FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
Diplomacy and military logistics may seem like distant cousins, but the nation was founded on this partnership, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Global Operations told Defense Logistics Agency employees July 17.
Presenter Seth Green opened with the story of Benjamin Franklin’s journey to France in 1776 on the Reprisal, a continental Navy warship.
“The voyage was treacherous, but Franklin knew the stakes. Franklin was not just carrying letters, but the hope of our nation,” Green said. “He arrived in France not with an Army but with strategy, charm and urgency to secure French support – military, finance and logistics.”
Through diplomacy with the French, Franklin succeeded in 1778 when France formally allied with the United States. That alliance brought troops, ships, gunpowder and money, exactly what George Washington’s army needed.
The battle of Yorktown wouldn’t happen with without French cannons and cash, Green said. Those assets did not fall from the sky. They had to be moved back to America by DLA’s predecessors.
“Logistics makes victories possible, and diplomacy makes logistics happen,” he added.
Green’s presentation was a part of the agency’s Warfighter Talks series in the agency’s Campaign of Learning to foster understanding and collaboration among joint logisticians.
State Department logistics platforms and framework
The State Department provides global diplomatic platforms around the world through its over 270 embassies and consulates in about 160 countries globally. Green noted his organization provides the platform for diplomatic defense, law enforcement and national security enterprises to engage with host nation governments.
Green said State Department management platform oversight includes logistics operations. His team enables the nation’s whole-of-government partners to succeed and execute the administration’s agenda in their assigned country.
“While our logistics operations are much smaller in comparison to (the Defense Department), we must be flexible and adaptable,” he said. “We are inherently distributed and inherently interagency-focused, as our distributed logistics system is organic to each mission.”
The platform enables the State Department to rely heavily on local and commercial networks to positively impact outcomes, he added.
State Department and DLA partnerships
Green emphasized the DLA and the State Department’s relationship hit a major milestone this year. DLA and the State Department signed a 10-year, $600M interagency partnership agreement for the acquisition of all goods and services across the agency’s catalog in steady state or in crisis to execute their mission Oct. 1, 2024.
DLA Energy and DLA Troop Support provide logistics support in locations where it may be challenging to get fuel or certain subsistence items and even assist in contingency planning, he said.
The State Department has also purchased pharmaceutical and medical equipment from DLA. Their embassy and consulate acquisition staff are also using DLA’s FedMall catalogs to buy goods for the State Department and whole-of-government partners at posts around the globe.
“The mission remains – whether it’s humanitarian missions in the Horn of Africa, deterrence in Europe, crisis response in the Middle East or global competition in the Indo-Pacific Command – our national security goals still depend on the precise stance of diplomatic access and logistics power,” Green said.
When diplomacy and logistics sail together, our republic wins, Green concluded.
“Let’s not build in parallel lines; let’s build a single road together, State and Defense moving in sync,” he said.
DLA Director of Logistics Operations Air Force Maj. Gen. David Sanford thanked Green for leading the conversation on the connective tissues between DLA and the State Department.
You are small but mighty team, he said, and DLA will stay in tune with the State Department to continue providing logistics support.
A recording of the event will be made available to DLA employees on the Campaign of Learning page (a DLA Common Access Card is required).