Defense Logistics Agency

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) defense agency. The DLA Director reports to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics through the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Logistics and Materiel Readiness). The DLA provides worldwide logistics support for the missions of the Military Departments and the Unified Combatant Commands under conditions of peace and war. It also provides logistics support to other DoD Components and certain Federal agencies, foreign governments, international organizations, and others as authorized. The DLA's origins date back to World War II when America’s huge military buildup required the rapid procurement of vast amounts of munitions and supplies.

The Defense Logistics Agency supplies the Nation’s military services and several civilian agencies with the critical resources they need to accomplish their worldwide missions.DLA provides wide-ranging logistical support for peacetime and wartime operations,as well as emergency preparedness and humanitarian missions.

Since its creation in 1961, DLA has grown to become a worldwide logistics combat support operation. From its headquarters just outside Washington, DC, DLA oversees a staff of more than 28,000 civilian and military employees who work in all 50 states and 27 foreign countries. It supplies almost every consumable item America’s military services need to operate, from groceries to jet fuel. In short, if America’s forces can eat it, wear it, drive it, shoot it, or burn it, chances are that DLA helps provide it. DLA also helps dispose of materiel and equipment that is no longer needed.

DLA has supported every major war and contingency operation of the past four decades, from the Vietnam War to operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. During the Persian Gulf War (1990-91), for instance, DLA provided more than $3 billion worth of food, clothing, medical supplies, and weapon system repair parts to the military services of the United States and several Allied nations. Later, DLA provided more than $69 million worth of food,clothing and medical supplies to the humanitarian relief efforts.

DLA continues to refine its ability to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of its military customers. DLA ’s Contingency Support Teams are consistently among the first to respond to the needs of forces deployed to far-flung countries around the world. In addition, DLA has streamlined its supply depot and distribution system to reduce costs and improve delivery times to its customers in the field.

The origins of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) date back to World War II when America’s huge military buildup required the rapid procurement of vast amounts of munitions and supplies. After the war, a presidential commission headed by former President Herbert Hoover recommended centralizing management of common military logistics support and introducing uniform financial management practices. Integrated management of supplies and services began in 1952 with the establishment of a joint Army-Navy-Air Force Support Center to control identification of supply items. For the first time, all the military services bought, stored, and issued items using a common nomenclature. DoD and the services defined the materiel that would be managed on an integrated basis as "consumables," meaning supplies that are not repairable or are consumed in normal use. Consumable items, also called commodities, were assigned to one military service to manage for all the services.

In the mid 1950’s, commodity manager agencies (called "single managers") were established to buy, store and issue supplies, manage inventories, and forecast requirements. The Army managed food and clothing; the Navy managed medical supplies, petroleum, and industrial parts; and the Air Force managed electronic items. In each category, the single manager was able to reduce its investment by centralizing wholesale stocks and simplify the supply process by persuading the services to adopt the same standard items.

The single manager concept, though successful, did not provide the uniform procedures recommended by the Hoover Commission. Each single manager operated under the procedures of its parent service, and customers had to use as many sets of procedures as there were commodity managers. In 1961, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered that the single-manager agencies be consolidated into one agency. The Defense Supply Agency (DSA) was established on October 1, 1961, and began operations on January 1, 1962. Eight single-manager agencies became DSA supply centers.

In 1965, DoD consolidated most of the contract administration activities of the military services to avoid duplication of effort and provide uniform procedures in administering contracts. Officials established the Defense Contract Administration Services (DCAS) within DSA to manage the consolidated functions. The agency’s new contract administration mission gave it responsibility for the performance of most defense contractors.

The agency’s responsibilities extended overseas when it assumed responsibility for defense overseas property disposal operations and worldwide procurement, management, and distribution of coal and bulk petroleum products (1972), and worldwide management of food items for troop feeding and in support of commissaries (1973).

In recognition of 16 years of growth and expanded responsibilities, on January 1, 1977, officials changed the name of the Defense Supply Agency to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 identified DLA as a combat support agency. In 1988, the agency assumed management of the nation’s stockpile of strategic materials from the General Services Administration. Soon after, DLA established the Defense National Stockpile Center as a primary-level field activity. In 1990, DoD directed that virtually all contract administration functions be consolidated within DLA. In response, the agency established the Defense Contract Management Command, absorbing its Defense Contract Administration Services into the new command.

Throughout the 1990’s the agency continued its effort to eliminate managerial and stockage duplication, reducing overhead costs. In April 1990 DoD directed that all the distribution depots of the military services and DLA be consolidated into a single, unified materiel distribution system to reduce overhead and costs and designated DLA to manage it. The consolidation began in October 1990 and was completed March 16, 1992.

