NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
Students from the United States Army War College met with DLA Distribution leadership and toured the Department of Defense’s largest warehouse as part of a curriculum which encourages routine engagement in discourse and debate on U.S. ground forces' role in achieving national security objectives.
DLA Distribution chief of staff Perry Knight led a discussion with the students where he explained how DLA Distribution has set up its network of distribution centers so that it is always prepared to facilitate the replenishment of supplies to troops around the world. “The sun doesn’t set on DLA Distribution. When they’re going to bed in Europe, they’re waking up in the Pacific.”
According to Knight, the organization has been taking a hard look at the way it is structured and its strategic locations around the world, particularly in light of Defense Secretary James Mattis’ concern of the potential for more than one Operation Plan to go into effect. “It’s a priority right now for us to understand how we would support those requirements if needed and how we would best leverage our network.”
“It’s about constantly reevaluating our global positioning and working with the combatant commands to better understand where we’re needed to support the mission,” agreed Scott Rosbaugh, director of Future Plans.
Referring to the organizations more than 50 sites worldwide, he added “We’re in these parts of the world because it allows us to ramp up operations very rapidly during wartime. We can be pitching and catching supplies across the globe.”
The group was also informed of DLA Distribution’s expeditionary capability, which allows the organization to forward deploy civilian and military employees to support contingency operations anywhere in the globe.
The brief was followed by a tour of DLA Distribution Susquehanna’s 1.7 million square foot Eastern Distribution Center. There, students witnessed the receipt, storage, and issuance of materiel firsthand, which was being sent to stateside customers as well as those outside the continental United States.