NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
"AI is the new gunpowder," declared Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly, offering a prediction on the future of military logistics.
Speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association's annual logistics forum Feb. 17, Simerly underscored the critical, transformative role he said artificial intelligence will play in defense operations.
In addition to the panel discussion focus on AI, Simerly stressed how industry partnerships are a vital part of integrating AI within the framework of sustainment and warfighter support.
“The partnership between DLA and industry is critical to our national defense,” Simerly said.
DLA senior leaders joined Simerly on the panel to discuss how the agency is modernizing systems and changing how they posture in a contested logistics environment where AI integration is an inevitable step. Simerly made it clear the agency must remain anchored in a commitment to the warfighter, the industrial base and to innovation.
“The strength of the industrial base is what will allow the U.S. to sustain a protracted fight with a peer adversary, and DLA needs to ensure it can enable a surge as needed,” he said.
The panel of DLA leaders discussed AI as one of the tools that will enable this surge through predictive decision-making and analysis, but they noted it can only be supported with strong supply chains and a robust industrial base.
“The objective is to ensure our teammates have the best tools available to ensure the readiness of our joint force and the capability of the warfighter to protect the homeland,” said Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Cotman, commanding general for DLA Distribution.
He said he viewed AI as a tool to be used in a predictive and proactive approach, rather than a reactionary delay to any surge needs. Cotman highlighted the need for employee engagement in the development of these tools.
Visibility across all nine segments of DLA’s supply chains was something DLA Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Sean Kelly discussed.
“A need to see ourselves, at all levels, enabled us to rapidly answer issues like uniform shortages,” he said.
That visualization, along with AI tools developed by the workforce, is what he said the agency sees as having a ripple effect across the entire process of getting material into the hands of the warfighter.
For Simerly, these individual threads — from digital tools to enhanced data visibility — all weave back into a single, foundational principle.
“You cannot be lethal without logistics,” Simerly said. “Innovations like digital twins and digitizing supply chains to determine needs give predictive visibility, but it is through partnerships with industry that DLA can be postured for warfighter support while investing in the people within the agency through better data and technology training.”