Joe Cassel, Jr. has been selected as director, DLA Distribution Current Operations. Currently, he serves as director, Stakeholder Integration Services, DLA Information Operations.
In his current position, he leads more than 1,400 personnel with a budget of approximately $500 million, supporting over 35,000 global IT customers. He is responsible for numerous key organizations including Document Services, Logistics Information Services and enterprise IT services such as deployed contingency operations and strategic communications. He also serves as a liaison to the Defense Information Systems Agency.
From 2007 to 2013, Cassel served as both Distribution Standard System project manager and J6N director, serving 14,000 customers at 24 DLA Distribution and Disposition sites and was responsible for management of all aspects of the network, data center, cyber-security, and end-user computing. As the DSS PM, he led and oversaw DSS systems life-cycle management, to include substantial Defense Information Systems Agency support, and implemented numerous enhancements to support Army and Marine Corps Base Realignment and Closure, the Defense Transportation Coordination Initiative, the Nuclear Weapons-Related Materiel program, and the Reutilization Business Initiative.
Cassel is a 26-year retired colonel of the U.S. Marine Corps with capstone assignments as commander, Defense Logistics Information Service, Battle Creek, Mich.; director of Logistics, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and, commanding officer of the forward-deployed Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group 22. His command tenure at DLIS included successful organizational changes, business process re-engineering, enterprise IT upgrades, new development in Defense Department-wide asset visibility and data quality efforts and national recognition for e-government and teleworking initiatives.
While at 1st Marine Division, he led logistics planning for strikes in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq to include supply, transportation, maintenance, finance, and logistics IT systems. As CO MSSG-22, Cassel was the commander of troops aboard the USS Shreveport (LPD-12), and his logistics battalion participated in three major coalition field exercises in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.
During his Marine Corps career, he deployed in support of combat and contingency operations in Beirut, Lebanon in1983, the Philippines and Desert Storm in 1991, Liberia in 1993, Rwanda in 1994, the Balkans and Iraq in 1995, and the Middle East from 1999 to 2000.
During this time, Cassel performed systems development work in maintenance management and wholesale inventory systems, initiated quality assurance for $2 billion of wholesale inventory, developed provisioning measures for new combat ground equipment, stood up and managed a $250 million desert logistics equipment training effort, and implemented bar code technology to simulate maritime pre-positioned force deployments.
From 2005 to 2007, he was an executive for a Fortune 100 company with IT and program manager responsibilities in military health systems; this included round-the-clock, global IT support, systems engineering, software development, and technology innovation.
Cassel is a Society of Logistics Engineers-Certified Professional Logistician. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from West Chester State University, Pa..; a Master of Science from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. and Master's degrees from both the Naval and Army War Colleges. His ten personal military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, and as well as numerous team awards. In 2005, the National Defense University certified him as a Federal Chief Information Officer. In 2012, he re-attained Global Information Assurance Certification Security Leadership Information Assurance Management Level 3 certification, and is a graduate of the Senior Fellow Program at the Harvard JFK School of Government.