Making the most of key relationships, keeping costs low and maintaining effective measures were key points discussed Oct. 12 by both Defense Logistics Agency and Navy supply leaders during the annual Navy/DLA Day at the McNamara Headquarters Complex.
“I’m looking forward to a great day here,” DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek said in his opening remarks. “Traditionally, the Navy has had a great relationship with DLA. We’re looking to continue to leverage that because there’s a great deal of trust that we have with the naval services.”
In order to take full advantage of that relationship, the agency needs to stay effective and efficient while being mindful of cost, Harnitchek noted, adding that this is a mission for every employee at DLA.
“As we transition out of operations, for us, we’re always going to be effective,” Harnitchek said. “But we have to be mindful of how much it costs. There are times when we don’t care how much it costs. Around Thanksgiving, when [the Pakistan ground lines of communication] got shut down and about 40 percent of our fuel was coming out of Pakistan, we had all our fuel suppliers in here. I didn’t tell them I didn’t care how much it cost, but I really didn’t care how much it cost. But in general, when you are as big as we are, we’re writing checks on your bank accounts. We always want to ensure that we’re effective, not at the most cost, but at the least cost. That’s what everyone here at DLA understands their mission to be.”
Navy Vice Adm. Philip Cullom, deputy chief of naval operations for fleet readiness and logistics, said the partnership between the organizations is essential in supporting warfighter efforts.
“I think, as the admiral said, the relationship is very strong between the Navy and DLA,” Cullom said. “We always try to support it with a lot of our best and brightest folks. The relationship is very good as a result of that and our understanding of what DLA’s capabilities are and what they can do for us. At the end of the day, what we have found is we have a much more effective system that can support our warfighters. For all those who have been over in country many times to make sure that we are connected, it’s very encouraging to know you all have the right focus. It’s not about what you’re doing back here but what you’re doing for our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines out there.”
Navy Rear Adm. Mark Heinrich, commander of Naval Supply Systems Command and the Navy’s chief of supply corps, agreed.
“It’s incredible to realize how close our relationship is; it’s one of the most important strategic relationships we have,” Heinrich said. “We hope to continue to leverage it in the future as we stand down [distribution operations in] Kuwait and stand up [in] Bahrain.”
During the four-hour roundtable discussion, attendees also heard updates from DLA Aviation and DLA Logistics Operations. Representatives from the Navy, including Naval Supply Systems Command, also presented on topics including inventory management, performance-based logistics and logistics solutions.