 1.5 million
hours have been invested in employee training
USNS Medgar Evers
Desktop Alert Inc., a provider of
IP-based mass notification to the U.S.
Army worldwide, recently announced that
the U.S. Army stationed in Afghanistan
has procured the Desktop Alert Emergency
Mass Notification System (EMNS).
The selection furthers the company’s
position within the U.S. Army as the
predominant IP-based mass notification
platform postured to support the warfighters
in CONUS and OCONUS locations.
U.S. Army locations seeking to implement
an EMNS solution similar to the
mass notification system deployed by the
U.S. Army in Afghanistan, Fort Huachuca
since 2006. With a cargo capacity of more than
10,000 tons, the primary mission of T-AKE ships
is to deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other
provisions from shore stations to combat ships
at sea.
“As demonstrated on our successful sea
trials three weeks ago, the Medgar Evers is
ready for immediate service,” said Fred Harris,
president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “The
12 deployed T-AKE ships are performing and
proving their ability to serve the fleet in their
primary missions and in a variety of other
roles.”
Including the Medgar Evers, NASSCO has
delivered the first 13 ships of the T-AKE (Lewis
and Clark) class to the Navy. The 14th ship and
final ship of the class, USNS Cesar Chavez, was
christened and launched on May 5, before its
delivery in fourth quarter 2012.
Be Alert
and Fort Hood can contact Desktop Alert
for a briefing and system demonstration.
The Desktop Alert EMNS provides
bi-directional extensibility and integration
with IP-based phones, landline and
cell phones, computers, digital displays
and kiosks, text messaging, pagers, public
address system, common area alerting
devices and secure social media endpoints.
The system also boasts the most
complete solution for Cisco UC infrastructure
available on the market today
with over 700 Cisco UC customers using
the award-winning Cistera Convergence
Server.
Compiled by KMi Media Group staff
Engine Filtration
Protection
Donaldson Aerospace & Defense,
a division of Donaldson Company,
Inc., has delivered the first complete
shipset of CH-53K engine air particle
protection system (EAPPS) units to
Sikorsky Aircraft. The milestone
delivery supports Sikorsky’s System
Development and Demonstration
Program. The advanced engine protection
units featuring Donaldson’s
patented Strata Tube technology will
be installed on the CH-53K Ground Test
Vehicle. The complete shipset included
an EAPPS for the number 1, 2 and 3
engines including the integral engine
inlet supplied by Meggitt and installed
by Donaldson.
“Donaldson is proud that our
advanced filtration system will
contribute to mission readiness for
this critical future military asset,”
said Sheila Peyraud, general manager,
aerospace and defense at Donaldson.
Peyraud added that qualification
testing is in progress at Donaldson
headquarters in Minneapolis, and so
far “the results exceed all specifications
and requirements.”
In 2007, Donaldson was awarded
the contract to design, develop and
qualify an inlet filtration system that
would protect each of the CH-53K
helicopter engines. Using Donaldson’s
patented Strata Tube technology, the
company has developed a lightweight,
high efficiency filtration system that
requires minimal maintenance. The
United States Marine Corps will operate
the CH-53K, a brand new aircraft
maintaining the same physical configuration
and footprint of the legacy
CH-53A/D/E/G heavy lift helicopters.
It is designed to operate in harsh,
mountainous and desert environments
while providing a substantial increase
in lift capability. The CH-53K aircraft
is scheduled to achieve its initial operating
capability in fiscal year 2019 and
is planned to replace the current inventory
of CH-53Es.
www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 17

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Q&A
Maintaining a Globally Responsive Supply Chain
Supply Optimizer
Redding Hobby
Acting Director
Defense Logistics Agency
Logistics Operations Directorate
Redding Hobby, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is
the acting director of Defense Logistics Agency Logistics Operations.
DLA Logistics Operations (J3) is responsible for the end-toend
supply chain management of the Defense Logistics Agency’s
eight supply chains, providing logistics and material process
management policy, guidance, oversight and monitoring of supply
chain performance. J3 is the principal strategic, operational
and tactical planner for DLA business operations, championing
best business practices, Enterprise Business Systems and
value-added logistics solutions for the warfighter. J3 oversees the
daily operation of the DLA Logistics field activities and engages
customers around the world to maximize readiness and logistics
combat power by leveraging an enterprise solution.
Hobby has served in a wide range of military and civilian
positions during his tenure with the federal government. Most
recently, he was the executive director of the Strategic Programs
and Initiatives Directorate, where he oversaw responsibility for
managing strategic plans, programs, concepts and initiatives for
the current to near future in order to inform and influence decisions
on policy, strategy and the development of capabilities to
enhance anticipated logistics support to warfighters. Part of this
mission included overseeing implementation of the Base Realignment
and Closure 2005 Supply and Storage recommendations
that focus on Defense Department logistics supply chain integration.
While on active duty as an Army officer, he commanded at
platoon, company, battalion and brigade levels. He saw extensive
service in tactical-level organizations in Europe, Korea and the
United States. He became a logistician in 1984. Hobby’s military
service culminated in 2002, when he retired as a colonel of
ordnance and transitioned to civil service. He served as an environmental
physical scientist, logistics specialist and Army Senior
Executive Service member. He was appointed to the Air Force
Senior Executive Service in 2008.
Hobby graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point,
N.Y., in 1973, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.
He is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff
College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the Army War College,
Carlisle, Pa.
His personal awards include the Bronze Star, the Legion of
Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service Medal
with oak leaf cluster, the Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award,
two Meritorious Civilian Service Awards and the Achievement
Medal for Civilian Service. He is a senior parachutist and an Army
Ranger.
Redding Hobby was interviewed by KMI Media Group Editorin-Chief
Jeff McKaughan
Q: What are the budget implications for DLA and how is that
driving agency efficiencies from where you sit?
A: The Defense Logistics Agency is a defense working capital fund
organization. That means we provide sustainment support to the
military services on a reimbursable basis. If a unit needs a repair
part, for example, DLA’s Land and Maritime organization or our
DLA Aviation organization or perhaps DLA’s Troop Support organization
procures that part and we provide it to the service. Their
Title 10 responsibility then, in a manner of speaking, reimburses
us for that.
In austere budget times, DLA sells less, so we adjust our business
models to accommodate the needs of the services. We will
focus on the demand signals we get from the military services and
adjust our acquisition strategies appropriately. We never want to
over or under buy, so we focus on hitting it just right and buying
what the services need in a timely manner. In that way, we synchronize
with our primary supported units and customers—the
military services.
www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 19

Q: Buying—what will that mean for staffing at DLA?
