FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
The Defense Logistics Agency held a Continuity of Operations Plan exercise April 17-21 at an undisclosed location. This was the second exercise the agency conducted this year.
The event focused on a denied communications scenario, said Will Bailey, DLA Logistics Operations’ exercise director.
“This could be America's worst day,” Bailey said about the scenario. “It could be bright and sunny outside, but then the financial markets are crashing because all the systems are failing. What matters is you don't have communications, and you’ve got to continue to operate using alternate business processes.”
The exercise helped employees train on how to function and execute essential tasks if DLA’s major systems go down, he said.
“For this exercise, the plan was to stress the agency’s systems for three days and examine alternate business practices to assess which ones are needed for mission essential task execution,” Bailey said.
About 43 members from DLA’s workforce took part in the event.
“The first meeting we had was a very team oriented, cohesive discovery event,” Bailey said.
The exercise was also a chance for the agency to test its new Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency Communications Plan, which outlines mission essential tasks and the systems needed to run those tasks.
Exercises are important to the health of the agency, Bailey said, because they give employees the chance to train on emergency scenarios.
He said the exercise was an overall success.
“Anytime we a do discovery learning and move out, I think we’re successful. Today, we are better than we were yesterday, for sure,” he added.