In the busy world of item management, it's important to have all hands on deck.
So, having a good team to rely on is essential to success.
As an AMCOM Logistics Center branch chief and supervisor for a seven-person item management team charged with ensuring parts availability for Black Hawk sustainment and maintenance, Dan DeLaO is familiar with working to meet the mission even during challenging staffing requirements.
"The work doesn't go away in the item management world," he said. "Our job is to buy the right part at the right time and deliver it to the right place.
"We have basic requirements that have to be met regardless of the workload. We work every day to make sure that the parts needed to keep aircraft flying are in the pipeline. If you have a grounded aircraft, you have to make sure the parts are there to get it back flying. That takes a lot of innovative thinking."
On a daily basis, DeLaO's team makes decisions on how many parts need to be purchased, when they need to be purchased and, once purchased, where they need to be delivered. Item managers must consider how long it takes to get a part on contract and how long it takes to make it when determining acquisition requirements. With more than 2,000 Black Hawks flying for the Army anywhere in the world and even more Black Hawks flying through foreign military sales, making those decisions can be like putting together the pieces of a puzzle.
"Black Hawk has the largest fleet of aircraft. Even with Chinook, Apache and other helicopters combined, the Black Hawk fleet is still the largest," DeLaO said.
"We are always looking at demand and planning how to fill the demand. We make decisions on whether to repair or buy needed parts. We have to consider how long it takes to get a part and then recommend supply actions on how much to buy and when. We also need to ensure we don't go in excess of parts because we are working in a short funding time. Funding is tight so we have to justify our buys and our repairs."
On days when there is a downed aircraft and the right part is not readily available, the challenge to support the warfighter has employees scrambling to find the right part and have it delivered quickly.
"Sometimes we will go through other facilities that have a lot of helicopters to find a needed part. Places like Corpus Christi Army Depot where they repair 40 aircraft a year can have a needed part on the shelf or on an aircraft that's in maintenance or they can sometimes even make it," DeLaO said. "Fort Rucker, where they keep aircraft flying for the training mission, may have a needed part.
Someway, somehow we always get the part that's needed to get the aircraft flying again."
With older Black Hawk models, item managers may have to purchase entire assemblies just to ensure the availability of one part that requires repair.
"Cost is a factor in every decision we make. But, the cost of a downed aircraft is the most costly because of the cost to the mission," DeLaO said.
Even when Black Hawks are not grounded, the unpredictability of item management plays into the work equation. Supporting foreign military sales adds to the challenge of prioritizing parts requirements.
DeLaO followed in his father's government civilian footsteps. After a stint managing the family restaurant business in Las Cruces, New Mexico, DeLaO began his civilian career with the Army in 1987 as an intern at Red River School of Logistics in Texarkana, Texas. His wife and three young daughters also made the move.
They followed DeLaO again in 1988 when he moved to St. Louis, Mo., the home to the Aviation and Troop Command. In 1989, he was permanently assigned as a Black Hawk item manager, just in time to work supply chain management during the first Gulf War in 1990.
He later worked for the Aviation and Systems Command before moving with Army aviation to Redstone Arsenal in 1997. Since then, he has built his experience in item management, leading him into a management role.
"A good item manager is patient. It's not for everybody. If you want closure at the end of the day, you might not get it," DeLaO said.
"Some of the efforts to purchase parts can take awhile. Aircraft safety, modifications, testing, contracting, taskers -- so many things are involved. What we do is affected so much by outside things. You have to be patient, and be able to put things aside and move on to something else. But, you've also got to be persistent with following up on actions."
DeLaO believes it's important to keep item managers informed on issues that can affect Black Hawk sustainment and maintenance.
"Changes and modifications to the aircraft require you to be in tune with industry. You have to understand where you are going so you can be postured to support," he said.
"It's important for our item managers to get out in the field where they can touch and see the parts they supply for Black Hawk. I want them to be able to get in the aircraft, sit in the cockpit and ask questions so they can get a different perspective. I want them to see where the parts they manage fit in the aircraft and why they are important to the aircraft."
Those visits are also good for letting item managers talk with Soldiers who benefit from their item management work.
"Visiting a unit that is getting ready to deploy shows them the importance of having a helicopter repaired and fully mission capable before deployment," DeLaO said. "Getting them out in the field where they can shake the hands of Soldiers gets them motivated and renews excitement in the job because they are a reminder that what we do really does support the Soldier and the nation."
DeLaO has been married for 41 years. He and his wife have endured the heartache of losing two daughters suddenly. Their oldest daughter, Kelly, died at age 36 in October 2015 in a car accident.
Their daughter Danielle, age 32, died in July 2016 from a medical condition. Their third daughter, Danette, along with eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren continue to fill their lives with love.
"My co-workers have been right by my side through all of it. They have been there for us when we lost our daughters and they gave us donations, sent cards and took care of us in so many ways. It's been very amazing," he said.
"The pictures in my cubicle are reminders of what I have lost. But, I have also gained so much from working here and being with my co-workers. This is my Black Hawk family."
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