Courtesy Photo | DLA director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson speaks with Navy Capt. Derric Turner...... read more read more
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FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Increasing the U.S. military’s joint logistics operations is a key piece of reducing costs in the face of intensifying budgetary pressures, the Defense Logistics Agency’s director said Sept. 14 in Hawaii.
Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson discussed his perspective on the future of Defense logistics and DLA’s role in helping to shrink costs during a gathering of Navy Supply Corps and Logistics Officers Association members and senior U.S. Pacific Command logistics leaders at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
“The nation needs us to reduce costs, and it won’t be senior military leaders accomplishing this on their own. It will depend on all of you to be innovative to achieve the same support at lower costs,” he said. “As senior leaders, we have to consider what’s best for the department and for warfighters, so we’re going to have to ‘get joint’ and work together as a team to make it work as the budget pressures become more intense.”
In the U.S. Pacific Command operating area, DLA’s regional command demonstrates the joint principle: DLA Pacific Commander Army Col. Joe Arnold and Bobbi Collins, his civilian deputy, coordinate support from the agency’s primary-level field activities, which are led by Navy and Marine Corps officers and civilians colocated with USPACOM headquarters on the island of Oahu.
“There’s no other military in the world that can project and sustain a force globally like we can, which is thanks to a robust global logistics network,” Thompson said. “It’s a joint effort, and DLA’s a part of it, but the military service logistics organizations are a critical component.
The past decade saw unprecedented growth in defense spending, but the future is one of austerity, and as the pressure mounts, DLA will be pushed more to sustain a changing force structure and reduce costs, he said.
DLA’s business has doubled over the past 10 years. About half of this growth was driven by increased fuel requirements and, officials said, the agency is synchronizing its global support via three geographic commands.
The admiral said he expects that in the next 10 years, DLA will be providing more logistics support to the military services.
“DLA has always been a logistics consolidator and efficiency creator. There has been a steady stream of common or similar logistics functions moved from the military services to DLA since it was established in 1961,” Thompson said.
When tackling a new mission, DLA typically assumes the operation on an as-is/where-is basis and then makes investments in infrastructure before injecting best practices into the business processes.
“The end result is, after a reasonable amount of time, DLA is providing the same or better result at a lower cost. What that means for you at the combatant commands is [that] we need you to help us find your required level of support. We’re not looking to put your capabilities at risk to reduce costs,” Thompson said.
Over the past 20 years, DLA has funded all military construction projects and maintenance on service fuel facilities around the world. Because of this significant investment, the services can reduce their base maintenance costs and have facilities in a significantly improved material condition, Thompson said.
DLA’s nearly 27,000 team members uniquely qualify the agency to work alongside the military services and achieve these types of savings, he said.
“We have active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and reservists in our ranks and a large civilian population that came from roles within the services, so we have a good sense of the services’ needs and requirements and understand the services’ cultures,” Thompson said. “When you look inside DLA, we are you.”
About one third of the more than 50 attendees at the luncheon have served assignments in DLA, and the admiral urged attendees to seek out such assignments.
“I encourage you to network with the folks here who have worked on our team and see how much stronger you’ll be as a logistician when you go back to your service after taking an assignment at DLA," Thompson said.
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.20.2011 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 77312 |
| Location: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 227 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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