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COMMANDER’S UPDATE
Optimizing the Subsistence

Supply Chain and Sustaining Readiness

Lt. Col. Abel Young, USA, Director of Subsistence, DLA Troop Support

Government Food Service: Please tell us a little about and sustained readiness of the
yourself and how you came to be director of subsistence at warfighter. Although at DLA, we
DLA Troop Support. Also, talk about how your experience emphasize “warfighter first” as
has prepared you for the challenges ahead. our primary objective, I always
add “people always” to never
Lt. Col. Abel Young: I’ve been in the military, includ- forget why our troops fight. We
ing West Point, for 26 years. My father was a WWII Quar- fight for the American people’s Young
termaster Veteran who inspired me to apply to West Point freedom and liberty.
and later select Quartermaster as my branch of specialty. My focus within the next six to nine months is to
Over the last two decades, I have been fortunate enough operationalize our business operations and optimize the
to serve in many logistics positions and deployments that Subsistence supply chain to increase our responsiveness,
granted me the opportunity to support our warfighters. predictability and agility through process improvement
I can recall my first job as a young lieutenant. I was the projects, research and development projects, such as drones
dining facility manager, and I just wanted to provide the and artificial intelligence, the establishment of the Global
best-tasting food for our soldiers, similar to mom’s cooking. Subsistence Operations Cell and continued strong partner-
Just prior to my current assignment, I served in Liberia, ships with the services, combatant commands and industry.
where I worked hand-in-hand with DLA to coordinate the
supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, operational rations, Government Food Service: Subsistence prime vendor
holiday meals and bottled water. contract solicitations and awards are a constant challenge,
It was these experiences that gave me the competency particularly outside the continental United States. Discuss
and confidence that led to my selection to the Subsistence and update us on the revisions planned for the Manufacturer
director position. Pricing Agreement (MPA) and National Allowance Pricing
Agreement (NAPA) programs.
Government Food Service: Tell us a little about how your
tour is unfolding. Discuss your plans and any challenges Young: The Manufacturing Pricing Agreement (MPA)
that lie ahead. is being updated to improve the transparency of pricing.
We aim to improve product quality under the new program
Young: Being the director of DoD’s lead agency for by requiring that each new item proposed for introduc-
subsistence comes with a tremendous amount of respon- tion into the PV [prime vendor] program meets the DoD
sibility. In this position, every success and failure directly Menu Standards and the individual Services’ Buyer’s Guides
impacts the readiness of the Total Force. by evaluating the specification and label for compliance
It took me a while to grasp the idea that Subsistence with these standards. These changes have been briefed to
feeds hundreds of thousands of America’s warfighters and industry and the feedback we received has been used to
civilians three times a day, 365 days a year, in every con- make minor modifications; however, the basic framework
tinent, and in every country. It opened my eyes to the remains unchanged. Protein items will require review and
magnitude of what we do. coordination with USDA prior to being added to the pro-
The capability and capacity of our prime vendor net- gram to ensure the products meet the customer’s needs
work, our operational rations, and our passionate, dedi- prior to shipment overseas. It’s too late if we only rely on a
cated workforce enable our ability to enhance the lethality PV audit to catch quality problems. Having USDA conduct

16 GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • APRIL 2018