FORT BELVOIR, Va., July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Although the Defense
Logistics Agency had a major, positive impact in relief efforts after
hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the agency achieved success with
minimum notice beforehand, according to director Vice Adm. Keith W.
Lippert. The DLA director says last year's fortunate outcome has resulted
in a planned, streamlined, well-funded team ready to respond when called.
DLA's partnering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency was a
highlight of the admiral's keynote address at the Defense Partnering and
Alliances Conference June 26-28 in Arlington, Va. Bernadette L. Whitehead,
program manager for performance-based logistics at DLA, also addressed the
conference and talked about the agency's participation in performance-based
logistics. The meeting's purpose was described as looking at how public and
private sectors can work together to weed out inefficiencies in the supply
chain.
Lippert latched onto that point, recalling how an off-the-cuff, complex
working arrangement with FEMA, devised within days of Katrina's
catastrophic landfall, still managed to deliver $409 million worth of
supplies to the devastated Gulf Coast
He predicted that this year will be different. If DLA's success in 2005
hinged on good fortune, Lippert said this year's support during what might
be another busy hurricane season will succeed through the work of experts
already in place, drawing from lessons learned after the last disastrous
storms.
In the wake of Katrina and Rita, DLA delivered millions of both Meals,
Ready to Eat, or MREs, the high-calorie meals designed for soldiers in
combat operations, as well as lower calorie commercial ready-to-eat meals
for FEMA. Unfortunately, Lippert recalled, that drew down DLA's MRE
inventory "to a point I was not comfortable with" until after producers
surged to restore supplies.
There were also issues with transport and in-transit "visibility" of
supplies sent into the region, Lippert said. "When you ship a truck full of
supplies," he said, "you would like to know where that materiel is at all
times."
The upshot of DLA and FEMA's newfound dependence on each other was a
series of meetings that have been held since November. Both agencies wanted
to see how they could collectively work together.
Contrasting last year's convoluted effort with how the agencies have
agreed to work together this year, Lippert first displayed a virtual
"spaghetti" serving of lines and boxes depicting last year's DLA's approval
chain for FEMA support. "I'll let you chew on that for a minute," the
admiral said to the audience.
Then he showed the new DLA-FEMA working relationship, streamlined into
a three-segment, interlinked supply chain, the emphasis placed on rapid,
direct crisis response.
Since May, Lippert added, DLA has sent people to FEMA as part of a
full- time working group. The agencies' partnering agreement has also let
DLA "put materiel on the shelf" earmarked for FEMA support. For its part,
FEMA has provided almost $95 million to DLA to prepare for the hurricane
season.
The DLA director said the agency also has hired 75 people at Defense
Supply Center San Joaquin, Calif., and Red River Defense Distribution
Depot, Texas, to set up a moveable distribution depot to direct all
materiel from DLA.
"We've exercised this team," Lippert said. "They're in place and ready
to go."
Beyond FEMA, the admiral also emphasized DLA's partnering with industry
and the military services. He pointed to performance-based logistics
milestones in the Agency's work with Northrop Grumman, the Army's future
combat system and Kelly Aviation Center as DLA works with its industry
partners. Meanwhile, he said, DLA has become much more engaged with its
military customers, placing 102 customer service representatives side by
side in the field with the war fighters.
"Our goal is customer support and customer assessment to make sure
we're doing better and better," Lippert said.
In her presentation, Whitehead looked closer at DLA's participation in
performance-based logistics. She said DLA is eager to team with military
service program managers and their performance-based logistics and product
support integrators.
"DLA," she said, "has core competencies that can be brought to bear to
provide best-value integrated supply chain management and logistics
solutions. DLA is transforming itself to provide support to the war
fighter, defense industrial activities and contractors. Our next step is to
continue collaboration among all military services and original equipment
manufacturers."
DLA provides supply support, and technical and logistics services to
the U.S. military services and several federal civilian agencies.
Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., the agency is the one source for nearly
every consumable item, whether for combat readiness, emergency preparedness
or day-to-day operations. More information about DLA is available at
http://www.dla.mil.
SOURCE Defense Logistics Agency
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Related links:
http://www.dla.mil/
CONTACT:
Marcia Klein of the Defense Logistics Agency,
+1-703-767-5064, or Marcia.klein@dla.mil
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