ST. LOUIS – On behalf of the Logistics Officer Association, it is my pleasure to welcome our LOA Family to celebrate 41 years of premier professional development at this year’s symposium March 28-31, 2023.

This year, we updated our strategic plan. LOA’s vision is to Provide the arena that connects logisticians to ideas and each other and we will do that this week at #LOA2023. This symposium is a culmination of work in line with our mission, To collaborate and grow logistics professionals across the DoD, industry, and academia through professional development opportunities.

This week and throughout the year ahead, we seek to achieve this mission with a focus on WISE: warfighting, innovation, sustainment, and education. Understanding that logisticians will play crucial roles in strategic competition, these focus areas guide how LOA cultivates professional development opportunities across our community.

We are exceptionally fortunate to welcome many phenomenal speakers from across the Department of Defense and industry, including the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General David Allvin. We look forward to all of our distinguished speakers who will focus on this year’s symposium theme: Mission Generation Under Attack.

I would like to thank all of our corporate partners, especially our platinum-level sponsor Boeing, our diamond-level sponsors Lockheed Martin and Mass Virtual, our gold-level sponsors GE Aerospace, IBM, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Systecon, and our silver-level sponsor Pratt and Whitney. Also, thank you to Northrop Gruman who sponsored the symposium mobile app that many of us will use throughout the event. Our industry partners make this symposium possible.

We have dedicated an hour Wednesday evening for distinguished guests O-6 or equivalent and higher to visit the exhibit hall and network with our industry partners. Please take the time to visit their booths and learn about their newest technologies.

The symposium kicks off Tuesday with LOA University. Under the leadership of our Chief Learning Officer, Jerry Ottinger, LOAU will feature five graduate-style professional development courses focused on theory of constraints, data analytics, project management, contested logistics and more.

I would like to extend special thanks to our dedicated strategic planners Robert Campbell, Brandi Scott, and Justin Rees, and the entire EventPower team for making this symposium a reality. These and other selfless volunteers power our organization.

From the Maj Gen Marcelite Harris exhibit at the Military Women’s Memorial to the Colorado Springs chapter’s decision to honor the legacy of Capt David Lyons, our organization continues to uphold the leaders who came before us. I hope you enjoy reconnecting with friends and mentors and take advantage of this opportunity to grow professionally as we consider our critical roles as logisticians in mission generation.

JASON M. KALIN
President, Logistics Officer Association