FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
As 1,500 troops reported for security operations on the southern border in late January, Ralph Laurie fixed his attention on U.S. Northern Command’s plans to help the Department of Homeland Security bring new vigor to the mission, now a national emergency according to a Jan. 20 executive order.
“I kept hearing senior leaders say, ‘We’re not going to do more of the same.’ The premise was that the administration is looking for results and we were going to do new things – different things – to get those results,” said Laurie, a Defense Logistics Agency liaison officer embedded with NORTHCOM’s logistics staff at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
For Laurie and the rest of DLA, “different” translated into quicker, more efficient support for DHS and Customs and Border Protection.
Laurie and supply chain experts at DLA’s major subordinate commands, along with members of the Agency Synchronization and Operations Center, rushed to get ahead of equipment needs for units mounting physical barriers and boosting security. By mid-April, DLA had provided over $24 million in support, according to ASOC reports.
“The initial spin-up was difficult. The southern border is 1,900 miles long, so we were trying to figure out where along that line we should put stuff. At the same time, we were also getting estimates of a total force package that could include as many as 15,000 troops,” Laurie said.
He and DLA Energy’s Greg Knowles, who is also at NORTHCOM Headquarters, are entrenched in NORTHCOM planning and ensure units know how to plug into DLA’s logistics capabilities so they can focus on their mission. The ASOC unifies DLA’s support by capturing logistics requirements from numerous customers under Joint Task Force-Southern Border.
“We’re a clearinghouse that ensures communication flows in our large organization to the right subject matter experts,” said Army Maj. Hans Mogelgaard, an ASOC battle captain. “We rely on employees at all of our supply chains to pull data to help us determine how we’re best able to respond to requirements, and then we synchronize all that data so DLA leaders can make informed decisions on our overall support.”
Spares and Construction Material
One example is the need for spare parts by the 10th Mountain Division, which leads JTF-SB and has deployed armored vehicles and helicopters about 15 miles from the Mexico border at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, for detection and monitoring missions. The ASOC team connected the unit’s logisticians to DLA Land and Maritime, where acquisition teams are ensuring spare parts are ready as needs arise during repair and maintenance.
A large chunk of support has also come from DLA Troop Support’s construction and equipment supply chain. In January and February, the barriers team purchased 100,000 rolls of concertina wire, 6,000 rolls of barbed wire and about 290,000 metal fence posts for staging at DLA Distribution San Joaquin, California, so it would be ready upon units’ arrival. The material has so far been used at CBP’s Imperial Beach Station and by units deployed to Fort Huachuca. The barriers team has placed additional orders for the same items since February, and Vinny Oliva, chief of the Construction and Equipment Division, said his team is anticipating possible needs for items like sandbags and expeditionary barrier systems.
“We’re working with our vendors to let them know what else may be needed because we want them to be flexible and ready if we drop a significant order for more material or different types,” added Adam Tutolo, construction and equipment readiness chief. “We’re dealing with a lot of unknowns, and this will likely be a long mission, but teams across DLA are working together and with industry to be adequately prepared.”
Fuel
Our supply chain is already built to be flexible for missions like this
Army Capt. Riley Tidwell
Fuel is also in high demand with forces spanning ground, air and sea operations. Some needs have been met using fuel points that have expanded to 24/7 operations, said Army Capt. Riley Tidwell, chief of operations at DLA Energy Headquarters. Additionally, regional teams are monitoring fuel inventory levels and adjusting as demands spike.
“Our supply chain is already built to be flexible for missions like this. We could have an extra truck show up or squeeze in an extra fuel delivery between others that are already scheduled,” Tidwell added. “We might also watch use patterns and do a pipeline push to ensure more product is available if needed.”
Even the USS Gravely, which deployed to the Gulf Coast in March to help stop drug trafficking, is tapping into DLA fuel supplies. The vessel is using the agency’s Ships’ Easy Acquisition Card® program, which allows the military services to purchase fuel from specific contracted and commercial ports.
New Missions
CBP has benefited from DLA, too, with DLA Disposition Services providing agents with supplies ranging from optical gear to sensing equipment.
“The new mission sets and dynamic timelines and taskings mean we’ve had to form a relationship with CBP because it just wasn’t an organization we worked with much in the past,” Laurie said, adding that DLA has decades of experience supporting other federal agencies during emergencies like hurricane response and the pandemic.
In response to leaders’ intent for support to be “different,” DLA has also offered new and unconventional types of support. DLA Document Services, for example, can print metal signs that units might need to mark land as DOD property, so Laurie provided cost information. And since part of the security mission is to stop fentanyl from flowing across the border, NORTHCOM asked whether DLA could buy Narcan for issuing to soldiers in case they were inadvertently exposed to fentanyl.
“Narcan’s just not something that DLA regularly buys,” Laurie said, “even for forces going into combat missions overseas. The request is an example of the really weird, oh-my-gosh items I never thought would come up, but DLA Troop Support’s medical team was all over it.”
The Long Haul
The next challenge is long-term sustainment.
“How do we do this for the next year and make sure we’re not recreating the wheel every time there’s a new requirement? Right now, we’re getting the people, processes and tools in place to continue this over the long haul so it becomes standard, similar to what we do during hurricane response,” Tidwell said.
Potential supply shortages could also impact ongoing support. Oliva’s team has already ordered additional fence posts to get ahead of competition for raw materials needed to make them and is considering other advance purchases that might eliminate future supply chain issues.
Laurie noted that although the scope and scale of the current border mission dwarfs past efforts, U.S. troops have conducted some form of border security since the mid-90’s and have often relied on DLA for construction and equipment material. He pointed to recent comments from Air Force Maj. Gen. Constance Jenkins, NORTHCOM’s director of logistics and engineering, as proof that DLA is a trusted partner.
“She said that logistics is the neck that turns the head. As logisticians, we’re making this mission possible in many ways,” Laurie said. “I also believe we have a lot of credibility that encourages customers to invite us into their deliberations, and that allows us to help them build a logistics framework that sets them up for success.”
He said he appreciates being able to see how DLA employees’ work is needed and matters.
“There are people out there who are safe today because DLA Troop Support made sure they had the equipment they needed to defend their living and working positions,” he said, adding that even ice is important to troops working in 120-degree temperatures.
“I also like that all this work is for our home, our people. It’s not some nebulous, far-off land; it’s America.”