A: It will probably mean an increase in our contracting corps. As
we work hard to get the demand signals right, which is one of our
biggest challenges, our acquisition professionals are focused on
procuring those demands.
Since we use the working capital fund, we don’t work with a table
of organization equipment or a table of distribution and allowances
like our military service partners. Instead, we work on a need basis
and manage our workforce to the requirement. If we need more
acquisition folks because of the rigor that goes into planning and
purchasing, we may have to increase that workforce.
On the other side of the coin, the distribution and storage
requirement will probably decrease. If so, our manning and support
to those kinds of functions will shrink. Overall, I would say the
budget impact on the structure and the face of DLA from an organizational
point of view probably won’t make us change very much.
We won’t face significant personnel cuts like the military services
are facing. Instead, we face a challenge to ensure we have the right
skill set appropriate to meet the largest challenges. This gives us
huge opportunities for efficiencies. It’s much like the private sector—the
better you can provide the material to your customer, the
more likely they are to buy. The more accurate you are in meeting
their demand, the more likely they are to have what they need
when they need it. It’s about hitting the sweet spot between focusing
on the supplier side or the distribution side … about focusing
on the acquisition side or the supply and storage side. Those are the
metrics we look at when we right size and right-skill our workforce.
Fortunately, DLA has more than 50 years of experience to draw
upon. We consider past practices and past challenges and come
up with some pretty accurate staffing models that give us what
we need to come real close to what right looks like to support the
services effectively and efficiently.
Q: Are there any initiatives that highlight what DLA is doing to
shoulder their share of the burden of generating efficiencies and
meeting goals?
A: That’s the perfect question.
It may sound like it’s just business as usual for DLA … that
we simply shift resources around but nothing else would change.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Our director has challenged us to be effective and efficient—
we’ve coined it the 10 in 5 plan, $10 billion in five years. He’s challenged
us to take $10 billion out of DLA over the next five years.
Last year, DLA was about a $46 billion enterprise. About $4.5
billion goes to running the business at DLA; the other $40 billion
is tied to sales. Given those two numbers—$40 billion and $4.5
billion—which number should we focus on? Our director’s challenge
is to go after the big number—to take $10 billion out of
sales, while dramatically improving performance. In no way does
this mean we’re going to change readiness rates and not provide
sustainment. The biggest single initiative is looking at ways we can
be more effective over the next five years to achieve that $10 billion
dollar reduction.
So how do we actually make it happen?
There are several programs that are going to help.
Strategic network optimization [SNO] is the first. It’s an effort
to get our distribution arcs—how we deliver the supplies to our
20 | MLF 6.5
supported units, how we provide material to our customer and how
we position that material around the world—as efficient as they can
be. As background, we have 10 years of experience from two wars in
two theaters, while supporting the continental U.S. and the other
geographic COCOMS. The demand patterns that we’ve used over
the last 10 years give us some dramatic demand history for looking
forward—who needed what when, what issue priority it was
supplied against, and how many pounds or items went to these
different locations.
Using some modeling processes, we looked at where the material
flowed from, which distribution depot to which customer,
etc. We’ve asked that model be optimized based on cost, time and
weight. Using those models, we look at where the efficiencies lie.
Was this cost driven? Supply driven? Could we have purchased it
instead of moved it? Or was it cheaper to have moved it instead of
purchasing it? Taking that information, we then apply the operational
impact on these models.
In the initial phase, when we optimized only the process, we
came up with a little over $700 million of savings just by a distribution
optimization. In phase two, we’ll look at how to optimize
inventory by looking at what we buy, when we buy and where it’s
positioned.
So if it’s something that’s going to be delivered to the central
U.S.—Fort Hood, Texas, for example—we’ll position that material
at a distribution site that’s as close to Fort Hood as possible and
then buy the supplies that Fort Hood needs and store them close
by. We may have material now in our pipeline or in our warehouses
at another location, and it may be cheaper to ship that
material from that known location today to that distant location
where that customer is, but it would be bought back to the closer
location. Doing it this way means we don’t waste material and
we don’t mistakenly position material. It’s all about making our
process more effective.
We borrowed Willie Sutton’s idea of following the money, so we
focus on where the money is. Now that we have the distribution
process optimized, we position the material in those optimized
locations to get a double payback for our investment. We get not
only the distribution dividend, but the inventory dividend as well.
Finally, the third leg of the SNO stool is the infrastructure.
As we better position material, certainly there’s going to be warehousing
space that will be freed up. Not all at one time, as it’s a
slow process, but over the next five years as those facilities are
freed up, we’ll be able to take those locations out of the inventory
or pass them back to the services. We’re also working with another
department and the Secretary of Defense to see if we can get demolition
money to assist the services in demolishing excess locations.
We could avoid a double touch for that excess warehouse by centralizing
the demilitarization and demolition if that was what the
service was planning on doing anyway. Unused facilities tend to fill
up because there’s always a natural tendency to store things. SNO
will discourage bad behavior and reduce unnecessary costs.
Q: You mentioned not only having the supplies but getting them
into the distribution channels—the PAKGLOC for example. You
all don’t handle or transport materials yourselves. How do you
adjust for circumstances that will impact the delivery of supplies?
A: On November 26, 2010, the PAKGLOC closed. We’d been dependent
on it for almost 10 years, moving material with our partners
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in USTRANSCOM through Karachi and then upward through two
main ground routes through Pakistan into Afghanistan.
As a logistician, I’ve watched that movement from several different
jobs that I’ve held over the last five or six years. If you had
asked me prior to November 2011, what do you think about that,
I would have said well, that’s the way we do things. It’s almost an
assumption that we’ll move on the ground because of the access
and the distance in a landlocked country and all the operational
impact. When it closed, there was a little bit of a concern on the
part of DLA about how we would provide sustainment inside a
landlocked country, knowing that we’d been heavily dependent on
that Pakistan ground line of communication.
Fortunately, in about 2008, USTRANSCOM and Central Command
decided they needed another entrance, and the northern
distribution network was established. Frankly speaking, our dependence
on the PAKGLOC was really on my mind. As it turned out,
we were not as dependent as I had thought we were. The northern
distribution network and the effective partnership between DLA
and USTRANSCOM proved a successful workaround, based on the
dedicated effort, focus and outstanding support by the rank and file
members of both organizations—USTRANSCOM and their ground
component is the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command—as
well as other partners. Quite frankly, since the early part
of 2012 we’ve even grown our theater sustainment support.
