‘No more walls’: stronger support for warfighters, industry at the heart of integration

Defense Logistics Agency Weapons Support leaders say the command’s consolidation of land, maritime and aviation supply chains is nearing full operational capability by Oct. 1, with early gains in speed, alignment and industry engagement already visible.

Speaking to industry partners June 2 at the DLA Supply Chain Alliance Symposium and Exhibition in Columbus, Ohio, DLA Weapons Support (Columbus) Commander Navy Rear Adm. Julie Treanor underscored that the effort is a substantive overhaul rather than a rebrand. “We are not simply flipping a switch, changing a name, and calling ourselves a new command,” she said.

Treanor said the combined Columbus and Richmond organizations oversee roughly $12 billion in spare and repair parts, with about 7,500 personnel at more than 50 locations worldwide, sustaining fleets across the joint force. The integration, she added, is designed to streamline decision-making and improve responsiveness without sacrificing rigor.

Her counterpart in Richmond, DLA Weapons Support (Richmond) Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Launey, described the transition as challenging but productive. “It’s been a journey, with a lot of challenges,” he said. “And it is taking a lot of collaborative teamwork and internal alignment to make all this work. But through this process, we have found considerable commonality and synergy between the two teams.”

The agency spent the past year running a comprehensive review of structures and processes at the former DLA Aviation in Richmond, Virginia, and DLA Land and Maritime in Columbus, Ohio. Integration Development Cell teams examined overlapping functions and best practices across areas including audit and internal controls, customer operations, demand and sales planning, engineering and quality, human resources and legal, governance and tools, policy and process, operations and command-and-control, retail integration, shared services, contracts, supplier operations and tactical procurement. The goal, leaders said, was to eliminate duplication, adopt proven methods and align systems and standards.

“This is not something that we’re undertaking lightly,” Treanor said. “One organization is not taking over the other. Rather, we are blending them seamlessly, tactically and strategically to optimize support and enhance prioritization across the joint force.”

According to the commanders, that approach is already producing faster capability delivery and better use of resources. Treanor pointed to integrated support teams—groups of subject-matter experts spanning acquisition and supply—as an example of a best practice scaled across the enterprise. “We saw that this combination would provide us acumen, cross-collaboration, a new sense of team and the ability to accelerate decisions and solutions,” she said. By design, those teams can resolve most issues without senior intervention, reserving leadership decisions for removing obstacles.

Launey said recent military exercises tested the reconfigured command-and-control model and then flowed directly into real-world operations, reinforcing the value of tighter coordination. “It showed that by working together, the command is more accountable, agile and responsive across the board,” he said.

Financial alignment is another milestone. Treanor said DLA Weapons Support submitted its 2027 budget as a single entity, unifying portfolios and hierarchies across the organization. “There are no more walls between us,” she said. “The benefit of that is to allow us to be better informed on supplier needs, market trends, capacity and operational constraints to pivot as we need to.”

She told industry partners the move signals a shift from transactional interactions to strategic collaboration, with one demand signal and one engagement framework. “This allows us to employ a unified and seamless demand signal and engagement framework for industry to allow for a better operational construct to benefit the warfighter,” Treanor said. “There will be a single point of entry, a single command, a single commander, and you will be allowed to engage with us across the entirety of your support more seamlessly.”

Treanor said the unified financial structure should lower administrative costs and enable broader, enterprise-level acquisition agreements. Both commanders urged defense suppliers to align processes and help streamline support to operational units. “Every decision that we make collectively as an industrial base, should be centered on that support to the warfighter,” Launey said.

Despite the internal changes, Launey emphasized that day-to-day sustainment has remained steady. “To a warfighter in the field, internal organizational processes and boundaries are irrelevant,” he said. “The end goal remains the same: getting the right part to the warfighter rapidly to ensure mission success.”

Both leaders credited the workforce in Columbus and Richmond for maintaining tempo while driving change. “We have an exceptional and resilient workforce at both locations who are dedicated to the mission,” Treanor said. “They are at their desks every single day despite the challenge, whether it be operational, a supplier challenge or a warfighter need.” Launey added, “Looking across both sites, you see a single team doing outstanding work,” noting that the combined enterprise is operating more cohesively.

As the command enters the final stretch toward full operational capability, Treanor said the team’s progress has exceeded expectations. “I think we are ahead of pace for what we thought could be accomplished and the team is very excited about the opportunities they see ahead.”