DLA leaders celebrate successes, roadmap the future during town hall

Artificial intelligence will continue to be a key factor in the future of the Defense Logistics Agency, but its people will remain in the driver's seat, the agency's leadership said during a town hall at the agency's headquarters May 20.

The theme of the town hall was "DLA Transforms: Answering the Call," and the agency's leaders reviewed how the agency transformed over the last year while providing a roadmap for the future.

"I want to thank you for what you are doing to transform this agency and transform our support to the warfighter, with a reminder that the reason why we exist is to support the warfighter," said DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly.

The National Defense Strategy and Acquisition Transformation Strategy are key documents instructing the agency that things must be done differently, Simerly said.

"We have to move faster, and we have to move with greater accuracy in what we do across the department, and that's certainly true with DLA," he said.

He called this era a revolution in military logistics because of the new technology being developed.

"We've been studying and canvassing industry and academia to look at best-of-breed solutions where things are proven every day. We have this ambition to onboard that technology very rapidly, and we will," Simerly said.

He called AI the new gunpowder, pointing out that both can be productive and destructive.

"If we want to keep (AI) from being just destructive, that means we have to have humans who know when and how to light the fuse," Simerly said, highlighting that an educated and empowered workforce putting these new tools to work is central to the agency's AI strategy.

Describing the "human-AI advantage," Simerly said the employees will apply judgement, experience and context to make decisions, or heavy thinking. AI will do the heavy lifting, such as deep analytical work, providing recommendations and insight.

DLA Vice Director Brad Bunn also discussed the agency's AI initiatives and their importance to keeping up with change.

"If you're not talking about (AI) in your office spaces around the water cooler, down in the cafeteria, or out there in Columbus and Battle Creek and Philadelphia and Richmond and everywhere that DLA exists, you're probably not paying enough attention to our strategy," Bunn said, "because we are very much embracing and investing in capabilities to bring that to life."

"It's not about something we want to do or something that we can do, or should do," he continued. "It's something we must do right in order to maintain relevance in this environment where the pace of change just continues to exponentially increase."

Calling DLA's ability to adapt its superpower, Bunn said AI is providing a generational opportunity to change in many areas, including demand forecasting in some of the most difficult supply classes, and having a clean audit.

Honoring heroes

Army Lt. Col. Arturo Lincon, commander of the DLA Deployment Support Team Middle East, and Army Master Sgt. Shawnar Thomas, senior enlisted leader for the DLA Deployment Support Team Middle East, both will receive Purple Heart medals.

DLA Senior Enlisted Leader Army Command Sgt. Maj. Petra Casarez said those who receive the Purple Heart represent the best of America, and that the nation will never forget their heroism.

"These are our two very own teammates, and I'm proud to be part of a team like this," Casarez said.

Lincon directed DLA operations and personnel throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, serving as the principal adviser to the 1st Theater Sustainment Command.

Thomas managed and coordinated logistics operations within USCENTCOM, directing the procurement and distribution of subsistence, construction materials and repair parts for U.S. forces and coalition partners.

DLA strategic wins

Simerly highlighted the agency's efforts around the world, supporting global operations for every service across multiple combatant commands. He added that DLA Energy provided over 20,000 pounds of propellant to fuel NASA's Artemis II mission.

Simerly also focused on the agency's strategic wins, beginning with the launch of the Warehouse Management System across nearly 100 disposition and distribution centers.

"It's given us tremendous opportunities already to better see and share visibility of our inventory and to manage it in a much more effective way," Simerly said.

DLA Energy's Petroleum Logistics Utilization Tool and Optimization tool puts data to work for planning, predictions and the anticipation of requirements, Simerly said. It also allows for the ability to see inventory to manage potential disruptions and plan for the future.

"It's a great example of what we're striving to do with every single supply chain and every single support function of the agency," he said.

DLA will invest $2 billion into the National Defense Stockpile to procure materials and has a $5 billion contract with the Navy to accelerate support for Virginia-class submarines, he said.

Culture climate survey results

Leadership presented the results from the fall 2025 Defense Organizational Climate Survey, which had a 50% response rate.

Categories with favorable ratings of above 80 percent were connectedness, supportive immediate supervisors, and engagement and commitment.

The categories of stress, passive leadership and workplace hostility ranked as the lower key factors in the survey. Bunn attributed the lower scores to the stresses at the agency over the last year.

"This is an indicator to us that we need to make sure that from a resourcing standpoint, from a workload balancing standpoint, that we are monitoring and maintaining cognizance over how our work is being distributed, and how we are resourcing the agency to have the capacity to do that," he said.

Planning for the future

The agency's plan for this year and beyond will be built on the strategic plan's transformation imperatives of people, precision, posture and partnerships, Simerly said. Priorities remain setting the globe, setting the theater, setting the agency and setting the supply chains.

The five elements of the strategic core and focus plan for 2027 are:

• Drive enterprisewide digital integration
• Decide at the speed of relevance
• Invest deliberately in the workforce
• Prioritize efforts to maximize progress
• Match resources to top priorities

"I ask you, within your leadership teams, to participate in this planning. Ask about these priorities, ask about how we're going to express this in the future," he said. "Then when we communicate this to the workforce, seek to see yourself in the plan so you and your team can understand your role in performing our commitment to the future."

Making drones accessible

Drones and counter-drone equipment are ruling the battlefield, Simerly said, and warfighters need supplies from sources that are dependable, affordable and accessible.

DLA provided over $3 billion worth of drone equipment since 2013, he said.

"We've established the means for our customers to see the inventory that's approved, access it, order it very rapidly, so we can get in the fight," he said.

DLA Troop Support is serving as an acquisition partner in a federal effort to equip law enforcement with counter-drone technology for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in 11 different states, he added.

Employee recognition

Several individuals and teams were acknowledged for their recent achievements.

Team and Unit Awards:

• Matt Borsinger and Vaibhav Jain, DLA Research and Development Small Business Innovation Programs, Fiscal Year 2025 Department of War Supply Chain Excellence Award
• Europe Theater Consolidation and Shipping Point Team, DLA Distribution Europe, Corporate/Agency of the Year, National Institute of Packaging, Handling and Logistics Engineers.

Individual Awards

• Marie Casillas, DLA Finance, was recognized by the White House Task Force FIFA World Cup 2026
• Imes Chiu, DLA Information Operations R&D Supply Chain Management and Sustainment, Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award: Supply Chain Improvement
• Anna Lyons, DLA Safety and Occupational Health, Outstanding Department War of War Civilian Employees 2025
• Regina Maglio, DLA Finance, was recognized by the White House Task Force FIFA World Cup 2026
• Adarryl Roberts, DLA Chief Information Officer, Federal 100 Award, Nextgov/FCW
• Ismael Vera, DLA Distribution Corpus Christi, Packaging Lifetime Achievement Award, National Institute of Packaging, Handling and Logistics Engineers

Members of the workforce in the room and via video asked questions about potential reorganizations, practical uses for AI, workforce training and certification and cybersecurity risks.

For more information, videos are available including the first episode in a series about AI, details about DLA's transformation, and the entire town hall broadcast.