FORT BELVOIR, Va. –
The most recent episode of the Defense Logistics Agency podcast series spotlights the Regional Sustainment Framework and how forward-positioned logistics and maintenance can strengthen readiness in contested environments.
Joe Brooks, executive director for Regional Sustainment within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Sustainment, joins DLA Dialogues: From Factory to Foxhole alongside Colin Williams, DLA’s historian, to discuss how sustainment is evolving from centralized approaches to more regionally enabled capabilities.
While centralized sustainment can be efficient, Brooks says there can be downsides, especially when commanders must ship equipment back to the U.S. for repairs instead of fixing it forward with allies and partners.
Williams, who has a doctorate in military history, frames the shift as a broader trend.
“We’re moving from dependencies to partnerships,” he says. He highlighted three areas where partnerships matter, which are commodities like food and fuel, weapon systems and logistics services.
He continues that some of the most difficult services are maintenance, repair and overhaul, and that the ability for allies to repair equipment closer to the point of need reflects hard-earned historical lessons.
The discussion also connects RSF goals to DLA’s existing efforts.
Brooks, the former chief of DLA’s Whole of Government Division, says the agency has been doing similar work to the RSF, citing the agency’s work through Allied Cross-Servicing Agreements and Foreign Military Sales that build interoperability and weapon system commonality.
Brooks and Williams point to real world benefits of forward repair, including increased aircraft availability when repairs can be done in theater, and time savings when vessels are repaired inside a combatant commander’s area of responsibility rather than transiting back for maintenance. They also discuss how enabling these capabilities can improve readiness and resilience.
The podcast series will continue with episode six featuring Nancy Albertson, a physical scientist in DLA Strategic Materials, and Don Helle, research and development program manager at DLA Disposition Services. The two will discuss the importance critical and strategic materials in national defense, and why protecting and securing these materials is an essential part of DLA's mission.