MLF 6-10 (Nov./Dec. 2012)

Deployed Visibility O Preparing Tomorrow’s LogisticianOutcome-Based Maintenance

Strategic Mover

Gen. William M. Fraser IIICommanderU.S. Transportation Command

U.S. TranSporTaTion Command

Special pull-out Supplement

Exclusive Interview with:Brig. gen. John e. miChelSpecial Assistant to the Commander for StrategyUSTRANSCOM

www.MLF-kmi.com

November/December 2012Volume 6, Issue 10

The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community

Secure Asset Monitoring You Can Trust

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For over 60 years, Cubic has helped the armed forces of the United

States and its allies pinpoint the location and status of objects in the air,

in space and on the ground. Today, our company develops and deploys

global asset tracking and monitoring systems for military and civilian

clients. Cubic’s Mesh Asset Tags (MATS) and Generation II Satellite

Enabled Tracking & Intrusion Detection (GEN II SETID) devices are

just two examples of the products we have created to ensure secure

monitoring and shipment of vehicles, goods and supplies. Cubic designs,

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11648 Cubic Military_Logistics CGTS ad 10_12.indd 1 10/4/2012 12:08:26 PM

Military logistics ForuM NoveMber/DeceMber 2012 voluMe 6 • issue 10

Features cover / Q&a

DepartMeNts

Christopher T. JonesVice President and General Manager

Integrated Logistics and Modernization Division

Northrop Grumman Technical Services

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2

4

14

22

27

Editor’s Perspective

Log Ops/People

Supply Chain

LOG Leadership Lessons

Resource Center

iNDustry iNterview

General William M. Fraser IIICommander

U.S. Transportation Command

17

U.S. TraNSPorTaTIoN CoMMaND SPeCIaL PULL-oUT SUPPLeMeNT

exclusive interview with

Brigadier General John E. MichelSpecial assistant to the Commander for StrategyUSTraNSCoM

Prospects for Outcome-Based MaintenanceoBM seeks to have maintenance depots, whether government or industry, focus more on warfighter outcomes, like time-on-wing for engines or reliability of components, than on throughput or transaction costs.By Henry Canaday

12

Deployed VisibilityNot confined to just rFID, tracking technologies have made advances which have enhanced the ability to achieve asset visibility across DoD supply chains.By Peter Buxbaum

5

Setting the Table for 2013Military Logistics Forum asked what advice key senior logisticians leaders had for the next generation logistician as they prepare to rise through the ranks and bring forth new efficiencies and innovation for the supply chain of the future.

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1

The way it works in this country is that government leaders decide some-thing should be done—whether a military response to an incident or a military response to a humanitarian crisis somewhere in the world, like the DoD’s response to Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. The military acknowledges the instructions and responds with a plan and a timeline. Then it is up to the logisti-cians to take what everyone wants to do and turn it into something that can be done. That process is why we have professional logisticians today that are some of the most progressive and innovative thinkers in today’s military.

This is not to take anything away from those who conceptualize and develop systems from weapons to communications networks and everything in between. Logisticians have been the single group that through constant process improvements, acquisition reforms, and forcing the recognition that life cycle management can never be an afterthought, have delivered cost savings and cost avoidance to the military.

In October, no one was planning for contingency operations to respond to a major northeast storm that would devastate major metropolitan areas. But it is the logistician’s lot in life to move where needed, with people, supplies and equipment to help. Whether it was National Guard trucks capable of moving through water a little deeper than civilian law enforcement could handle or the Air Force moving power company trucks by air to have them on scene faster, the logistician was at the core of the action.

The logisticians of today are following the steps laid by logisticians of yesterday, who learned the lessons of those before them. More than ever before, understanding and adjusting based on past experiences drives today’s actions; however, so too does an eye on how that will affect processes and actions in the future.

In addition to the great interviews with USTRANSCOM commander General William Fraser and Brigadier General John Michel, special assistant to the commander for strategy, Military Logistics Forum is honored to share with our readers insight from a number of leading logisticians who told us their view of the next genera-tion of logisticians and their obligation to prepare them to lead the way in the future. Their insight into how innovative thought and dynamic interaction are generating the kind of logisticians we need in today’s envi-ronment is inspiring. These are leaders in the true sense, in that they are laser-focused on the mission of today while preparing the next generation of logisticians for tomorrow.

Jeffrey D. McKaughanEditor-iN-CHiEF

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community

eDitorial

Editor-In-ChiefJeff McKaughan [email protected] EditorHarrison Donnelly [email protected] Editorial ManagerLaura Davis [email protected] Baldwin • Christian Bourge Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday Cheryl Gerber • Hank Hogan • Marc Selinger Leslie Shaver • Karen Thuermer

art & DesigN

Art DirectorJennifer Owers [email protected] Graphic DesignerJittima Saiwongnuan [email protected] Designers Amanda Kirsch [email protected] Morris [email protected] Papineau [email protected] Waring [email protected]

aDvertisiNg

Associate PublisherJane Engel [email protected]

KMi MeDia groupPublisherKirk Brown [email protected] Executive OfficerJack Kerrigan [email protected] Financial OfficerConstance Kerrigan [email protected] Vice PresidentDavid Leaf [email protected] McKaughan [email protected] Castro [email protected] & Communications ManagerHolly Winzler [email protected] AssistantCasandra Jones [email protected] Show CoordinatorHolly Foster [email protected]

operatioNs, circulatioN & proDuctioN

Circulation & Marketing AdministratorDuane Ebanks [email protected] SpecialistsTuesday Johnson [email protected] Walker [email protected] Villanueva [email protected] Winston [email protected]

a prouD MeMber oF:

subscriptioN iNForMatioNMilitary Logistics Forum

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Border Threat Prevention and CBRNE Response

Border Protector

Michael J. Fisher

ChiefU.S. Border PatrolU.S. Customs and Border Protection

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U.S. Coast Guard Forum

Accenture has announced that David Moskovitz has been named chief executive of Accenture Federal Services, leading work with clients across the U.S. federal government.

Charles Beames has been appointed to the Senior Executive Service and is assigned as principal director, space and intelligence, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Washington, D.C. Beames previously served as strategic advisor, space and intelligence, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics).

HDT Global has announced that the HDT Global Board of

Directors has appointed Dr. Vicki Panhuise as president of Airborne Systems Group, a division of HDT Global.

Effective April 1, 2013, Tony Parasida will become Boeing’s new senior vice president for human resources and administration. Jim O’Neill, vice president and general manager of the Integrated Logistics business within GS&S, will replace Parasida as president of GS&S, with the transition beginning immediately.

