While classroom study provides a foundation for understanding logistics, fully grasping the depth and volatility of global supply chains benefits from firsthand, real-world exposure.
To bridge this gap, students embark on a two-week field study after six months in a classroom during their industry study course at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
The school’s curriculum includes 19 different industry study courses, ranging from microelectronics and aviation to shipbuilding and strategic materials, designed to provide students with the tools to evaluate domestic and international industries, said Stacey Pilling, Defense Logistics Agency faculty chair at the Eisenhower School. By combining classroom instruction with direct industry engagement, the program aims to give future senior leaders a better understanding of the relationship between the government and the private sector.
“Reading about supply chains, distribution networks or strategic mobility provides theory, but visiting ports, warehouses, transportation hubs and military logistics centers allows students to see the complexity, scale and interdependence of the systems in real time,” Pilling said.
By exposing students to operational realities and showing them the immense coordination of people, technology and infrastructure, the industry study courses help develop more informed, strategically minded leaders who understand the broader logistics enterprise beyond their immediate day-to-day roles and responsibilities, Pilling said.
Kevin Phillips, a DLA student in the Transportation and Logistics Industry Study course, said the field engagements provided critical context for how civilian supply chains adapt to global demand signals. Observing these operations in person allowed students to apply their classroom frameworks to real-time decisions under real-world constraints.
“Being able to see how the ports, rails, trucking and warehouse systems are synchronized reinforced how interconnected those systems are,” he said.
The field study also exposed students to vulnerabilities in global supply chains. While in Hawaii, students met with military commands and DLA regional leaders to discuss contested logistics and theater sustainment. They learned that the island typically only holds a limited amount of commercial supply for the civilian population. If a global event required the military to surge operations and redirect port capacity, it would severely impact the local economy, underscoring how small disruptions could have much larger effects.
Phillips said experiencing this dynamic firsthand solidified DLA’s role as the critical integrator connecting sourcing, storage, transportation and operational demand between the private sector and military operations. He added that the exposure will make him a more adaptive leader.
“Supply is only as effective as the ability to move and deliver it,” he said. “This experience has provided a firsthand, clearer perspective of how DLA truly is the foundation for military operations and capability.”