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News | Feb. 10, 2016

DLA Distribution Europe supports Turkey humanitarian mission virtually

By Emily Tsambiras DLA Distribution Public Affairs

To facilitate the delivery of humanitarian supplies to millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey and surrounding areas, DLA Distribution Europe, located in Germersheim, Germany, had to verify and receipt materiel virtually a first for DLA Distribution.   

When the U.S. Agency for International Development requested assistance from the U.S. Transportation Command in coordinating the delivery of critical commodities to millions of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war, it tasked its own U.S. Army Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command to set up an Intermediate Staging Base in Incirlik, Turkey, to receive and distribute the supplies, which included commodities such as blankets, fans, gas cookers and hygiene kits. 

SDDC successfully executed its mission and put a contractor in place to run the operation, but incoming materiel had to be accepted by a government party.  As a result, SDDC needed to find an organization that specialized in the receipt and issue of government materiel to fill this void.  This is where DLA Distribution Europe stepped in to assist. 

Because it was deemed too dangerous to put DLA Distribution Europe employees on site in Turkey, the distribution center had to find a way to verify, both electronically and visually, that the correct materiel was received at the ISB or else the materiel couldn’t be officially received and distributed to those in desperate need.   

The process began with the distribution center accessing a central database, which was populated with all freight moving through Turkey.  Once materiel was delivered to the ISB, the contractor provided the paperwork for the items to DLA Distribution Europe, alongside photos for verification of count and condition.   

Employees at DLA Distribution then identified the assets received against the assets shipped and listed in the database.  If all information was deemed correct, DLA Distribution Europe commander Army Lt. Col. Krista Hoffman signed for official receipt of the items so that they could be distributed.   

Despite this being the first time any distribution center had participated in any distribution mission virtually, DLA Distribution Europe successfully processed 176 total receipts, accounting for more than 537,500 individual items. 

“I am very proud of what my team accomplished in support of this humanitarian mission.  Their ability to quickly adapt to dynamic requirements from a location far from the supplies’ port of entry shows what dedication and teamwork can do when DDDE gets the call,” said Hoffman.