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffLOG OPS

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffPEOPLE

EAGLE BOAIn mid-October, the Army announced the prime contrac-

tors for the Enhanced Army Global Logistics Enterprise (EAGLE) program. Ninety-six companies (39 large business and 57 small businesses) were authorized by the announce-ment to be eligible to submit bids on individual task orders as they are issued.

The program also has options that as emergent require-ments are identified, a window will open for non-BOA holders to submit proposals to be evaluated for an EAGLE BOA.

EAGLE is a five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quan-tity contract managed by the U.S. Army Materiel Command and has a maximum total value of $23.5 billion.

The list of estimated RFP release dates are:

Site rFp issue date eagle Strategy

campbell oct. 16, 2012 unrestrictedBenning oct. 16, 2012 unrestricteduSaRc oct. 31, 2012 SB Set-aside

Fort Hood nov. 19, 2012 SB Set-asidelee nov. 9, 2012 SB Set-aside

Fort Gordon nov. 9, 2012 8(a)Redstone arsenal Jan. 15, 2013 8(a)

Kuwait apS-5 Jan. 15, 2013 unrestrictedirwin Jan. 30, 2013 SB Set-aside

afghanistan march 1, 2013 unrestrictedpresidio march 2, 2013 SB Set-aside

polk march 14, 2013 unrestricted

Mobile Capability

Inventory Locator Service LLC (ILS), a supply chain solutions provider in the aviation industry, recently released a mobile-friendly version of their website.

The new mobile version of ILSmart provides unprecedented access to the world’s most active aviation marketplace, helping save time for a wide range of ILS clients such as purchasing managers, salespeople, AOG desk employees and flight line mechanics.

ILS President Eric Anderson said the mobile site is the company’s latest invest-ment to enhance its services and create more value for its clients.

“Mobile devices play an ever-increasing role in business as we know it today,” said Anderson. “The new mobile version of ILSmart provides something no one else offers—the ability to quickly perform several types of aviation market-place transactions from a smartphone.”

david moskovitz

New ICBM TransporterThe U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman

Corporation a contract to design, develop, test and qualify a replacement payload transporter system for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) weapon system.

This program will provide a replacement for the existing payload transporter that is nearing the end of its design life. The contract is worth $39.7 million over four years.

“Northrop Grumman has worked in close coordina-tion with the Air Force for more than five decades to ensure the safety, security and reliability of our nation’s ICBM weapon system,” said Tony Spehar, vice president and program manager of Northrop Grumman’s ICBM Systems business unit.

“The replacement transporter will provide an imme-diate improvement in security and prevent potential supportability impacts from the aging system currently in use,” said Mark Bishop, program manager for the company’s payload transporter replacement program.

AMCOM Support

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a task order by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command (AMCOM) to provide information tech-nology (IT) support services to AMCOM and tenants at Redstone Arsenal. The task order has a 37-month period of performance and a total contract value of approximately $152 million.

Under the contract, SAIC will provide IT support services, including: enterprise

design, integration and consolidation; IT education and training; IT program and project management; systems operations and maintenance; network support; and embedded information systems security and information assurance. Work will include systems analysis, systems design, systems development, application/systems administration, programming, software development, IT operations, and configuration management and communications.

www.MLF-kmi.com4 | MLF 6.10

The efforts of the Department of Defense to achieve visibility of assets and inven-tory have largely been associated with radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. DoD implemented a massive program a few years ago which required its suppliers to place RFID tags on cases and pallets of goods, with the purpose of tracking material throughout the supply pro-cess. Vehicles and other high-value assets were similarly tagged. RFID data was fed to various stakeholders’ systems across the supply chain to achieve a good measure of visibility for supplies, stocks and assets.

Since these original efforts came about, tracking tech-nologies have made advances which have enhanced the ability to achieve asset visibil-ity across DoD supply chains. Other technologies have been developed to complement, or even to supplant, RFID.

“During the North Africa campaign of World War II, the Army ordered everything two and, sometimes, three times,” said Major General Charles Fletcher, USA (Ret.), former director of operations and plans at the U.S. Transportation Command and now senior vice president and strategic operations group manager at Alion Science & Technology. “Part of the problem the mili-tary always faces is that if they aren’t able to track, they don’t know what they ordered or where it is when it is delivered. In Afghani-stan, the armed forces worked very hard to track assets and inventories, but there are still challenges in terms of asset visibility.”

“There are two challenges to tracking assets in a military environment,” said Philippe Bechet, vice president of global sales at Honeywell Global Tracking. “The first is to constantly have a permanent view of where assets are and to see how they

are moving. The second is to be alerted if they deviate from their prescribed route, especially of they go into a dangerous area.”

“RFID has advanced since DoD first put its pro-gram in place,” said Jim Kilfeather, vice president of engineering and opera-tions at Cubic Global Track-ing Solutions. “At that time, RFID required an infrastruc-ture to be put in place locally in the form of RFID readers. We developed tags that are able to form themselves into ad hoc mesh networks that transmit data to each other.” In that kind of network, the last tag in a line transmits all the data to back-end sys-tems that manage the data.

“Technology develop-ments in the last 10 years

make near-total asset visibility possible,” said Fletcher. “But capturing the data, making sure it is in a secure environment, and managing the data continue to rep-resent the Achilles heel in the process of marrying requirements with what you are tracking.”

The Cubic system that was deployed last year to an Army depot in Kuwait is managing the return of military vehicles from Iraq. The system has also since been deployed to Afghanistan.

“The Army has renewed and expanded its next generation wireless contract vehicle with a series of task orders to improve and enhance mesh networking technologies,” said Kilfeather. “These developments will reduce the size, weight and power requirements of the tags and improving firmware to support data encryption. This will allow mesh to expand into new areas to support new logis-tics requirements, including a number of new marshaling areas and yards and Afghanistan.”

Cubic’s mesh tags are placed on vehicles and can talk to other tags in their vicinity which cuts down on the typical investment in RFID infrastructure. An Army business case analysis showed that the mesh network system saved the Army 50 percent over the existing active RFID infrastructure.

“In addition to the infrastructure costs, mesh technology represents an advancement over current active and passive RFID technol-ogy because it has better performance and longer battery life,” said Kilfeather. “It also reduces total life cycle cost over a deploy-ment.”

The current deployment of the Cubic sys-tem in Afghanistan, like in Iraq, is to support the large retrograde movement of assets and materiel back from overseas. “There are many third-party logistics and transportation com-panies that not under military control that are helping with this effort,” said Kilfeather. “Visibility and security are big challenges as the military brings all of this equipment back home and to keep unit materials intact as they come back through the supply chain.”

Honeywell Global Tracking also works with third-party logistics and transportation providers in tracking assets and supplies in and out of Afghanistan. The Honeywell sys-tem enables the tracking of assets in hostile or remote environments by using satellite technology to communicate with the devices. This provides a solution for regions with little or no cell phone coverage or where the

Meeting the challenges of asset tracking.By Peter BuxBauM, Mlf corresPondent

Charles Fletcher

James Kilfeather

www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 6.10 | 5

cell network is too unreliable for operational purposes.

