Beginner’s Guide to the Defense Logistics Agency

The US DoD is the federal government’s largest agency employing over 2.8 million active military service members and civilian personnel. In order to keep both military and civilian personnel equipped to complete their duties effectively, the DoD relies on the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to manage the global defense supply chain.

This article will look at the work the DLA is doing in 2024, including a glimpse at the challenges they face, and the various supply chains the organization is responsible for, but first, it’s important to take a step back and understand how the agency was formed. 

A history of the DLA 

The DLA, or at least the concept of what the DLA would grow to be, was originally founded out of necessity. Amidst World War II the Army and Navy were facing supply shortages and were forced to coordinate procurement more closely than ever. After the war, the department determined a need for complete coordination of the supply chain across the armed services. At first the DoD established 24 supply chain systems across the department. By 1947, the DoD recognized this system led to duplication and overlap across the department and established the Munitions Board, which began to reorganize these major supply categories into joint procurement agencies.

When the Eisenhower administration took over the White House in 1953 it chose to abolish the Munitions Board due to its lack of effectiveness in closing the very supply chain gaps it was created to close.

In the mid-1950s, the Defense Department chose to assign logistics responsibilities to each service: the Army managed food, supplies, and clothing; the Navy handled medical supplies, industrial supplies, and petroleum; and the Air Force oversaw airlift services. In 1958, the Armed Forces Supply Support Center was established, standardizing procurement, storage, and issuance processes.

Despite successes, uniformity was lacking due to differing procedures among services. In 1961, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara merged logistics operations into the Defense Supply Agency (DSA), operational by January 1962.

DSA mobilized during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and expanded significantly during the Vietnam War, responding to increased demands with additional personnel and resources. It grew to over 62,000 employees, acquired depots for supply distribution, formed the Defense Contract Administration Service, and supported U.S. forces in the Pacific and Europe.

In January 1977 the DSA was officially renamed the Defense Logistics Agency. 

What does the Defense Logistics Agency do? 

Today, the DLA manages the end-to-end global supply chain for the DoD, meaning managing supplies from raw materials all the way to end-user disposition. DLA serves the five military branches, 11 combatant commands, as well as state, local, and international agencies. The agency also supports 14 of 15 executive departments since receiving support responsibilities from the GSA in 1965.  

The DLA mission statement is to “deliver readiness and lethality to the Warfighter Always and support our nation through quality, proactive global logistics.” The agency delivers on this goal by employing 25,000 people to manage supply chains that range from food and water to construction material and much more.

Not only does DLA provide procurement of the supplies and materials, but it also provides services such as warehousing, packaging and transportation, as well as logistics and staff planning for the DoD’s combatant commands.

Most recently, the DLA played a critical role during the Covid-19 pandemic. Amidst the pandemic, DLA supported DoD and other federal agencies by leveraging its supply chain relationships for critical personal protective equipment (PPE), virus test kits, medical devices, and overseas military vaccine distribution

Within DLA, there are six major subordinates and three regional commands: DLA CENTCOM & SOCOM, DLA Europe & Africa, and DLA Indo-Pacific. The next section will break down what those seven major subordinates and the services they provide. 

What are the DLA supply chains? 

In order to deliver readiness across the DoD, DLA’s staff of about 25,000 employees is split into six subordinates. Those include:

DLA Aviation - The aviation demand and supply manager for the Defense Logistics Agency, with over 4,300 personnel across 22 U.S. locations and Kadena Air Base in Japan. Supporting more than 2,341 major weapon systems, it manages approximately 1.8 million national stock number items.

DLA Disposition Services – Headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, DLA Disposition Services manages excess military property, providing items for reutilization, transfer, or donation, which saves the DoD $2.2 billion annually. It supports disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and surplus property sales while ensuring environmental compliance in hazardous property disposal. DLA Disposition Services has personnel in 14 countries, two U.S. territories, and 40 states.

DLA Distribution – DLA Distribution is the DoD’s joint storage and distribution provider, supporting the military and other federal agencies with over 9,200 employees worldwide. It delivers cost-effective supply chain solutions, ensuring Warfighter readiness and lethality by receiving, storing, issuing, and distributing critical materials.  

DLA Energy – DLA Energy ensures mission readiness by providing resilient energy solutions globally to the Warfighter and the Whole of Government. Its mission is to enable readiness with innovative energy solutions, while its vision is to be a trusted leader in this field.

DLA Land and Maritime – Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, DLA Land and Maritime provides spare parts for land-based and maritime weapon systems. With over 2,700 associates in 37 global locations, it supports nearly 2.5 million parts for 2,000 weapon systems, serving more than 23,700 customers. Annually, it handles over 10 million orders and awards 332,000 contracts, achieving a 94% material availability rate.

DLA Troop Support - DLA Troop Support, based in Philadelphia with a global presence, is a Major Subordinate Command of the Defense Logistics Agency. It manages four supply chains, providing food, clothing, construction equipment, and medical supplies to the military and government partners. Supporting over 51,000 global customers, DLA Troop Support collaborates with 3,700 suppliers, delivering $19 billion in supplies annually. 

What are the challenges DLA faces?

As the manager of the defense supply chain for the DoD, DLA is subject to the same supply chain challenges industries around the world currently face, on top of working within the means of the government budget.  

According to the DLA website, the biggest challenges in the defense supply chain include: budget and procurement, pandemics, escalating climate crises, cyber and digital threats, international economic disruptions, protracted humanitarian crises, violent extremism and terrorism, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

In order to overcome these challenges, the DLA is focused on three critical capabilities that will support the lines of effort addressing supply chain shortcomings:

People & culture - The agency emphasizes attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse, skilled, and agile workforce as crucial to its success. To align with its Strategic Plan, DLA fosters a collaborative culture among all organizations, employees, and leaders, focusing on strengthening the culture, rewarding high performance, building connections, and prioritizing workforce safety.

Financial stewardship - DLA aims to drive cost effectiveness and maintain service readiness in a resource-constrained environment by managing resources wisely and investing in transformative initiatives. The agency plans to enhance tools and capabilities to improve cost and cash management for the DLA Working Capital Fund. By assessing work processes and internal controls, DLA seeks to increase transparency, improve auditability, and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.

Digital transformation - DLA is investing in transformational IT capabilities, advanced analytics, and automation to enhance performance, reduce costs, and enable predictive, data-driven decisions. Additionally, DLA is strengthening cybersecurity measures to protect its network, systems, and data from emerging threats, working closely with internal teams and partners.