Editor’s Note: This is one of five stories featuring 2025 DLA Hall of Fame inductees. An induction ceremony will be held 2 p.m. May 21 at the McNamara Headquarters Complex auditorium on Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The ceremony is open to all DLA employees; invitations are not needed.
A senior logistician known for exceptional leadership, strategic vision and dedication to the field of strategic materials management across the Defense Logistics Agency is a 2025 DLA Hall of Fame member.
Ronnie Favors began his federal career in 1988 as a storage specialist at the Defense National Stockpile Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, now DLA Strategic Materials. Favors held various leadership roles using his technical expertise throughout his 33-year career, to include Baton Rouge depot manager, contract specialist, operations chief, director of material management and deputy administrator. He ended as the strategic materials administrator.
The National Defense Stockpile was created in 1939 after the passing of the Strategic Materials Act, authorizing $100 million to purchase strategic items the nation faced challenges acquiring during World War I. While the General Services Administration originally held the mission in 1940, DLA assumed it in 1988 after operational activities and oversight were delegated to the agency under Executive Order 12626. This made DLA the National Defense Stockpile Manager.
As the DLA strategic materials administrator in 2014, Favor secured the first congressional funding authority to acquire new strategic and critical materials.
“This accomplishment marked the first such authorization in two decades, allowing the NDS to purchase stockpiles of strategic materials critical for defense platforms while enabling the nation’s depleted stockpile to begin the rebuilding process,” his nomination said. “This milestone demonstrates his ability to navigate complex policy and legislative landscapes, driving critical support for the nation's strategic materials needs.”
Favors also oversaw several transformational change efforts to modernize the NDS and reorganize his team to shift the focus from just storage to research and analysis, creating the Directorate of Strategic Planning and Market Research.
“The DLA Strategic Materials that exists today, recognized as a provider of some of the most specialized expertise and market knowledge of strategic critical materials in the U.S. government, exists as result of Ronnie’s prescient efforts to position it as a strategic national asset,” his nomination said. “Ronnie made other business and process changes centralizing contracting and material acquisition, expanding the capabilities and opportunities for acquisition professional. The expertise which Ronnie identified and grew is reflected on in the current day, where organizations such as the United States Geological Survey, the Department of Energy and others look to DLA Strategic Materials as the authoritative source of knowledge for strategic and critical materials.”
Favors oversaw a unique and first-of-its-kind project where he planned and executed the relocation and permanent safe storage of 4,400 metric tons of mercury from various locations to Hawthorne, Nevada, in 2010.
“This complex and sensitive operation required meticulous planning and execution, and Ronnie's expertise and leadership were essential to its success, demonstrating his ability to manage high-stakes projects,” his nomination noted.
Favors’ ability to drive results and navigate complex logistical challenges while demonstrating his expertise in strategic materials management resulted in one of his most notable achievements.
“He developed and implemented a sales program that disposed of bauxite inventories from Gramercy, Louisiana; Devils Swamp, Louisiana; and Gregory, Texas; reducing the strategic materials footprint and successfully closing 31 depot locations and consolidating inventories to three core staffed facilities in Scotia, New York; Hammond, Indiana; and Hawthorne, Nevada. This effort resulted in a significant reduction of warehouse space, exceeding 13 million square feet since the late 1990s, and has had a lasting impact on the organization's efficiency and cost savings,” according to the nomination.