COLUMBIS, Ohio –
The director of the Defense Logistics Agency highlighted needed transformation across both the agency and industry to meet the current and future needs of America’s warfighters during his remarks at the DLA Supply Chain Alliance Conference and Exhibition today.
Before introducing Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly to deliver the keynote speech, DLA Aviation Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. Sean Tyler gave a recap of activities on the first day of the Tuesday-Wednesday conference in downtown Columbus.
“We're privileged to have a diverse group here to exchange insights and confront the contemporary challenges we face in global logistics, manufacturing and supply chain management,” Tyler said. “I think those who were here yesterday will agree the sessions were highly productive, and we appreciate the warm reception extended by the governor of Ohio. Today, we eagerly anticipate delving deeper into crucial topics such as industrial supply integration, business policy and innovation, all of which are key to keeping America’s military at the top of its game.”
Citing recent challenges within the global supply chain and logistics sphere, Tyler said the top priority is an unwavering commitment of support to the warfighter.
“Effectively meeting the requirements of our customers, both anticipated and unforeseen, requires robust collaboration with our industry partners,” he said. “Naturally, we also have a profound interest in the well-being of manufacturing within the United States, encompassing enterprises of all scales. Through resilience and adaptability in planning, sourcing and responding to the needs of the warfighter, we can ensure swift and effective responses while mitigating associated risks.”
Alliance partnerships
Simerly took the stage afterward to praise the signing of 13 charters between DLA and various suppliers during the Supply Chain Alliance conference.
“Partnerships are key to all we do to directly improve readiness and lethality of our military,” he said. “Fundamentally, as we think about the challenges of logistics, most people don’t realize the level of difficulty and complexity that each service and each combatant command faces in generating and maintaining the readiness they require.”
DLA transformation
Simerly said DLA is several years into a transformation effort as he shared some of the changes and challenges facing the agency, drawing attention to contested logistics.
“We operate in a complex world – a complex environment – with geopolitical considerations that underpin the DoD’s decisions,” he said. “It’s an environment, created by our adversaries, where we are contested in all domains and at all levels of war, overseas and in the homeland.”
“When we talk about being contested, it’s not just in competition,” Simerly continued. “It goes into crisis, and it goes into conflict. When it comes to the cyber domain, every day we are in conflict, and we know our adversaries are setting conditions to contest all domains of logistics. It’s not new that logistics are contested. What’s new and different is that it’s beyond the tactical edge or the forward operation areas. It’s throughout the entire enterprise where we face risk. Our adversaries know that one way to cripple the United States’ military might is to delay, degrade or eliminate our logistics capability.”
Transformation due to the ever-changing environment is happening throughout DLA and the DoD, and information shared from the services and combatant commands all highlight logistics vulnerability, he said.
“Warfare today has taken on a different quality than what we’ve seen in the past – it’s persistent, enduring and dynamic,” Simerly said, adding that DLA and its partners exist in “an era requiring transformational solutions to achieve the necessary readiness, responsiveness and resilience our warfighters need to win the large-scale fight. This decisive decade requires DLA to think, act and operate differently. It requires all of us to think, act and operate differently.”
Framework going forward
DLA’s transformation framework focuses on people, precision, posture and partnerships, and Simerly shared his thoughts on the importance of each aspect.
“Culture always precedes performance,” he said, noting that civilians make up 95% of his workforce, 45% of whom are military veterans. “We’re fortunate that throughout the agency, our teammates have a ‘warfighter always’ spirit. That’s a mindset we need to continue to foster and grow as we confront the current challenges, and those of the future in this era of contested logistics.”
“Our people must be conditioned for change,” Simerly continued. “We need the active support of teammates who understand the recalibration we’re going through – from a post-Cold War policy framework based on an efficiency model to one that prioritizes the resiliency we’ll need to win the future fight. One of our traditional strengths has been our ties to you, our industry partners – our ability to speak with you, to translate warfighting requirements to you in ways that are actionable. That’s an enduring capability we’re going to have to maintain and also to refine.”