“We provide a solution based purely on satellite communications,” said Bechet. “We provide tags that can be put on containers to track and monitor goods around the world. They provide 100 percent coverage both on the ground and on the sea. They also are safer than tags that communicate over terrestrial networks because they are much harder to jam.”

Honeywell tags have been coupled with terrestrial tracking devices to provide a hybrid or dual-mode system. “They take advantage of cheaper terrestrial networks when they are available,” said Bechet, “and then switch to satellite communications when they are out of range of the terrestrial networks.”

The Honeywell products have been used to track containers and trucks that transport material to and from Afghanistan and the port of Karachi, Pakistan. “We have a number of partners located in the region that tag the containers when they arrive in Karachi,” said Bechet. “The tags are being used by transport and logistics companies, but their end cus-tomer is the U.S. government. Some of the tags are being used in Afghani-stan directly by coalition and NATO forces.”

Honeywell provides a com-plete solution for those that require it. “Our system can provide customers with alerts when shipments arrive at cer-tain locations or enter specific situations,” said Bechet. “Hon-eywell can provide satellite air time. We can also provide the manpower to do the actual monitoring work. Most of the time, we provide the hardware, the airtime, the accessories and the application.” For its military custom-ers, Honeywell provides an interface to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Transportation Command applications.

Inductive systems that use magnetic fields in lieu of radio waves were adapted years ago for applications such as submarine commu-nications systems and in recent years have been applied to tracking systems. “Magnetic fields are not stopped by anything, including steel and liquids,” said John Stevens, chief executive officer of Visible Assets Inc. “In harsh environments, our tags perform when there are difficulties with RFID because they can be completely encapsulated.”

Visible Assets’ magnetic tags, known as Ru-bee, operate at low frequencies and don’t

use much power. “They use small lithium bat-teries that have been proven to last 25 years,” said Stevens. “We expect them to last 50 years. The typical range of a Ru-bee tag is 15 to 20 feet. We have some that go 70 feet and we can get to 100 feet if we had to. Five to 20 feet is the sweet spot for the need to read sensitive items in storage.”

Another advantage of the magnetic tags is that they can’t be detected by an enemy. “RFID can be detected from miles away,” said Stevens. “An enemy can determine the location of the RFID signals and attack that location. Or they can get close up to eavesdrop and monitor the position. Ru-bee signals drop off rapidly and cannot be detected. Compromising ema-nations, as they are called officially, are not permitted in DoD secure rooms.”

The focus of Ru-bee’s deployment is on sensitive items stores. “They are used to track ordnance, explosives and mines,” said Ste-vens. “In the past, people had to go into these stores and do pencil and paper audits and keep manual stocking cards for these sensitive items. With the Ru-bee tags, the military can very rapidly perform automated audits. It saves the military a lot of money over the manual

audits and the system pays for itself very rapidly.” The tags are also able to automate required audits of foreign weapons sales.

The Ru-bee tags are typi-cally affixed to cases and pallets of ammunition and ordnance that are assigned serial num-bers. Visible Assets manages the disposition of the materiel with its software. Visible Assets was recently awarded a $5 mil-lion contract from DoD for the

tagging of certain weapons. Perhaps the final obstacle to total asset

visibility, according to Fletcher, is the data management piece. “There needs to be stan-dardization of stock numbers and parts cor-relation across the U.S. military as well as its allies and commercial partners,” he said. “The Defense Logistics Agency has a multi-year effort ongoing to correlate all this data, but a unified database doesn’t exist yet.” On the other hand, Fletcher added, progress has been made in developing smart containers that are tamper resistant and that can monitor and transmit what is in, and what has been removed from, the container at all times.

Future developments in asset visibility will likely involve combining tracking tags with other kinds of sensors, according to Bechet. “The kinds of other sensors that can

be attached to our device is almost unlimited,” he said. “We recently received a request from a customer to hook up a sensor within trailers to monitor whether they are empty or not.”

Another likely development is the con-tinued reduction in cost, weight and power consumption. “The reliability of the device is already extremely high,” said Bechet, “so the areas where we can improve revolve around developing smaller batteries with longer dura-tions that are easier to install. We also have had discussions with equipment manufacturers about integrating the tracking devices into the vehicles and equipment during the manufac-turing process rather than selling it to them after the fact.”

Kilfeather agreed that the reduction in costs and size will continue to be a priority for technology developers. “We are looking at commercial applications of the mesh network product,” he said. “The Army would benefit significantly if the product is commercialized so that we can reduce costs. We have several initiatives in that area.”

Cubic expects that its mesh technology will continue to make inroads within military supply chains. “We continue to work with the U.S. military,” said Kilfeather. “They are a great sponsor of technology. The military has supported the growth of our application and we have achieved many milestones to prove the reliability, scalability and security of this technology. We look forward to expand our footprint within military supply chains and have been receiving interest from other users within the DoD space.”

Mesh network technology will continue to provide solutions for asset and material tracking, Fletcher agreed. “If you can cap-ture data on the move, then everything mov-ing becomes a form of warehouse,” he said. “Passive RFID technology will become more sophisticated and will have the capability to sense more data from more sources without incurring high costs and without the necessity for an embedded energy capability.”

The move to cloud computing environ-ments and to service-oriented architectures also embodies important implications for asset tracking. “In these environments, any system can access any data,” said Fletcher. “This rep-resents the potential for tremendous improve-ments in asset tracking to support better decisions in the future.” O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories

at www.mlf-kmi.com.

John Stevens


The CJCS Capstone Concept for Joint Operations anticipates the Joint Forces of 2020 (JF2020) will operate in an increasingly complex, uncertain, competitive and rapidly changing environment, an environment under tremen-dous fiscal pressures. This new reality and the speed of crisis development will increasingly challenge the Joint Logistics Enterprise (JLEnt) to support and sustain globally integrated operations. To meet these future challenges our logisticians must be able to: quickly adapt to changing circumstances, challenge the status quo, be confident in their knowledge, capably represent logistics needs to the commander and, most importantly, think critically. As such, my best advice for our next generation of logisticians is simple: be knowledgeable in your craft and pursue continual learning.

Logisticians are the linchpin to JLEnt effectiveness, and your development begins with the motivation to embrace two key objectives. First, you must become a technical expert in your core logistics discipline and have a working knowledge of the breadth of logistics disciplines within your service. Second, you must pursue a path of continual learning. The study of logistics disciplines and more general disciplines will improve your aptitude for problem solving and critical thinking. Knowing your job and understanding how it fits into a broader operational environment is absolutely foundational towards building personal credibility. Specifically, as a logistician, you must be able to translate logistics-speak into war fighting impact and then you must credibly convey your informed views and positions to the commander … especially if that

logistics view challenges the preferred operational scheme of maneuver. You must combine expertise with critical thinking to develop a deep understanding of the logistics impact on readiness and to clearly and confidently articulate risk during the development and execution of military plans. You must have the courage, born of knowledge and intellect, to challenge the status quo.

