The Defense Logistics Agency renewed its commitment to providing critical lifesaving supplies and services to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a formal agreement leaders in both agencies signed March 10.
Rear Adm. Vincent Griffith, director of Logistics Operations, and FEMA Asst. Administrator for Logistics Jeffrey Dorko signed the agreement. It designates DLA as a source for various commodities and services, including DLA Distribution’s expeditionary capability to manage and operate FEMA incident support bases.
The agreement also gives DLA the flexibility to process and deliver supplies and services ahead of any well-defined requirements, ensuring critical supplies and services are in place and available. Today’s expeditionary environment requires FEMA and DLA to anticipate requirements well before either knows the full impact of a disaster.
“It’s what we have to do,” Dorko said. “We’re supposed to take care of the American people when they have their worst day.”
The 1998 Stafford Act allows DLA to provide items like meals, fuel, tents and medical supplies for FEMA to use in relief efforts after disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, as well as terrorist acts in the United States.
Griffith said DLA’s partnership with FEMA has grown strong over the years. Lessons learned during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005 shaped DLA’s early support to FEMA, while more recent hurricanes like Sandy and the 2016 flooding in Louisiana have fine-tuned that support.
The two leaders followed the signing by discussing ways the agency can help FEMA become an expeditionary organization and building capacity for catastrophic disasters.