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How data, AI are cornerstones of DLA’s digital strategy

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8 months ago

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The Defense Logistics Agency, like many agencies, is facing the challenge of a reduced budget and a growing set of mission responsibilities.

While its fiscal 2026 request is a few million dollars more than what it received in 2025, DLA is still facing almost a $50 million cut next year as compared to 2024.

To counter a smaller pool of funding, DLA has come up with three priorities to better allocate resources that agency leaders say will help them better execute their objectives and drive results.

“One year after we released our DLA strategy, we are not taking our feet off the gas,” said DLA Director Army Lt. Gen. Mark Simerly at the agency’s Collider Industry Day on Sept. 3. “We are accelerating and building on our successes with an urgency to support innovation and mission excellence.”

To that end, DLA outlined what it’s calling three sets:

  • Set the agency
  • Set the globe
  • Set the supply chains

Brad Bunn, DLA’s vice director, said these three priorities expand upon the four pillars of the agency’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan: People, Posture, Precision and Partnerships.

Brad Bunn is the Defense Logistics Agency’s vice director.

“We see those as imperative for us to improve on and work down some of the supply chain challenges we have as we support the joint force and prepare for potential conflict in the future,” Bunn said in an interview with Federal News Network.

Bunn said the first set focuses on the agency workforce and transforming how employees work.

“One of the main objectives under our people imperative really has to do with increasing our competency in understanding data — how data can be operationalized to bring velocity and speed to our business — and building that competency across the entire workforce,” he said. “We’ve got about 24,000 people in DLA, mostly civilians, and they are in the business predominantly of acquiring, procuring supplies and materials and interacting with the industrial base to do that. So there’s a lot of grunt contracting work that we do. We also have a global storage and distribution network that we operate, and that’s very hands-on warehouse management. But one thing that has emerged over the past decade is that data is a common thread across all of that and all of our people, from our warehouse workers who receive and store material, to our contracting specialists, to our human resources and finance, our analysts, our supply chain experts. They need to have a better understanding of what data can do for us and how we can get better insight, so that we can respond quicker to the needs of the warfighters.”

Simerly said the workforce transformation means DLA must improve the data fluency of their employees and how they apply artificial intelligence.

“We are embracing AI as a cornerstone of our digital strategy. We have to move from doing manual tasks to more mission critical thinking,” he said. “We have about 56 AI models in development, testing or use, all from employee-generated use cases. We already are empowering smarter decisions across the DLA.”

DLA is taking a bottom-up approach to AI. It’s developing skillsets within its workforce, what Bunn called citizen developers, who have the technology, tools and skills sets to solve their problems on the ground.

Embracing a forward leaning mindset

Then at a more strategic level, Bunn said DLA is trying to use AI to improve how the agency does forecasting and planning.

“So much of what we do is really about understanding the requirements of our customers, and then buying ahead of that need, or buying down risk by investing working capital fund dollars so that we have the material that they need when they need it,” Bunn said. “A lot of that, especially when we’re talking about legacy or aging weapon systems, has to do with an industrial base where obsolescence is a major issue. The better we can forecast that demand, then we can send that demand signal to industry. That could be a game changer for us, because a lot of what we chase are back orders for repair parts or that kind of stuff that needs to go to a depot for a repair overhaul action, or a shipyard, or a logistics center that’s overhauling a B-52 or whatever it might be. We play a huge role in that, and our understanding of what that customer needs well before they even know they need it is really what we’re getting after.”

Improving forecasting and planning is part of the other two sets.

Simerly said setting the globe is about empowering logistics where it matters the most and embracing a forward-leaning mindset at home and in the Indo Pacific Command (IndoPACOM) region.

Bunn said that seeing as DLA is a combat support agency, it has to sure that the global Joint Force has the material and capabilities they need so they can be ready and resilient in a fight.

“Some of that is about positioning, material, supplies, people and things like that, but it’s also about building resilience in the industrial base and using other kinds of innovative methods so that we can respond quicker if there’s a requirement — whether it’s fuel or food or repair parts for weapon systems or medical material and pharmaceuticals,” he said.

