Eisenhower School develops DLA’s strategic leaders

Three current Defense Logistics Agency employees are gaining a new perspective on global logistics and leadership as students at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.

The 10-month program at the National Defense University is designed to create senior leaders who can navigate the complexities of global logistics. Its curriculum sets it apart from other senior service colleges.

"We educate leaders to integrate resources, economics and strategy in support of national security," said Stacey Pilling, DLA's faculty chair at the school. "We can have all the strategy in the world, but how do we get the resourcing part of it? We're the only war college that focuses on that."

The focus on the industrial base and economics is a key takeaway for students.

David Wood, a DLA liaison officer for the Defense Health Agency, said he's learning about how economics drive national security, global partnerships and domestic policies.

Beyond the curriculum, students said the program's greatest strength lies in the range of its cohort, which includes U.S. and foreign military, civilians across the federal government, and fellows from private industry.

Marcus Miller, a DLA Logistics Operations strategy analyst, said his interest in the program was in part due to the inclusion of industry-based fellows. He said the industry attendance and input makes the experience vastly different from the other war colleges.

The mix of backgrounds is one of the most rewarding aspects of the program for Kevin Phillips, a DLA Logistics Operations strategic analyst. He described the atmosphere as exhilarating and demanding.

"It's designed to further diversify our thought process and challenge our own assumptions in how we've done business in the past," Phillips said.

For Miller, he said the program has provided insight into the thinking of senior leaders.

"Sometimes, when we're working on products or on a solution to a problem, we don't fully understand the thinking of our senior leaders," he said. "I think this gives a baseline for emerging leaders to not only move up in the organization, but to really start understanding how the senior leaders in DLA think and operate," Miller said.

This sentiment was echoed by Wood, who said the program is about building a stronger agency.

"DLA is developing senior leaders and strengthening the agency with as many forward-thinking people as possible," Wood said. "It's more than just an individual going to school; it's about what we can do to provide support to the services and the warfighters as quickly and as intelligently as possible."

Click here for more information about the Eisenhower School.