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NEWS |
Approximately 500 Active and retired military officers from all of the armed services and eight allied countries joined their civilian counterparts from other Government agencies and academia to participate in the 2002 Army Transformation wargame "Vigilant Warriors," held 21 to 26 April at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
The Army Training and Doctrine Command conducts the wargame annually for the Chief of Staff of the Army. This year's game centered on the Army's transformation to an Objective Force as a result of the changing security challenges of the 21st century. In an effort to empower soldiers to be more deployable, dominant, agile, and able to exploit current and future technology fully, the Army is focusing on a complete transformation of the Army that, in addition to weapon systems, includes doctrine, training, logistics, organization, and leader development.
"The transformation challenge we logisticians face is to enhance warfighter sustainment while simultaneously reducing the battlespace logprint," said Major General Terry E. Juskowiak, commanding general of the Army Quartermaster Center and School at Fort Lee, Virginia.
The wargame examined the ability of the Objective Force to respond to a variety of crises, from homeland security to a major theater of war. Objective Force units were required to deploy rapidly to multiple locations as part of the joint force and defeat a variety of enemies.
"Improvements in high-speed ships, both strategic fast sealift and intratheater support vessels, some of which we already see on the market today, will enable the Army's Objective Force to deploy quickly from CONUS [continental United States], or its forward stationed locations, to anywhere on the globe, nearly as fast as we can move by air," said Major General Mitchell H. Stevenson, commanding general of the Army Ordnance Center and School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, who acted as J4 for one of the theaters of operation played in the wargame.
The wargame clarified the necessity of integrating all of the instruments of national power—diplomatic, information, military, and economic.
One of the key insights of the wargame suggests that countering future adversaries, who will employ both conventional and unconventional means, demands a new way to fight. The force must be responsive, lethal, and survivable at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war in order to dissuade and deter potential adversaries and, when required, decisively defeat any enemy.
Another insight of the wargame indicates that transforming the Army entails significant change in the Army's culture, its central philosophy and institutions, and the way it leverages technology and its processes for change.
"Perhaps the most profound and challenging transformation the Army faces will be changing how we train soldiers and develop leaders," said Lieutenant General James C. Riley, commanding general of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and executive director of the wargame. "The contemporary operational environment requires leader traits and behaviors [that are] far beyond the requirements of the past. These leaders must operate comfortably in ambiguous, uncertain situations while facing an uncooperative, adaptive enemy who is a master at coming at them in different ways. This means our leaders must be innovative risk takers who operate aggressively, leaders who are masters of our technical means for battle command [that] will facilitate their agility and intuition so they can actually see first, understand first, and act first."
Nearly 100 senior Army logisticians met in Richmond, Virginia, on 22 and 23 May to discuss Logistics Transformation. The discussions took place during the annual Senior Commanders Conference, sponsored by Lieutenant General Billy K. Solomon, commanding general of the Army Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia. General Solomon's objective for this year's conference was to provide a forum for combat service support commanders to discuss the issues they face in achieving the Army's transformation objectives and to share information on current and emerging logistics initiatives.
The group was briefed on the status of the doctrine, training, leader development, organization, materiel, and soldier systems (DTLOMS) that provide the operational and organizational structure to support the interim brigade combat team (IBCT). The attendees talked about the differences between Army of Excellence and Force XXI structures and the Army's ability to provide the necessary combat service support to the IBCT. A recurring topic was the need to reduce the logistics footprint by limiting the infrastructure, using fewer resources, and applying best business practices. General Solomon stated that, to create the objective force, the logistics footprint must be reduced by 50 percent. Those attending the conference were assured that the Army is making significant headway toward achieving that goal.
The need for improved deployability was stressed, and options were proposed for rapidly concentrating combat power in any operational area. The senior leaders suggested better ways to sustain the force, including reducing fuel consumption, increasing water generation capabilities, expanding power and energy efficiencies, building reliable and easily maintainable systems, and ensuring interoperability of systems.
Several presentations addressed automation initiatives that will bring together tracking and reporting functions and create one system to support distribution, storage, maintenance, and other supply and transportation tasks. The group learned about improvements that have been made to the Joint Deployment Logistics Model, which is designed to assist commanders and their staffs in decisionmaking during mobilization, deployment, reception, staging, onward movement, and integration. The leaders in attendance acknowledged that the Army needs to conduct real-world logistics simulation exercises and more command and staff collective training. Although the Army has improved its sustainment capabilities, the initiatives have not been tested in a major exercise.
Participants were updated on the conversion from four-level maintenance to a two-level maintenance system, in which maintenance tasks are divided between parts replacement and system repair. They also discussed the Logistics Transformation Task Force, which is a broad initiative recently introduced by the Army Chief of Staff, General Eric K. Shinseki. The task force will synchronize the many logistics transformation initiatives underway and identify new processes and procedures that will help the Army achieve its transformation goals. The task force is soliciting good ideas for transforming logistics from all Army soldiers and civilians, and the decisions and milestones for implementation will be presented to General Shinseki on or before 1 August.
