As the threat of Hurricane Dorian became imminent, the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Subsistence supply chain began ensuring meals-ready-to-eat, bottled water, and fresh fruits and vegetables were available to those directly impacted by the storm, starting August 29.

Subsistence has provided nearly 96,000 MREs to various Department of Defense customers, and 1 million commercial shelf-stable meals to the Federal Emergency Management Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Kaushal Desai, Subsistence Individual Rations chief, said.

Within the first 24 hours of support, Subsistence also worked with vendors to deliver more than half of the 1,400 cases of bottled water requested by the customer, Lauren Ginsberg, Subsistence supply chain garrison feeding branch chief, said.

“We provided Subsistence prime vendor support in terms of moving deliveries forward ahead of the anticipated storm, as well as an additional 1,400 cases of bottled water for troops at Fort Bragg,” Ginsberg said. “We provided 246 cases of Gatorade to Marine recruits evacuated from Parris Island to Albany, Ga.”

Since the initial customer requests for hurricane relief support, Subsistence has worked diligently with vendors to expedite orders without impacting normal business operations, Desai said.

“We work closely with our depot counterparts to make sure expedited transportation is arranged quickly for these deliveries,” Desai said. “Most of the support was provided within 24 to 48 hours from start to finish.”

To date, Subsistence has provided over $5 million worth of product to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts, he said.

“In Subsistence, we think nothing is impossible. We provide support across the globe on a daily basis,” Desai said. “We are ready to support the warfighter as well as any other [customer], any day, any time.”