Q: Staying with Afghanistan, looking at how you did things in Iraq
versus how you’re going to have to do things in Afghanistan, what
does DLA’s forward deployment structure look like in Afghanistan
in comparison to Iraq? Is the structure you have now an evolving
structure or are you where you want to be?
A: I’ll tell you like all the operators will tell you, Afghanistan is not
Iraq—but our structure is very similar. We have a DLA support team
headed up by a military 06 who manages the various commodities,
supply chains we support, and the distribution processes we have
in place. If you look at the reverse logistics, the disposition requirements,
the defense reutilization and marketing office—there are
three sites today in Afghanistan. That structure is very similar to
what we used in Iraq. We had the same reutilization and marketing
office sites, where the military members could turn in equipment
that was no longer needed or was unserviceable. In Iraq, as it came
time for the repositioning out, units were able to move some serviceable
material to us and let DLA provide the disposition services.
There were several categories of that reutilization that we were
able to use to help us identify exactly how to do that right. First of
all, we would try to redistribute it to needs that the services had. If
that didn’t work, then we would try to market it and sell it as scrap
or as unserviceable military gear. If that didn’t work, then we would
take the responsibility for demilitarizing it or destroying it and then
additionally selling that demilitarized material as scrap to eligible
consumers.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the theme there is the deployable
agility of the DLA workforce. Some of that work I described is inherently
governmental, so we need DLA employees to step up to the
responsibility of deploying, and we’ve had incredible success with
our employees stepping up to those responsibilities.
Q: You’ve explained the structure that DLA has in Afghanistan.
Can you go a little deeper into what DLA will do to manage the
22 | MLF 6.5
flow of equipment and avoid mountains or iron or tremendous
backlogs?
A: The role that DLA plays and its support to the mission will be
very similar to that in Iraq: to provide a single touchpoint for the
combatant commander and his component commands inside the
AOR to turn to for disposition services and capabilities. In Iraq,
we established a place to unburden the services of excess and no
longer serviceable equipment, and ensured what went back was
exactly what had to go back. The end goal is identical in Afghanistan.
However, techniques, tactics and procedures for doing this
will be different, because we don’t have an outlet. There is no
mature government infrastructure to do business with, from a
marketing and resell environment, so our practice and our technique
of managing that will be somewhat different. We’ll have
to work carefully on how we plan to do the demilitarization, for
instance.
Let me give you an example. Today, in Iraq, we are able to
successfully market to the Iraqis. A businessman in Iraq could
purchase over 600,000 pounds of scrap from our DRMO site. We
don’t have that same enterprise opportunity in Afghanistan, but
we in DLA still have the requirement to demilitarize that material
and move it into a categorization called scrap. What we’re going
to do with that and how we actually dispose of it in that country is
something we’re working on. We don’t have any perfect answers.
Moving it out of that country, paying to ship it, is not an alternative.
It’s too expensive; we don’t get any return on that investment
for our taxpayer. So we’ll have to come up with an innovative
approach to actually dispose of that material. I’ve talked about the
reutilization and the resale and the actual disposal of it. How we
move that out of Afghanistan, off their terrain, is something we’re
working real hard.
Q: Does DLA have a seat at the table in deciding what happens to
a piece of equipment? What’s DLA’s role in that decision?
A: That’s another great question. Almost all the military equipment
over there belongs to the military services. There’s very little
actual material, actual supplies, that belong to DLA. Some of our
sustainment repair parts, for example, belong to DLA until we have
a requirement for them from the service, a point of sale if you will,
and we then transfer it to the military service that needs it. But
by and large, the things you’re talking about—military weapons
systems, trucks, communications systems, infrastructure like the
re-locatable buildings and tents—all belong to the services.
Despite that, we absolutely have a seat at the table. I would
say we’re a partner with the services on that. We’re not an equal
partner—it’s their supplies, it’s their material, it’s their weapons
systems and fighting platforms—but we absolutely sit at the table
with them and provide our expertise with regard to the tactical
questions: How can I move it to you? What condition does it need
to be in? What are the processes I need to go through to take it off
my records so the supply record-keeping is accurate? Those sort of
administrative functions that make sure the property is properly
documented and taken care of are accomplished in partnership
with the units. DLA plays a key role in that.
With regards to physically transferring property, those three
sites that I talked about occupy approximately 40 acres in theater
and we’re about to double that over the next few months as we
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prepare to reposition forces out. There’s a physical space operation
in addition to the academic aspect of keeping records and the
integrity of our supply system; all are critical to know what we
equipment we have and whose books it’s on. DLA acts as a partner
to provide disposition instructions: what goes on with that gear,
how it gets handed off to DLA, and where we put it so we can then
do the proper thing to accommodate the last portion of disposition.
I mentioned two important parts. One is record-keeping and
the other is the actual handling and transfer of equipment that the
unit no longer needs. DLA partners with the units to help them
unburden themselves of the unnecessary gear so they can transfer
important things back to the states. That has a huge impact on that
reverse logistics pipeline. By taking out excess, we take out items
that aren’t authorized or aren’t needed back at home station when
that unit redeploys. So I think we play a key role. Just to reiterate,
we absolutely do that from a seat at the table, in concert with the
units that are redeploying.
Q: Let’s talk about inventory: Excess inventory is excess cost, both
in storage and in the acquisition of it. Can you go into detail about
demand planning and forecasting?
A: We have three major supply centers: our DLA Land and Maritime
Organization in Columbus, the DLA Aviation Organization in Richmond,
and our DLA Troop Support Organization in Philadelphia.
Those are our three supply centers and they face the customer.
Clearly, that’s the interface to answer the challenging question
of what is your demand, what is your requirement. Those organizations,
as a part of BRAC 2005, put DLA employees inside the planning
processes within the services. Prior to 2005, some of those
people belonged to the services. They were Army, Navy, Air Force
and Marine Corps employees. As we extended DLA into the retail
world, those employees became DLA employees. Some of this has
only occurred in the last five or 10 years, but it gives us a huge ability
to understand service requirements. So those planners, buyers if
you will, are forward positioned with the services.
