DLA Document Services turns 75

November marked the 75th anniversary of a Defense Department charter that consolidated existing Army, Navy, and Air Force printing plants into Defense Printing Service-Washington. As the present-day descendant of that organization, Defense Logistics Agency Document Services remains the primary provider of print products for warfighters and customers across DOD.

From the start, DPS operated as DOD's very first industrially funded activity, meaning it ran like a business, charging military customers for its products and services. Under the charter, a Defense Department administrative council would set DPS policy, and the U.S. Navy would manage it. Over the following decades, the close organizational association with the Navy brought more responsibilities and more programming money under the service's umbrella until 1992, when DOD again ordered a consolidation of all DOD printing-related efforts that saved about $100 million and bound roughly 350 facilities together.

Just four years later, DPS was made an official part of the Defense Logistics Agency, and its name was changed to Defense Automated Printing Service, or DAPS, to better reflect the technological advancements rapidly arriving during the 1990s. Since then, through an intense public/private business competition in the early 2000s and another name change in 2010, the story of DLA Document Services has aligned closely to the growing importance of the digital world and its dramatic impact on humanity. The digital revolution has slowly and steadily chipped away at much of the tedious manual printing work that once required thousands of employees to support, but the organization's continuous dedication to supporting warfighter readiness has remained a steady thread throughout.

In late 2003, with U.S. forces recently deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq, then-DAPS writer Keith Beebe shared just a few of the missions DAPS personnel were supporting at the time.

"In the buildup to getting units overseas," Beebe wrote, "DAPS facilities printed deployment forms; ultraviolet identification labels for vehicles; rules of engagement cards; descriptions of medicines used for vaccinations; hazardous materials forms; copies of the Air Force survival handbook; pararescue checklists and procedures guides; and crew chief's pocket handbooks. … If it flies, floats, crosses the desert on tank tracks, shoots or communicates, DAPS most likely printed a document about it, classified or unclassified, on how to use, move, and maintain it."

Richard TeBeau became DLA Document Services director in early 2018 and just recently passed the leadership baton to longtime DLA employee Dean Newsome in October of this year. As TeBeau retires this month, he encouraged his agency colleagues to hold onto their core competencies of customer service and responsiveness in the face of fast-paced change.

"We've lived, learned and overcome many challenges and several organizational changes over the years as we've strived for the right fit in DOD," TeBeau said. "I have been truly impressed by the dedication of the global DLA Document Services team in supporting the warfighter - even when our own destiny is being formulated. The old DAPS motto of "Can Do Right Now" still lives in the fabric of our personnel engaging the warfighters we serve. As a former member of the military, I understand what we do and why we do it. 'Mission First, People Always!'"

As the new director, Newsome will lead an organization whose future remains in flux. One of the major 2025 focus areas that DLA Disposition Services leadership articulated in their annual plan involves further aligning the DLA Document Services mission and infrastructure into the major sub-command. Newsome said his team is prepared to move forward.

"As incoming DLA Document Services director, I am in awe of the organization's rich history of supporting America's warfighter," Newsome said. "To that end, in fiscal 2025 we are laser-focused on refining our business model to provide even more cost-effective services both at home and abroad."

The DLA Document Services charter and a brief history of the organization can be found on the organization's About Us page on DLA's public website.