DLA leaders tout wins, chart next steps at town hall

Artificial intelligence will remain a central focus at the Defense Logistics Agency, but agency leaders emphasized that humans will steer how it’s used during a May 20 town hall at DLA headquarters themed “DLA Transforms: Answering the Call.” DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly framed the modernization push as essential to meeting national priorities laid out in the National Defense Strategy and the Acquisition Transformation Strategy. “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.

Calling the moment a revolution in military logistics, Simerly said the agency is scanning industry and academia for proven technologies it can bring on quickly. “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 likened AI to gunpowder—powerful for good or ill—and stressed that trained personnel remain essential to guide its use. “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,” he said.

Vice Director Brad Bunn underscored the urgency of embracing AI across the enterprise. “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,” he said, “because we are very much embracing and investing in capabilities to bring that to life.” He added that the pace of change makes proper implementation nonnegotiable. “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.” Bunn called AI a generational opportunity to improve functions such as demand forecasting in challenging supply classes and achieving a clean audit.

Leaders also highlighted recent operational gains. Simerly noted DLA’s global support to the services and combatant commands, including DLA Energy’s delivery of more than 20,000 pounds of propellant for NASA’s Artemis II mission. He said the new Warehouse Management System has now launched 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,” he said. DLA Energy’s Petroleum Logistics Utilization and Optimization tool is being used for planning, prediction and anticipating requirements. “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,” Simerly said.

DLA plans to invest $2 billion in the National Defense Stockpile to secure critical materials and has a $5 billion contract with the Navy to accelerate support for Virginia-class submarines.

On workforce climate, leaders shared results from the fall 2025 Defense Organizational Climate Survey, which drew a 50% response rate. Respondents gave high marks—above 80% favorable—to connectedness, supportive immediate supervisors, and engagement and commitment. Stress, passive leadership, and workplace hostility were the lower-rated factors, which Bunn attributed to the agency’s demanding 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.

Looking ahead, Simerly said plans for this year and beyond align with DLA’s transformation imperatives of people, precision, posture and partnerships, with continued emphasis on setting the globe, the theater, the agency and the supply chains. The five focus elements for 2027 include: driving enterprise-wide digital integration; deciding at the speed of relevance; investing deliberately in the workforce; prioritizing efforts to maximize progress; and matching 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.”

Drones and counter-drone systems remain a fast-moving requirement. DLA has provided more than $3 billion in drone equipment since 2013, Simerly said, and is working to streamline access for approved customers. “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 also serving as an acquisition partner in a federal effort to equip law enforcement with counter-drone technology for the 2026 FIFA World Cup across 11 states.

The town hall also honored service members wounded in action. Army Lt. Col. Arturo Lincon, commander of the DLA Deployment Support Team Middle East, and Army Master Sgt. Shawnar Thomas, the team’s senior enlisted leader, will receive the Purple Heart. Lincon has directed DLA operations across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility and advised the 1st Theater Sustainment Command. Thomas has overseen logistics in the region, including procurement and distribution of subsistence, construction materials and repair parts for U.S. and coalition forces. “These are our two very own teammates, and I’m proud to be part of a team like this,” said DLA Senior Enlisted Leader Army Command Sgt. Maj. Petra Casarez.

Leaders recognized several recent award winners. Team honors went to the DLA Research and Development Small Business Innovation Programs’ Matt Borsinger and Vaibhav Jain, and to the Europe Theater Consolidation and Shipping Point Team at DLA Distribution Europe, which was named Corporate/Agency of the Year by the National Institute of Packaging, Handling and Logistics Engineers. Individual accolades included recognition of DLA Finance’s Marie Casillas and Regina Maglio by the White House Task Force for FIFA World Cup 2026; DLA Information Operations’ Imes Chiu, who received the Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award for Supply Chain Improvement; DLA Chief Information Officer Adarryl Roberts, a Federal 100 Awardee; and DLA Distribution Corpus Christi’s Ismael Vera, who received the National Institute of Packaging, Handling and Logistics Engineers’ Packaging Lifetime Achievement Award.

Employees in the room and joining remotely raised questions on potential reorganizations, practical AI applications, training and certification, and cybersecurity risks. Leaders pointed staff to videos covering DLA’s transformation and an introductory episode in a new AI series, as well as a replay of the full town hall.