Shipping nearly 700,000 pounds of food across the globe in time for troops to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal is a complex operation, but the team at the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support prepares months in advance for their version of the big game.
“Thanksgiving is an incredibly important holiday for DLA Troop Support. It is our Super Bowl,” said Robin Whaley, DLA’s chief of subsistence for customers outside the continental United States. “Food is emotional, and we want to make sure that the soldiers, airmen, sailors, guardians and Marines serving around the world have that taste of home on Thanksgiving Day.”
Members of the DLA Troop Support subsistence supply chain start gathering the ingredients for traditional holiday meals in April. This springtime start gives prime vendors enough time to place orders with suppliers and allow for the 90- to 120-day lead time to get the products overseas.
“Getting the turkey and trimmings for Thanksgiving meals to our warfighters is one of the things we do best,” said DLA Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Landis Maddox. “Many of our service men and women are far away from their loved ones during the holidays, and we need to make sure they have that traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I am proud of the work we do here at DLA Troop Support to make that happen, and I am grateful that we can get a taste of home to our warfighters on this holiday.”
This holiday, military dining facilities can expect to receive:
- 139,665 pounds of turkey
- 176,791 pounds of beef
- 98,091 pounds of ham
- 49,055 pounds of shrimp
- 46,753 pounds of sweet potatoes
- 9,324 cases of pies and cakes
- 1,004 cases of eggnog
The amount of food being shipped this year is an increase from the 360,000 pounds of food sent out for last year’s Thanksgiving meals. This is due to an increased military presence in Europe, Whaley said.
“I feel incredibly proud knowing an extremely talented, committed team consisting of DLA Troop Support, DLA Europe and Africa, DLA Indo-Pacific and subsistence prime vendors [who] worked diligently to ensure every warfighter has a hot meal for Thanksgiving,” Whaley said. “The best part of getting all the shipments together is the teamwork of our customer operations, supplier operations, subsistence prime vendors, regional commands and distributors working together to get the meal to the last tactical mile.”
DLA Troop Support annually supplies America’s armed forces with $14 billion of food, uniforms, protective equipment, medicine and medical supplies, repair parts and construction and equipment. Its history, rooted in Philadelphia, began in 1800 with the construction of the Schuylkill Arsenal before the Civil War.
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