The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, instituted in 1993, significantly affected the way the agency organized for its contract administration and supply distribution missions. Officials merged, realigned, or closed several DLA primary-level field activities. Also in response to BRAC, officials merged the former Defense Construction Supply Center Columbus and the former Defense Electronic Supply Center Dayton to form the Defense Supply Center Columbus. In 1995 the DLA headquarters and the Defense Fuel Supply Center (renamed Defense Energy Support Center in January 1998) moved from Cameron Station in Alexandria, Virginia, to Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

In February 2000 the Defense Logistics Agency recently announced a reorganization that is part of a larger plan to prepare itself to provide essential military logistics support for the 21st century warfighter. The new organizational structure -- part of an integrated plan called DLA 21 -- creates four major business areas for the agency: the Defense Logistics Support Command; the Defense Contract Management Command; Information Operations; and Financial Operations. DLA 21 focuses on five key areas: organizational design, modernization of automated business systems, employment of strategic partnerships with industry, better knowledge and understanding of customer needs, and replenishment and development of a world-class workforce. Under the restructure, the Defense Logistics Support Command provides integration of the agency's logistics operations, focusing on supply chain management, readiness and contingency operations support. The Defense Contract Management Command continued as the Department of Defense's primary contract administration activity. Information Operations consolidated the agency's information technology activities to enhance electronic commerce, logistics support systems, and document automation in support of military logistics. Financial Operations streamlined DLA's financial system so it serves as an enabler of the agency's initiatives of the future. Streamlined staff support at the headquarters was aligned under a group of special staff offices and the newly established DLA Support Services.

The Defense Logistics Support Command [DLSC], a major subordinate command of the Defense Logistics Agency formerly known as Materiel Management, was established in January 1998. The command is responsible for procuring, storing, and distributing over 85 percent of the consumable spare parts required by the military services, in addition to providing all fuel, medical, subsistence, and clothing and textile support. The DLSC worldwide logistics support network encompasses five Inventory Control Points, the Defense Distribution Center and 24 distribution depots. It also includes the DLA and DoD cataloging functions, a disposal and reutilization activity. It was subsequently reorganized as the Defense Logistics Agency Logistics Operations directorate (DLALO J-3).

DLA Lead Centers

A network of lead centers purchase and manage a variety of supplies and services to include fuel, food, clothing, construction supplies, electronics, medical supplies, distribution and disposal reutilization services.

Defense Energy Support Center (DESC)– Fort Belvoir, Va.—Fuels, gas and electrical power
Defense Supply Center, Columbus (DSCC)– Columbus, Ohio – Maritime and Land Weapon Systems support
Defense Supply Center, Richmond (DSCR)– Richmond,,Va.– Aviation support
Defense Supply Center, Philadelphia (DSCP)– Philadelphia,, Pa.– Food, clothing, medical, general and industrial supplies
Defense Distribution Center (DDC)– New Cumberland,Pa.— operates a worldwide network of 24 distribution depots that receive,store,and issue supplies. They are strategically located to enhance rapid distribution of critical military items.
Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS)— Battle Creek, Mich.— handles property disposal of items from vehicles and office equipment to scrapping of Naval ships and hazardous materials.
Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC)- Fort Belvoir,VA.-Stockpiles strategic raw materials so the United States would not be dependent on foreign sources in the event of war. With the changed international environment, DNSC is selling off its commodities and is in the process of being phased out.

To keep up with the fast pace of the electronic environment, DLA has established an eBusiness unit. The Defense Electronic Business Program Office (DoD eBusiness) falls under DLA ’s J-6 (Information Operations) directorate and is charged with implementing electronic business practices. DoD eBusiness includes these functions:

Document Automation and Production Service (DAPS)–Mechanicsburg,Pa.– Provides printing services,digital conversion and storage of documents
Defense Logistics Information Service – Battle Creek,,Mich.– Manages and distributes logistics information
Defense Automatic Addressing System Center – Wright--Patterson Air Force Base,Ohio – Receives,, edits,validates and routes logistics transactions

DLA Theater Support

DLA maintains two headquarters in Europe and the Pacific to provide customer assistance,liaison services,war planning interfaces and logistics support to the Commanders in Chief and their service component commands.

DLA Europe – Wiesbaden, Germany – serves as the focal point for tracking all warfighter issues to and from all DLA activities in Europe and the continental United States.
DLA Pacific — Taegu, Korea — provides customer assistance, liaison, services, war planning interfaces and logistics support to the Commanders in Chief, Pacific, Command and his service component commands.