To fulfill the imperative to develop professional logisticians for the JF2020, I and other senior leaders of the JLEnt are leading two key efforts. First, we have worked to identify and affirm the needed core logistics com-petencies for the JF2020 environment. And secondly, we are developing a strategy and action plan to ensure key logistics concepts associated with our core competencies are integrated into all levels of learning through targeted educational, training and experiential opportunities.

The remarkable logistical successes of our past were enabled by our people and so too will the successes of our future. However, no matter how well we collectively develop training and educational opportunities, the crucial factor for logistics success will be based on the preparedness of you, our joint logisticians. As our national security environment evolves, so too must our logisticians. By knowing our jobs and through continuous learning, we will position ourselves to evolve and adapt in order to meet the opportunities and challenges of the future. If you do that, I have no doubt you will be success-ful—and more importantly, we will continue to have the greatest joint logistics force in the world.

Lieutenant General Brooks L. BashDirector for Logistics, J4Joint Chiefs of Staff

The reason behind change is sometimes necessity, sometimes circum-stance and sometimes desire. One thing that is constant is that change will never truly take shape without innovation. Innovation of equipment and material things can help facilitate change, but innovation of the mind is the real driver.

Nurturing a skill and a leader in any specialty takes education, train-ing and experience. Waves of change are impacting the military today and for the foreseeable future. The logistics leaders of today have guided the

military through more than a decade of engaged conflict and are now lead-ing the way forward into the new era. Military Logistics Forum wanted to understand how the leaders of today are working to instill the culture and mindset in future logisticians to innovate the art and science of logistics for years to come.

To do that, we asked what advice key logistician leaders had for the next generation logistician as they prepare to rise through the ranks and bring forth new efficiencies and innovation for the supply chain of the future.

Setting the Table for 2013advice for the logisticians of toMorrow froM the logisticians of today.


I have been in the fight in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, and one of the biggest things I would suggest to a new logistician is to be aggressive. We have to make sure [logisticians] have a seat at the table with the warfighter. It is important to hear what the warfighter’s issues are so we can be part of the solution. Or at least, be at the table so we can provide input to a plan.

I would warn a new logistician about being too cautious; don’t sit in the second row when all the other major players are at the head table. Our new logisticians need to be competent so they can be at the table and feel comfortable telling that three- or four-star general that if they go up this hill or take that route, they will run out of fuel. We have to feel confident and competent enough to give the leaders that kind of forecasting advice.

Young logisticians of the next generation need to be out in the fight; go where the guns are blaring. It’s hard to do logistics back here at home; logis-ticians need to be where the warfighters are. They have to walk the ground in Afghanistan, know the customer, know the warfighter and work their issues.

Something I learned during my career is it is important to keep not only my boss but also other generals well-informed. I would send them a weekly note on the hot logistics issues that might impact their fight or mission. We have to be good at providing strategic communications to the warfighter.

If you want to be a great logistician, I suggest you look for the tough jobs. You need to do ‘muddy boots’ kinds of logistics jobs. I encourage the

new logistician to get out there and do the tough stuff in extreme weather conditions in order to experience how the system holds up. You have to know what the warfighter is going through to really be able to provide logistics support to them.

The logistician of the future has to know how to build relationships. A lot of folks like to do it through email, but I feel it is important to walk around and talk to as many people as possible; that’s how I build relationships.

I think a logistician’s ability to build relationships is almost as important as being competent. As a logistician I need to be able to connect with the warfighter so they have confidence in my ability to get them what they need, when they need it. In other words, because of the relationships I built with warfighters, they had confidence in me.

I would tell the logistician of the future that you should never allow a warfighter to have to look back and say, ‘Hey, where is my fuel?’ Or, ‘Where is my cold weather gear?’ We always have to provide what the warfighter needs on time and on target; the warfighter should never have to ‘look back.’ If you have built a strong relationship with that warfighter, they won’t have to look back.

I also encourage the logistician of the future to think outside the box. Don’t be afraid to do it; some of the best solutions often come when you’re able to think outside the box.

Since 9/11, Air Force logisticians have responded to mission require-ments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Japan, Libya and other locations across the world. The sustained high impact of these logisticians highlights the need for success in demanding and collaborative environments. However, current and future national security challenges require the next generation of Air Force logistics leaders to be equipped to lead and sustain a global logistics enterprise in a budget constrained environment characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. As a result, Air Force senior logistics leaders have identified three strategic priorities we will achieve within the next 10 years.

My advice to young logisticians is to focus on these three priorities: 1) Evolve logistics core competencies to fully support joint doctrine; 2) Posture logistics resources for the next fight; and 3) Drive cost effective readiness for product support and operational logistics. To help focus on these priorities we have crafted a Deliberate Continuum of Learning (DCoL) to develop airmen as our next generation logistics leaders. DCoL is singularly focused on developing critical competencies in mission generation, repair network, deployment and distribution, supply chain management, joint logistics and life cycle logistics—logisticians with multiple competencies.

Future leaders should understand and take advantage of our ongoing efforts to hone current training and education plans and adapt them to this

new paradigm. We know there are many training and educational opportuni-ties available to our logisticians throughout their career; these opportunities need to be timely and provide targeted and effective training for officers and civilians to serve in current or future positions. In some areas, we have significant training gaps that we are addressing. The bottom line is we are fundamentally changing the way we deliberately train, educate and assign enterprise logisticians across the Air Force and DoD.

In the future I expect logisticians to have a broad enterprise view of logis-tics and supply chain management processes to sustain Air Force operations in a joint environment. Most importantly, our logisticians must be competent and innovative fiscal stewards who can help shape efficient and streamlined logistics systems and processes. Furthermore, we must collaborate with sister services, industry and academic organizations to build a holistic approach to training and educating that will result in leaders who are well versed across the spectrum of national defense logistics. Future leaders should be gaining insight now in fundamentals like joint logistics processes, performance based logistics, enterprise repair networks and contractor/organic partnerships that will help them develop breadth. They should also take advantage of the increasingly deliberate, focused training to build depth in key logistics func-tions. This blend of training, education and experience will result in the kind of logistician we will need for enduring mission readiness.

