Philadelphia –
A team from the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support's Construction and Equipment supply chain met with the Pentagon Support Office in Washington D.C. last month to reinforce ongoing collaborations and explore new avenues for supporting the Department of Defense.
The July 10 meeting aimed to showcase C&E programs that could address specific Pentagon requirements, including projects supporting the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The Pentagon Support Office is responsible for the management of maintenance and repairs of the Pentagon, the second largest building by area in the world. Maintenance personnel utilize an in-house prime vendor storefront supplied by C&E’s Maintenance Repair Operations program, to purchase items needed to complete projects throughout the building.
“It’s a great system and extremely useful,” Division Chief of the Miscellaneous Equipment Division John Cuorato said. “Think of it as a hardware store where the (prime vendor) stocks commonly requested items specified by the Pentagon Support Office. Special items can also be requested for less routine projects and are done in the same location, face-to-face with the (prime vendor) team.”
When certain hard to source requirements, unavailable for purchase through the MRO Prime Vendor contract, stalled some of the Pentagon’s maintenance projects, the C&E team sprang into action with solutions, Cuorato said.
“We here in C&E know we have many tailored vendor relations programs that can serve our customers with a wide scope of range categories,” he said. “We knew we could solve this problem, but we needed to speak with the right folks so that we could show them what we could do.”
During the meeting, the DLA Troop Support team highlighted many of C&E’s programs designed to offer faster, more efficient, and cost-effective solutions. Programs such as the AbilityOne Base Supply Center, Tailored Logistics Support Program, the Heavy Equipment Procurement Program, and the Lumber Program, provide a wide variety of products and equipment such as furniture, tools, building and maintenance items, heavy lift vehicles, and lumber.
“Awareness was the solution here,” Cuorato said. “The Pentagon Support Office had no awareness of all the programs that we have in C&E to support their requirements. Once the folks in that office knew what we could do, the discussion during our meeting really opened up.”
Moving forward, the team plans to hold weekly meetings and maintain constant communication with the Pentagon Support Office to ensure timely attention to their requirements.
C&E’s Director of Customer Operations Graham Marko said the visit was a complete success, stating that he was confident they were able to support almost any need within the Pentagon.
“We were excited at the opportunity to assist the Pentagon Support Office with the issues they were running into, and to highlight our comprehensive logistics programs,” he said. “Not only were we able to resolve some of the issues at hand, but we’re able to provide solutions effectively, efficiently and at a lower cost.”
DLA Troop Support is one of the Defense Logistics Agency's six major subordinate commands, providing worldwide sourcing and distribution of food, clothing and textiles, construction and equipment, and medical materiel to America's warfighters and other customers worldwide.