To reinforce his point, Simerly said the U.S. Space Force employs a concept called ‘Maneuver Without Regret’ in reference to the movement of satellites. DLA needs to be able to ‘Sustain Without Regret,’ he said.
“We know when we move things forward, we’re probably not going to have the time, capacity or opportunity to move them again,” Simerly said. “We cannot afford to be imprecise in how we determine what we provide, where we stock things, how we move things or what we stock. We must partner with the services and combatant commands to achieve precise understanding of combat requirements and then translate those – with precision – to industry. At DLA, we’re focusing our IT and digital capability investments on key areas that will enable us to enhance performance, reduce costs, and make more predictive and data-driven decisions.”
The third element of the transformation framework is posture, which Simerly sees as presence, position and stance.
“DLA is providing a physical presence in many parts of the world, often deploying our subject-matter experts in fuel, food, and every other commodity and function that we serve,” he said. “Wherever they are, we can help influence decisions, manage access, ensure delivery at the time of need, and better see the battlefield. Position is how and where we locate commodities across the world, and that something we’re constantly weighing.”
“We must use our unique capabilities within DLA to establish the pre-positioned materiel in an affordable way, so that we can have a presence that supports current operations and also will provide greater capability during contingencies,” Simerly continued. “Finally, by stance, I mean our capabilities must be positioned and protected in a way that allows us to move quickly when necessary.”
Creating partnerships
The only way America can prepare for war is through the American private industry and enterprise, Simerly said, encouraging attendees from those sectors to promote the warfighter mindset throughout their organizations.
“At DLA, we stress the idea that we are not only supporting our warfighters, but we are indispensable members of the warfighting team,” he said. “Industry is also part of the team. I would recommend that within your own culture you promote an embedded understanding of what ‘combat’ and the ‘contested logistics environment’ means as you shape your solutions.”
Importance of data
Throughout his remarks, Simerly stressed the importance of data acumen.
“Data is the most decisive commodity we manage, and DLA’s role within the DoD is unique when it comes to delivering and connecting logistics data,” he said. “Our responsibility to effectively employ data to drive decisions and achieve advantages depends on the data acumen of our workforce and the leaders who support them.
“I would also urge you to address your workforce data acumen,” Simerly continued, again addressing DLA industry partners. “It’s important that we all develop tools, best practices, and skill sets that are tailored and customized for defense logistics use.”
Promoting small businesses
Recognizing that relatively few industry representatives at the conference hailed from blue-chip companies, Simerly emphasized that advocating for small businesses in the defense ecosystem is a pivotal goal for DLA and the military services.
“Together, we stand committed to fostering an environment where small businesses thrive, collaborating seamlessly with prime contractors to ensure collective success and sustainability across the defense industrial base,” he said. “As we forge ahead, one of our primary focus areas remains the advancement of defense socioeconomic goals. We recognize that by nurturing our small businesses, we not only bolster our industrial base but promote economic vitality and inclusivity within our communities.”
Supporting warfighters
“We know the challenges that industry, especially small businesses, have faced in recent years have been formidable. Inflation, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, wage growth, foreign dependency, cyber security challenges, geopolitical instability … the list is long,” Simerly said. “The importance of our partnership has never been more evident than now … as we operationalize our efforts to enable warfighters around the globe to achieve their desired outcomes.”
“When it comes to creating, enhancing, and sustaining our readiness and lethality, failure is not an option – we must find a way,” Simerly continued. “Our collective warfighting success depends on a healthy, resilient, innovative industrial base to ensure and secure our competitive advantage on the battlefield. At DLA, our teams work hard every day to make that concept a reality.”
Other activities today included additional charter signings representing new partnerships between DLA and industry, pushing for better dialogue between the DoD and the defense industrial base.
This is the second year for the DLA Supply Chain Alliance Conference and Exhibition, which combined the legacy DLA Land and Maritime Supplier Conference and DLA Aviation Industry Day into one annual event, alternating locations between Columbus and Richmond, Virginia, in partnership with the National Defense Industrial Association.