COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Delivering readiness, building capabilities, and enhancing logistics deterrence were the guiding themes of the first day of the 2026 Defense Logistics Agency Supply Chain Alliance Symposium and Exhibition June 2.
More than 1,300 representatives from industry and government entities attended the two-day event at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, which was hosted by the National Defense Industrial Association in partnership with DLA.
This annual event brings together decisive leaders from across the Department of War and vital industry programs, said Navy Rear Adm. Julie Treanor, commander of DLA Weapons Support (Columbus), during her opening remarks. “Your presence and active engagement here ensures we remain united, agile, and ready to learn from and support one another in an increasingly complex global environment,” Treanor said, speaking directly to industry partners. “Our shared commitment has never been more critical. The conversations we have here over the next two days will directly impact our ability to reform acquisition, strengthen our supply lines, and rapidly field the resilient capabilities our warfighters need to win.”
On behalf of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, retired Air Force Col. Joseph Zeis, an aerospace and defense advisor for the governor, welcomed the attendees to Columbus and recognized the impact they make for warfighters.
“To the DLA team, you each carry the burden of supplying our warfighters with all of the critical material necessary for operations across the globe,” Zeis said. “As an acquisition officer … I saw firsthand the dedication, the excellence and the perseverance of our military and civilian acquisition corps. They were then, and you are now, the unsung champions of our nation’s armed forces.”
Turning to the agency’s industry partners, he recognized the valuable expertise they provide to the government to help support the nation’s warfighters.
“You’re the engine that propels our military services to achieve dominance on land, in the skies, and on the sea,” Zeis continued, “through cutting-edge systems and innovative manufacturing technologies, [which] are vital to maintaining that combat edge.”
The opening session’s final presentation was a fireside chat between DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly and the Honorable Michael P. Duffey, Undersecretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment for the Department of War. During the chat, Simerly posed questions about the revitalization efforts DOW is pursuing in the industrial base.
The department is working to better understand the supply chain, anticipate vulnerabilities, and break down barriers to promote competition and resilience in the industrial base, Duffey said, referencing a recent call to action to industry.
“We’ve got a team that’s working very hard on how we reduce the burden of the qualification and certification process,” he said. “I personally think that’s a major barrier to new entrants getting into the system. On the one hand, we need to ensure that the components and parts that we’re buying can be relied upon by the warfighter in the stressing use cases of battle. On the other hand, I’m concerned that we may be overengineering how we get to the level of confidence that we need, that a new entrant could provide as a qualified part or component to enter into the supply chain.
“So, this call to action is to help us understand where you’re confronting those barriers,” Duffey continued. “And I know working through DLA – which is a great partner in these kinds of government-industry interactions – can help us get to where those barriers exist, and how we can ensure we’re opening the aperture for both traditional industry and new entrants to make sure that we make all parts and businesses available to participants in the defense supply chain.”
The gains DLA has made in using artificial intelligence are essential, Duffey said, and he commended the work done to test the supply chain through bots and automation.
“I’ve been in the department for 20 years, and one of my big frustrations is that I always feel like we are a generation behind corporate America’s best business practices when it comes to leveraging information technology,” he said. “We’re immersed in information. The only way for us to effectively do our job is if we can assemble and leverage information in an effective way – in some cases artificial intelligence just does a better job.”
“Our best assets are people. We have a tremendous acquisition and defense industrial base workforce,” Duffey continued. “If we can create that partnership between cutting-edge technology, artificial intelligence and our great workforce in industry and the government, I think we’ll be able to create great gains in productivity in how we deliver to the warfighter.”
The duo also spoke about DLA’s revitalization of the national defense stockpile, the development of multi-year procurements to justify industry investment in surge capability, and empowerment of the defense industrial base, particularly with small businesses, which make up approximately 80% of the supplier base.
“Small businesses are critical,” he said, while highlighting the efforts to reform the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement. This change “is driven by our desire to level the playing field for new entrants and small businesses to have an equal footing for doing business with the federal government. We want to make sure we remove those barriers and make it desirable and easy to do business.”
Other questions from the audience addressed the national defense stockpile, right-to-repair legislation, and consistent demand signals. Duffey expressed the importance of partnerships between government and industry, and he highlighted the department’s acquisition reform.
“It’s no mistake that [Secretary of War Pete Hegseth] made acquisition transformation a priority, and the industrial base was the first pillar of that priority,” he said. “The work that you do is essential to the success of the department and the warfighter to make sure that we not only maintain an edge on the battlefield but also achieve our goal to win without fighting. When we talk about creating deterrence, it’s not just having the strongest joint force on the battlefield, it’s having a defense industrial base that can replenish that joint force in the case of any future conflict. So, we’re very committed … to ensuring that we have the resilience and the surge capacity in our industrial base.”
The first day of the conference also featured several Knowledge Bar discussions featuring senior leaders from across DLA’s major subordinate commands on topics such as the national defense stockpile, the Weapons Support transformation effort, the four supply chains within Troop Support, critical mineral recovery and the importance of timely delivery and payments. Some of the featured breakout sessions highlighted maximizing supply chain efficiency, technologies impacting research and development innovation, asset disposition and certification programs. Stephen Gray, director of the 448th Supply Chain Management Wing, Air Force Sustainment Center, provided an overview of the AFSC during the afternoon session. During the afternoon session, Lt. Gen. Gavin Lawrence, deputy commanding general of Army Materiel Command, said this year’s conference theme captures the strategic reality the department faces, and he drew a few unmistakable conclusions.
“First, our adversaries are accelerating, adapting faster, building capabilities and closing gaps faster than at any point in recent history,” he said. “Second, in order to match and ultimately overmatch that pace, we must invest deliberately and urgently into our defense industrial base and supply chains. Without that foundation, we cannot scale to meet the demands of steady state operations, let alone the pressures of crisis or conflict.”
“Sustainment can no longer be treated as an afterthought,” Lawrence continued. “It must be the decisive advantage of our future force. That means transforming our traditional practices in ways that are meaningful, in ways that are measurable, and in ways that our
mission focus ensures that we deliver material and critical capabilities where and when needed.”
The conference continues June 3 and will feature a keynote by the DLA director, a panel discussion from the industry perspective, an NDIA update and additional Knowledge Bar sessions, among several breakout sessions focusing on a range of topics from supplier pathways, supplier operations, mitigating critical material risk, cyber readiness and supply chain risk management.