FORT BELVOIR, Va.(AFNS) —
Readiness-based support and a formal governance structure for aligning supply requirements are expected benefits of a new agreement between the Space Force and Defense Logistics Agency.
DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly and Space Force Chief Operations Officer Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, signed the agreement Sept. 18 at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
Simerly said DLA is committed to delivering responsive logistics support to the Space Force as it protects national security interests in space. The agreement culminates 12 months of collaboration and sets standards for optimizing the effectiveness of DLA’s worldwide logistics support for the service, he added.
The Space Force and DLA will create metrics to measure performance in areas such as order response time and parts availability. Greg Ogorek, DLA’s national account manager to the Space Force, said metrics will help the agency better meet supply needs, especially for parts that are in low demand or have no manufacturer.
“It’s those hard-to-get parts keeping weapons systems down that we need to better position ourselves from a stock perspective and predict what’s going to be needed to keep the mission going,” he said.
The agreement also establishes the Partnership Agreement Council for colonels and below and an Executive Steering Group for the general-officer level.
“With these working groups, we’ll bring together leaders from both sides and all the supporting actors to go over topics and work around emerging concerns as we agree on future endeavors,” Ogorek said.
Collaboration will also begin the path to an inaugural Space Force Service Day, an annual forum DLA hosts for the other services to discuss challenges and explore new opportunities for support.
Ogorek said the agreement places DLA’s support to the Space Force on equal footing with the other services.
“It puts extra emphasis on our commitment and shows our dedication to providing stellar support to the Space Force,” he added. “This is important because everything is tied to space, from communications to GPS.”
Enduring support
Although the Space Force was only recently created in December 2019, DLA supported space efforts of the Air Force, Army and Navy that were previously led by Air Force Space Command.
“Organizing the Space Force into a separate service was largely a shift in command and control, but we’ve been providing logistics support for space initiatives all along,” Ogorek said.
As part of DLA’s Nuclear and Space Enterprise Support Office, Ogorek helps determine ongoing logistics requirements with the sustainment team at Space Force Headquarters.
Additional liaison officers at DLA major subordinate commands partner weekly with counterparts at lower supply levels. Tony Duren, a DLA LNO collocated with Space Force members in Colorado, and Darryl Hall, a weapons system program manager at DLA Aviation, help work through support issues at maintenance sites throughout the country. When one unit recently pointed out issues getting a critical transistor for radar sites, Duren and Hall worked with the manufacturer to increase quantities and resolve issues with the technical data package.
“Because of their help, the vendor accelerated production of 1,249 transistors to clear all of the Space Force’s back orders, and we now have positive stock on hand,” Ogorek said.
Steve Nichols, director of customer operations for DLA Energy Aerospace, also ensures the service has fuel to launch systems and move satellites in orbit.
The Space Force typically relies on contracted logistics support when brining new systems online, but DLA provides cataloging support by ensuring parts have stock numbers and technical data. It also stores parts, offers disposal support and can help plan sustainment.
“We have folks who monitor the process and explain how it’s beneficial to have DLA as a source of supply for some of those items, especially those that are common across systems that we already manage for the other services,” Ogorek said.
Since the Space Force’s creation, DLA has also provided service flags and uniforms.
source: www.spaceforce.mil