Supply chain data integration needed

The third set focused on supply chains and the need for DLA to modernize nine different systems. Simerly said that modernization would help DLA “move faster, think smarter, improve data integration and innovation and responsiveness and resilience.”

Bunn added that DLA currently has too many disparate supply chain systems and can’t apply AI tools or do forecasting without better data integration.

“What we’re trying to do is integrate all of those and have a better understanding, have a common digital thread, so we can understand the supply chains themselves, from out of the factory to the foxhole, and then make sure that they’re protected. There’s a lot of cyber threats out there,” he said. “There are other kinds of threats out there too, so a lot of this is about managing risk across those supply chains.”

The supply chain modernization effort also would benefit DLA around areas like inventory management, auditability for financial management and customer service.

“We’re leveraging more advanced technology in our storage and distribution network, including things you might see in an Amazon fulfillment center, and leveraging data across the entire supply chain, from what is in the commercial side to what we have in our possession,” Bunn said. “As it transits from our custody, as customers order from us, and it gets all the way to the end user, understanding what that data thread is, so that we can have visibility of that — it’s important for us as consumers to know when you’re going to get that.”

The post How data, AI are cornerstones of DLA’s digital strategy first appeared on Federal News Network.

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PAYBACK TIME: US Department of War Planning Retribution for Failing Allies, Including Suspending Spain From the Alliance and ‘Reviewing’ UK’s Claims to the Falkland Islands

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4 weeks ago

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April 25, 2026

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A digital artwork featuring two men engaged in discussion, with a prominent image of Donald Trump in the background, creating a dramatic political atmosphere.A digital artwork featuring two men engaged in discussion, with a prominent image of Donald Trump in the background, creating a dramatic political atmosphere.Failing allies, leftist-Globalists Sanchez (Spain) and Starmer (UK) are about to taste retribution from Trump – Wiki Commons

Failing allies under pressure.

As we have been reporting here on TGP, US President Donald J. Trump is hardly the man to forgive and forget a slight or a betrayal.

And it’s been reported that Trump and his team have compiled a ‘naughty list’ of failing allies, and that some for of payback was expected against these countries.

And today, it arises that the Pentagon is exploring ways to punish NATO countries that failed to support the US during the Iran conflict – including drastic measures like suspending Spain from the alliance.

This was first reported by Reuters, but was picked up by a multitude of outlets, primarily in the UK, where there is widespread concern over the planned US ‘review’ of the British claim to the Falkland Islands.

Daily Mail reported:

“The policy options are detailed in an email expressing frustration at some allies’ perceived reluctance or refusal to grant Washington access, basing and overflight (ABO) rights for the Iran war. The email stated that ABO is ‘just the absolute baseline for NATO,’ according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.

The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European ‘imperial possessions,’ such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.”

Needless to say, the response by the Euro-Globalists was immediate.

On the one hand, NATO states there is no provision to oust Spain, while the UK reaffirms its sovereignty over the South American Islands.

Read more:

NATO and the Bar Fight: A Bar Tab Europe Expects America To Pay Forever

The post PAYBACK TIME: US Department of War Planning Retribution for Failing Allies, Including Suspending Spain From the Alliance and ‘Reviewing’ UK’s Claims to the Falkland Islands appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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AXIS OF ECONOMIC LOSERS: Japan and Germany’s Socialist “Stakeholder” Takeover Turned Economic Superpowers Into Stagnant Ghost Towns – And the Left Wants This Poison for America

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4 weeks ago

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April 25, 2026

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Image depicting tattered flags of Germany and Japan with the text "The Axis of Losers," symbolizing the Axis Powers of World War II.Image depicting tattered flags of Germany and Japan with the text "The Axis of Losers," symbolizing the Axis Powers of World War II.Japan and Germany are dying from the same disease: socialism.

Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, the so-called “experts,” the mainstream media, and every smug Ivy League economist couldn’t stop drooling over Japan. “Japan as Number One!” they screamed. Books flew off the shelves. Newsweek and Time covers warned of an “economic Pearl Harbor.”

