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The Defense Logistics Agency Energy has re-established its Okinawa-based command, marking the shift during an Aug. 12 change of command ceremony at Camp Shields, Okinawa, Japan. Navy Rear Adm. George Bresnihan, commander of DLA Energy, presided as Air Force Maj. Christopher Price turned over leadership to Air Force Lt. Col. Michael McFadden.
McFadden, a logistics officer with 21 years of service, most recently led DLA Energy Pacific South in Canberra, Australia, where he oversaw the bulk petroleum supply chain across Australia, New Zealand, Melanesia and the Indian Ocean. The move restores DLA Energy Pacific Okinawa as the theater’s energy command hub and reverses a previous decision that had stood up the Australia-based organization. A liaison position remains in Australia to sustain support there, according to DLA.
“This decision was in no way, shape, or form an indictment of our operations,” Bresnihan said during his remarks. “Rather, it is a direct recognition of Energy Okinawa’s critical, unmatched importance to this entire theater… Leadership is simply not something that can be done effectively from thousands of miles away.”
DLA Energy Pacific Okinawa operates what the agency describes as a critical node in the Defense Department’s logistics network. It is the only overseas government-owned and operated Defense Fuel Support Point directly managed by DLA.
“Our team is responsible for capabilities found nowhere else in DLA Energy,” McFadden noted. “Preserving those specialized capabilities while continuing to deliver reliable energy support is both a responsibility and an opportunity.”
Despite a challenging operating environment, the Okinawa team has executed 288 bunker, tanker and pipeline operations over the last two years, moved more than 142 million gallons of fuel, and coordinated complex interagency efforts to harden critical energy infrastructure across the region, according to DLA.
“Energy is no longer just a tactical commodity, it is an operational and strategic enabler,” McFadden said. “The Pacific’s vast geography, extended supply lines and dispersed forces demand an agile posture. Every gallon of fuel we deliver contributes directly to deterrence, readiness, humanitarian assistance and, if called upon, combat capability.”
