A great many components go into the reports and analyses on which DLA-SM bases its decisions regarding specific materials, quantities, forms for storage (raw ore, powder, sheets, ingots), sources, etc. Those involved in researching, developing, and analyzing that information include OSD, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, USGS, industry, the State and Commerce departments, and the Institute of Defense Analysis.
“We try to do the most comprehensive, useful report possible for decision-makers to use in making policy. That report first goes up our chain to Dr. Carter’s office [Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Ashton Carter] and eventually to Congress,” Favors added. “Of course, under the Stockpiling Act, the president or Congress can direct the release or purchase of materials at any time.
“Due to the nature of the program, we have not had any world emergencies that have impacted our efforts, although that could happen in the future. Going forward to something more flexible than the buy and hold model also includes creating greater partnerships with our allies, not only on actual commodities, but on research.”
Increasingly strict environmental laws and regulations, along with the high cost of equipment and workers, has made it prohibitively expensive to mine many of those materials present in significant raw quantities in the United States.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a great deal of mining still going on in the U.S.; most of that is now offshore,” Favors acknowledged, adding that also changes the dynamic of DLA storage, sales, and future acquisitions. “One of the things we look at is import dependency. We may offer a portion of our tungsten reserve for sale, for example, but we will hold onto some of it, as well. In a free market, you usually can get what you want so long as you are willing to pay the price, but there also may be a time issue.”
The rapid evolution of new technologies, lifting new materials to the level of strategic, along with major, ongoing geopolitical changes will continue to reshape both the strategic materials list and how DLA-SM deals with it in the years and decades to come.
“This is an organization in transition. We have some legislative proposals in the cycle to gain some additional flexibility; the process right now is rather cumbersome. And we’re improving our skill levels, with more technical people being brought in,” Favors concluded. “But the transition is going positively and we think we can offer value to the services and the taxpayer, having materials available when needed at a good price and in sustainable quantities, because the new model is a lot more efficient.”