Paul Harvey wailed about Japan buying up America with our own money. Paul Kennedy’s bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers basically coronated the Land of the Rising Sun as the next global hegemon.

The keiretsu system, the MITI bureaucrats, the lifetime employment model — it was all supposed to be the future. America was finished. The Japanese were going to own us.

Fast-forward to 2025-2026. Japan is a cautionary tale on life support. GDP per capita (PPP) hovers around a pathetic $55,000–$56,000 — crushed by America’s nearly $94,000. After taxes and cost of living? It’s even worse. The “Lost Decades” aren’t a glitch — they’re the feature. Zombie companies, endless stagnation, and a demographic death spiral made infinitely worse by policies that treat businesses like government welfare offices rather than wealth-creation machines.

The mainstream press will blame everything except the real culprit: the deliberate socialization of the corporation.

Keiretsu

In Japan, it’s the infamous keiretsu system — giant corporate clans glued together by cross-shareholdings and a house bank that plays mommy to every failing division. Lifetime employment. Seniority-based pay and promotions instead of merit. Company unions that treat every layoff like a war crime. The goal isn’t profit — heaven forbid — it’s “harmony” and keeping everyone employed forever. Result? Total paralysis. You can’t fire the dead weight. You can’t reallocate capital to what actually works. You can’t innovate like a maniac because revolution is “disruptive.”

When the 1990s bubble popped, they didn’t clean house — they dragged toxic debt around like a ball and chain for decades.

And don’t look now, but Germany — once the envy of Europe — is right there with them in the loser’s club. Years of zero or outright negative growth. Factories shuttering. The proud German export machine is coughing up blood. The vaunted “Rhine model” has turned into a slow-motion industrial suicide.

Mitbestimmung

Because Germany took the socialization even further with the notorious Mitbestimmung — “co-determination.” In big companies, workers and union reps literally occupy half the seats on the supervisory board. They get veto power over layoffs, plant closings, relocations, and major restructurings. It’s not capitalism anymore — it’s corporate communism with better engineering. The boardroom isn’t deciding how to crush competitors and reward shareholders; it’s negotiating how to protect today’s insiders at the expense of tomorrow’s growth.

Add in the deranged Energiewende — the green energy fantasy that tripled electricity costs — and you have the perfect storm. German industry is literally powering down while the rest of the world races ahead.

BMW/Tesla

Want proof? Look at BMW versus Tesla. BMW sells about 2.5 million vehicles a year. Tesla sells around 1.5 million. BMW’s market cap? A measly ~$55 billion. Tesla’s? Over twenty times higher. One company is run by visionaries who embrace the future and reward risk-takers. The other is run like a German labor ministry with a side hustle in cars.

This is what happens when you let “stakeholders” — code for unions, bureaucrats, and professional grievance-mongers — hijack the boardroom. The enterprise stops being a profit machine that lifts everyone through growth and becomes a social-work project designed to protect yesterday’s workers at the expense of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, young people, and innovators.

It’s the exact same philosophy the American left has been trying to smuggle into U.S. boardrooms for years: ESG scores, “stakeholder capitalism,” DEI mandates, union power grabs, and the constant war on shareholders. They call it compassionate. It’s actually economic castration. Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” — the engine of real progress — gets sacrificed on the altar of Karl Marx’s class warfare dressed up in a suit and tie.

America’s model is raw, unapologetic, and brutally effective: The company exists to make money for its owners. Management executes or gets fired. You restructure, you pivot, you kill failing divisions without crying about “humanity.” It looks ugly to the European and Japanese salon socialists. It also creates the iPhones, the SpaceX rockets, the shale revolution, and the stock market that funds retirements for millions.

The Axis of Losers

Japan and Germany didn’t fail because of demographics or one bad energy policy. They failed because they turned their greatest companies into paralyzed extensions of the welfare state. The “Axis of Losers” chose preservation over progress — and they’re paying for it in lost decades and lost futures.

