The Army’s senior logisticians, speaking at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting in Washington in October, emphasized the need for developing an expeditionary logistics force that can operate across the joint and combined environment that increasingly characterizes warfare.

The Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff, G–4, Lieutenant General C.V. Christianson, used an analogy comparing buses to taxis to illustrate where Army logistics must go. Buses use a structured approach to serving customers, following fixed routes with fixed stops, while taxis are more flexible and responsive, having no fixed routes or schedules but moving where and when their customers request. According to General Christianson, “We need both.” The Army needs to have the capabilities to provide support depending on the demands of the operational environment and
customer requirements, he said.

General Christianson noted that there must a single entity responsible for joint theater logistics that can synchronize and integrate all capabilities; responsive support that meets commanders’ needs; agile sustainment that adapts to rapidly changing environments; and joint interdependencies that leave no gaps in capabilities but instead create only planned overlaps.

Major General Ann E. Dunwoody, the Commanding General of the Army Combined Arms Support Command, described how Army combat service support training is changing from an emphasis on the technical expertise of soldiers to an expanded emphasis on their tactical skills and how Army organization is changing from layered and heavy to expeditionary and modular structures.

Major General Robert T. Dail, the Director of Operations, J–3, of the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), reviewed recent initiatives undertaken by TRANSCOM in its role as the Department of Defense (DOD) Distribution Process Owner. These initiatives include continuing to build TRANSCOM as the single distribution process owner, codifying joint logistics processes, consolidating global container management under the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, developing TRANSCOM as the portfolio manager for DOD supply-chain information technology systems (see related story on page 43), and integrating operations and logistics (both processes and systems). The goal is to create a force and sustainment mover (the Distribution Process Owner) that connects capability providers to the warfighter.

Representing the other major DOD-level logistics organization, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Vice Admiral Keith W. Lippert, its director, said DLA is concentrating its efforts on reducing customer wait time (CWT) to support the warfighter and transforming its business processes through its Business Systems Modernization program. Reducing CWT involves such initiatives as forward stock positioning, establishment of the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center (DDOC) in the U.S. Central Command, and studying the creation of an afloat distribution center and a scalable, deployable Defense distribution depot capability.

Brigadier General David A. Fastabend, the Director of Concept Development and Experimentation at the Army Training and Doctrine Command’s (TRADOC’s) Futures Center, talked about the importance of developing joint interdependencies. These interdependencies include joint command and control; joint fires and effects; joint force projection, with the Army being the most dependent of the services on joint force projection capabilities; joint air and missile defense; and joint sustainment, which is closely related to force projection since the services share the same lines of communication.

General Kevin P. Byrnes, the Commanding General of TRADOC, summarized the significance of the transformation to an expeditionary force and reiterated the need for adaptability. “Expeditionary” does not mean only speed in deploying and providing support, he observed, but also the ability to adapt to changing environments.

MORE UP-ARMORED VEHICLES HEADED FOR IRAQ

Nearly 5,100 up-armored high-mobility, multi-purpose, wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs) have been delivered to Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq, and another 724 are on ships en route to the theater. The vehicles will provide increased protection against grenades, improvised explosive devices, and small-arms fire.

AM General, the company that builds the up-armored HMMWVs, operates around-the-clock to produce the vehicles as quickly as possible. In addition to increased armor protection, up-armored HMMWVs have ballistic-resistant glass and more rugged suspension systems that can handle the added weight of the armor. They also have air conditioners, which enable crews to operate with the windows up.

To reduce the vulnerability of deployed troops while the new vehicles are being manufactured, the Army has designed and produced its own add-on armor kits.

Army employees at Letterkenny Army Depot, Pennsylvania; Anniston Army Depot, Alabama; Red River Army Depot, Texas; Sierra Army Depot, California; Watervliet Arsenal, New York; Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois; and Crane Ammunition Activity, Indiana, are working three shifts a day to produce the Army-designed kits. So far, they have produced 8,800 add-on-armor kits, 8,700 of which have already been installed in vehicles in Iraq. O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, the contractor chosen by the Army to produce add-on armor kits, has provided approximately 300 kits so far. The current requirement is for 13,872 kits.

