Today's Army is transitioning rapidly from an industrial age Army to a knowledge- and capabilities-based power projection force. The current force is highly mobile and more than 35 percent smaller than the force that won the Cold War and Desert Storm. This smaller, more agile Army must be able to execute missions that span the entire spectrum of military operations, from humanitarian and peacekeeping missions to major theater wars.

The Army now is based primarily in the continental United States (CONUS), but it also maintains a limited forward presence in Europe and Korea. The goal is to build the capability to project strategically and close this battle force and all associated support anywhere in the world within 75 days. The Army also must develop the capability to meet future demands. The challenge for Army logisticians is to develop a reliable, agile, and efficient logistics system that will keep pace with tomorrow's Force XXI power projection Army on an increasingly complex and lethal battlefield.

The traditional means of supporting the force through logistics mass with globally positioned stockpiles is no longer viable for today's CONUS-based Army. It is prohibitively expensive in peacetime and insufficiently responsive to support the dynamics of a changing military. The power projection concept also requires the Army to deploy its forces, fight initial battles, and support itself simultaneously. In order to respond to these demands, the Army is undergoing a dramatic revolution in the way it sustains the warfighter.

The Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) at Fort Lee, Virginia, is spearheading the Revolution in Military Logistics by bringing together the institutional knowledge of the entire combat service support (CSS) community and focusing it on changing the way we provide support. By harnessing the collective CSS resources, CASCOM is concentrating on four basic concepts: updating doctrine, reshaping force structure, designing and fielding technological enablers, and transforming training programs. The result of this revolution is the distribution-based logistics system.

Improving Logistics Velocity

Distribution-based logistics is designed to maximize and prioritize the throughput of forces, supplies, and sustainment material from the port of debarkation to the warfighting unit. Logistics managers at every echelon on the battlefield will synchronize resources in order to optimize the flow of supplies throughout the theater. Improvements in logistics velocity and transportation, coupled with advances in emerging information technology, will make this logistics system possible.

Extending the Revolution in Military Logistics to the operational and tactical levels will enable this system to become a reality. The doctrinal objectives include-

· A single logistics operator, characterized by a centralized distribution manager at each level.

· Anticipatory and predictive logistics, encompassing a shared, relevant view of fused operational and logistics data.

· Minimized logistics footprint, with modular, tailored units and reduced stockpiles at every echelon.

· Maximized throughput of supplies and sustainment, characterized by the bypass of support nodes, reductions in handling, and increased velocity.

· Time-definite delivery, with a stabilized order and ship time, delivery consistency, and the metrics to evaluate the delivery system.

Efficiencies created from these objectives will allow the Army to develop a seamless logistics pipeline for supplies and sustainment material. This distribution-based logistics system will exploit our battlefield distribution concepts and leverage advances in technology, new logistics information systems, and improved situational awareness. As a result, the Army will be able to bypass many of the current echelons of support, reduce materiel handling, and expedite delivery of supplies to the warfighting units.

Redesigning the Battlefield

Force structure is being reshaped based on the concepts of unity of command, increased velocity, and an agile CSS structure. This structure builds on modular units that will allow split-based operations and enable the theater commander to tailor the size of the required support structure. The CSS structure also will incorporate a centralized logistics operator at each echelon, empowered with real-time logistics information dominance. This operator will optimize the distribution infrastructure and synchronize distribution efforts to maximize throughput of forces and materiel to the maneuver unit.

New logistics units are being developed to support these concepts. Forward support companies have been created in the forward support battalions to provide all of the maneuver battalion logistics support while maintaining a surge capability. The main support battalion will be replaced by the division support battalion, which will provide support to all units operating in the division rear. Direct support and general support maintenance personnel will be combined to form one unit that will focus on replacing components forward and repairing them in the rear.

Above the division, a theater support command will replace the current theater Army area command. This new unit will create a multifunctional and tailored support system that will enter the theater early to control and support deploying forces and sustainment. The traditional ammunition companies also are being redesigned into modular units capable of supporting a force of any size with a minimum number of support personnel.

These new units will exploit the doctrinal principles of maximizing throughput, bypassing intermediate support nodes, minimizing materials handling, increasing distribution velocity, and anticipating CSS requirements in an effort to get the optimum sustainment possible in the distribution pipeline to best support the force.

