Guides
Logistics system guides
In-depth, source-referenced guides to the federal and military logistics systems logisticians rely on — what each one is, who runs it, how it works, and how to get access.
Distribution Standard System (DSS)
The Distribution Standard System (DSS) is the Defense Logistics Agency's standard automated system for distribution processing of DoD materiel — the warehouse-management system that runs DLA Distribution depots. It manages the full depot workflow: receiving, storage, materiel release order (MRO) processing, picking, packing, shipping, inventory, inspection, and workload management. DSS is the system of record behind the receipt and shipment of materiel across the DLA distribution network, and it feeds the customer-facing DSS Materiel Tracker that returns MRO shipment status, Transportation Control Numbers, and origin/destination data.
FED LOG
FED LOG (Federal Logistics Data) is the desktop/offline application used to query Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) catalog data without a live connection. It returns the same National Stock Number (NSN), part-number, CAGE, item-characteristics, and management data that WebFLIS serves online — NSN/NIIN identification, Unit of Issue, unit price, Acquisition Advice Code, Shelf-Life Code, and supplier cross-references — packaged as a locally installed dataset refreshed monthly rather than an on-demand web query. It remains in active distribution as a restricted (CUI) free monthly download via FedMall, available to DoD, federal, contractor, and NATO users.
MilitaryCAC (militarycac.com)
MilitaryCAC (militarycac.com) is an independent, personally maintained help site — online since November 2007 — for getting a Common Access Card (CAC) working on a personal computer: readers, drivers, DoD certificates, middleware, and browser setup for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS. It is not a DoD or Army site, but official Army communications and unit IT guides have pointed users to it for years, and its core instruction pages remain actively maintained. Use it as the field-tested troubleshooting layer; download DoD software from official sources and treat the DoD Cyber Exchange and your service help desk as the authoritative word.
Nautilus Virtual Desktop (NVD)
Nautilus Virtual Desktop (NVD) is the Department of the Navy's cloud virtual-desktop service that lets an approved user reach the Flank Speed Microsoft 365 environment — Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, and Office — from a personal or non-government (non-GFE) computer. It delivers an NMCI-like Windows desktop from the cloud, is built on Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, and is fielded by the Navy's PEO Digital. Because it is a controlled DoD environment, connecting requires Flank Speed credentials and, for CAC-dependent tasks, a Common Access Card with a reader and the Windows App client.
Power Apps & Power Automate for Logisticians (DoD / GCC High)
Power Apps and Power Automate are Microsoft's low-code tools for building custom apps and automated workflows on top of the Microsoft 365 data a logistics shop already uses — SharePoint, Lists, Teams, and Outlook. In the DoD cloud they run as accredited US Government deployments: Power Apps/Power Automate GCC High (aligned to DISA SRG Impact Level 4) and DoD (aligned to Impact Level 5), the environments a Navy Flank Speed or Microsoft 365 DoD tenant uses. This guide shows a logistician how to stand up a parts/status tracker without code, what connectors and licensing to expect in the government clouds, and where the governance and CUI-handling limits sit.
Teams, SharePoint & Lists for Logistics
Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Microsoft Lists are the everyday collaboration stack inside the Department of the Navy's Flank Speed environment and the wider DoD Microsoft 365 cloud. Teams is the front door for chat, meetings, and channels; SharePoint is the backend that actually stores the files behind every Teams channel; and Microsoft Lists is a lightweight, no-code database — ideal for a supply, status, or parts tracker — that a logistics shop can stand up without a developer. This guide, framed for a working federal or military logistician, shows how the three fit together and how to build a shared logistics workspace on top of them, with the gov-cloud sharing and CUI caveats called out.
The DoD Microsoft 365 Environment for Logisticians
A logistician's orientation to the Department of Defense's Microsoft 365 cloud — the Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Lists, and Power Platform environment that the Navy runs as Flank Speed. It explains the government cloud tiers (GCC, GCC High, and Office 365 DoD), the DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide impact levels (IL2/IL4/IL5) that govern them, what apps you actually get, and how to think about handling CUI so you can build your own supply and status tracking tools on top of it. It is operated for DoD users on Microsoft's government clouds under DISA provisional authorizations; the Navy's tenant, Flank Speed, runs at Impact Level 5.