Add-on armor kits have been installed on approximately 400 heavy, expanded-mobility tactical trucks, 35 palletized load system tactical trucks, and 450 trucks in the Army’s family of medium tactical vehicles. In addition, 70 armored support vehicles are en route to Iraq, and the Army is in the process of buying the new armored support vehicle, which Motsek describes as a “mini Stryker,” that is larger and has more armor protection than even the up-armored HMMWVs.

SDDC CREATES TRANSPORTATIONTERMINAL GROUP IN KUWAIT

The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) stood up a new group headquarters in October at Camp Spearhead near the port of Ash Shuiaba, Kuwait—the 595th Transportation Terminal Group (Provisional). Until the establishment of this group, soldiers and civilians detailed from two existing SDDC groups provided SDDC’s presence in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. First was the 598th Transportation Terminal Group at Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Then port and container management operations in Iraq, Kuwait, and other Persian Gulf countries were performed by an ad hoc unit known as SDDC Southwest Asia that was drawn largely from the 599th Transportation Terminal Group at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii.

The 595th group headquarters was created to increase continuity with the warfighter, host nation authorities, and commercial carriers operating in the region and enhance SDDC responsibilities in end-to-end deployment and distribution support throughout the theater.

The 595th initially will be staffed by 40 soldiers and 40 civilians. Formation of the 595th gives SDDC four operating groups. The others are the 598th, the 599th, and the 597th Transportation Terminal Group at Sunny Point, North Carolina.

TRANSCOM WILL OVERSEE DOD
SUPPLY CHAIN INFORMATION SYSTEMS

In a move designed to strengthen the U.S. Transportation Command’s (TRANSCOM’s) role as the Department of Defense (DOD) Distribution Process Owner, DOD has designated TRANSCOM as the portfolio manager for DOD supply-chain information technology systems.

DOD is using portfolio managers as a tool for transforming information technology systems while curbing costs. TRANSCOM management of supply-chain-related information technology systems will reinforce its responsibilities for improving the effectiveness and interoperability of distribution, sustainment, and force movement throughout DOD.

Commenting on the portfolio designation, the TRANSCOM commander, Air Force General John W. Handy, wrote, “[We] look forward to working with [DOD] and our national partners to take this necessary step. It will provide much-needed horizontal integration among the disparate distribution processes, systems, and data architectures and is critical to improving warfighter distribution.”

A UH–60L Black Hawk helicopter equipped with the new IMD HUMS sits on display at the Pentagon in August

DATA RECORDING WILL EXTEND
LIFESPAN OF HELICOPTER COMPONENTS

New technology being installed on UH–60L Black Hawk helicopters records preventive maintenance information that will help extend the lifespan of helicopter components.

The Integrated Mechanical Diagnostic Device Health Usage Monitoring System (IMD HUMS) collects and processes data on the aircraft’s critical mechanical systems and components. Use of IMD HUMS will base replacement of components on real measurements taken in combat rather than at the end of their projected lifespan, which will reduce significantly the cost of parts and in-theater maintenance manpower.

“This is the first system that recognizes regime profiles, which allows us to extend component lives,” said Colonel Cory Mahanna, Project Manager for Utility Helicopters. “The system monitors in real time what the aircraft does.”

Information on restrictions, inefficiencies, inspections, and service schedules of an aircraft is collected by the IMD HUMS and stored on a data card. The data can be downloaded onto a battalion’s intranet so the status of all of its aircraft can be monitored by maintenance officers, pilots, commanders, and safety and standards officers. In remote locations that do not have intranet access, the IMD HUMS can be downloaded onto a standalone computer. To meet flight safety objectives, the system also directs signals and data to cockpit voice and flight data recorders.

The cost of IMD HUMS installation is $150,000 per helicopter. Congress has allocated $56 million through 2005 for the project.