Let’s use the example of a depot maintenance activity in the
Army: DLA planners are embedded in that depot activity. When the
depot gets its annual workload funded by the services’ maintenance
budgets, those depot maintenance dollars are planned and programmed
against a requirement to produce a planned number of
vehicles or items of equipment through that depot process. What
a great place for our interface to take place. As the service plans
their maintenance and production workload, DLA is planning the
sustainment with them. Our supply centers have the customer facing
responsibility to get the requirement just right, and then, once
they have it right, put those items on acquisition and requisition
processing.
Let’s say a weapons system is being repaired at one of the
Army maintenance depots. As that depot’s plan for the fiscal year
is produced, we put those requisitions into process simultaneously.
So when that material appears in the depot line for repair, the
sustainment repair parts are right there with it. I could describe
a similar process for the Navy shipyards: As a ship comes in for a
repair cycle, the repair cycle might be longer—perhaps three years
for a ship—but our process is the same. As that ship is identified,
the planning begins immediately for arguably about 50 percent of
what that ship’s going to need. As the time draws closer and the
programming becomes available, that 50 percent goes to more like
24 | MLF 6.5
80 or 90 percent. So by the time the ship goes into dry dock, the
material is in place in the depot system. It may be one of our major
distribution depots, or it may be forward positioned actually inside
the Navy shipyard.
There’s an effectiveness criteria and an algorithm we use for
whether we forward position it right there or if we have the delivery
capability based on our historical demand to be able to hold it and
not do the point of sale until it’s actually needed. That gives the
services great flexibility with their working capital, to let the defense
working capital hold that material until we get that point of sale.
Great efficiency and flexibility for the services, and quite frankly, it’s
efficient. If the service bought the material, there would always be a
tendency to buy an insurance level, to have it just in case. This takes
away the “just in case I need it, or might need it, or potentially could
need it,” and lets DLA assume responsibility. When the demand
hits, we’ve got an obligation for customer support to provide that
material on time, so that nothing in the production cycle gets interrupted.
We do that on DLA’s dime.
Q: Planning for major military operations always include the
logistics arm, but what of DLA’s role in unplanned events—for
example, the Japanese tsunami, Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti.
What’s DLA’s role in meeting the logistics obligations when the
military responds to those things?
A: You know, in military parlance, we call what you describe the
range of military activities from major combat operations to the
humanitarian assistance or the disaster relief that you describe.
Honestly, that humanitarian assistance and disaster relief is far
more likely to occur. The last three or four years has proven it. DLA
has to be prepared for that. We leverage DLA’s data and data analysis
to position certain items forward—blankets, cots, some food and
bottled water—in anticipation of that most likely scenario, particularly
in the overseas environment.
Should the Defense Department be called upon, DLA’s role is
much like it would be in major combat. We would have a sustainment
role, providing the food and the bottled water that are critical
to life support. If you take it to the next level, victims would require
shelter. DLA would be there to provide tents and cots and blankets.
This does not mean DLA provides all of the food. If the Defense
Department does not have the lead, the World Food Program and
other non-governmental organizations are the first responders.
However, when we have crisis situations like Tomadochi, or as
you mentioned Katrina, where we have rapidly deteriorating or
destroyed infrastructure, non-governmental organizations may not
have the capability to do the distribution process. That’s a situation
where the Defense Department can be effective. One of the services
would probably go in with the military gear and the troop strength,
and DLA would provide support through one of our field activities.
While DLA is unlikely to provide direct support to one of the
non-governmental organizations, it has provided support to FEMA.
If the infrastructure and the distribution processes allowed us to
position material, FEMA or another DHS organization might do
the last tactical mile, if you will, and put the supplies in the hands
of those that need it the most.
Q: What is DLA’s customer service mantra? How do you measure
and improve on customer service, and how do you measure your
status?
www.MLF-kmi.com

A: Our mantra is “Warfighter Support.” We have three major pillars
that we base our core competencies on: warfighter support,
stewardship excellence and workforce development. Number one
among those is support to the warfighter customer; whether in
Afghanistan or at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, it is our primary
concern.
I mentioned how we face the depots and accomplish demand
planning with our supply centers. From a DLA perspective though,
there’s another facet of that, and that is the direct interface. DLA
is a global agency with four regional organizations positioned to
liaison with our combatant commands at the geographic combatant
commands—PACOM, Europe and Africa Command, Central
Command, North and South Command, so we’re attuned to the
big picture the geographic combatant commander has.
Let’s look at PACOM and focus one level down. The Pacific
Command is headquartered in Hawaii, but the Army, Navy and Air
Force components are also there, so we positioned a DLA regional
commander there [at the 06 level] who has the responsibility
to touch all those organizations, through that combatant commander.
This way we maintain that customer focus. It’s not just looking
at what the maintenance production requirement is inside of
the service’s industrial site at a depot or a Navy shipyard or air
logistics center; it’s also being attuned to the requirements of a
combatant commander as they prepare for their operational plans,
or for humanitarian assistance or disaster relief.
Q: Is there anything you’d like to add about your customer outreach
programs, or the formalized or informal things you do to
keep in touch with customers?
A: DLA does many important things. We provide $40 billion
annually in supplies to the services. It’s important we get that
right and know what ‘right’ looks like in our planning, purchasing
and acquisition lead times when we’re getting those
supplies.
But I think DLA does something even more important. We
build trust and confidence with our warfighter customer. That
warfighter support is the first leg of our core competency. Stewardship
excellence and workforce development will follow if we
get the warfighter support right. I really just want to emphasize
that DLA is America’s combat logistics support agency. We’re
more than a supplier; we serve the total life cycle of an item of
equipment, beginning with the customer-facing element of our
supply centers, through storage and distribution support, to
ultimate disposition services. Today, units are turning in items
to a disposition yard in Kandahar, Afghanistan, so they can be
released from their mission and go back to home station or
prepare for the next contingency. The planning for that has to be
done now—not only from the preparedness and readiness point
of view, but how to do this most effectively. In this austere budget
time, we must get our warfighter customer’s requirement
exactly right. O
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dLa aviation’s mission is to take the unknowns out of the aviation suppLy chain,
whiLe reducing costs and wait time.
Logistics procurement management
is a key component of DLA Aviation’s
mission, aimed at keeping U.S. military
aircraft operational and in the air instead
of in depots awaiting repairs. Data management
technologies and efficiency planning
efforts central to this not only reduce
downtime by ensuring parts get to where
they need to be as fast as possible, they
also reduce costs.
