Defense Logistics Agency press release : DLA-FEMA team "exercised, ready to go"

Defense AT&L, Nov-Dec, 2006

Fort Belvoir, Va. -- 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. Lip-pert. 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 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. "When you ship a truck full of supplies," Lippert said, "you would like to know where that materiel is at all times."

The upshot of DLA's 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" 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 has also 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 warfighters. "Our goal is customer support and customer assessment to make sure we're doing better and better," Lippert said.

Media Contact: Marcia Klein, (703) 767-5064 or marcia.klein@dla.mil.