Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Darrell Williams toured the DLA Energy Americas region in Houston, Texas, July 10-11, where he was immersed in the region’s mission roles and responsibilities.
The director met with Defense Fuel Support Point Houston, Petromax Refinery and Intercontinental Terminals Company employees to strengthen industry partnerships and familiarization himself with refinery and terminal operations. While at Petromax, he toured the refinery, laboratory, control room, and, truck rack.
“Warfighter First is our No. 1 priority and our success in ensuring military service readiness and combatant command lethality would not be possible without strong partnerships with industry,” Williams said in his Industry Engagement Plan. “I am convinced DLA’s early engagement, continuous communication and exchange of information with our industry partners, including small businesses, will enable us to sustain and improve our global, agile and innovative support to the Warfighter.”
Williams presented Director coins and “Ya Done Good” awards to several Americas region employees. Region leaders took the opportunity to brief him on the region’s successes and unique challenges.
During his visit, Williams witnessed the Americas team preparing for Tropical Storm Barry weather conditions impacting the region. As Tropical Storm Barry approached the Louisiana coastline, supply planners tracked 22 defense fuel support points for inventory levels and any out-of-service conditions while regional quality assurance representatives reported on vendor actions that could affect the region’s ability to maintain the supply chain.
“It was a great visit to Energy Americas,” Williams said. “Good to see first-hand the hard work the team does on the storm tracking and mitigations. I was also astounded by the breath and scope of Energy America’s mission to support our military services throughout the entire Western Hemisphere. It’s truly an incredible organization, indispensable to DLA overall mission.”
DLA Energy Americas is responsible for ten Federal Emergency Management Agency regions, seventeen major pipeline distribution systems, 64 intermediate Defense Fuel Support Points and 431 bases and a multimode distribution network. The region consists of North, Central and South Americas, the Caribbean Island states and territories, and Bermuda.