MANAMA, Bahrain –
Navy Supply Corps Cmdr. Erik R. Naley has been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his achievements while serving as commander, Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Bahrain, Southwest Asia.
DLA Distribution, Bahrain, Southwest Asia, receives, stores, ships, and issues stock, while providing inventory control, care of stock in storage, packaging, and preservation. Additionally, as a part of this mission, DLA Distribution Bahrain, Southwest Asia provides tailored distribution services through its Material Processing Center. Materiel in storage includes clothing, housekeeping supplies, petroleum products, construction materials, repair parts and component items, and mapping products.
During Naley’s one year tenure as commander, he lead a diverse group of 74 military, civil servants, contractors, local nationals and third country nationals across multiple location. He expanded Central Command’s only DLA Distribution center, increasing on hand stock to 10,600 national stock numbers and sales to 54 million dollars while ensuring DLA Distribution Bahrain was audit ready.
Additionally, Naley established lasting relationships with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command; Commander, Task Force 53; Fleet Logistics Center Bahrain; the U.S. Embassy in Oman; Officer of Military Cooperation; the Royal Omani Police; Omani Ministry of Interior and the Royal Omani Air Force.
Naley led the establishment of the Trans-Arabian Network, a ground line of communication servicing the Arabian Peninsula, saving over $100 million for the services annually, including a DLA driven proof of principle utilizing DLA contracted assets to maximize the efficiency of intra-theater lift.
Through Naley’s focused leadership, the distribution center expanded operations to support NAVCENT customers in Salalah, Oman, through a material processing center allowing flexibility to support the warfighter outside the Strait of Hormuz. The material processing center also enables the "Strategic" Trans-Arabian Network shipments to the United Arab Emirates by ensuring customs compliance.