DLA supplies active-duty troops assisting Hurricane Helene response

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -

The Defense Logistics Agency is working with U.S. Northern Command to ensure active-duty troops are equipped to help federal, state and local officials clear routes and transport supplies to remote areas in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.

The units, mainly from Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, are part of NORTHCOM's Joint Task Force Civil Support. NORTHCOM supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency as it responds to natural or human-caused disasters as part of its homeland defense mission.

"These troops are removing debris from roads and bodies of water so they can help conduct search and recovery operations. They need items like personal protective equipment to do those missions safely and everyday essentials like meals," said Ralph Laurie, a DLA liaison officer embedded with NORTHCOM's logistics staff at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Units arrived at forward locations with food, water, equipment and fuel from their home installations, but Laurie is backfilling those supplies and meeting emerging needs. Just days into recovery, he began working with commodity experts at DLA Troop Support to provide items like chainsaws and cut-resistant gloves. Fulfilling a request for chainsaws may seem straightforward, he said, but it comes with questions: What kind and how big? What about backup chains or sharpening sets?

"This is where DLA is very good at leaning forward and helping to shape requirements. At the same time, we're gathering data that our vendors require to be able to deliver supplies as quickly as possible," he said on a Friday hours before many vendors were scheduled to close for the weekend.

Fuel is also critical. Greg Knowles, a DLA Energy liaison officer who works alongside Laurie at NORTHCOM, has helped identify locations near Ashville where aircraft and ground vehicles can refuel.

"We want to give them as many options as possible so they don't have to go back to Fort Liberty and Fort Campbell, but it's important that we don't impede operations of other teams," Knowles said.

DLA Energy Americas and Americas East coordinated for units to use nearby Air National Guard reserve bases with DLA-owned fuel since Ashville Airport is a regular source for nonmilitary search and recovery aircraft.

Laurie noted that the food, water and fuel he and Knowles help provide are for units' use. Troops providing such supplies to local populations get them from FEMA, which DLA also helps source through direct support to FEMA.

Laurie and Knowles meet multiple times daily with NORTHCOM officials and DLA supply chain teams to anticipate future needs and line up additional capabilities and resources. Requests continue to come in as first responders make their way through mountain towns and remote areas.

"There are still some communities that are isolated and may be for days as our tactical units clear smaller roads using military vehicles that regular trucks can't get to," Laurie said.

DLA has provided supplies to NORTHCOM, FEMA and other first responders during hurricane relief efforts for decades. Laurie said the second- and third-order effects of Helene have made it unique from most storms the agency has supported.

"With hurricanes, we're often focused on where they make landfall, but this storm is a great example of the fact that what happens days later can become the disaster just as much as what happens at landfall," he said, referring to severe flooding that left some North Carolina communities in ruins.

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