PHILADELPHIA –
Leaders from throughout the Department of Defense came together to discuss military food service support during a three-day summit held at the Defense Logistics Agency Headquarters in Fort Belvoir, Va.
DLA Troop Support’s Subsistence supply chain hosted the 2020 Joint Subsistence Policy Board and the Class I Global Summit held Oct. 13 to 15.
The two events included participation from general officers and senior executives from all services, service component commands, combatant command staffs and other key members of the joint logistics enterprise.
“It was an honor to host the Joint Subsistence Policy Board and Class I Global Summit,” said Army Brig. Gen. Gavin A. Lawrence, DLA Troop Support commander, who served as the chair for the event. “Thanks to the leadership who joined us from across the joint logistics enterprise, we were able to share ideas to improve nutrition and food service support to our service members. The event also allowed us another opportunity to improve DLA’s ability to meet global subsistence requirements across the joint warfighter community.”
The objectives of the event were to provide a global support picture, elevate the priority of planning efforts and assess DLA’s readiness to meet global requirements of the Joint Warfighter community, said Subsistence Director Army Col. Eric McCoy.
The Joint Subsistence Advisory Board holds monthly telephone conference calls to discuss immediate issues, while the JSPB usually meets in-person twice a year for strategic planning, John Sheehan, Subsistence Director of Customer Operations said.
Last year, DLA Troop support sent about 20 people from Subsistence to the summit, McCoy said, and there were probably 40 to 50 people in the main conference room at headquarters. This year, the event was a hybrid, with some participating remotely and a minimal number of people attending in-person.
“This year, being able to do it as a hybrid, we were able to have senior representation at DLA Headquarters with appropriate social distancing, which allowed for sidebar and social interactions,” he added.
The JSPB and Global Summit, two separate events, are held together for a reason, Sheehan said.
“It allows people to participate because you go from strategy and policy to planning and operational plans in combatant commands, and more,” Sheehan said. “It’s important to have an event which brings the COCOMS together and hear the different input.”
McCoy concurs with the success of holding the events together.
“There’s a lot of hard work to make sure warfighters are properly fed around the world,” he said. “All in all, it was a great event.”