“That is really the focus of what we
do—buying components for our service
customers to make sure they can keep our
aviators mission ready,” Brigadier General
Scott W. Jansson, commander of DLA Aviation,
told Military Logistics Forum. “It’s
a quite extensive procurement mission.”
He said that while ensuring the effective
management of both the supply
and demand spare parts chains—which
include storage and distribution operations
that support aviation needs across
the U.S. armed forces through various
outposts nationwide—the Richmond, Va.based
agency deals with around 9,000
26 | MLF 6.5
different suppliers. At times, the agency
aggregates the individual needs of each of
the services in order to increase buying
power.
With depot procurement and storage/
distribution operations located from Naval
Air Station, Jacksonville, Fla., to Utah’s
Hill Air Force Base, the mission supports
over 1,300 major weapons systems in
total, with more than 440,000 aviation
parts of the 1.3 million repair and supply
items for which the agency serves as the
primary U.S. military supplier.
Jansson explained that that in terms of
current fiscal year priorities, DLA Aviation
is looking to improve industrial customer
support by further improving their services
for aerospace repair depots, which
remain its main clients, as well as improve
support to operations customers across
the services.
“Our first priority is to improve those
services to the customer,” said Jansson.
“One of the things we are trying to do
is execute more timely and affordable
By christian Bourge
mLf correspondent
acquisitions, making sure we understand
our customer requirements, and reduce
the time of getting parts to them. The
more agile we are in the supply chain, the
more quickly we can turn items around.”
One way that DLA plans to do this
is by further reducing already truncated
lead times for part replacements, an area
in which they have seen great improvement
in recent years through a number
of means. One of those management
techniques is simply working closely with
suppliers.
Jansson said he meets twice a year
with key staffers from strategic suppliers,
typically large integrators who are original
equipment manufacturers, including
firms like Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and
Northrop Grumman. He added that at
lower pay grades, staff meets with management
personnel from key firms quarterly
to as often as weekly.
Brenda Mitchell, director of military
support and services at Pratt & Whitney’s
East Hartford, Conn., facility, said the
www.MLF-kmi.com

company primarily works with DLA to provide
parts for the Air Force’s F100 engine,
which powers the F-15 and F-16 fighter.
“We have a long-term strategic contract
with DLA that enables us to more effectively
and efficiently meet customer requirements
in the shortest time possible,” said Mitchell.
She noted that having the contract in place
has helped reduce lead times from 120 to 45
days or less.
“The long-term contract really enables
DLA to get more parts on order because
they include, typically, long multi-year
prices,” Mitchell told MLF. “Long-term strategic
contracts are a key initiative for DLA
[and are] really an improvement for us as
well. [They] really have helped save time but
speed up the supply process as well.”
Jansson said that reducing lead times
from partner providers has been a combination
of efforts by both his agency and the
provider, including allowing suppliers to
develop qualified product lines. As a result
of such efforts, he said, Honeywell increased
reliability from 67 percent to 80 percent
last year.
For DLA Aviation, this has meant expediting
processing times to ensure items
meet compliance specs and allowing suppliers
to better manage their deliverables
by anticipating requirements based on historical
need, including buying raw materials
in advance. This remains particularly
important with parts for which production
involves long material lead times.
But such effort amounts to much more
than shorter wait times for delivery. Jansson
pointed to several efforts that have accomplished
this along with saving taxpayer
dollars. “One of our top priorities is to have
more affordable acquisitions,” he said.
For instance, he noted that DLA is introducing
more competition into the process
for some parts by allowing for reverse engineering
of existing sourced parts from new
sources, as well as other means of implementing
competition for contract sourcing.
At times, the firm is also reaching out
directly to the manufacturer of parts that
were previously supplied from major integrators.
This comes after years of limited
competition for these parts by sole-sourcing
components from major suppliers.
“We will work with some other small
business contractors to reverse engineer
components,” explained Jansson, noting
that collected data for some products allows
for the introduction of new manufacturers,
leading to greater efficiencies. “We have
been successful in reducing prices.”
In one recent case, he said, competition
surrounding FA-18 rewiring provided
an approximately 20 percent reduction in
prices from newly contracted alternative
sources.
“We have saved $26 million for items put
on long-term contracts, reducing lead times,
and by increased competition,” he said.
Even with the move toward more
competition for part supplying, DLA Aviation
appears to remain committed to the
major traditional sole source parts provider.
Recently, the agency awarded contracts
to several prime suppliers for structural
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components by whittling down those seeking
contracts to four prime military contractors
under a competition to provide
around 2,000 parts for primarily Air Force
use. One portion of that effort allows for
several suppliers to provide landing gear
collectively, providing $37 million in savings
over the previous sole-sourced vendor
contract.
But military part procurement contracting
is not the sole purview of major manufacturers
or smaller firms who can replicate
parts in their place. Memphis, Tenn.-based
Inventory Locator Service LLC was founded
in 1979 with the aim of matching buyers
and sellers of aviation parts and ground support
equipment.
John Angelbeck, senior manager,
defense solutions for the firm, said that
their proprietary searchable database allows
people to input commercial part numbers
or a keyword to find all the supplies listed in
their database. The database provides information
including the number of parts available
from an individual supplier, whether it
is new or overhauled, and the plane from
which it was removed. The database also
shows whether the potential supplier is government
certified so it can easily do business
and meet DLA shipping specifications.
Also listed is government cross reference
information to allow for more sourcing
options when parts are used in more than
one type of military aircraft.
Represented in about 115 countries
worldwide, Angelbeck said the company
“works heavily” with DLA Aviation,
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providing over 75 million lines of inventory
in their database with 14,000 parts
searched for on a daily basis. For government
use specifically, the firm lists about
13 million items of both active and historical
use.
“ILS assists DLA in providing them a
global asset view of available parts,” said
Angelbeck. “We deal with a lot of MICAP
(mission impaired capability awaiting
parts) situations, incapable aircraft that
they need a part for to get it back into service.
We assist them with identifying the
parts so they can get it in house and help
the warfighter.”
He added that the company sees even
greater opportunities with DLA in light
of the recent update to the 2012 Director’s
Guidance, which he said places an
“emphasis on shifting industry capabilities”
in light of the tightening DoD budget
situation, coming Afghanistan drawdown
and other factors.
