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DSCR organization renamed ‘DLA Aviation’

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RICHMOND, Va. --  Defense Logistics Agency's aviation demand and supply chain manager, known for years by the same name as its home installation -- Defense Supply Center Richmond -- is being renamed "DLA Aviation."

DSCR will still be the name of the physical installation that is home to DLA Aviation and 1,860 members of its work force in Richmond. Another 1,800 DLA Aviation employees working alongside warfighters at military sites across the nation are similarly affected by the change.

The new name is part of an agency-wide initiative announced yesterday by DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson called "We Are DLA." It is designed to create a single-agency environment that allows customers, suppliers and stakeholders to know the full scope of agency capabilities and build a greater sense of community among its 26,000-member global work force.

We Are DLA aims to unite segments of the agency regardless of geographic location or mission. Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, DLA has field sites in 48 states and 28 countries; the initiative is expected to bring those activities together in both name and spirit.

The first step in emphasizing DLA's identity is renaming its field activities to clearly identify each as a part of DLA. Some current DLA organizational names reflect individual missions while others denote geographic location. Many do not have DLA as part of their name. The new names reflect a clear affiliation with DLA, as well as the commodity or service provided to customers.

For example, in addition to DLA Aviation, Defense Supply Center Columbus is now DLA Land and Maritime; Defense Supply Center Philadelphia is DLA Troop Support; and Defense Energy Support Center is DLA Energy.

"We Are DLA will build a greater sense of community and ownership for our employees, while creating a clearer and more definitive identity for customers, suppliers and stakeholders," Thompson said.

"By providing an integrated picture for warfighters and DLA's other customers we give them the opportunity to take advantage of DLA's full potential. We present ourselves as a cohesive, collaborative and forward-thinking organization."

"The We Are DLA initiative couldn't have come at more appropriate time for us, especially considering the aviation sites we've activated over the past three years as part of BRAC 2005," said Navy Rear Adm. Vince Griffith, DLA Aviation commander.

Base Realignment and Closure 2005 law mandated that military services transfer responsibility for supply, storage and distribution and depot-level reparable procurement operations to DLA.

To meet those missions, the agency's aviation demand and supply chain manager activated new organizations alongside its supported warfighters throughout the nation, which included the transfer-in-place of 1,309 Air Force, Navy and Army personnel who are now part of the DLA Aviation team.

When the organizations were activated, their names incorporated their respective locations in Warner Robins, Ga.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Ogden, Utah; Cherry Point, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Huntsville, Ala.; North Island (San Diego), Calif.; and Philadelphia.

"Now, our team members -- no matter their location -- won't be routinely associated with one of seven or eight seemingly different organizations based on where they work," Admiral Griffith said. "They'll instead be associated first with the one name that reflects our shared identity: DLA Aviation."

In addition to the newer SS&D and DLR organizations, DLA Aviation maintains a sizeable portion of its Supplier Operations Directorate in Philadelphia, operates the federal government's only industrial plant equipment facility in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and has personnel based at military locations nationwide.

As the Department of Defense's combat logistics support agency, DLA provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies, and joint and allied forces with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services.

The agency sources and provides nearly 100 percent of the consumable items America's military forces need to operate, from food, fuel and energy, to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction and barrier equipment. DLA also supplies more than 80 percent of the military's spare parts.