An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

AFGLSC: Warfighter support

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Amber Kelly-Woodward
  • 375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  The Air Force Global Logistics Support Center was established at Scott March 28, but the confines of how the Global Logistics Supply Center and the Defense Logistics Agency were to work together were still not founded.

Brig. Gen. Andrew Busch, Defense Supply Center Richmond commander, and Col. Brent Baker Sr., AFGLSC vice commander, signed an integrated process team charter March 28 to define the roles and responsibilities of interaction between the AFGLSC and the DLA.

The IPT charter was closed out at a meeting at the AFGLSC at Scott Dec. 11.

"I'm impressed with the scope and depth of issues tackled by the IPT," Maj. Gen. Gary McCoy, AFGLSC commander. "In addition to providing recommendations for immediate implementation, this effort has laid a foundation for a productive relationship between the AFGLSC and a major partner. The IPT has wrapped up, but our efforts to work with the supply chain professionals in DLA to improve warfighter support have only begun."

The goals of the IPT charter were to:

-Determine roles and responsibilities, strategically and at the process task level, for AFGLSC and DLA

-Present recommendations on how to best develop a true collaborative partnership

-Develop interim and long-term processes to address enterprise resource planning-related issues

-Determine how to integrate DLA into the AFGLSC Fusion Center concept

-Define issues between DLA and AFGLSC, which include:

-Incorporate Air Force weapon system-specific availability targets into DLA processes in a meaningful way

- Develop standardize processes to deal with customer support issues ranging from the tactical (stock-outs) to the strategic (business planning, transformation)

-Have DLA and AFGLSC work together on collaborative planning, sourcing strategies, distribution planning and other methods of optimizing the supply chain for consumable items and sourcing strategies for depot level repairables

-Develop a comprehensive communications plan

-Determine the need for one or more embedded DLA representatives/analysts at AFGLSC facilities, to include customer support representatives with the authority to resolve issues (If this position is recommended, determine/define roles and responsibilities)

-Have DLA and AFGLSC Supply Chain Strategy and Integration work to determine enterprise level metrics and performance indicators that can be drilled down to provide real-time issue identification/resolution

-Have DLA and AFGLSC Supply Chain Operations work to determine release sequences for items

-Provide a timeline and way-ahead to implement IPT recommendations

-Develop a plan for integrating DLA and AFGLSC Fusion Center concepts

The team was broken down into subunits and each subunit's Air Force and DLA leaders briefed AFGLSC leadership on their contribution to the IPT charter.

The Fusion Center integration unit, headed by Vickie Lakes and Col. Deirdre Mahon, developed an integrated concept for AFGLSC and DLA and documented requirements for Pathfinder and End State. The Weapons System Specific Availability unit, headed by Henry Martinez and Tim Condon, updated performance based agreement annex 7, which includes documented target setting process with defined roles and responsibilities. The Enterprise Level Metrics unit, headed by Henry Martinez and Frances Thorpe, updated performance based agreement annex 7 with current metrics and performance indicators, roles and responsibilities and annex revision schedule. The Stock Outs unit, headed by Scott Jepson and Maj. Michael Barnes, created a performance based agreement annex that documents the process and defines roles and responsibilities. The Collaborative Planning unit, headed by Scot Doepker and Paul Woodlief, developed an implementation plan for a standardized collaborative planning process. The Sourcing Strategies unit, headed by Pam Lee and Cathy Contreras, developed and documented sourcing process models including roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and governance. The Distribution Planning unit, headed by Jay Barber and Sherry Amrhein, defined the future state distribution process and roles and responsibilities. The inventory reduction unit, headed by Jim Whittaker and Bob Prillaman, developed and documented a repeatable process, roles and responsibilities and definitions to reduce inventory.

"The consolidation of supply chain activities into the AFGLSC presented a fresh opportunity to address some systemic issues in how DLA supports the Air Force," said General Busch. "Resolution of these issues will clearly enhance the operational effectiveness of the Air Force. The portfolio of this IPT was challenging and their achievement is quite impressive. Noteworthy was the relationship building to sustain the AFGLSC and DLA engagement over the long term. Logistics is a complex and detailed business and when we work through the issues addressed today we'll definitely have a more efficient supply chain and improved support to the warfighter. I'm very appreciative of the IPT's work so far."

The AFGLSC, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., falls under the Air Force Materiel Command. It consists of more than 4,500 employees who are located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Tinker AFB, Okla., Hill AFB, Utah, Robins AFB, Ga., Langley AFB, Va., Gunter AFB, Ala., and Scott. The DLA, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is the customer support representative of AFGLSC. Together they work on providing the best supply chain support to the Air Force. The close out meeting made it easier for them to do their job.


"When General Busch and I signed the charter for this IPT in March, I looked to this team to help us identify our most critical supply chain issues and provide their recommendations for resolution," said Colonel Baker. "This close-out event has totally met my expectation and I'm looking forward to our continued relationship as I rotate to my new assignment in Pacific Air Force Command. Thank you for all your hard work."

There is still work to be done on the new charter, but time will have to pass to see what is working and what is not.

"I give them an A+++," said General McCoy. "The team put outstanding effort to solve problems that had been going on for years. These efforts will stand the test of time and I am pleased because we are going to make this happen because at the end of the day it is all about warfighter support."