“One of the things at the top of their
list is viewing information as the most
cost-effective means to overcome the perceived
cost shortfall,” said Angelbeck.
data advancing efficiency
With procurement cost and delivery
timing a central focus of DLA Aviation’s
operations, data management and other
technological advances are a key component
to ensuring both. Pratt & Whitney’s
Mitchell noted that in support of the contract,
the company has developed a sophisticated
forecast modeling tool and process
that the Air Force has cited as a best practices
effort. She said these “value stream”
enhancements are being worked as part
of a collaborative forecasting process for
aviation supply deliverables, adding that
the company is currently working with
DLA Aviation and Air Force Global Logistics
Support Center and industry peers on
further improvements in this area.
“That’s really one of the most significant
initiatives we as industry are working
on with the DLA, to come up with a better
forecasting process that will produce a
more accurate and stable demand signal
that we can reliably execute, resulting in
100 percent on-time delivery to customer
need,” said Mitchell.
According to ILS’s Angelbeck, his firm
not only connects DLA with needed parts,
but also forecasts future demand for a particular
part based on historical data and
28 | MLF 6.5
historic pricing information, which helps
any purchaser with the bottom line.
ILS’s market intelligence group develops
12-month predictions for the expected
supply and demand on a particular part,
data that is linked to the broader availability
data, providing government contractor
information that includes pricing history
for negotiation purposes.
“They have a base line to go out and
procure that part,” Angelbeck said.
Outside of suppliers to the agency
and those who connect the two, another
component of the DLA supply chain is
the firms that do repair work on military
aircraft.
Dan Gonzales, vice president of business
development for government and
military sector at Tempe, Ariz.-based StandardAero,
said that while the aviation
overhaul firm has other arrangements in
place should it not be able to get materials
through the agency, it relies on DLA to
provide parts for many of its operations.
“One of the benefits of working with
DLA is that they are a very steady supplier
of parts,” said Gonzales.
StandardAero does depot work for the
Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, which
totals 30-35 percent of their $1.5 billion
in annual revenue, said Gonzales. Their
largest workload portion is managing the
overhaul of the C-130 supply plane’s T56
turboprop engines, which they have been
doing at the former Kelley Air Force base
since 1999.
Randal Herrington, director of materials
for the StandardAero’s T56 operations,
said DLA is good at ensuring the operation’s
steady part demands are met using
their forecast data.
“That is certainly how we work best
with the DLA,” said Herrington.
Gonzales said that one of the ways
they ensure this is effective is to collect
real time data, evaluated and calculated
nightly to feed their forward supply projections.
He added that they’ve also come
to count on regularly scheduled meetings
with DLA as part of their work with the
agency to ensure efficiency.
Advances in procurement modeling
are also leading to further potential
logistics advancement. Gonzales said that
StandardAero is developing a model that
would anticipate when engine part failures
will occur in the field in anticipation of
demand patterns for the DLA to reduce
down times for broken engines.
Pratt & Whitney’s Mitchell also
pointed to discussions about the use of
performance-based logistics contracts as
a possible means of improving logistics
outcomes, although she said that these
types of contracts are typically led by the
Air Force, as they own system level performance
and DLA is not responsible for metrics
at the operational level. This points to
DLA’s integral but in some ways limited
role in the overall military procurement
process.
“I think there is still some confusion
about role of DLA in PBLs,” she said,
adding that industry and government are
trying to figure out what DLA’s actual
responsibility would be under such a contract.
Even as DLA Aviation and its partners
take advantage of the latest datadriven
technology and analysis, the agency
continues to look forward to other ways
in which it can improve the aviation supply
procurement process for the armed
services, its industry partners and the
taxpayer.
ILS’s Angelbeck said that a major topic
within the aviation supply industry currently
is counterfeit parts and how to
ensure they don’t get onto planes. One
of the ways ILS seeks to address the issue
is traceability of part history within its
database.
“One of the things that is important
to DLA and industry is traceability,” said
Angelbeck. “They want to have the routing
going back to the manufacturer. One of
the things we are working on with the DLA
is traceability within our database. We
hope, in the near future, to supply traceability
and at the least, tag the particular
supplier.”
DLA’s Jansson said that the agency is
looking to take traceability even further,
utilizing the latest in individual part tracking
technology.
“DLA, overall, is working on new technology
to try and help mitigate the risk of
counterfeit parts using biological DNA to
stamp electronic components for example,
to ensure as counterfeit parts aren’t entering
the supply chain.” O
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief
Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com
or search our online archives for related stories
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
www.MLF-kmi.com

With nearly $15 billion in sales projected
for this fiscal year, the Defense Logistics
Agency’s Troop Support would rank in the
top third of the Fortune 500. However, it
operates under conditions and constraints
that similarly sized private companies don’t.
For one thing, some of its customers work
in war zones. For another, certain products
it buys have to be made wholly within the
United States.
Nonetheless, this Philadelphia-based arm
of the DLA has applied commercial techniques
and technology, including local sourcing
and just-in-time delivery, to save tens of
millions of dollars annually. The goal is to
save an additional $252 million over the next
five years. This is being done while improving
the quality of foodstuffs, medical supplies,
construction equipment and clothing, as a
look at each of these areas shows.
meaLs, ready-to-eat
and otherwise
A recent example of such an improvement
comes from DLA Troop Support’s
Subsistence Directorate, which in March
established a second Afghanistan distribution
center in Helmand province. This reduced
perishable food transportation time by two to
four days for each shipment, which average
3,750 a month.
“What we try to do is purchase as much
locally to cut down on the transportation
costs,” said Rich Faso, director of subsistence
customer operations. “For instance, we’ve got
two very good sources of bottled water right
in Afghanistan that we purchase from.”
Having local sources helps overcome
supply chain problems, such as those that
have arisen due to the closing of land routes
through Pakistan. In addition to saving
money and time, this approach injects funds
into the local economy.
The local sources are inspected and
approved by U.S. Army Public Health Command.
Quality controls are also written into
vendor contracts.
The Supreme Group USA of Reston, Va.,
is the prime food services vendor in Afghanistan.
Supreme financed, designed, built and
manages the Helmand regional distribution
site, said Mick Schuster, the company’s
managing director for logistics. Self-contained,
the plant has warehouses and bulk
fuel installations, as well as its own security
arrangements, water purification and sewage
treatment plant. It represents an investment
of $110 million.
“Supreme made a commercial decision
to establish ‘regional distribution centers’ to
facilitate improvements in supply chain performance
with product stored closer to point
of consumption on military bases, thereby
reducing risk and enhancing service to the
warfighter,” Schuster said.
