Agency, federal partners prepare for U.S.- based contingency support

Members of the Defense Logistics Agency and federal partners discussed potential disaster support within the U.S. and practiced that response during a virtual Hurricane and All-Hazards Academics session and tabletop training exercise in June.

The annual academics session usually focuses solely on hurricane preparation, but this year's June 13 event and June 17-21 exercise helped participants prepare for any threat that could potentially be levied against the nation.

Attendees shared information on topics like the National Response Framework, roles and processes for the Agency Synchronization Operations Center's Current Operations Branch, DLA expeditionary capabilities and lessons learned.

Supporting relief after hurricanes, especially in the Atlantic region, is often the first thing people think of when considering domestic emergency support, said Operations and Sustainment Executive Director Kevin Kachinski.

Understanding how DLA's whole-of-government partners operate before a crisis is important and includes familiarization with processes of organizations like the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Northern Command, Kachinski said.

"Nobody can really understand what is exactly going to happen until it does, so our ability to be prepared is paramount," he said, adding that experts have predicted this to be a busy hurricane season.

DLA's ability to support contingencies is enabled by its partnerships with domestic response leads at the Defense Department, NORTHCOM and FEMA. In crisis, DLA provides a 24/7 liaison to the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA Headquarters so DLA can quickly coordinate and fulfill emergency requests for assistance.

Steve Shea, a future operations planner and 14-year agency veteran, has seen the agency's support to contingency operations evolve, and said this is the first time the agency has conducted an in-house disaster support exercise in conjunction with the academics session.

"I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to hurricanes and the support that this agency has provided," he said. "The time to figure how to do hurricane support is not once it hits. This is why we do this, to get ahead of it."

DLA has supported the Defense Department in its efforts to provide military support to civil authorities when requested by FEMA and approved by the Secretary of Defense since 1962.

Mobile communications support

Information technology experts with DLA Information Operations ensure deployers have the IT support needed to assist federal agencies during contingency support.

Nineteen employees in three locations across the country maintain mobile communications units that are scalable and vary from carry-on to truck size. The units enable DLA to support six missions simultaneously.

"We connect back to the agency's network, which enables us to use cellular and military satellite options depending on the mission's location, to provide both data and voice services," said Mark Bossen, chief of the Contingency Information Technology Branch.

He added that DLA's expeditionary IT teams can deploy with equipment within 48 hours of notification of a contingency operation.

"It is critical that on-site communications teams are deployed and available to set up communication networks within 24 hours or less [upon arrival] to ensure mission status, supply chain requirements and updates can be reported back to the ASOC at the agency's headquarters," Bossen said.

Tabletop training exercise

Shea said the tabletop exercise was a huge success despite it being 11 years since DLA has hosted a disaster preparation exercise of this magnitude.

"Combining a communications exercise using DLA's Mobile Command Center during a Hurricane and All-Hazards Academics session along with the major subordinate commands, key staff members, liaison officers and interagency partners has helped DLA prepare for this year's hurricane season and will shape how DLA responds to challenges in the future," he said.

Shea believes these types of events are as valuable for building and strengthening relationships as they are for improving processes.

"Our response to an all-hazards event must be part of complementary, coherent, synchronized action with DOD and interagency partners," Shea said. "DLA is already moving out and will build on the lessons learned from this [training exercise]."