Defence Logistics Organisation

The Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) was a key element of the UK Ministry of Defence, responsible for supporting the armed forces throughout the various stages of an operation or exercise; from training, deployment, in-theatre training and conduct of operations, through to recovery and recuperation ready for redeployment.

Led by the Chief of Defence Logistics, a four-star officer, the DLO maintained and upgraded military equipment and coordinated its storage and distribution. It had an annual spend of almost £9 billion, representing over 20 per cent of the Defence budget. The DLO employed around 28,000 staff at 80 locations throughout the UK and overseas, and had its headquarters in Bath, England.

The Organisation was created in 2000 by the Ministry of Defence ('MOD') who brought together all the logistics departments and MOD central agencies together under a joint command. As of 1 April 2007 the DLO was merged with the Defence Procurement Agency to form a new organisation called Defence Equipment and Support.

The DLO was organised along three levels, focusing on output, support and direction.

The Delivery Layer was the customer facing element of the DLO; Integrated Project Teams (IPTs), Naval Bases, Depots, and other front line support units. To provide a single point of accountability for all DLO outputs the DLO assigned Domain two stars whose role was to externally face principal customers. They were - with rank of appointment:

Director General Logistics (Fleet) - Rear Admiral

Land Director General Logistics (Land) - Major General

Strike Director General Logistics (Strike) - Air Vice-Marshal

Director General Logistics (Supply Chain) - Major General

IPTs were brigaded into one-star cluster groups around customer outputs and products to improve coherence and effectiveness:

The Enabling Layer provided a range of specialist support to IPTs and others within the DLO and the DPA. The nature, structure, process and size of the enabling layer was defined from the restructuring work which ran throughout 2004. The enabling services became more streamlined than before and were set up to improve ways of working.

The DLO Board was chaired by the Chief of Defence Logistics. It provided strategic leadership, direction and governance to the DLO and acted as the ultimate decision making body in the DLO. It was supported by the Output Board, Enabling Services Board and Procurement Board.

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