FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
A new volunteer opportunity is available for Defense Logistics Agency employees who think working in the field with warfighers sounds more exciting than a cubicle job with a predictable schedule.
DLA is assembling a crew of 400 volunteers to deploy as situations arise around the world. Members will be ready to deploy at a moment’s notice to supplement DLA employees already on the ground.
Patrick Kelleher, executive director of DLA’s Operations and Sustainment Division, said the team will help make sure the agency is ready for anything, anytime, anywhere. The work may not be easy, he added, but it can be professionally and personally gratifying.
“You work longer hours; you work harder. It's higher pressure, but in the end it's professionally rewarding,” Kelleher said. “I think what people who deploy bring back is of significant value because it increases their general level of proficiency and awareness about the importance of their job, and then they can share that with their coworkers.”
Volunteers will deploy for up to 179 days, unlike other deployable groups such as Rapid Deployment Teams that deploy for 45-90 days.
Volunteers don’t need a specific skill set or training but should want to develop professionally, operate in a more challenging environment and develop critical thinking skills, Kelleher said.
“We need people who are enthusiastic, willing to work, willing to take the initiative, and are aggressive go-getters. Though this experience, they will become multifunctional logisticians, but they don't have to be going in,” Kelleher said.
Volunteers will train as if they were deploying as a service member, said Air Force Col. Christopher Simmons, DLA’s deployment operations chief. Instruction will cover DLA supply chains, IT systems like FedMall and instructor-led scenarios. Volunteers also will go to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, to complete medical training and get personal protective equipment like helmets and biological equipment as well as uniforms and sleeping bags.
There are no age limits, but volunteers must meet medical requirements to deploy. They also need to have personal paperwork such as wills and powers of attorney in place before deploying.
Incentives are still in development but will include money and time off, Kelleher said.
The operational environment overseas is significantly different from before COVID-19, he added.
“The agency hasn't really had to exercise the deployment process as much in a dynamic way recently, and so a lot of the skills that were developed when deploying people to Iraq and Afghanistan atrophied,” he said.
Deploying can be an eye-opening experience usually restricted to service members, said Maurice Harford, DLA Logistics Operations’ deployment operations deputy.
“Volunteers are where the rubber meets the road. They’re seeing things that only a very few have been able to see, and they’re interfacing directly with the customer,” Harford said.
Supervisors who are hesitant to lose a star employee for several months should consider the overall benefits to the agency and employee, Kelleher said.
“Supervisors need to acknowledge that a short-term loss in terms of the employee not being there gains them a more experienced and proficient employee when that employee returns,” he said.
For more information about volunteer deployable opportunities at DLA, email depops@dla.mil.