NEW ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY
IS BASED ON SUSTAINABILITY

The Army has revised its basic strategy for managing the environmental concerns that affect its missions. The new strategy—the first revision of fundamental Army thinking on the environment in 12 years—is called “The Army Strategy for the Environment: Sustain the Mission—Secure the Future” and was approved by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army in October.
The strategy is based on the principle of sustainability, which, in an Army context, means fostering a recognition of the interrelationships among the Army’s missions, the natural environment in which the Army trains and operates, and the communities that are affected by Army activities. It “applies a community, regional, and ecosystem approach to managing natural resources on [Army] installations.”
The strategy has six goals—

• Foster an ethic within the Army that moves beyond complying with environmental laws and regulations to incorporating sustainability “into all functional areas.”
• Strengthen Army operations “by reducing [the Army’s] environmental footprint through more sustainable practices.” For example, zero emissions of heat, light, noise, and waste, while improving environmental quality, also will “reduce the [Army’s] operational signature, environmental footprint, and logistical support tail.”
• “Meet current and future training, testing, and other mission requirements by sustaining land, air, and water resources.” As one example, the “Army will sustain its ranges . . . to maintain [their] resiliency . . . [and] protect the environment and . . . surrounding communities from impacts of training and testing.”
• “Minimize impacts and total ownership costs of Army systems, materiel, facilities, and operations by integrating the principles and practices of sustainability.”
• Enhance the health, safety, and well-being of soldiers, Army civilians and families, and installation neighbors.
• Adopt innovative technology to meet Army sustainability goals.
The complete text of the strategy is available at https://www.asaie.army.mil/Public/ESOH/doc/ArmyEnvStrategy.pdf.

NEW ACQUISITION STRATEGY TO SPEED
CONNECTIVITY TO SOLDIERS

A revised acquisition strategy authorized in September by the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics could mean that soldiers will have new tactical network technology much sooner than previously thought. General Dynamics C4 Systems and Lockheed Martin Mission Systems, which were working under separate contracts with the Army to develop parallel Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN–T) capabilities, now have combined forces in order to establish a single baseline for the WIN–T program. WIN–T is expected to become the Army’s premier integrated communications network, connecting soldiers through a high-speed, highly secure wireless voice, data, and video network.

According to Colonel Angel Colon, the WIN–T Project Manager, the combined effort will enable the Army to settle on network architecture within the next few months. “A single-baseline approach sets the conditions to incrementally provide capabilities to the Current Force,” Colon said. “Soldiers will benefit from this combined effort because it opens the door for the latest in information technology to be fielded where real-time, quality information is most highly valued—with our deployed and combat-ready units.”

The previous acquisition strategy called for the Army to select a single contractor for the new tactical network technology just before production. In the combined effort, General Dynamics will be the prime contractor and Lockheed Martin will provide complementary technical expertise and capabilities as a major subcontractor responsible for 50 percent of the effort.

Don Keller, project director for WIN–T, notes, “The single-baseline approach also provides a single focus for other interdependent developmental efforts, including the Future Combat Systems and Joint Tactical Radio Systems. The Army will . . . benefit in the final product by incorporating the strongest features of each contractor’s design in a ‘best-of-breed’ approach.”

DOD RELEASES
DEFENSE ACQUISITION GUIDEBOOK

In October, the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics approved the provisional release of the Defense Acquisition Guidebook. The new guidebook is designed to serve as a companion to Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 5000.1, The Defense Acquisition System, and DOD Instruction 5000.2, Operation of the Defense Acquisition System; these documents, which were released in May 2003, are the revised acquisition policy documents that established the policy framework for translating mission needs into stable, affordable, and well-managed programs. Release of the guidebook fulfills DOD’s commitment to design a transformed acquisition system and supporting policy that foster efficiency, flexibility, creativity, and innovation.

The guidebook is an interactive, Web-based capability designed to provide the acquisition workforce and its industry partners with an online, instant reference to best business practices and supporting policies, statutes, and lessons learned. It complements DOD Directive 5000.1 and DOD Instruction 5000.2 by proposing how acquisition managers can implement the policies established in the documents.
The Defense Acquisition Guidebook is now available on the Internet at http://akss.dau.mil/DAG.

JFCOM’S JOINT NATIONAL TRAINING
CAPABILITY MOVES FORWARD

The U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) has announced that the Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) has reached its initial operational capability following four successful training events last year.

The centerpiece of the Department of Defense’s plan to transform joint training, the JNTC will create a networked collection of training sites and nodes that will meet the training needs of both combatant commanders and the armed services. It will offer a spectrum of training environments, including live (live forces using real equipment), virtual simulation (real people in simulators), and constructive simulation (computer simulations) training events.

