PHILADELPHIA –
The need for food logistics experts in Arifjan, Kuwait now provides Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support civilian employees and military officers an opportunity to volunteer for future deployments.
A six-month DLA Support Team-Kuwait Class 1, or subsistence, liaison rotational position was created in January 2019 in response to a request from the DST-K commander.
“We went through a few periods where there was more of a need for command information for Class 1 in real-time and staff support at meetings,” Sean Wood, Subsistence supply chain supervisory logistics systems analyst said. “So the DST commander on the ground felt that they needed someone on the team to handle these meetings and requirements as opposed to [waiting] to receive responses from [Troop Support] Europe and Africa or Philadelphia.”
Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Cameron is the current DST-K Class 1 liaison and considers his customer facing role very important.
“I am responsible for tracking and updating sustainment packages, Subsistence prime vendors' orders and answering general questions from combatant commanders,” Cameron said. “I attend many briefings from the strategic to the operational level to provide guidance, assistance and information regarding Class 1 and to keep my commander in the know on any issues in the pipeline.”
The selected candidate will replace Cameron in September.
Not only is the position critical to the DST commander it also benefits the Subsistence team here in Philadelphia.
“Having a Class 1 [representative] in theater helps because you are right where the warfighter is and all the people who are going to make decisions as far as what the Army is going to do [for] Class 1 support in theater are being made right there,” Wood said.
To fill this role, the Subsistence team is looking for candidates with a good temperament as well as great communication, briefing and problem solving skills.
“You can’t be prone to excitement because typically [customers] coming to you are probably already excited, so you have to be able to be the measured hand and say that, ‘we are going to get to the bottom of this [issue],'” Wood said. “Communication skills [are required] because liaisons are going to provide briefings and meetings to the DST commander at the O-5 [lieutenant commander] , O-6 [colonel] and general officer levels.”
Wood stated that the deployment opportunity provides some amazing employee benefits as well.
- Option to have a private on-base living space
- 6-day work schedule, with 30 hours of overtime a week
- Receive an additional 10 percent of your base pay
- Cash post-deployment award
- 40-hour time off award at the completion of the tour
- A day off to go off-base and visit Kuwait City every week
Having previously filled a deployment role in the past, Wood considers the experience rewarding.
“Kuwait is a good first deployment if you have never deployed anywhere,” Wood said. “For those who have no military experience or are former military, it is a resume builder and a side of warfighter support that you do not get to see back here in your element at Troop Support [Philadelphia].”
Employees interested in filling this position should notify their supervisors as soon as possible. For more information about the Class 1 Liaison position contact Sean Wood at sean.wood@dla.mil.