Lieutenant General Judith A. FedderDeputy Chief of Staff for Logistics,Installations and Mission SupportU.S. Air Force

Major General Kenneth S. DowdDirector of Logistics Operations (J3)Defense Logistics Agency


The next generation of military and civilian logisticians will have to be responsible leaders as they prepare to rise through the ranks. First and foremost, they will need to recognize and act upon what’s important to their boss(es). Education and experience are important foundations, but not tickets to leadership. The ability to apply education and experience from earlier tours or jobs will help cultivate these efficiencies and innovations. Our junior logisticians are developing with more joint and coalition experi-ence than in the past, and as our supply chains and operations become increasingly joint, these young logisticians are nurturing a broad tool set that far exceeds the knowledge that I had as a junior member of our mili-tary/civilian/contractor logistics team.

In order to stand out among the best who adhere to these two principles, logisticians must embrace our Navy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and its importance to the future of naval logistics. Navy ERP is a SAP-based supply chain software solution that delivers efficient and effective global supply logistics support to Naval and joint warfighters. Navy ERP also enables us to understand where every dollar is spent, to make cost-wise decisions across NAVSUP’s business lines of operation, to improve program management and asset utilization, and

critically, to provide transparent and auditable financial records. Our system is in its early years, and we are grooming it—making it ‘hum.’ We are a world-class organization, and all world-class organizations should be able to pass a financial audit. We will leverage ERP to achieve this goal, because logisticians of the future have to give appropriators of the future the confidence to fund us so that we can sustain our operating forces. If an appropriator thinks we’re inefficient or are wasting funds in this harsh budget environment, we will not be successful. Hence, the sooner a logistician understands Navy ERP’s functionality and embraces its value, the more likely it is she/he will be successful.

The Navy has a phrase, the “PESTOF Pillar,” and it stands for people, equipment, supplies, training, ordnance and facilities. It encompasses both infrastructure and shore support and explains how the inter-relations of the different pillars affect readiness and operational effectiveness of a weapon system. Because our future logisticians will be involved in every area of the PESTOF Pillar, Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Com-mand, has coined the “Readiness Kill Chain.” The idea is that one missing link in the PESTOF Pillar can break the chain. Logisticians should consider this concept from another vantage point: The more value you add, the more

Rear Admiral Mark F. HeinrichCommanderNaval Supply Systems Command Chief of Supply Corps

Let there be no doubt, we logisticians have an incredible track record. We have a sound foundation in the best logistics training available any-where and that training has been put to good use through a decade of war. We ensured our warfighters had everything they needed to accomplish the mission, sometimes resorting to extraordinary means supporting global operations from contingency operations to humanitarian relief.

We can never afford to fail and we haven’t. We cannot, however, fiscally afford to continue as before.

Think EnterpriseSpeaking directly to the next generation, logisticians today have given

you a legacy of doing the nearly impossible and making it look easy. In the future, we need to examine how to deliver at the least cost, using the entire enterprise (all services and agencies in addition to commercial and inter-national partners) as your resource—not just assets at hand. Clearly define your requirements and challenge all assumptions! When submitting your organization’s requirements you should provide rank ordered criteria, ask for costed options and identify where you are flexible.

LearnTake advantage of training and education. Training and education are

just part of what you will need in the future. More often, “soft skills” like critical thinking, negotiations and conflict management are ignored but are essential in relationship-building. Don’t get me wrong—you need to be grounded in supply chain basics, but these often neglected skills are

critical at senior levels. We know it will continue to be true that in the end, it’s not about planes and trucks and ships, it’s about the people. Logistics begins with people and ends with people. How you treat people is the foun-dation of a relationship.

Communicate and collaborateHone your communication skills. You have to be able to get your point

across in prose and speech—in minutes sometimes! Vet your ideas with others—inside and outside your organization. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Present your concept and address their needs and mitigate their concerns.

Use this foundation to build collaborative relationships and teams. We accomplish so much more through teamwork and come up with better ideas when we come together as a team than we do on our own. Ask your-self, “Whom am I teaming with?” Is the circle large enough?

Through teams you can continue to encourage a culture that is cre-ative and rewards innovation, delivers value and builds trust, is always collaborative, and empowers others through stewardship and smart risk-taking. This sounds easy, but when money gets tight and stress levels peak, this is often when people stop communicating and partnering, as they fear they will lose a competitive edge.

Use these principles to guide your way. They will prove crucial as our military develops its new footing amid economic and strategic chal-lenges.

Lieutenant General Kathleen GaineyDeputy CommanderU.S. Transportation Command


After over a decade of sustained ground combat operations, the operat-ing environment is shifting. As we maintain vigilance in the USCENTCOM theater and rebalance our posture in the Pacific, crisis response and expe-ditionary operations will require a new logistics perspective. Supply chains will not run through heavy, fixed and secure installations inside an area of operations. Austerity, leanness and speed will be the defining characteristics of logistics networks. Our forces will be dispersed over large areas and sepa-rated by vast distances of open ocean, and logisticians must approach this challenge from an expeditionary perspective.

Tomorrow’s logistician must re-examine how we integrate air, ground and naval logistics capacities to our advantage in the distributed battlespace. The climate at the tip of the expeditionary spear is uncertain, chaotic and unfor-giving. Expeditionary supply chains are complex and challenging endeavors, particularly since the distant destination is a tactical one, constantly on the move and frequently under attack. As we re-emphasize the maritime nature of the global battlespace, logisticians must be keenly aware of the naval component to the supply chain.

The next generation logistician must take a fresh look at how we structure and employ our prepositioning capabilities. Changing the location of inven-tory within the expeditionary supply chain can alleviate both inventory and distribution stress, thereby allowing combat forces to remain operationally mobile yet tactically lethal. Instead of being burdened with the cost—cube and weight—of heavier equipment necessary in some combat environments, expeditionary forces can draw that equipment from prepositioned supplies just prior to employing it.

I also think there are enduring principles that should continue to guide your actions in any tactical situation, regardless of how the supply chain of the future evolves.

Expeditionary is a mindset. Get comfortable with a thin and stretched supply chain, one in which supplies and equipment are limited to operational necessities only. Be prepared to deploy on a moment’s notice into an austere operating environment, and redeploy from there to another.

Flexibility in planning and execution is vital. Logistics opens and pre-serves the commander’s tactical options, extending his reach across the expeditionary battlespace and enabling him to exploit fleeting opportunities. Understand your commander’s intent and translate it into actionable logistics options.

Initiative and innovation are critical characteristics of the expeditionary logistician. Ensure that your part of the supply chain moves with the rhythm of battle. Don’t wait for the perfect solution. Take initiative, figure things out as you go, and keep your commander on the move.

Study your craft. To keep pace, it is paramount that tomorrow’s logisti-cian be a constant and diligent student of all aspects of warfare, fluent in both tactics and logistics across the range of military operations.

