Defence Logistics Organisation

The DLO's mission is to 'provide joint logistics support to the Armed Forces', with savings managed through 'delivering outputs to customers at greatly reduced costs'. Targets are to 'reduce output costs by 20 per cent by 2005 while continuing to deliver and, where appropriate, improve quality,' and this calls for changes in working structures and practices.
Its five major business units each provide specialist logistics for sea, land, air, communications and defence logistic support - like fuel, warehousing and food. It is a very large and diverse organisation with:
• a budget of £4.6 billion - 20 per cent of the total committed to defence
• 43,000 people of which 75 per cent are civilian - a quarter of all MoD civilian staff
• £22 billion of assets
• 88 locations.
Equipment Support (Sea) - Warship Support Agency
Centred on Abbey Wood, Bristol, the WSA provides logistics for the Fleet and other Service maritime assets. It also supports strategic weapons and nuclear convoys; as well as harbour services and storage, personnel services including single accommodation, and support to MoD units working within Naval establishments. Much of the work has recently been transferred to private companies under partnering contracts. It operates at a number of Naval and MoD bases in the south and south-west of England, and at Rosyth and Faslane in Scotland. It even has outposts in the USA and Canada. Total personnel number 2,900 military and 5,700 civilians.
Equipment Support (Land)
With its headquarters at Andover, ES(Land) is responsible for the entire management of fleets of land-based equipment and stocks used by all three Services although its biggest user is the Army. This includes small arms, vehicles ranging from tanks to motor cycles, ammunition (1,600 different types), maintenance and clothing (everything from helmets to bearskins), so it is a very diverse organisation. Its 11 Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) each cover a major equipment item or range of items, and its members are based throughout England centred on 16 bases, with one unit at Stirling. Numbers are 400 military and 1,900 civilian.
Equipment Support (Air)
Managed from RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire, ES(Air) has six other sites in the south and south-east of England (one of which, RNAS Yeovilton, is of the same magnitude as RAF Wyton). It provides engineering support and supplies for all military fixed-wing and rotary aircraft, as well as setting maintenance policies and running airworthiness policies. Each of its 21 IPTs looks after a particular aircraft type or range of commodity items. With 1,700 aircraft on its books, it manages nearly one million product lines. A total of 90 per cent of its budget goes on 7,000 civilian contracts. It has 1,600 military and 2,700 civilian staff.
Defence Communications services Agency
The DCSA has a headquarters at Corsham, Wiltshire, together with its Global Operations and Security Control Centre, ready to meet short-notice operational communications needs. The rest of its staff manage numerous outposts throughout England, and Faslane and Rosyth in Scotland. It is responsible for the end-to-end management of all defence communication information systems, and providing an integrated service. Its infrastructure and networks, some of which are run under a Private Finance Initiative, are replacing current ones, and producing a coherent system for strategic communications. It has 1,600 military and 3,100 civilian staff.
Defence Supply Chain
Run from Andover, Def SC delivers stores and equipment and moves personnel worldwide to all elements of the UK's defence effort. It brings together a number of logistic functions and uses civilian expertise to provide one integrated supply chain, moving a host of different items around the globe. Its key groups are based at six locations in southern England, and cover fuels, catering, munitions, medical supplies, transport and movement, as well as postal and courier services. It also has a corporate technical services directorate and is responsible for the introduction of the Pay as You Dine system. Staff number 600 uniformed and 6,300 civilian.
Employment
The DLO employs people at all levels of a large number of very different groups, directorates, organisations and agencies, with each responsible for its own employment. Lower skilled (non-mobile) posts are advertised and filled locally with more senior appointments (mobile) being publicised nationally, and recruitment following screening, filtering and rigorous selection. Indeed, Civil Service rules demand such wide advertising. The DLO talks of a 'great deal of in-house training with each person having their own development plan', so, once in, there should be scope for movement and promotion.
It is impossible to provide hard advice across what is a very wide field although, with the nature of the organisation changing - reacting to business needs that can be hard to predict - and new skills needed, the first attempt to find them in-house may fail and lead to external search. All its civilian jobs should appear on the website at www.jobs.mod.uk and this should be the first point of contact for the job-seeker.