It helps that the company has been operating
in challenging environments for more
than 50 years. However, each theater of operation
is unique. For instance, in Afghanistan,
there’s a lack of transportation infrastructure,
severe weather conditions, mountains and
deserts, as well as security threats. Supreme
has to provide tailored solutions and be flexible,
Schuster noted.
In addition to frozen, dried and other
commercially standard foodstuffs, DLA’s Faso
noted that the Subsistence Directorate also
procures some warfighter-specific items, like
MREs. Meals-ready-to-eat have a long shelf
life, are fully cooked and ready to serve.
No matter what the foodstuff, DLA Troop
Support must deal with a long supply line
and overcome possible disruptions. Hence, it
maintains a 60-day inventory along the supply
chain. That’s a substantial amount of material,
considering that some 40 shipping containers
are needed a day just to feed those serving in
For the Troops
at dLa troop support, cots techniques save money.
By hank hogan
mLf correspondent
Afghanistan. This inventory approach is not
used within CONUS, as the commercial infrastructure
and supply chain in the continental
U.S. can handle disruptions.
As for the future, one possibility being
investigated is for DLA Troop Support to go
a step beyond food delivery and move into
its preparation. Today, that is handled by the
military services themselves, Faso said. “To
take over that responsibility, we’ll have to
show a good cost savings, not only for them
but the government as a whole.”
suppLying pharmaceuticaLs
and more
DLA Troop Support’s Medical Directorate
purchases drugs, medical supplies and equipment,
with the last including such high-dollar
items as MRI imagers, CT scanners and the IT
that manages the images produced. For the
most part, this is done with only about a 20th
of the inventory stored in depots, said Don
Buchwald, director of customer operations
for the Medical Directorate.
The reliance on commercial vendors and
the use of just-in-time delivery has to be
adjusted a bit, due to the need to be ready for
the unexpected. For example, there may be a
sudden surge in demand due to a disaster or
the outbreak of hostilities, but that possibility
has been planned for.
“At the cost of $24 million a year, we’re
able to get guaranteed access to $778 million
worth of material,” Buchwald said.
Areas with a robust supply chain and
good transportation infrastructure typically
operate on an ‘order today, get it tomorrow’
schedule. One challenge is the sheer number
of items and the fact that some require
special handling, such as refrigeration or
the avoidance of heat en route. The latter
is handled through the use of temperature
monitors and other technology.
www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 29

Some items, like flu vaccines, have a limited
shelf life and must reach every base and
ship annually within a strict time window.
Others, such as CT scanners, need to go into
buildings before all the walls are in place, as
these may prevent installation.
One cost-saving strategy being pursued
involves lining up supplies of generic drugs as
replacements to name brands as soon as this
becomes possible, Buchwald said. Another is
the development of an integrated operating
room, which is intended to save both time
and money in setting up such facilities.
Larry Stepp is vice president of national
accounts for the government division of
Chesterbrook, Pa.-based AmerisourceBergen,
a prime pharmacy vendor for DLA Troop
Support. The company offers a 24-hour turnaround
on any product that it carries, with
the contract measuring performance by delivery
against what’s ordered over a specified
period. Those service levels are 98 percent
or higher, leading to greater supply chain
efficiency, Stepp said.
One of the changes that he sees on the
horizon is the greater use of electronic ordering.
Another involves track-and-trace bar
code initiatives that will support supply chain
data and integrity. Pharmaceuticals and medical
supplies also have pedigree requirements,
mandating that additional information be in
the bar code.
“That’s all the way down to lot numbers
and things like that. That’s what I think the
future is. The manufacturers will begin to
provide more of that data in their bar codes
on the actual products,” Stepp said.
more than construction
equipment
DLA Troop Support’s Construction and
Equipment Directorate handles perhaps the
largest and most diverse array of goods of any
of the directorates. The list includes lighting,
metals, lumber, firefighting equipment,
materials handling and special operations
equipment.
“We do some lighting type items. We
do heavy equipment,” summarized Tony
D’Ambrosio, deputy director of construction
and equipment at DLA Troop Support. “We
have a full range of items. They range from
light bulbs to bulldozers.”
Commodity items are handled via a justin-time
delivery system. For others, a category
that includes heavy equipment, that’s
not really possible. In all cases, procurement
is handled via contracts that have been set up,
30 | MLF 6.5
with customers ordering items against those
contracts.
SAIC of McLean, Va., is one vendor
responding to those customer orders. It does
so under an integrated prime vendor program,
as well as a maintenance, repair and
operations tailored logistics support program.
John Ptakowski is division manager for
SAIC’s prime vendor program, which he said
handles over 36,000 unique stock numbers.
These are used to fill over 99,000 bins at three
fleet readiness centers, where technicians
repair and refurbish helicopters and other
assets.
“The requirement that we have as a contractor
is to keep those bins filled so that the
mechanics do not stop their job for a lack of
supply parts,” he said.
The bin fill rate is currently over 99 percent,
several points higher than called for in
the contract.
As for the tailored logistics support program,
some 250,000 individual line items
go through it a year, said Christian Frye,
prime vendor maintenance repair and operations
division manager. SAIC can handle this
thanks to its procurement professionals, an
IT backend that can handle the load, a nimble
response to what can be a rapidly changing
situation, and enhanced customer facing
technology.
“We provide a web interface to the individual
customer so they can come to use
with their individual requirements as they
are needed. Some things are planned because
they’re going to do some expansion. Many
things are not planned; that’s where things
can break down without the right level of
support,” Frye said.
Another equipment supplier is ADS of
Virginia Beach, Va. Jack Pellicci, DLA sales
manager, said the company leverages its buying
power and implements commercial practices
to generate savings. These are then
passed along to the government, something
that Pellicci is happy to see.
“We’re very, very proud to provide these
services and cost savings to the government
to ensure that our warfighters are getting
the latest and greatest equipment that they
need,” he said.
the cLothes on their Back
The final DLA Troop Support supply
chain involves clothing and textiles. This covers
everything from utility uniforms, helmets,
body armor and boots to dress uniforms,
backpacks, tents and sleeping bags, said Gary
Colello, director of customer operations for
the Clothing and Textiles Directorate.