Lastly, and most importantly, leadership always counts. There is no sub-stitute, never a stand-in for leadership. No technological advance or supply chain innovation can ever replace the need for leaders on the battlefield, set-ting the example, inspiring trust, and forging an esprit that endures amid the crucible of combat. This above all other duties demands your fullest attention and commitment. Semper fidelis.

Major General Charles L. HudsonCommanderU.S. Marine Corps Logistics Command

relevant you are to your shareholders—fellow logisticians, your customers, the Department of Defense, our private industry partners and taxpayers.

Ethics are critical! More than anything else, when we talk about the next generation of logisticians, they must leverage ethical decision making every day. This means choosing the right course every time they encounter a tough decision. Logisticians are held to a particularly high moral standard as the primary stewards for the Navy of U.S. taxpayer’s money. Their ‘currency’ is their decision making capability to choose the right course of action every time. Logisticians will foster respect up and down the chain of command by making

honest recommendations to their seniors and peers, as well as seeking honest recommendations from junior personnel. They should always encourage new ideas and deliver bad news forthrightly.

As military and civilian logisticians, they will be the standard by which juniors measure themselves. Even when they think no one is watching, when they think it doesn’t matter, that is probably when their integrity matters most. Maintain dignity and do what’s right.

It is ingenuity, skill and determination that will make our future logisticians true leaders that contemporaries will emulate and admire. Press on!

General Dennis L. ViaCommanderU.S. Army Materiel Command

In the words of the Secretary of Defense, we are at a ‘strategic turning point’—a turning point that will require us to shape, and equip, a force that is smaller, leaner and more agile while retaining its ability to support a broad spectrum of missions and contingencies around the globe. As a result, the Army Materiel Command is seeking an innovative approach to logistics—

providing real-time readiness for our forces. The next generation logistician should seek to do the same. The most effective way to meet the evolving needs of our Army and our combatant commanders is to engage in predictive logistics—anticipating and meeting the needs of the warfighter and getting them what they need, when and where they need it. We must provide our


warfighters the flexibility they need to conduct missions in an increasingly complex and uncertain environment.

America’s warfighter cannot afford to wait for the tools they need to succeed. The next generation logistician must seek ways to blend the “state of the art” with the “art of the possible.” Logisticians are entrusted to provide the best possible equipment, the best possible resources, the best possible solutions to the warfighter—providing them the equipment and supplies they need, when and where they need them. In a time of declining resources and increasing technology, the next generation logistician should be positioned to leverage existing technologies, investigate emerging technologies, and minimize duplication and redundancy. We must never lose track of the fact that our day-to-day mission has a direct impact on the warfighter. Everything our workforce

researches and produces should benefit the soldier—from our research and development programs to our weapons systems to our aviation assets, and beyond.

We must continue to lighten the load our soldiers carry into combat. We must continue to seek ways to provide effective, efficient alternate energy sources. We must encourage our workforce to continue to develop and field innovative solu-tions to complex logistics challenges. We cannot fail the warfighter.

We—logisticians and AMC—must stay postured to support future require-ments. We will face tough choices and challenges that will force us to be more innovative in the ways we provide support to the warfighters. Our future success as logisticians requires innovation, critical thinking, and an ability to move from concept to completion rapidly and resourcefully. O

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For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories at www.mlf-kmi.com.


Louis Kratz, vice president of logistics and sustainment at Lockheed Martin, sees a slight difference between outcome-based maintenance (OBM) and performance-based logistics (PBL). Pursuant to a Logistics Man-agement Institute (LMI) study, OBM seeks to have maintenance depots, whether govern-ment or industry, focus more on warfighter outcomes, like time-on-wing for engines or reliability of components, than on through-put or transaction costs.

“Industry supports that,” Kratz empha-sized. “Most OBM efforts are done in conjunc-tion with PBL contacts. Industry signs up for outcomes and then partners with organic depots to achieve them. Where defense is headed is infusing OBM into organic depots, whether these are under PBL or not.” A work-ing group has been formed to enable industry to help organic depots on OBM, whether under PBLs or not.

Kratz see two hurdles for OBM. Depots might continue focusing on minimizing turn-times and transaction costs rather than product life cycle cost. Or as OBM is imple-mented, reduced intakes to depots could lessen their maintenance proficiency. The cure for the latter is moving other work into depots, Kratz argued.

Lockheed looks forward to working with defense customers to implement OBM. Kratz noted that government depots are very proud of their work and need only shift that pride to outcomes, rather than traditional metrics.

The Lockheed exec sees potential for OBM especially in back-shops and component repairs, where it is easier to quickly measure the results that will improve reliability and availability than it is for entire platforms. Under PBL, contractors go into depots as advisers on maintenance, do technical inser-tions and make design changes. Even without PBL, they can often consult on improvements. Where contractors partner with depots, it is essential that performance metrics focus on warfighter outcomes, rather than traditional metrics. “The Defense Department is moving in that direction,” Kratz said.

Other private firms are also enthusiastic about the approach. Generally, they see it as a natural extension of the PBL philosophy. President of Oshkosh Defense John Urias said, “Given the fiscal realities, we ought to re-look at OBM and PBL methods, because they could really save the Army lots of money. They place responsibility on the back of industry.”

“Operation and support are 60 to 80 percent of system life cycle cost,” noted Jeff Koga, associate vice president of integrated product support at Oshkosh. “Defense inter-nal studies estimate 10 to 20 percent of operation and support could be saved with the OBM or PBL approach.”

Oshkosh is confident it knows how to work economically. “We saved $2 billion on the FMTV [Family of Medium Tactical],” Koga noted. “And we saved $13 million in two quarters for DLA [Defense Logistics Agency] maritime and land materials.”

“The Army and other services buy initial spares that populate the load list and autho-rized stock levels,” said Urias. “Then they go through DLA, shooting for best efforts to find the lowest price. That wastes a lot of time and energy. Every transaction, you have a lot of research and other activities duplicated at DLA, the OEM and its suppliers.”

In contrast, PBL or OBM can put respon-sibility on the industry partner to keep readi-ness or availability up at lowest cost. “You don’t care if they are buying one or a million parts,” Urias said. “All you pay for is readiness or availability. They have incentive to make it cost-effective to hold onto the contract. If the government wants to do it, Oshkosh would be very interested in jumping on board.”

Urias said one hurdle for the govern-ment is the capital fund, which is based on transactions. “So to keep that healthy, they have to have lots of transactions to generate operating funds. Lots of logistics systems in the military would have to be modified.”

Urias suggested that OBM could be implemented selectively to minimize nega-tive impacts systems. “They could do it on

tactical wheeled vehicles and save a lot of money. Then put military resources into tanks or aircraft, which are more complex and may need to be managed by the mili-tary.”

One hurdle to implementing OBM for Oshkosh would be the initial outlay on parts. But Urias said “this is not a problem, only a challenge.”