Changes to the Unified Command Plan announced in April by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers, U.S. Air Force, include the creation of a new unified command—the U.S. Northern Command. The new command, which likely will stand up 1 October at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, will be responsible for homeland defense and also oversee the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a U.S.-Canada command. The current NORAD commander also commands the U.S. Space Command. Under the provisions of the revised Unified Command Plan, the U.S. Space Command will have a separate four-star commander. The revised plan also—
The role of the Army in the Northern Command has not been determined.
The Unified Command Plan provides guidance to all unified commanders, establishes their missions and responsibilities, and delineates the general geographic area of responsibility for combatant commanders. The current Unified Command Plan was approved in September 1999. The events of 11 September 2001 and the ensuing war on terrorism, as well as the new defense strategy outlined in the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review, highlighted the need for changes to the plan.
The Department of Defense (DOD) has released a Munitions Action Plan that is designed to improve the life-cycle management of conventional military munitions in all of the armed services. The goal of the plan is to ensure that the military has the munitions it needs to maintain force readiness while maximizing explosives safety for military personnel and improving DOD's environmental stewardship.
The plan is intended to address increasing concerns, both within DOD and by the general public and Government regulators, about the impact of DOD munitions programs on the environment, including the operation of training and test ranges.
The plan was developed by the Operational and Environmental Executive Steering Committee for Munitions (OEESCM), which was chartered by the Defense Environmental Security Council. The council advises the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics on environmental matters that affect DOD's mission.
The OEESCM's charter directed it to follow a life-cycle approach in developing the plan. The committee defined the munitions life cycle as having five phases—
The plan sets 29 objectives for meeting the goals of readiness, safety, and environmental stewardship and assigns responsibilities and milestones for accomplishing those objectives to DOD organizations. The current estimated cost for implementing all of the objectives is approximately $207 million for fiscal years 2002 through 2008.
The winners of the 20th annual Army Awards
for Maintenance Excellence for fiscal year 2001 are as
follows—
Small. Company A, 201st Forward Support Battalion, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), Vilseck, Germany.
Medium. 71st Ordnance Company (Missile Maintenance), 18th Corps Support Battalion, 16th Corps Support Group, 3d Corps Support Command, Babenhausen, Germany.
Large. 6-32d Field Artillery Battalion (Multiple Launch Rocket System), 212th Field Artillery Brigade, III Corps Artillery, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Small. Ground Mobility Division, 1_81st Armor Battalion, 1st Armor Training Brigade, Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Medium. 52d Signal Battalion, 5th Signal Command, Stuttgart, Germany.
Large. 3-6th Air Defense Artillery Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas.
Small. Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 232d Corps Support Battalion, Springfield, Illinois.
Medium. 152d Maintenance Company, Augusta, Maine.
Large. 232d Corps Support Battalion, Springfield, Illinois.
Medium. 353d Transportation Company, Buffalo, Minnesota.
Large. Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 311th Corps Support Command, Los Angeles, California.
The Army Single Stock Fund (SSF) initiative was selected as the winner of the 2001 Department of Defense (DOD) Supply Chain Operational Excellence Award. The SSF received the award based on an assessment of its background, goals, metrics, and potential broad application of the business process reengineering design. Allen Beckett, Principal Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness, presented the award to Sue Baker, Director of the SSF, and Major General Larry Lust, the Army Deputy G4, on 23 April during the Supply Chain World North America Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Using innovative traffic management techniques, the Military Traffic Management Command's (MTMC's) Kuwait detachment, the 831st Transportation Battalion, used an Army supply vessel twice recently to help speed critical cargoes to warfighters in the U.S. war on terrorism.
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An Australian helicopter hovers above the LTG William B. Bunker for a unique sea-to-air uploading. |
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A container is transferred from the SS Cornhusker State to the smaller LTG William B. Bunker. |
In the first instance, MTMC was asked by Camp Doha, Kuwait, to help deliver critically needed parts for Australian helicopters. An Army Reserve officer serving as the acting commander of the 831st Transportation Battalion contacted the captain of the LTG William B. Bunker, a logistics support vessel based at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and proposed a unique means of delivery. A slingload of aircraft repair parts was put on the vessel, which stood off in the Persian Gulf, and an Australian helicopter lifted the needed parts directly from the vessel's deck. Army crewmembers on the Bunker secured the slingloads for the lift up to the helicopter and the journey back to a waiting Australian naval vessel.
In another joint mission, MTMC and crewmembers aboard the Bunker conducted the first U.S. instream upload of ammunition in the Persian Gulf. Their mission was to deliver a resupply of Hellfire missiles.
