Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek was guardedly assured when Pentagon officers referred to as him within the fall of 2012 with a query from the president. Might the Protection Logistics Company give fuel to native stations after Hurricane Sandy had minimize energy and flooded swaths of New York and New Jersey.
“Everyone who’d evacuated had sucked all of the fuel out of the fuel stations, and the one stations that did have gasoline didn’t have energy. I wasn’t fairly certain we may do it — it’s lots completely different from simply supplying first responders — however I had a fairly good sense that we have been succesful,” the previous DLA director stated one month earlier than Sandy’s 10-year anniversary.
After 10 minutes of weighing uncertainties and together with his “supreme confidence” in workers’ know-how, Harnitchek referred to as again with a daring “sure.” The company went on to offer over 9 million gallons of gasoline to first responders, state and native governments, hospitals, fuel stations and survivors throughout aid efforts.
DLA’s pace and proficiency in gasoline help grew to become evident so rapidly that the president, through government order, directed the company to distribute over 5 million gallons of Division of Power-owned ultra-low sulfur diesel. DLA Power contractors moved the gasoline by barge from storage amenities in Groton, Connecticut, to websites in NY city’s 5 boroughs and Lengthy Island. It powered every thing from turbines at high-rise condo buildings to dewatering methods.
Extra Than Gasoline
Workers all through DLA confirmed the nation simply how abundantly they might help Individuals in want after Sandy, a storm so potent Nationwide Geographic referred to as it “a raging freak of nature.” The company additionally equipped meals, bottled water, blankets, cots, lighting kits, maps, medical provides, turbines and removing of over 75 million kilos of trash and particles.
“The entire issues we did not do effectively in Hurricane Katrina, we did terribly effectively in Sandy,” Harnitchek stated.
DLA Chief of Workers Eric Smith was the assistant administrator of logistics for the Federal Emergency Administration Company then, and he, too, noticed the night-and-day distinction in DLA’s response. The previous Military colonel had a front-row seat to DLA’s help after Katrina as head of DLA’s operations heart in 2005 and 2006.
“One of many classes realized from hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita was that the necessity for any such help was solely going to develop. The federal authorities was going to proceed to come back to the Protection Division and DLA for help, and we wanted to be prepared for it,” Smith stated.
“By the point Sandy rolled round, we had proofed out numerous ideas collectively and put practices in place, issues like deployable distribution groups and the gasoline help settlement we nonetheless have at the moment,” Smith stated.
Sandy additionally marked the primary time DLA despatched a senior liaison officer to FEMA to attend on-site conferences and relay data between the 2 businesses as new necessities emerged.
“I believed it was a very good name on DLA’s half, particularly in a bigger catastrophe like that,” Smith added.
Liaison officers usually knew what provides have been wanted and the place earlier than formal requests may very well be submitted by FEMA, which allocates catastrophe funds. These advance preparations with first responders allowed DLA to evaluate shares and be prepared so vans may roll on the phrase “go.”
“In any catastrophe, you are going to have quickly altering circumstances and also you’re not going to have nice data, however you’re going to have unbelievable time constraints and political stress to do issues,” Harnitchek stated. “Should you perceive that is the setting you are working in, there are a few guiding rules you wish to maintain pricey.”
Responsiveness is No. 1, he stated, including that each hour responders wait is an hour misplaced in offering aid. The second precept: Suppose large.
“These disasters usually have an effect on large populations and infrastructure,” he stated. “Which means you have to assume within the thousands and thousands, not hundreds, in terms of help.”
Making a Distinction
Harnitchek credited DLA’s success in Sandy to workers’ ingenuity. When the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command wanted assist getting New Jersey staff throughout the Hudson River to their workplaces in New York Metropolis due to broken ferry boats, DLA’s acquisition workforce contracted for tugboats, barges and pier restore in simply three hours.
And sensing a niche in coordination amongst these working to show the lights again on in 4 condo buildings in Queens, Navy Capt. Joe Vitelli, former director of the development and gear provide chain for DLA Troop Assist, hopped a prepare to Penn Station after which bought a cab to Queens.
“He bought everyone in a room — the Military Corps of Engineers, the New York Metropolis Housing Authority and native electrical corporations — speaking to at least one one other, and inside a number of hours, the lights have been on,” Harnitchek stated. Within the early night, an image of Vitelli standing together with his arms outstretched in entrance of a lit condo constructing popped into the admiral’s e mail.
“That is only one instance of a whole bunch of occurrences of DLA people making an enormous distinction as a result of they care about stuff,” he stated. “It isn’t only a job to them. They care deeply and wish to assist.”
However he admitted DLA’s help to Sandy may’ve been even higher, and Smith agreed. Assist components, akin to embedded liaison officers, stay a cornerstone of the company’s catastrophe help, the chief of workers stated, however the company realized that mission assignments are a crucial a part of coordinating catastrophe help amongst federal, state and native businesses.
“FEMA points a mission task, which is a funding doc that claims, ‘I want you to do X.’ They’re prefunded to sure ranges, however [that] may be adjusted for extra help,” Smith stated, including that mission assignments are sometimes created in anticipation of or in response to an emergency or main catastrophe.
The secretary of protection awarded DLA a Joint Meritorious Unit Award for aid efforts throughout Sandy, and former New York Metropolis Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote a letter thanking Harnitchek for the company’s efforts.
“Many New Yorkers throughout the town have been impacted by this extreme storm, and your speedy response was invaluable to serving to our residents by this very difficult time,” Bloomberg wrote. “Many thanks for moving into motion when New York Metropolis wanted you most.”
Editor’s observe: This four-minute video highlights DLA’s response and the appreciation of first responders.
