Hurricane Helene: 21M meals, 285K gallons of fuel among DLA’s support to FEMA

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -

Providing vital supplies to those crawling back from the devastating blows of Hurricane Helene remains a significant endeavor for the Defense Logistics Agency.

DLA is supporting relief efforts on two fronts. The first is via U.S. Northern Command's Joint Task Force Civil Support that includes over 1,400 active-duty troops helping to clear routes and transport supplies to remote areas. DLA also has a large-scale effort to provide commodities like food and fuel to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for use by those affected by the storm and first responders.

FEMA taps into DLA support by issuing mission assignments for specific items. The first mission assignment for Hurricane Helene was for an expeditionary team from DLA Distribution to set up at FEMA's Incident Support Base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The 34-member group arrived Sept. 29 and immediately began receiving, processing and staging trucks of essential supplies. So far, the team has received 136 trailers jampacked with items like ready-to-eat meals, water and protective equipment from DLA warehouses and other sources.

"This is something that we do regularly. Whenever FEMA calls, we are ready to execute. It's what we're trained for, and we know how to get it done," said Jason Middleton, a member of the expeditionary team.

For meals, DLA Troop Support has agreed so far to provide 21 million MREs to FEMA locations in Conley, Georgia, and Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Sixty generators have already been delivered, and DLA supply chain experts are gathering information to potentially support a request for 26 more.

Fuel support is also underway at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, and Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, North Carolina. It includes 167,931 gallons of diesel fuel for aircraft and 121,197 gallons of regular fuel for ground vehicles and generators.

DLA Disposition Services supports disaster relief efforts as well and has supplied almost $430,000 in excess tents, flashlights, all-terrain vehicles, generators, motorized carts, trailers, trucks, forklifts and safety gloves.

DLA liaison officers colocated at FEMA's National Response Coordination Center have helped assess needs and worked with DLA commodity experts as well as members of the Agency Synchronization Operations Center to orchestrate DLA-wide support. Even before Helene made landfall, DLA teams reviewed the agency's pre-scripted mission assignments for FEMA and gauged current stock levels and locations.

"On Thursday before the storm, we already had a solid footing on information for items like subsistence and were ready to start taking requirements," said Air Force Lt. Col. Brian Campbell, chief of the ASOC's Current Operations Branch.

Campbell said DLA liaisons and supply chain experts are also gearing up for Hurricane Milton, which forecasters say could be the strongest storm in a century to strike Florida's Gulf Coast.

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