Integrating New Technology

Advances in enabling technologies and our ability to integrate new systems are essential to developing and maintaining effective distribution operations. The fielding of key equipment enablers focused on high-speed delivery and efficient distribution of supplies is changing the way logisticians do business. The battlefield distribution concept is predicated on several key technological platform enablers-

· The palletized loading system (PLS), a mobile, self-contained, materials-handling system engineered to transport, drop, and retrieve flatrack loads, will reduce transloading and the multiple handling of cargo dramatically, thereby expediting the delivery of supplies to the battlefield.

Palletized loading system (PLS) with trailer.

· The container handling unit (CHU) uses the same technology as the PLS to drop, retrieve, and transport 20-foot containers.

· The container roll in-out platform (CROP), a rolling flatrack that fits snugly inside a 20-foot container and is compatible with PLS and other load-handling systems, will reduce transloading and materials-handling times significantly, enhance the throughput of supplies, and increase logistics velocity.

Container roll in-out platform (CROP).

· The movement tracking system (MTS), a satellite-based communication system that uses global positioning technology to track and control transportation assets anywhere in the world, will provide real-time in-transit visibility of critical distribution assets.

· The forward repair system-heavy (FRS-H) is a self-contained, multicapable, heavy repair system consisting of an ensemble of hand and power tools, welding and cutting equipment, an air compressor, a 50-kilowatt generator set, and a 5½-ton crane carried on a PLS vehicle chassis.

Transforming Training Programs

Training programs are being developed to tie all of the new concepts together. This will ensure that Force XXI units can execute the new doctrine and effectively apply the enablers to create a seamless support system. Advances in distance learning, simulators, Internet-based information, and training software will ensure that these units are aware of new developments in their respective fields and continue to execute common tactics, techniques, and procedures across the Army.

Incorporating Information-Age Technology

Distribution-based logistics depends on the logistics operators having timely battlefield information. Our ability to harness the power of information will result in reduced logistics response times and transition support from reactive to predictive application of resources. New-age information systems will give logisticians a common relevant picture of the battlefield and provide asset visibility. Several key enabling information systems will empower logisticians with tactical information dominance-

· Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-Army) will be the Army's integrated CSS information systems manager. It will provide interactive information management and serve as the primary operations system for all force support levels. GCSS-Army will provide the commander the capability to anticipate CSS requirements and place requests for support on the appropriate CSS provider.

· The Combat Service Support Control System (CSSCS) provides logistics situational awareness for CSS operations. It presents a concise picture of unit requirements and support capabilities by collecting, processing, and displaying graphical information on key items of supply, services, and personnel. It also supports the decision-making process with a course-of-action analysis application.

· Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) will be the first system to allow logisticians at the tactical level to obtain the same situational awareness as provided to the tactical commander. Through this awareness, logisticians will be able to maintain asset visibility, direct and redirect logistics platforms, conduct traffic management within the brigade area, and, in time, receive prognostic and diagnostic sensor data. It also provides near real-time status on both unit and supply point stocks.

Logisticians must have timely and complete information on the battlefield.

Improved situational awareness will allow distribution managers at all levels to monitor this seamless logistics pipeline from the factory to the foxhole. The managers will accomplish this by using real-time information systems provided by total asset visibility, in-transit visibility, and movement tracking systems. These systems will allow logisticians a dynamic view of the pipeline to maximize throughput and follow-on sustainment with anticipatory and predictive logistics while executing support priorities.

Innovation, experimentation, and concept development will ensure that the Army stays on the cutting edge of technology. Empowered with logistics information dominance, enabling technologies, and increased situational awareness, the distribution-based logistics system will support the full spectrum of tomorrow's Force XXI operations. These logistics concepts are being developed at CASCOM as the Army reshapes its doctrine, force structure, and training systems and purchases the enablers that will facilitate these concepts. When fully developed, this distribution-based logistics system will be the most reliable, agile, and efficient supply system in the Army's history.

Captain Jeffrey D. Witt is a combat developer in the Directorate of Combat Developments at CASCOM.

Captain Lise Caldwell Cowling, a personnel officer in the Personnel Proponency Directorate of CASCOM, assisted in the preparation of this article.