Faris appointed DLA Distribution deputy commander, enters Senior Executive Service

Joseph Faris has been appointed deputy commander of Defense Logistics Agency Distribution and named to the Senior Executive Service, the agency announced Friday, formalizing a role he has filled in an acting capacity since September 2025.

“Joe has provided outstanding leadership while serving as our acting deputy commander since September 2025,” said Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Cotman, commanding general, DLA Distribution. “This appointment is a well-deserved milestone in his distinguished career, reflecting his deep commitment to our mission and his exceptional service in both military and civilian roles.”

Before stepping in as acting deputy, Faris led DLA Distribution’s Strategic Plans, Modernization and Training directorate beginning in 2023.

A retired U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, Faris concluded his military service in March 2015. His career began in the Quartermaster Corps and included time with the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He deployed on multiple missions under U.S. Southern Command and completed a Training with Industry assignment at Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, working under the company’s vice president of logistics.

Faris’s relationship with DLA Distribution stretches back to an early tour as aide-de-camp to the commander. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he was mobilized to help develop support plans for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and in 2009 he returned to active duty as the agency’s liaison officer during U.S. Central Command’s expansion in southern Afghanistan.

In his civilian tenure with DLA Distribution, Faris has held a series of leadership posts, including director of Future Plans, director of Business Development, and deputy director of Operations. He helped stand up forward distribution locations in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Korea and Guam, and coordinated domestic disaster relief support during Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

Faris earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, magna cum laude, from Waynesburg College and a master’s in national resource strategy from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy. He completed the Senior Executive Fellows program at Harvard Kennedy School in 2017.

His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Service Medal and Army Meritorious Service Medal, as well as the DLA Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

DLA Distribution manages the Defense Department’s global network for the storage and movement of materiel to military forces and other authorized customers. Selection to the SES places Faris among the government’s senior civilian executives who lead major programs and organizations.