America still has a choice. We can reject this European-Japanese corporate socialism, tell the unions and the stakeholder grifters to pound sand, and keep rewarding the risk-takers and wealth-creators who actually build the future.

Or we can follow the Axis of Losers straight into the economic graveyard. The choice should be obvious — but the radical left never learns. They just rebrand failure as “equity” and keep selling the same poison. Don’t let them.

The post AXIS OF ECONOMIC LOSERS: Japan and Germany’s Socialist “Stakeholder” Takeover Turned Economic Superpowers Into Stagnant Ghost Towns – And the Left Wants This Poison for America appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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WATCH: Mother of Feral NYC Teen Who Body-Slammed and Stomped 15-Year-Old Girl’s Head DEFENDS Violent Son, Claims Victim ‘Bullied’ Him After She Refused to Give Him Her Phone Number

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4 weeks ago

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April 25, 2026

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Woman speaking to the media in a hallway while a man is seen attacking another person on the street in a separate scene.

Woman speaking to the media in a hallway while a man is seen attacking another person on the street in a separate scene.

A horrifying video from New York has sparked nationwide outrage after a 14-year-old boy was caught on camera brutally body-slamming a 15-year-old girl to the concrete and then stomping on her head, all because she refused to give him her phone number.

Now, the boy’s mother is publicly defending her son, claiming the victim was “bullying” him and that his savage and animalistic attack was somehow justified because he is a “humble” Christian.

The shocking attack occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Monday at the corner of East 107th Street and Third Avenue in East Harlem, just after school let out.

The 15-year-old girl, a ninth-grade student-athlete at East Harlem Scholars Academy Charter School heading to squash practice, was confronted by the 14-year-old masked suspect, who had reportedly been harassing her for weeks.

In the disturbing footage, the girl is seen trying to walk away and yelling, “Get the f–k away from me.”

The boy follows her, grabs her from behind, lifts her off the ground, slams her to the pavement, and then stomps directly on her head.

His friends can be heard laughing and egging him on as the girl lies motionless on the ground.

WATCH (VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED):

The girl suffered a concussion and was rushed to Harlem Hospital.

The 14-year-old suspect was arrested on Wednesday and appeared in Manhattan Family Court, where he was ordered held in custody by the Division of Youth and Family Justice.

Because both parties are minors, his name has not been publicly released.

In an interview captured outside the courthouse, the boy’s mother, Selma Allen, issued a wild defense of her violent son.

WATCH:

Allen claimed the 15-year-old girl had been bullying him in school, sending messages, and even pushing him down, and that this somehow justified the vicious attack.

“She was being a bully to him, that’s it,” Allen told reporters.

“He’s been complaining about her. I bring it to the principal’s attention but he don’t address it. The way my son is being bullied, he doesn’t want to go to school.”

She claimed her son is a “quiet” boy who “doesn’t provoke nobody,” and described him as a “humble Christian.”

“He don’t provoke nobody. But if you provoke him, he will lash out.”

Allen insisted her son had proof on WhatsApp and Instagram and repeatedly shifted blame onto the victim while downplaying the savage stomp on the girl’s head.

None of the reporters asked the obvious question: if the girl was truly bullying him, why was he aggressively demanding her phone number and following her?

The victim’s mother, Lucinda Arroyo, spoke out Thursday in an interview with the New York Post. She said her daughter had been dealing with weeks of harassment from the boy and said it was a “miracle” her daughter survived.

“She’s very upset that her whole life has been completely flipped upside down right now,” Arroyo said. “She’s known him as someone who’s bad news for a while.”

“This is not even bullying, this is outright assault — and he could have killed her,” she asserted.

Her daughter was left with a concussion, bleeding, a potential brain injury, crushing headaches and a twisted neck, and will require ongoing physical therapy.

The post WATCH: Mother of Feral NYC Teen Who Body-Slammed and Stomped 15-Year-Old Girl’s Head DEFENDS Violent Son, Claims Victim ‘Bullied’ Him After She Refused to Give Him Her Phone Number appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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