The JNTC will provide training at four levels—

• Horizontal, which synchronizes training at the service-to-service level.
• Vertical, which coordinates training of a service branch with a higher component and a lower service branch.
• Integration, in which participants train in a joint context to improve interoperability.
• Functional, which provides a joint training environment for functional and complex warfighting.

Last year’s four training events were the Western Range Complex Horizontal Training Event 04–1 in January; Combined Joint Task Force Exercise 04–2, an integration event in June that included forces from Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Norway, and Peru; Determined Promise 04, a vertical event in August that involved the U.S. Northern Command, the Department of Homeland Security, and local fire and emergency response agencies; and Joint Readiness Training Center/Air Warrior II 04–09, another horizontal event in August that incorporated virtual and constructive simulation capabilities.

The JNTC is scheduled to achieve full operational capability by 2009.

Beginning in 2007, the assault kitchen will provide a better way to feed company-sized military units in the field.

ASSAULT KITCHEN OFFERS
FASTER FIELD FEEDING

The assault kitchen (AK) developed by the Food Service Equipment Team at the Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, offers a way to provide hot meals quickly to forward-deployed units. Beginning in 2007, the Army will use the AK to feed company-sized units in the field instead of the current kitchen, company-level field feeding (KCLFF).

The AK consists of a high-mobility, multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) and trailer packed with equipment that either eliminates, transfers, or replaces the separate KCLFF components with a mobile platform that holds all of its components. Because of the lengthy setup time involved, frontline troops often elect to take only certain components of the KCLFF when they deploy. Included in the AK are six insulated beverage containers, three pan carriers to keep food trays warm, five insulated food containers, a 5-gallon fuel can, a fire extinguisher, a utensil box, a tray-ration heater to prepare unitized group ration heat-and-serve tray packs or number 10 food-service cans, and a maintenance kit for the tray-ration heater.

The towed trailer carries eight water cans, an ice chest, three tables, cargo netting to hold tray-pack boxes, stock pots, a cradle for preparing hot beverages, and an awning to cover the serving area during bad weather.

The AK’s tray-ration heater operates on common battlefield fuels and draws electricity generated from the HMMWV through a mounted power inverter. Its portable, stainless steel water tank heats up to 18 tray packs, 15 number 10 food service cans, or a combination of the two in 30 to 45 minutes. Unlike the KCLFF’s open-flame burners, which cannot be moved while in operation, the AK can offers a heat-on-the-move capability. Setup by two cooks takes as little as 10 minutes, and packing up is equally fast.

The Food Service Equipment Team plans to refine the system and complete additional testing during the next 2 years. Current plans call for the Army, the Marine Corps, and, potentially, the Air Force to combine their requirements for the AK and tray-ration heater into one economical production contract.

AIR SHIPMENTS NOW
CONSOLIDATED BY DLA

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) collaborated with the Air Mobility Command last summer to improve their processes for packaging and transporting military cargo. All Department of Defense small packages and depot shipments originated and controlled by DLA now are sent directly to DLA consolidation and containerization points (CCPs) and prepared for shipment there. This marks a significant change in the way business is conducted.

In the past, many small packages from many sources would arrive at an aerial port, where they were held until they could be sorted, combined, and palletized. Shipments now are arriving at the aerial port ready for air shipment.

This change in procedure was conceived by General John W. Handy, Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command and the Air Mobility Command. General Handy’s plan included moving the processing of shipments from the aerial port to DLA CCPs and having the CCPs load information about shipments into computer tracking systems before releasing them. Computer systems for tracking shipments are being integrated, with information entered at the CCPs. DLA also has completed its plan for processing direct vendor delivery shipments at the CCPs instead of at aerial ports.

Brigadier General Loren M. Reno, the Air Mobility Command Director of Logistics, described the change in procedures as significant process changes that increase the speed and predictability of warfighter sustainment support and improve visibility of support earlier in the pipeline.

The DLA Office of Operations Research and Resource Analysis is developing a tool to predict the number of pallets that will flow from a CCP to an aerial port over a 48- to 96-hour period. This capability will allow the aerial ports to schedule their workloads and could be used by the Tanker Airlift Control Center to forecast and schedule use of air transports.