“Obsolescence is a big issue,” Urias pointed out. “Under OBM, you look at a sys-tem every day and think about how to keep it up and running. You embark on prognostics and invest in technology to avoid obsoles-cence or having an asset down. Now they cannot afford that.”

“Defense has been making a lot of incre-mental changes in its acquisition process,” noted Brian Koziol, program manager in SAIC Defense’s Logistics and Engineering Solutions. “In 2008, a GAO [Government Accountability Office] study reported a 36 percent increase in acquisition cost and said defense acquisition is high-risk. The value of OBM is that it can lower costs, field capa-bilities faster and improve overall logistics. That’s especially important with a shrinking defense budget. We think defense should move in that direction.”

“We have the methods, people and pro-cesses that can work for multiple vendors and OEMs,” stressed SAIC Chief Technol-ogy Officer Brian Schultz. “We build these processes for many different types of assets. Seventy percent of life cycle cost is sustain-ment and OBM should work across assets, aircraft, ships and vehicles.”

SAIC works for both industry and govern-ment on improving sustainment efficiency. “For example, on MRAPs [mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles] there were mul-tiple OEMs,” Schultz said. “They had dif-ferent processes in place. We were the joint logistics integrator and integrated all their processes.”

SAIC was also product support integrator on the Counter–Radio-Controlled Impro-vised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare

Prospects for Outcome-Based Maintenancefocusing on real-world results that heighten warfighter caPaBility.By henry canaday, Mlf corresPondent


(CREW) program, installing and maintaining IED-jamming devices on Marine vehicles.

To make OBM work, defense “needs to build a business partnership that aligns the interests of industry with the Defense Department, so they can gain more effi-ciency,” Koziol argued. “It should be across the board on all systems.”

Schultz said OBM should apply through the entire life cycle. “That is not always the case, because we do not always have access to data rights, so we have processes to collect data. There has to be a way to access data rights during the acquisition phase in order for companies like SAIC to be effective.”

Schultz said SAIC can then bid on a fixed-price contract, taking risk from the govern-ment. “We can reduce overall cost and push the risk to the private sector.” Potential cost savings vary by asset supported. However, under CREW, SAIC increased asset visibility from 25 to 100 percent. “You have to know where assets are and what their condition and configuration is for an OBM program.”

The Giuntini Company specializes in managing assets of commercial firms and both assets and weapons of military orga-nizations around the world, according to Principal Ron Giuntini. He was involved in examining what was then called fleet man-agement of the AH-64 Apache and M109 Pal-adin in 1999. “It was so radical, it was killed by the Depot Caucus,” Giuntini remembered.

Giuntini estimates that only 5 percent of support contracts are now outcome-based. “They [contractors] want to get paid by gov-ernment for work and not take risks. Success has been minimal.”

Opportunities for OBM are expanding. It has always worked best for commercial off-the-shelf systems and COTS technologies are now moving into weapons and other military assets. “It used to be best practices were first in government and defense, then in business, then in commercial markets,” Giuntini said. “Now it’s the opposite. Commercial is best practice, then business, then government and defense.”

Fortunately, the Defense Department has introduced the product support manager (PSM). “But very few people have the skill sets,” Giuntini said. Moreover, PSMs are only required for Acquisition Category (ACAT) I, a very small portion of total acquisitions.

Giuntini estimated that OBM, correctly implemented, could save 20 to 30 percent of net sustainment expenditures, after deduct-ing the overhead cost of OBM itself, over the life of a program.

Potential for implementing OBM varies by asset and support command. Giuntini estimated that Army Communications-Elec-tronics Command could apply OBM to 30 to 40 percent of acquisitions. “Tank-automotive and Armaments Command [TACOM] could do a lot, because they have lots of commer-cial products. Navy subs and surface could do 10 percent, maybe. NAVAIR [Naval Air Systems Command] have been most pro-gressive; they can do maybe 15 to 20 percent. The Air Force on the cargo side could do 50 to 70 percent, less on fighters, and missiles are minimal. Army aviation is mostly COTS helicopters, so they could do a lot.”

The best candidates for OBM remain COTS assets, and the biggest challenge remains culture. “If they do it the traditional way, they can’t get blamed,” Giuntini said. “If they do a PBL, it might not work and they can lose.”

“These are all nice guys,” Giuntini said. “They want to do the right things. But GS15s are overpaid and the SES [Senior Executive Service] is underpaid. It’s a bizarre world. All the risk is doing PBL.”

AAR Defense Systems & Logistics per-forms PBLs for both U.S. and international customers. AAR usually supports compo-nents or series of components for the U.S. Defense Department, and sometimes entire platforms outside the U.S., explained Andy Murphy, general manager of AAR Defense Systems & Logistics.

Murphy thinks the performance or out-come-based approach is a very sound one for reducing cost, improving availability and mitigating risk. And he sees opportunities for expanding it. Traditionally, each service has let its own support contracts, but Murphy sees indications that, when a component is used by several services, a single PBL con-tract might be used.

Another opportunity for PBL expansion is on aging platforms, Murphy believes. Age means increased maintenance costs and increased pressure to control or reduce these costs.

Finally, there are continual advances in information systems to manage repair ven-dors and part suppliers. “This is an opportu-nity to replace inventory with data,” Murphy noted.

Fully exploiting these opportunities will require long-term relationships, in Murphy’s view. “The traditional two-, three- and five-year relationships do not justify the invest-ments needed to reduce cost and improve availability,” he argued.

Outcome-based strategies properly vali-dated through business case analysis (BCA) are the support strategy of choice for new programs, according to John Van Note, senior logistics engineer with BAE Systems. “For existing programs, the challenge is to determine where and when it makes sense and validate it through BCA,” Van Note said.

Potential benefits include improved performance using the same infrastructure as before. A Deloitte study validated PBL improvement and cost reductions, Van Note pointed out. An OBM approach also allows interaction with customers and end-users. For example, BAE engaged directly with fleet users under a PBL to address issues related to high demand for certain components. This enabled BAE to solve readiness and cost chal-lenges in ways not possible in transaction-based contracts.

The biggest challenges to effective OBM are contract length and type. “While shorter base periods do not preclude investment to support customer needs, preferred base periods would create an environment where customer and provider needs could both be met,” Van Note said. He prefers base periods that allow contractors to recoup the investment necessary to improve reliabil-ity. “Additionally, for outcome-based strate-gies, firm-fixed price works best.” Customers know costs for the entire period of perfor-mance and this is a baseline for follow-on outcome-based contracts.

Van Note believes funding reductions will make OBM strategies more desirable. “In addition to new ACAT I and II programs that will eventually move to an outcome-based scenario, there are plenty of opportunities, horizontally and vertically, that lend them-selves to outcome-based support.”