Unlike the other supply chains, this one
cannot use just-in-time delivery system and
must stockpile items in depots, in part due
to the Berry Amendment. That requires that
all of the clothing and textiles products be
domestically sourced. At the same time, they
have to be made to detailed and restrictive
military specifications. As a result, there is
a small industrial base to support the warfighter,
with only one wool manufacturer in
the U.S., for instance. There are only four
companies that produce the fabric used in
camouflage uniforms.
Dealing with this situation mandates that
the demand be closely monitored, which
is done by tracking the number of incoming
recruits. There’s also an online ordering
system that picks up the demand signal from
those already in the military.
This information then is constantly communicated
to the vendors, who may have only
one customer for the products, Colello said.
“They need to plan in advance. You can work
your way all the way back through the supply
chain to ensure there’s enough coming
through but not too much.”
Some clothing and textile items change
very slowly. Others have been undergoing
a rapid evolution, with such being the case
for body armor. One supplier of such gear is
BAE Systems, which in March was awarded
a four-year contract to produce tactical vests
equipped with soft body armor. These are produced
at the company’s Jessup, Pa., facility.
In discussing future directions in this
type of technology, Eric Gavelda, program
director for warfighter protection at BAE
Systems, noted that there is an open solicitation
out for an advanced combat helmet. The
spec includes a weight reduction, with the
aim of shaving as much as 10 percent weight
off when compared to past helmets. That
sort of advance is now typical of what DLA
Troop Support attempts to do in modernizing
through sustainment.
As Gavelda said, “It almost always focuses
on those two items: weight reduction or
increased capability.” O
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief
Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com
or search our online archives for related stories
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
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The relationship between private industry and the military will evolve more
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Managing the inventory of existing systems while bringing innovation is a
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www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.5 | 31

Dan Keefe is executive vice president
and group general manager for Man-
Tech’s Technical Services Group. Keefe is a
retired U.S. Army brigadier general whose
career highlights included service as commanding
general of U.S. forces in Kosovo
and V Corps chief of staff during Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
Q: Let’s start with some background on
ManTech. What does ManTech do and how
does the company contribute to the DoD
logistics mission?
A: ManTech provides innovative technologies
and solutions for mission-critical
national security programs. Founded in
1968, ManTech has almost 10,000 employees,
with 2011 revenues of $3 billion. In
addition to the Department of Defense, our
customers include the intelligence community;
departments of State, Homeland
Security and Justice; the space community;
and other U.S. federal government
customers. Logistics and global supply
chain management are at the core of many
of our offerings.
We also provide C4ISR life cycle support,
cyber, IT modernization and sustainment,
intelligence, counterintelligence
support, systems engineering, and test and
evaluation services. We support our government
in major missions, such as military
readiness, terrorist threat detection,
information security and border protection.
For example, we support technology
modernization and network operations for
the State Department at all U.S. embassies.
We also support NATO worldwide, particularly
in-theater.
ManTech goes where our customers
go. We help them meet their missions
anytime, anywhere, with about 2,000 staff
members overseas supporting our customers’
vital missions. In fact, most of
ManTech’s overseas staff works side-by-side
with U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Kuwait
on logistics, supply chain management and
systems readiness programs.
Q: As a major player in the military logistics
arena, how is ManTech helping DoD
meet current key logistics objectives?
32 | MLF 6.5
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Military Logistics Forum
Dan Keefe
Executive Vice President and Group General Manager
ManTech Technical Services Group
A: For more than 20 years, ManTech has
provided core logistics services worldwide.
Among these are warehousing, logistics
management, property management, shipping
and receiving, repair and maintenance,
unique system training and fielding support,
resource management, and inventory
tracking for customer systems in deployed,
isolated and remote locations. We maintain
life-sustaining operational readiness for
counter-improvised explosive device vehicles
and systems, including mine resistant
ambush protected vehicles, MRAP all-terrain
vehicles and route-clearance vehicles,
predominantly in Afghanistan. We began
our support for the MRAP family of vehicles
in 2003 and have expanded our services over
the years to meet operational requirements.
We’ve supported the U.S. Army TACOM and
its unique customers with sustainment and
maintenance; through our supply chain
effectiveness efforts, we’re providing people
and parts so we can meet our customers’
stringent readiness needs.
One of our teams is responsible for
maintaining the Army’s array of elevated
sensors in Afghanistan at the highest operational
availability rate possible. Recently,
the team achieved an operational availability
rate of 99 percent, the highest ever
achieved over the life of the program. The
team accomplished this while lowering program
costs 40 percent and at the same time
having the quantity of supported systems
grow over 70 percent. We realized this level
of efficiency by optimizing the logistics
labor force, aligning technicians and spares
with transportation lines, adjusting authorized
stock levels based on historical experience,
leveraging the gamut of shipping
vendors, and streamlining routine logistical
and supply processes.
Because we work side-by-side with
military personnel on these programs, we
get an up-close view of the support our
customer needs from us. We see each day
that the work we do is an essential part of
the military’s effort to reduce casualties
and improve personnel survivability.
Q: What are some of the main challenges
you are facing in meeting the needs of the
21st-century warfighter?
A: We see the need for a fuller range of
services support in a more efficient delivery
model. With our in-theater support
of logistics and materiel readiness, we
also provide services in cybersecurity and
C4ISR, particularly around border management,
real-time visualization of the
environment and sensors.
Our approach significantly increased
readiness while driving efficiencies and
lowering the cost to the customer. These
are the systems our warfighters depend
on, so it’s essential that they get comprehensive
and consistent support. We also
see a high demand for modernization to
enhance the efficiencies of IT investments
and extend the life of IT systems—another
way to not only improve the usefulness of
the system, but to reduce the cost of capital
for the military.
Program execution is essential—we
have to support the warfighter and the
mission—but so is efficiency. Our customers
are facing pressure to do more with
less, and we continually help them meet
those demands. Efficiency is about managing
the business in its entirety while
ensuring mission integrity. We know how
to keep costs down by hiring the right
people, training them and empowering
them to be effective in the work they do for
our customers. The best qualified worker
also is often the most cost-effective, and
that’s why cross training is a smart investment.
The one person, one job approach
gives some immediate efficiency, but for
us, it makes more sense to have people
who can fit smartly into a broad range of
mission-critical logistics and supply chain
processes. It keeps vital missions running
effectively for our customer and has the
added benefit of providing career development
and advancement opportunities for
our people. O
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To provide this affordable readiness, SAIC delivers a wide range of logistics, product
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Visit us at saic.com/logistics
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