Richmond, Va. –
Students from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy visited Defense Logistics Agency Aviation on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia Feb. 13 to interact with senior leaders and learn how DLA supports material availability at the military service depots.
Students from the school are a diverse group of senior military and civilian leaders from the military services, Defense Department, non-Defense Agencies and 38 partner nations. The school’s focus is to prepare students for national security challenges of the 21st century.
DLA Aviation Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. David Sanford spent the morning with the students who are attending the school’s Organic Industry Base Seminar.
Sanford provided an overview of DLA and DLA Aviation, with focused discussions on DLA’s strategic plan, particularly the Warfighter First and Whole of Government lines of effort.
Sanford shared his thoughts that there are three types of logistics: reactive, proactive, and predictive, adding that he hopes to move more into predictive logistics.
Discussions continued between the students and the general covering a range of topics including the industrial base, supplier needs, demand and consumption, forecasting, military service requirements, additive manufacturing and the Defense Working Capital Fund.
Following the session with the general, students also had the opportunity to discuss military readiness with customer military service division chiefs within DLA Aviation’s Customer Operations Directorate, as well as commanders at DLA Aviation’s industrial support activities co-located with the Air Force Air Logistics Complexes and Navy Fleet Readiness Centers.
As a wrap up for the day, DLA Aviation directors from Supplier Operations Commodities and Original Equipment Manufacturer and Strategic Acquisitions Programs spoke with students about what drives DLA’s basic business, tactical and strategic procurement processes, and how the agency creates tailored logistics solutions to support our customers.