NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
Defense Logistics Agency Distribution’s Debra McBeath was appointed acting commander, DLA Support Team — Afghanistan, by Army Col. Hattie L. Richardson, commander, DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM, June 26.
McBeath has served as deputy commander of DST — Afghanistan since March 2020 and now takes on the responsibilities of command leadership, where she is expected to maintain and enforce the battle rhythm and command policies while also ensuring continued mission accomplishment and the safety of DLA Support Team employees until Army Lt. Col. Scott Montoya assumes command this fall.
According to Richardson, McBeath is the “first-ever” civilian that DLA has appointed as the acting DLA Support Team commander, a commendable event and a testament of her abilities to carry out the responsibilities of this magnitude as the acting commander.
“I have had an opportunity to observe Debra’s abilities while she served as the deputy commander, and I didn’t think twice when I chose her to serve as my acting commander. I am confident that she will do a great job and will continue to lead our DLA team in delivering the most premiere logistics capabilities to our warfighters in the theater. During these turbulent times, in the theater and around the globe, Deb is the right leader to lead DLA Support Team-Afghanistan to continued mission success,” Richardson said.
The DLA Support Team — Afghanistan supports the warfighter across the Combined Joint Operations Area–Afghanistan and is the primary touchpoint for a myriad of services to the warfighter, from meeting the basic subsistence needs of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and civilians assigned across the CJOA, to ensuring that the fuel needed to operate all types of vehicles gets from storage facilities to the local fueling stations.
DLA provides bulk food subsistence in support of 13 dining facilities spread across the CJOA-A. Most of the food is flown into the country from Kuwait or Dubai to Bagram Airfield Base, then trucked to the Anham storage and distribution center, a sprawling, multifaceted, four-football field-sized warehouse facility 3 kilometers from Bagram.
Although DLA Support Team — Afghanistan serves as the operational control and primary customer touchpoint for the warfighters in Afghanistan, it relies heavily on a worldwide DLA enterprise, comprising six primary-level field activities, one strategic-materials unit, three business-services units and three regional DLA commands.