TAMPA, Fla. –
Editor’s Note: In October 2021, DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM celebrated 18 years of support to warfighters in the Middle East and U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. This article highlights the regional command’s major milestones.
In February 2000, the Defense Logistics Agency sent Bill Bennett to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, to integrate DLA capabilities into logistics planning by U.S. Central Command staff. As the agency’s first liaison to CENTCOM, Bennett’s initial mission was to educate military planners on DLA capabilities and advise them on how to best integrate DLA expertise into local exercises and operations. This would all change in just over a year, however.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Bennett’s hard work became the foundation for how DLA would support CENTCOM forces as they rapidly transitioned to combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Increasing requirements from military customers in the region spurred DLA to broaden its scope of support and expand from a single LNO to an entire regional command, and in October 2003, DLA Southwest Asia was established per General Order No. 12-03. Since then, DLA’s military and civilian logisticians have been an integral part of CENTCOM’s mission. The DLA Joint Reserve Force and liaison officers from other combatant commands have also had critical roles in the agency’s support to CENTCOM. And in October 2004, the organization was renamed again to DLA Central per General Order No. 6-04 as the organization’s mission expanded and became intertwined with CENTCOM operations.
Adding efficiency to the Defense Department’s logistics response was paramount to DLA’s success supporting CENTCOM troops. DLA and other Joint Logistics Enterprise stakeholders therefore created the CENTCOM Deployment and Distribution Operations Center in January 2004. Originally a 100-day pilot program, the CDDOC became integral to CENTCOM operations and generated immediate improvement in the areas of in-transit visibility, locating and expediting frustrated high-priority cargo, and prioritizing intra-theater air distribution. Its positive results paved the way for joint deployment and distribution operations centers at every geographic combatant command. And with the U.S. Transportation Command and Army Materiel Command, DLA worked to bridge the gap between strategic and operational logistics support to combatant commanders.
As the wars continued with increased troop movement and growing U.S. infrastructure, DLA quickly became an integrator for supply management. It anticipated needs by deploying a DLA contingency support team to Uzbekistan in 2001 and to Afghanistan in 2003. The first DCST Iraq deployed in 2004.
Management and flow of supplies became crucial as demands for food, construction material and repair parts increased, so DLA adopted new processes to streamline packing and distribution processes in theater. In 2005, the “pure pallet” initiative, for example, ensured units received shipments that contained items only belong to themselves.
DLA employees were also part of notable accomplishments such as the pre-positioning of equipment for warfighters at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Containers of construction and barrier equipment DLA sent forward ensured quick distribution of popular supplies like lumber and other building materials. In 2005, the agency also opened a forward distribution depot in Kuwait to serve as a hub for critical supplies and equipment that would’ve otherwise cost more to ship on short notice. The depot eventually became a consolidation point that freed Army units from running their own theater consolidation and shipping point.
Creation of Expeditionary Disposition and Remediation Teams was another DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM success. DLA provided on-site support through hub-based disposal operations and EDRTs at 11 forward locations. In June 2013, the agency began supporting the transfer or closure of 189 forward operating bases across Afghanistan and redeployment, retrograde, or divestiture of 23,000 pieces of rolling stock, 1.8 million pieces of non-rolling stock and 80,000 containers.
In 2017, DLA Central was redesignated DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM, and this summer its employees worked with other DLA major subordinate commands to assist in the non-combatant evacuation of Kabul. The effort included movement of over 120,000 Americans, special immigrants and allied nation citizens.
Today, DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM operates under the mantra “There is no peace dividend in the Middle East.” The regional command is recognized as a battle-hardened organization with a combined workforce of joint warfighters and expeditionary civilians still working alongside CENTCOM and SOCOM staff in a complex environment. Embedded customer service and warfighter support representatives, disposal service representatives and LNOs remain the face of the organization and one of the keys to the organization’s success. Lessons learned during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to shape the way DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM supports warfighters and combatant commanders in the future, and employees’ contributions to the war on terrorism will remain a key part of DLA history.