DLA Land and Maritime presents annual plan to agency director

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior leaders at Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime presented their Annual Operating Plan to the director of the agency Aug. 16 during a morning presentation at Defense Supply Center Columbus.

DLA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Andy Busch was at DSCC with other DLA leaders to review the plan and assess performance initiatives and operating forecasts while offering his feedback.

Land and Maritime directors and supervisors presented Busch with detailed information demonstrating their progress in achieving his five stated goals for mission success. These objectives include warfighter support, people and culture, strategic engagement, financial stewardship, and process excellence.

Navy Capt. Brian Ginnane, director of Maritime Customer Operations, demonstrated how the agency’s industrial and operational support has helped the U.S. Navy grow its fleet to more than 300 ships. “We’ve consistently met our Performance Based Agreement (PBA) goals,” Ginnane said. “July marked our 105th consecutive month meeting our PBA objective.”

Another discussion topic during the AOP review was the agency’s commitment to the importance of its people and culture, including an overview of workforce demographics and the success of recent special emphasis program events.

“It’s been a years-long process to stand up this new directorate and bring all of these programs under one roof,” Air Force Col. Brad Tannehill, head of the People and Culture directorate said. “We’re happy with what we’ve achieved and how it fits in with the director’s strategic plan.”

“I can’t stress enough the importance of resiliency-building programs at the agency,” Busch said. “Resiliency is what improves our mental and physical health, and allows us to realize our full potential as individuals.”

Busch also recognized Land and Maritime for its Sexual Assault Prevention and Response efforts.

“Each of our military service branches as well as our federal civilians have dedicated representatives in our Sexual Assault Resource Center,” Tannehill said. “It’s just one of the resources in our resiliency toolkit that we try to make each associate aware of.”

Mark Brown, Procurement Support director explained how Land and Maritime has implemented the principles of Better Buying Power to achieve Busch’s goal of process excellence. “One of our biggest successes at Land and Maritime is our Vendor Performance History (VPH) tool,” Brown said. “This is a program that measures and promotes vendor responsibility and performance, and it’s allowed us to make better decisions in our contracting process.”

Navy Rear Adm. Vincent Griffith, director of DLA Logistics Operations, joined Busch at the AOP, along with DLA Senior Enlisted Advisor Army Command Sgt. Maj. Charles Tobin.

“We’re all leaders in this room,” Tobin said. “But I encourage you all to engage with your customers at every level. Sometimes the most valuable information I get comes from the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines or coast guardsmen on the ground using the equipment themselves.”

Following the AOP review and a short break for lunch, associates gathered in the Bldg. 11 auditorium for a town hall with the DLA director. He discussed upcoming programs within the agency and the results of an internal employee survey.

“This year we had the highest survey participation we’ve ever had,” Busch said. “I’m happy to say 82% of the workforce overwhelmingly said they were happy to be a part of DLA.

“Out of the 17,000 associates who took the survey, there were also 29,000 comments – Mr. Case and I read them all.”

Busch recognized several associates for their outstanding contributions to DLA and then took questions from the audience covering topics such as staffing projections and the future of telework options.

The town hall marked the third such event Busch has held in Columbus since he took command of the agency in December, 2014. He told the crowd that no matter where he visits, he can see the positive impact DLA Land and Maritime has on our warfighters around the world.