PHILADELPHIA –
An email and Microsoft Teams notification to report to an alternative work location with a Government Travel Card was sent to nearly 50 Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Clothing and Textiles supply chain employees June 4, to kick off a Continuity of Operations training.
To ensure C&T can continue mission-essential functions during disruptions like natural disasters or terrorist attacks, C&T hosted a COOP Alert and Program Overview presentation, attended by supply chain leaders and mission-essential designated employees.
“COOP is very important as it allows our agency [and] supply chain to continue support to our customers during times of disruptions such as natural disasters, [information technology] outages, cyber-attacks or other catastrophic events,” said Jose Moraga supervisor of the Clothing & Textiles Executive Agent Program Office. “COOP builds resiliency in our supply chain and enables us to continue to deliver readiness to our warfighters.”
Moraga is supervisor to C&T’s COOP Team Lead Norvel Brown, who led the overview presentation. C&T Director Army Col. Bernard K. Monroe also provided remarks, followed by a question-and-answer session and static display walk through of “Go Bags,” including clothing and personal care items.
“The importance of Troop Support during contingency operations is vital to the success of the warfighter and it takes everyone in this room totally engaged and deliberate in your actions,” Monroe said.
The event served as an opportunity to refine internal processes for various scenarios that enables continuous uninterrupted support throughout the entire operation, Monroe said.
Planned to coincide with the Joint Chief of Staff’s Elite Constellation 25, the primary exercise objectives were to demonstrate global supply chain resiliency, improve joint logistics integration and coordination across domains and conduct contested force projection, and provide continuous support to Combatant Commands 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
While the event was the first of its kind, the team will host these kinds of exercises on a quarterly basis, Moraga said.
“Our intent is to gradually build each time during the exercises and take any lessons learned to make it more realistic and complex with each iteration,” Moraga said.