PHILADELPHIA –
Transformation, adaptability and endurance were the key focus of the Defense Logistics Agency director and senior enlisted member’s visit to DLA Troop Support for the organization’s mid-year Annual Operating Plan Review, May 13.
“Your mission is enduring and your nation’s reliance upon you is enduring as well,” DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly said.
The review was a follow-up to Simerly’s visit to Troop Support that took place in November 2024.
Three key discussion areas that were important to Simerly were change, performance, and culture.
“I say that culture aspect because we can never talk about change or performance without addressing culture,” Simerly said. “We will end up with a positive impact on our teams and a positive impact on our mission set.”
DLA Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Landis Maddox, who served as host for the review, gave an initial overview of the objectives and key results Troop Support has initiated since the last AOP.
The Troop Support OKRs are completely nested within the DLA transformational imperatives, Maddox said.
“The team did a superb job taking those initial tactical actions and turning them into OKRs, Maddox added.
Throughout the day, Troop Support senior leaders, who serve as champions for specific OKRs, provided updates and engaged in dialogue with Simerly on how DLA can assist in success for each.
Data Acumen and the incorporation of technology in everyday practice, two points of interest for Simerly, are areas where DLA Troop Support is making waves.
Looking at the best-case use of AI, NIPR GPT, etc. and applying it to everyday is paramount, said DLA Troop Support Deputy Commander Kishayra Lambert.
Kelvin Picorelli, director of the DLA Troop Support Business Process Support office, explained the various ways the organization has prioritized educating the workforce in this area.
“We’ve created roadshows, so to speak, and bring it out to the entire Troop Support workforce, through several session,” Picorelli said.
The roadshows described the data acumen training journeys and what each offer, as well as provided a live demo of the training courses, he added. These sessions increased the knowledge of the workforce as evident in the increased request for user roles.
Additionally, the BPS team worked in conjunction with the supply chains on specific apps tailored for their business.
“For example, in C&E, we developed an app specifically for the Wildland Fire program to assist with the visualization of stock levels and also stock position,” Picorelli said.
Simerly was pleased with the efforts to improve in the technology arena.
“This is really good progress,” he said. “We must seek to automate as much as we can for daily business, however we will always rely upon human judgement. This is a really important effort.”
DLA Troop Support’s efforts to adapt to the need for change is paramount to Simerly.
“We are in the transformation era,” he said. “There are a ton of great things going on here and you all are attuned to the need for transformation. While things change, a lot will stay the same. If not us, who? Let’s continue to focus on our Warfighter. No one else is in a better position than you.”