The missiles were on board the Military
Sealift Command's (MSC's) SS Cornhusker
State, an auxiliary crane ship, but they could not be discharged because
they exceeded the limit allowed in the Kuwaiti port.
Working closely with MSC representatives, the 831st
Transportation Battalion soldiers developed a way to discharge
the missiles instream from the Cornhusker
State to the
Bunker.
For the discharge, the captain of the Bunker carefully navigated the vessel alongside the bigger vessel, and cranes on the Cornhusker State lifted the missiles onto the Bunker. Because the Cornhusker State is so much larger than the Bunker, the crane operator had to rely on signalmen aboard the two vessels to help him complete the discharge successfully.
The Army Logistics Management College (ALMC) at Fort Lee, Virginia, has developed a course to prepare military and civilian personnel for positions in which they will be involved in multinational logistics. The pilot offering of the 1-week Multinational Logistics Course will begin 30 September 2002.
The course will discuss logistics organizations and support within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations, and coalitions and provide an overview of United States and multinational doctrine, information, and guidance. It especially will cover the new Joint Publication 4-08, Joint Doctrine for Logistic Support of Multinational Operations, and discuss a number of related topics, such as interoperability; host nation support; interagency operations; acquisition cross-service agreements; the American, British, Canadian, and Australian Armies Standardization Program; and NATO Standardization Agreements.
The intended audience for the course is majors and lieutenant colonels in all services and components; GS-12 to GS-14 civilians; international officers; and contractors (who must pay to attend). Waivers are available for captains and colonels. Students normally will be employed in, or on their way to, a job that will involve them in multinational logistics. However, because multinational operations can occur on very short notice, all officers at the appropriate levels should consider taking the course.
For more information on the Multinational Logistics Course, call (804) 765-4341 or DSN 539-4341 or send an email message to weatherille@lee.army.mil.
The Army Accessions Command (AAC) was activated 25 March to oversee recruiting and initial training of officers and enlisted soldiers. AAC is composed of the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the Army Cadet Command at Fort Monroe, Virginia, and the Army Training Center at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. AAC is headquartered at Fort Monroe as a subordinate command of the Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). AAC's mandate is to make the total accession process more efficient and effective.
The Army Recruiting Command is responsible for recruiting enlisted soldiers, and the Army Cadet Command recruits officers through its Reserve Officer Training Corps detachments and battalions around the country. The two organizations have similar functions and will complement each other. For example, the Army Recruiting Command's Program Analysis and Evaluation Section will expand its research capability to take on some functions of officer recruiting, retention, and research.
With the establishment of AAC, the Army is changing its training focus for new soldiers and officers. New soldiers will know when they enter basic training what their initial unit will be and will receive "assignment- oriented" training that teaches common tasks and how to use the equipment they will encounter at their first duty assignments. With assignment-oriented training, less relevant tasks that currently are included in initial training will be eliminated, and the program will focus on critical tasks. By doing this, the training time can be shortened, but soldiers will be fully trained on 95 to 100 percent of their critical tasks. (With the traditional approach, soldiers are fully trained on only 78 percent of their critical tasks.)
The command also will oversee conversion of more military occupational specialty (MOS) advanced individual training (AIT) courses to one station unit training (OSUT), which is a combination of basic combat training and AIT. With OSUT, drill sergeants and instructors get to know the new soldiers better. Critical-task training can be interwoven with basic training to show soldiers how their jobs will apply to field units. Moreover, the military indoctrination process in OSUT lasts much longer than 9 weeks, allowing soldiers to work on relationships and teamwork earlier in their careers. There are currently seven MOS-producing OSUT courses.
Under a proposed TRADOC officer education transformation initiative, newly commissioned officers will undergo their active officer initial military training through basic officer leadership courses (BOLCs). BOLCs will establish a baseline for all officers, regardless of branch, officials said. Each new officer will be taught the fundamentals of small-unit principles and equipped with the confidence and competencies he needs to make a dramatic contribution on arrival at his first unit.
The Army Developmental Test Command is taking a comprehensive look at the processes used in joint force logistics planning. In a feasibility study for a concept called Joint Logistics Planning Enhancements (JLOG/PE), command staff and contractors are examining the planning and reporting processes used by joint force commanders.
JLOG/PE will enhance joint force business processes in order to improve the use of existing logistics systems and thus help joint force commanders and logisticians obtain the most accurate logistics information. JLOG/PE is focusing initially on fuel and munitions, though it eventually will apply to all classes of supply.
The feasibility study is scheduled for completion in September. If it is approved by the Department of Defense's Deputy Director for Developmental Test and Evaluation, JLOG/PE will begin a 3- to 4-year test and evaluation program.