DLA director retires, bids farewell

Photo by Marny Malin
Lt. Gen. Robert T. Dail, Defense Logistics Agency, receives a certificate of retirement from Gen. David Petraeus, Commander U.S. Central Command, Nov. 13 at the McNamara Building.

Lt. Gen. Robert Dail closed the book on a 33-year career Thursday at his retirement ceremony in the McNamara Auditorium at the McNamara Headquarters Complex.

For the past two years, Dail has served as the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency at Fort Belvoir.

DLA is responsible for providing the Armed Forces and other federal agencies with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services in peace and war.

These services include logistics information, materiel management, procurement, warehousing and distribution of spare parts, food, clothing, medical supplies and fuel.

In his retirement speech, Dail urged agency employees to ensure America's warfighters receive "the kind of support that men and women who wear the uniform of a free republic should expect and deserve when they volunteer to serve the country."

Dale said he often pictured a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine in his vehicle with him as he entered through the gates of the complex every day because that's whom he represented and he felt like they influenced his decisions.

Dail also stressed that his most important legacy to the military corps of logisticians are the officers whose careers he influenced.

"I really feel that my legacy is not in some initiative or some program, but my legacy really is in my subordinates," he said. "I have ... felt that was my ... long-term mission I was supposed to provide to the Department of Defense."

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, spoke of Dail's lasting impact on U.S. warfighters.

"Bob Dail helped to instill a never-take-no-for-an-answer attitude and a warrior ethos in those supporting our combat forces," Petraeus said.

Before assuming command of USCENTCOM on Oct. 31, Petraeus commanded U.S. and coalition operations in Iraq. He spoke of his
firsthand experiences on the receiving end of support provided by DLA under Dail's leadership.

"Bob simply refused to take no for an answer when it came to meeting the needs of our warfighters," Petraeus said. "He repeatedly leveraged his experience and expertise to link the national industrial base and to harness the global marketplace to ensure the best possible support of our troopers around the world."

Petraeus recounted how he and Dail served together as battalion commanders in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division and again when they both were brigade commanders in the 82nd Airborne Division. He peppered his speech with personal anecdotes about their careers.

Editor's note: Kathleen T. Rhem, DLA PAO, contributed to this report.