Defense Supply Center Columbus

**INSTALLATION HISTORY** DSCC has served in every major military engagement since World War I. America's production effort in World War I arrived at an impasse in 1918 when transportation lines to ports of embarkation for troops and materials became filled to capacity. There was a clear need for a new military depot and although the Columbus site was a combination of swamp and farmland, it was advantageous because it afforded immediate access to three important railroad lines. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps made the first purchase of land, 281 acres, to construct a government military installation in April, 1918. Warehouse construction began in May of that year, and by August, six warehouses were receiving materiel for storage. Those original warehouses remained in use through the 1990s, but were demolished in 2000. After WWI, the installation's operations were reduced to the conditioning and sale of the stockpiles of materiel which had been needed in wartime. At the start of WWII, acquisition of additional acreage almost doubled the size of the installation as the civilian workforce rose to well over 10,000. This expansion made the Columbus Quartermaster Depot, as it was then known, the largest and busiest military supply installation in the world. During the final 11 months of the war, the depot housed more than 400 German prisoners of war. Amidst the wars, the conflicts and humanitarian relief efforts, the men and women of the installation worked continuously to establish direct and fast moving supply lines to support our troops in all parts of the world. The installation's operational activities were assigned to the U.S. Army Supply and Maintenance Command in July 1962. The following year, it became the Defense Construction Supply Center under what is presently known as the Defense Logistics Agency. In January 1996, the Defense Construction Supply Center was merged with the Defense Electronics Supply Center formerly of Dayton, Ohio, to arrive at its 14th name change, the Defense Supply Center Columbus. The Center's 1996 reorganization was a product of the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission's ordered merger. Decisions made during BRAC 1995 transitioned the center to a total weapon systems management posture. The BRAC 2005 Commission noted that the Defense Supply Center Columbus had the ability to expand and take on new missions. These changes had a positive impact on the procurement landscape at Defense Supply Center Columbus, and are part of an ongoing process.