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 leader known as an expert in supply chain and operations research as well as for turning the Defense Logistics Agency’s wealth of data into actionable information is a 2025 DLA Hall of Fame member.
Jeffrey Curtis began his career in 1987 with the DLA as a GS-4 procurement analyst at the Defense Construction Supply Center, which is now DLA Land and Maritime in Columbus, Ohio. Curtis concluded his career at DLA Headquarters as the executive director of DLA Logistics Operations’ Policy and Strategy in 2016. Throughout his 29-year career, he held various roles within DLA ranging from operations and analysis to human resources and acquisition.
Overseeing the agency’s strategic transformation initiatives, Curtis helped create internal alignment and integrate the agency’s business processes. He led a DLA-wide rebranding effort to rename all major DLA organizations to better reflect the agency’s evolving roles and missions.
As the executive director of the DLA Nuclear Enterprise Support Office, Curtis oversaw an effort to reduce the value of the agency’s inventory from $15 billion to between $10 - $11 billion within three years.
“Curtis led a robust logistics research and development effort across DLA to identify and resolve gaps in logistics support to the nation’s nuclear weapons resulting in the removal of over $3 billion in excess DLA inventory while mitigating performance risk,” the nomination reads. “He set the agency’s record for spare parts material availability from 86% to 90%, nearing 91% at its peak.”
As a data expert, Curtis created and led a group of organizational psychologists and analysts to measure and assess employee attitudes and perceptions enterprise-wide using data collected throughout their career life cycles.
“Leveraging his skills in ‘turning data into information,’ he and his team used an array of analytic tools and surveys to find specific pockets of notable satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the DLA workforce,” the nomination noted.
Whether unearthing secrets in procurement data or using staffing models to identify potentially under- or over-resourced offices, Curtis’ data acumen led to better and more responsive decision making by DLA leaders.
He was also known as a consummate mentor who expertly identified individuals with growth and promotion potential, developing them for increased responsibilities.
“As a result, dozens of his proteges were promoted to GS-14 and GS-15, and three are currently serving DLA as members of the Senior Executive Service,” according to the nomination. “Jeff Curtis optimized what DLA had to offer as an employee and as a supporter of the American warfighter and taxpayer.”