FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
The Defense Logistics Agency showed its commitment to global security March 19-21 as it hosted logistics and procurement leaders from 18 NATO nations for a meeting of the Common Item Material Management Support Partnership Committee, or CPC.
A legal entity under the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, the CPC provides joint management of common supplies available through the NATO Logistics Stock Exchange. The NLSE allows member nations to electronically purchase and sell supplies with a NATO Stock Number, thereby providing an alternative source for parts that are hard to source.
The partnership includes 23 nations and represents over 100 armed forces.
Navy Rear Adm. Doug Noble, director of DLA Logistics Operations, said logisticians around the world must work together to support military forces as the world changes.
“With the ongoing support to Ukraine, we all need to stay agile and always at our best while seeking opportunities to collaborate and support each other,” he said in a video message to the group. “We must continue to look for opportunities to partner and to better ourselves in support of our warfighters.”
That includes wargames and exercises that test joint capabilities, as well as careful coordination by organizations like the CPC to facilitate and foster cooperative logistics, he continued.
“One important CPC accomplishment worth mentioning is that the partnership had over 300 million euros in sales last year for the first time, which is a significant increase from 220 million euros in 2022,” he said.
Noble said DLA is committed to increasing its participation in the NATO Logistics Stock Exchange and ensuring the agency’s procurement systems are compatible with NLSE.
“We’re now testing the interoperability between our Enterprise Business System and NLSE to permit the automation of the selling process. This advancement will allow all nations to gain efficiencies,” Noble said.
DLA has formal agreements with whole-of-government partners and allies that outline performance expectations, funding and more, added Adrienne McGeachy, U.S. representative for NLSE in the DLA Logistics Operations Order Management Division. Agency agreements are approved by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, followed by the U.S. State Department.
“We’re working some of these partnerships to see where we can entwine NLSE into our support strategy to help with continuity of how NLSE member nations all buy common parts,” she said, adding that the agency is also looking at the possibility of making surplus material managed by DLA Disposition Services available through the exchange.
The Foreign Military Sales program also allows NATO partners to purchase U.S. defense equipment. Service-managed platforms such as aircraft and ground systems are transferred by the military services, but DLA primarily provides consumable repair parts for those systems.
“Security assistant liaison officers and foreign logistics officers from many of your nations are also located here in the U.S., either at embassies or with our services, and DLA has built strong relationships with them to facilitate support,” said Andre Hinson, an FMS account manager for DLA and liaison to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which administers FMS.
DSCA’s overall mission is to advance U.S. defense and foreign policy interests by building the capacity of foreign partners so they can respond to shared challenges, added Todd Hughes, a DSCA security assistance policy analyst. That includes helping partner and allied nations obtain U.S. military hardware as well as helping them build institutional capacity through education and training.
The group also learned about the U.S.’s framework for international partnerships from Eric Fleming, deputy director of international cooperation for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. The U.S. is member of 12 NATO support partnerships that involve systems ranging from fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned aerial systems to ground-based air defense and land combat vehicles.
Fleming also outlined the U.S. Defense Department’s first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy, which was released in January. The NDIS aims to help DOD overcome challenges like fragile sub-tier suppliers and funding constraints. It outlines four priorities – resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition and economic deterrence – to guide DOD as it develops a modern industrial ecosystem that deters adversaries and meets evolving production demands.
U.S. participation in the NLSE supports the U.S. strategy because international purchases help keep industry afloat, and it also provides flexibility in acquisition, Flemming added.
“Part of our whole strategy is to try to reenergize the defense industry,” he said, noting that the European Union had also recently released its first industrial strategy to enhance readiness and security.
The committee meets biannually to discuss partnership priorities, support strategies, requirements forecasting, financing and other topics. It’s currently chaired by France, and McGeachy served as the previous chairperson. This was the group’s 50th meeting but DLA’s first time hosting it.