Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly focused on DLA’s transformation efforts and future to ensure the agency keeps pace with the joint force, during an interview on Fed Gov Today May 17.
Simerly discussed a comprehensive shift centered on data integration, divesting legacy systems, reassessing missions and reviewing the agency’s infrastructure footprint. He said military branches and combatant commands are rapidly reforming their plans for future challenges and DLA cannot afford to wait to meet those changes.
Calling data the agency’s most decisive commodity, Simerly said the primary goal is to build an accessible ecosystem equipped with state-of-the-art analytical tools. Because DLA relies heavily on military service data in addition to its own, establishing a continuous, automatic exchange of information is critical for interoperability.
While DLA initially viewed technology as the biggest modernization hurdle, Simerly said the technology is largely in place.
“It's now the procedural aspect and the human aspect of interoperability that we have to drive change in,” he said.
A major barrier to interoperability is the agency's legacy debt, with vast amounts of data trapped in outdated automation systems, Simerly said. Divesting these legacy services requires technical upgrades as well as a cultural shift to move away from established processes.
Simerly pointed to recent implementations of large-scale tools as tremendous drivers of change, such as a modernized warehouse management system and changes to DLA’s enterprise resource planning systems to use Business Suite 4 of the High-Performance Analytics Appliance — known as S/4 HANA,. He said these upgrades not only improve DLA's audit readiness but also allow the agency to optimize supply chains by forecasting potential future demands rather than relying strictly on historical data.
Beyond technology, DLA is actively reassessing its missions to ensure they align with its core function as a combat support agency. Simerly said DLA must continuously evaluate whether its tasks directly or indirectly support warfighters in combat roles, noting that some legacy missions may no longer be the most appropriate use of resources.
That reassessment extends to DLA’s global infrastructure. The agency currently supports more than 600 defense fuel support sites and more than 24 distribution warehouses worldwide. Simerly said the locations of these assets may be tied to legacy purposes and must be reevaluated against the priorities of the National Defense Strategy.
“We're constantly reviewing not only this question about infrastructure, but what it is that we do and how well we're organized to meet our missions and responsibilities to the warfighter,” Simerly said.