At the direction of President Obama, the Defense Logistics Agency is procuring a six-month advanced meat supply for its Department of Defense customers, to provide relief to the drought-stricken agriculture industry.
The DLA Troop Support Subsistence supply chain is asking its top three prime vendors to purchase, store, and distribute beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and catfish items, said Tom Daley, deputy director. He estimates purchases will amount to more than $100 million.
In 2011, Subsistence provided 95 million pounds of beef, 68 million pounds of pork, 500,000 pounds of lamb, 55 million pounds of chicken, and 2 million pounds of catfish to the US military services and other DOD agencies all over the world.
“Dining facility menus will not be affected by this purchase,” Daley said. “A soldier at a DFAC in Afghanistan won’t notice anything different when eating a grilled cheeseburger or baked chicken. The warfighter will continue to receive healthy, wholesome, and nutritious meals.”
Subsistence officials are negotiating with prime vendors on additional storage and distribution fees, estimated to be between $2.4 million and $3.3 million. As they do for all food products, the prime vendors will store the additional meat, which will be frozen to maximize shelf life.
Purchases will be based on forecasted demand. Subsistence is also working with the suppliers to identify specific meat items to purchase.
Subsistence is working with the Joint Subsistence Policy Board to keep the military services informed as it completes purchase details. Officials are also working with the board, made up of service food advisors, to determine standardized meat pack sizes and other details.
One of five DLA Troop Support supply chains, Subsistence ensures that service members and other DOD customers worldwide have high-quality, nutritious meals daily.
As a DOD combat support agency, DLA provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies, and joint and allied forces with various logistics, acquisition, and technical services. The agency sources and provides nearly 100% of consumable items America’s military forces need to operate, from food, fuel, and energy, to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction and barrier equipment. DLA also supplies more than 80% of the military’s spare parts.
DLA, headquartered at Fort Belvoir VA, has about 27,000 employees worldwide and supports more than 2,210 weapon systems. For more information, go to www.dla.mil.
