TOBYHANNA, Pennsylvania –
As Army Lt. Col. John Turner prepares to depart tomorrow as commander of Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Tobyhanna, Pa., the distribution center celebrated his accomplishments during his tour.
Under his command, the distribution center provided exceptional support to their primary customer, Communications and Electronic Command. DLA Distribution Tobyhanna’s expansive storage and distribution operations encompass eight major facilities and over 1.2 million square feet of outside storage, specializing in diverse arenas, including Program Manager-owned assets, highly-sensitive electronic communication gear, and depot-level reparables. The distribution center also operates a vast retail operation which provides tailored and timely support to Tobyhanna Army Depot and serves as the central receiving facility for all industrial operations.
During Turner’s tenure, Tobyhanna Army Depot turned over stock for 13 programs. DLA Distribution took on the task and set an aggressive goal of finishing the inventory in 12 months. The team completed a complete inventory three months early, exceeding all expectations, and recording more than $2.2 billion in inventory. This effort allowed Program Managers to clear records while providing accurate accountability.
Since then, the distribution center has worked aggressively with CECOM, Program Managers, Army G4, and the Army Security Agency to transition the Program Manager accounts from the Offline Army Inventory Management System to pure wholesale net-landed costs accounts. This required cataloging is completed for all commercial off-the-shelf items and establishes project codes for all Program Managers. To date, more than $600 million in inventory has been transitioned for the CREW/DUKE program. This has allowed the Army to have direct visibility of the assets in the Logistics Management Program, which directly influences the production schedule at Tobyhanna Army Depot
Turner also spearheaded the plan to provide serial number tracking for Controlled Inventory Item Code 9 assets to CECOM. All services are required to track CIIC 9 cryptographic material by serial number through complete lifecycle, and Turner created a concept of operation that would allow the manual tracking of serial numbers while still performing normal operations. This plan can be used enterprise-wide and meets the needs of all services.
Turner will turn over the reins to Army Lt. Col. Jerome (Jay) Barnard in a ceremony tomorrow, September 9.