Fedex, Ups, Dhl

The United States Air Force is a lethal organization blessed with intelligent, motivated, and highly trained men and women who are equipped with the best weaponry the world has ever known. American taxpayers have invested in state of the art equipment that can be deployed to any corner of the globe at a moment's notice to defend our values and the American way of life. One must ponder the awesome responsibility that lies with the people who must equip and replenish our armed forces with the tools they require to accomplish the mission given to them by our nations leadership. This process, this undertaking cannot be articulated in one single paper, for it is a multi layered, multi faceted effort which requires the planning and execution of multiple agencies and departments. I will however attempt to explain the process in which the Defense Logistics Agency acquires the parts required for the repair and overhaul of vital aircraft components. Initially I will provide a brief explanation laden with facts and statistics regarding the Defense Logistics Agency and the overall support we provide to the Department of Defense. Since I fashion myself as a quasi subject matter expert I will then explain my position within the Defense Logistics Agency and where I fit in, in relationship to the supply chain as well as the other positions required to ensure an organized well communicated logistics effort. Finally, I will explain the process in which the Defense Logistics Agency and the United States Air Force together effectively forecast future requirements for the essential spare parts that enable our nation to project military might anywhere, anytime.

"The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) was founded in 1961 and is manned by 23,000 military and civilian personnel, we manage 6.4 million parts and eight supply chains. DLA processes 114,000 requisitions each day and executes 11,200 contract actions per day. We support 1603 weapon systems across the Department of Defense and have an average annual sales total of 30 billion dollars.

DLA supplies almost every consumable item America's military services need ranging from groceries to jet fuel. We supply 95 percent of the military services' repair parts, 100 percent of subsistence, fuels, medical, clothing and textile, construction and barrier materials required. Additionally, DLA helps dispose of material and equipment that is no longer needed. DLA has supported every major war effort during the last five decades, from Vietnam to current operations in Afghanistan. DLA would be number 57 if we were a Fortune 500 company just below Sunoco, also, we are number three in the top 50 distribution warehouses" (DLA, 2010).

I am a Retail item Manager (RIM) assigned to the Ogden Air Logistics Aircraft Commodities Directorate at Hill Air Force Base. The Commodities Directorate overhauls aircraft components for customers throughout the Air Force to include all major weapons platforms from "heavies to bombers to fighters". We have a varied customer base which ranges from Depot Program Management Teams to units based in the field throughout the globe. Primarily I work with Air Force Production Support Technicians (PMTs), Planners, Schedulers, and Maintenance personnel to ensure we meet the customers' needs.

My primary purpose is to ensure continual support to the maintainers when DLA contractual support breaks down. "The RIM is focused on the short term 0-90 days, mitigating the critical stock outs that are negatively impacting ongoing production" (IMPS, 2009). When we experience stock out conditions RIMs locate parts