RICHMOND, Va. –
Most aviation supply professionals know how to request an aircraft part. Fewer understand the network of people and organizations working behind the scenes after that request leaves their unit.
Every requisition begins with a need on the flight line, but before a replacement part reaches a maintainer, planners, logisticians, engineers, program offices, manufacturers and supply specialists may all play a role in making it available.
The Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support Resident Wholesale Supply Course helps logistics professionals understand how those efforts come together.
Nearly 80 military and civilian logistics professionals from across the Marines Corps aviation enterprise representing ranks from lance corporal to lieutenant colonel, traveled from installations across the United States and as far away as Iwakuni and Okinawa, Japan, to attend the three-day course in June at Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia. Through instructor-led discussions, interactive scenarios and practical exercises, students explored how decisions made at the unit level can affect the larger wholesale supply system supporting Marine Corps aviation.
Students represented more than participants in a classroom. They were also customers: the Marines and civilian aviation supply professionals who rely on DLA to provide the repair parts needed to keep Marine Corps aircraft mission ready.
Marine Lance Cpl. Paulett Ruiz Guillen arrived in Richmond hoping to better understand what happened after a requisition left her desk.
Working in aviation supply at Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39 on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Guillen routinely works with DLA but had little visibility into the wholesale process supporting those requests.
“I work with DLA every day,” Guillen said. “I wanted to understand more about the whole process.”
By the end of the course, she said she viewed that process differently.
“You just see a whole different side from what you usually work on,” Guillen said. “You don’t see what they’re doing on their side. It’s amazing to see what they’re doing, how they see it and how it works.”
That broader view is exactly what the course was designed to provide. Most students attending the course work at the organizational level, where they identify requirements, order aircraft parts and support maintenance activities within their own units. DLA operates at the wholesale level, maintaining inventory, working with manufacturers and managing the larger system that delivers those parts to customers across the military.
Ordering an aircraft part is similar to ordering an item online. The customer places the order, but an entire network behind the website determines where inventory is stored, when more products need to be purchased and how orders reach their destination. DLA manages much of that larger system for military aviation parts, while Marines and civilian aviation supply professionals request the parts needed to support aircraft at their units.
Capt. Lance Winkler, DLA Weapons Support H-1 and H-53E weapon systems program officer, said helping Marines understand that larger system allows them to make better decisions long before a missing part affects a mission.
The course also introduces students to organizations they may only know through emails or phone calls, including DLA planners, program offices, fleet support teams and original equipment manufacturers. Working through realistic supply scenarios gives participants an opportunity to understand how each organization contributes to supporting the Fleet.
That understanding already has produced measurable results.
When Marines first began partnering with DLA Weapons Support to improve aviation supply processes in 2015, nearly 44% of Non-Mission Capable Supply requisitions submitted to DLA were ultimately canceled because the parts were no longer needed. Today, that figure has dropped to about 22.7%, a change Winkler attributes largely to education and stronger collaboration between retail and wholesale supply organizations.
Karen Gonzalez Navarette, supply management division staff noncommissioned officer in charge with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, traveled more than a dozen hours to attend the course.
She said understanding how wholesale and retail organizations work together made the trip worthwhile.
“It’s very important for us to understand the whole process,” Gonzalez Navarette said. “I wanted to understand more how both sides work and how they work together.”
Until attending the course, Gonzalez Navarette said much of DLA’s work happened out of sight.
“A lot of times we make assumptions that it’s just an automated process and nobody’s watching our requisition,” Gonzalez Navarette said. “It was very important to see that there’s actually somebody who’s expediting our requisitions and how involved they are. It also put a face to the names.”
That experience changed how she views DLA’s role in supporting Marine Corps aviation.
“It has changed my perspective as far as how DLA actually works to support customers,” Gonzalez Navarette said.
Staff Sgt. Ixchel Ortiz sees the effects of communication every day.
Serving as an inspector with the First Marine Aircraft Wing Aviation Supply Management Team in Okinawa, Japan, Ortiz works with subordinate units throughout the Pacific region, helping ensure aviation supply policies are properly implemented and maintained. Her position places her between operational units and organizations such as DLA, making communication one of her most important responsibilities.
She said the course reinforced how small actions taken at the unit level can influence decisions throughout the wholesale supply system.
“There’s a lot that gets lost in translation when emails are getting sent back and forth,” Ortiz said. “Having this knowledge and getting exposed to this again is kind of a reminder of how we’re falling short. These tools are accessible to us, especially as staff noncommissioned officers and managers, and we should be following through.”
One lesson stood out.
When aviation units no longer need a requested part, documenting why that requirement changed helps DLA understand future demand. Without that information, planners lose valuable insight used to determine what inventory should be available in the future.
Think about a grocery store trying to predict how much milk or bread customers will buy next week. If customers routinely change their minds without explanation, the store has less information to guide future orders. Wholesale aviation supply works much the same way. Accurate reporting helps DLA better anticipate future requirements and position inventory where it is needed before aircraft require it.
The connection between actions at the unit level and decisions made across DLA gave Ortiz a new appreciation for the information customers provide throughout the supply process.
“The customer…they cancel the requisition that’s outstanding in the external system that DLA is currently working, and DLA isn’t necessarily tracking why,” Ortiz said. “When it comes to future planning, forecasting and creating that demand so our locations can stock those parts, it really affects our supply effectiveness.”
She plans to share those lessons with the Marines and civilian personnel she supports throughout the Pacific region.
“Especially at the managerial level, if you have staff noncommissioned officers that have never worked in operations, this gives them exposure to understand the support that DLA provides,” Ortiz said. “It’s kind of just emails sent back and forth. Definitely the exposure to the names that we are consistently emailing back and forth.”
That opportunity to build relationships became one of the course’s greatest strengths.
Instead of discussing supply challenges through email or over the phone, students worked side by side with DLA employees, original equipment manufacturers, fleet support teams and program offices while solving realistic supply scenarios. The conversations allowed participants to ask questions, explain challenges from their own organizations and better understand how each piece of the supply system contributes to supporting Marine aviation.
Although each participant arrived with different responsibilities, they described a similar takeaway.
Guillen left Richmond with a better understanding of the work taking place after a requisition reached DLA.
Gonzalez Navarette gained a greater appreciation for the people working behind the requests she submits from Japan.
Ortiz returned to Okinawa with a renewed commitment to strengthening communication and helping Marines better understand the processes that influence wholesale supply.
These lessons extend well beyond the classroom. While the course introduced students to the wholesale supply system, many participants said meeting the people behind those processes proved just as valuable. Better communication between DLA and its customers helps both sides understand how individual actions influence the larger effort to support Marine Corps aviation.
The next time one of those students submits a requisition, they will understand that it begins more than a request for a part. It begins a process supported by Marines, civilians and industry partners working together to deliver the right capability to the right place at the right time.