FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
Dedicated to strengthening international alliances, the Defense Logistics Agency actively engages with partner nations around the globe to share the agency’s advanced supply chain management, distribution and technology solutions.
Enhancing mutual understanding, identifying opportunities for repair part collaboration, demand signals and improving logistics performance across partner nations are all goals of the program, said DLA’s Account Manager for Foreign Military Sales and Security Cooperation and liaison to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency Security Cooperation Andre Hinson.
Hinson put those goals into practice recently during the U.S. Transportation Command International Logistics Symposium at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, June 26. He worked with 120 future military logistics officers from 60 countries at the O-4 to O-6 level.
“These sessions allowed focused discussions in support of foreign military sales and security cooperation while highlighting the unique logistics challenges and opportunities within the Global Combat Command regions, fostering deeper understanding and tailored solutions,” Hinson said.
Readiness and cost savings
The wars in Ukraine and Israel over the last two years have impacted equipment readiness globally because many FMS partners and allies use legacy platforms, requiring material no longer in DLA’s inventory, Hinson said. Many participants were interested in taking advantage of DLA's capabilities to help improve their readiness.
He noted the discussions reinforced DLA's commitment to ensuring operational readiness of allied and partner nations who rely on U.S.-supplied equipment. Emphasis on partners getting economies of scale through DLA’s procurement and distribution networks help the agency aggregate demand. That means DLA can understand the health of the weapon systems, engage industry to negotiate better prices with suppliers and reduce overall logistics costs.
FMS is DLA's primary support to the nation's allies and partners. In fiscal year 2024, DLA supported 129 allies through FMS, resulting in $1.2 billion in sales.
"Through Cooperative Logistics Support Agreements, DLA can better demand plan future requirements to provide our allies support faster in return for a 30% up-front investment,” he said. “These agreements also enable DLA to offer allies the same high level of support as provided to U.S. forces, targeting a serviceability/supply fulfillment rate goal of 85%."
Events like the UILS symposium highlight the broader significance of international cooperation for readiness purposes, and Hinson noted that fostering talks with other nations helps strengthen regional peace and promote global collaboration.
“A major takeaway for me was the fact that the countries realize they have similar requirements but different budgets. They are now able to work to together to accomplish their mission and reduce costs through burden sharing,” Hinson said.
FMS events also allow U.S. allies partners to share information with DLA about future exercises, providing opportunities to learn more about their organizations and equipment needs.
Warehouse Management System
Regular coordination allows DLA to share key updates about its systems and capabilities. During the UILS symposium, many U.S. allies and FMS partners learned about DLA’s Warehouse Management System for the first time.
“We want to make sure that we're able to meet our partner's requirements as they're ordering material through our depots,” Hinson said. “We showed them how DLA has aligned itself like some of our major corporations from an automation and accountability perspective.”
Using the new technology when a global customer has an aircraft down, DLA can fill small partial orders overnight in some cases, Hinson said.
“They can now quickly get them the material that they need, with fewer supply discrepancies and reduced lead times,” he added.