For example, like-and-similar compo-nents from different aircraft types could be bundled into one contract. Or components could be bundled by repair depot for a single vendor.

OBM strategies can be applied most effectively early in the life cycle, due to little sunk cost, Van Note said. But they can also be applied late in the life cycle, when support is hindered by obsolescence, diminishing manufacturing sources, material shortages or aging depot equipment. O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories

at www.mlf-kmi.com.


SUPPLY CHAIN

Collapsible 60-gallon Drum

Buckhorn Inc., a provider of reusable plastic pack-aging and material handling systems, has introduced a collapsible 60-gallon plastic drum. The patent-pending drum is recyclable and is designed specifically for the food, powder and liquid handling markets.

“Buckhorn is committed to providing customer-driven innovations that maximize returnability, reusability and sustainability across a variety of markets,” said Rob Tieman, director of sales and marketing. “Our research has shown customers are demanding a collapsible alterna-tive to the steel, fiber and plastic drums currently in their systems—one that will offer a better return ratio, more warehouse space and increased profitability.”

Buckhorn’s new drum has a 40-inch by 24-inch by 20-inch footprint. It includes three main components—a base, sidewalls and lid. All parts are designed with offset surfaces and interlocking flanges so that no cracks exist in the joints, minimizing the potential for contamination. The drum has two security tie holes per lid. The inside and outside surfaces of the sidewalls are smooth for ease of cleaning. The sidewalls are also hinged in the center for a one-way inward fold, allowing the drum to fold flat in seconds.

Its unique rectangular design allows four assembled drums to interlock and cube a 48-inch by 40-inch pallet, stacking five pallet loads high in storage. With its smaller footprint and greater capacity, Buckhorn’s 60-gallon drum offers 25 percent better cube utilization than the standard 55-gallon alternatives currently on the market.

Low Level TF/TA System

A new terrain following and terrain avoidance (TF/TA) system under develop-ment at Elbit Systems, in cooperation with Northrop Grumman, will enable pilots to fly and maneuver more safely in TF/TA flight mode under all weather conditions, day and night.

Under the collaborative development, Elbit Systems’ TF/TA head-up display (TA/TF HUD) application is coupled with Northrop Grumman’s AN/APN-241 terrain following radar for an avionic upgrade for existing or new C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The TF/TA HUD demonstrator is expected to fly within the upcoming year on an international customer’s C-130 transport aircraft.

The TF/TA system relies on a digital terrain elevation database and the terrain following radar as an active sensor, driven and controlled by Elbit Systems’ Smart Displays. Implemented as part of a glass cockpit concept, the system is positioned as a competitive and attractive enhancement for C-130 modernization and upgrading.

Northrop Grumman’s AN/APN-241 radar has been selected as the standard radar for the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules and Alenia C-27J transport aircraft. Additionally, the AN/APN-241 radar has been integrated and installed on the CASA C-295 transport aircraft.

Hook Lift Trucks and Trailers

Schutt Industries, a manufacturer of trailering systems for the U.S. military, including the light tactical trailer, has been awarded another contract for 19 hook lift trucks and trailers, as well as 76 flatracks. The truck and trailer system consists of a 6-by-6 prime mover truck with a hook lift mechanism for self-loading and unloading capability and a payload trailer and demountable cargo beds, referred to as flatracks.

The prime mover truck carries its payloads on demountable flatrack cargo beds, or inside 20 foot ISO intermodal containers, or shelters. The flatrack is interchangeable between truck and trailer. The tractor with hook lift and trailer form a self-contained system that loads and unloads its cargo without the need for forklifts or other mate-rial handling equipment. Without leaving the cab, the driver can load or unload the truck and trailer. The hooklift truck, trailer and flatrack system perform line haul (long distance), local haul (short distance), unit resupply and other missions in the tactical environment to support highly mobile combat units. The system provides rapid move-ment of combat configured loads of ammunition and all classes of supply, shelters and containers.

“We are excited to build more hook lift trucks for our military,” said Steve Schutt, vice president of sales and marketing. “Our design has been perfected and we are seeing a lot of interest from the international community as well. Moving forward with our unique scalable system and our integration expertise, look for our hook lift on many different platforms.”


USTRANSCOM

Strategic Planner

Brig. Gen. John E. Michel

Special Assistant to the Commander for StrategyU.S. Transportation Command

Brigadier General John E. Michel is chief, change and learn-ing strategist, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

Michel graduated from Southwest Texas State University, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and entered the U.S. Air Force in 1988. He has served in a number of command and staff assignments, including U.S. Transportation Command liaison to North American Aerospace Defense Command-U.S. Northern Command; chief of rated staff assignments and deputy chief for senior officer matters, headquarters Air Mobility Com-mand; and deputy director, Air, U.S. Central Command Deploy-ment and Distribution Operations Center. He has commanded a tanker squadron, an expeditionary operations group and an air refueling wing.

His major awards and decorations include: Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit Joint Service Commendation Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; and the Air Medal.

Q: General Michel, can you give us the background of U.S. Transportation Command’s new strategic plan and tell us what led to its development?

A: USTRANSCOM provides our nation’s leaders the extraordinary ability to project national power and influence anywhere, at any time is a unique asymmetrical advantage and a national treasure.

But with the Defense Department facing a decreasing budget, the end of Operation Enduring Freedom, and a shift in focus to the Pacific region, we had to take a hard look at how we can best posture ourselves for continued success in the future. In January, General Fraser [U.S. Transportation Command commander] gave us his vision for future operations and asked we embark on a collaborative journey to develop our command’s major focus areas and objectives for the next five years.

We began with an extensive inventory of our strengths and engaged our internal team and external customers and partners in a conversation of what we are doing well today and where we could improve tomorrow. We asked a lot of questions and received candid responses. Additionally, we convened a ‘Gang of 21’ of cross-functional experts from across the command and our components. Together we examined all of our current responsibilities, explored where we expend resources and how

we make those resourcing decisions, and assessed how our cur-rent organizational alignment may need to be altered to support future operations. In other words, we left no rock unturned, no process unexamined, as we established a clear picture of our current state of affairs. This important work established a firm foundation for us to identify those key areas we needed to address in our future strategy.

The result of this effort is the USTRANSCOM strategy entitled ‘Our Story.’ It represents the work of hundreds of people working together in the most comprehensive and collaborative effort in our command’s 25-year history. The plan, which spans five years, lays out a vision for smart change by providing the overarching strategic guidance for our diverse team to understand where we are going in support of those who count on us to deliver what-ever they need on time, every time.

Q: What are USTRANSCOM’s main focus areas for the next five years?

A: General Fraser charged us to position the command to adjust our processes and structures and invest in our people in a man-ner that would enable us to become the transportation provider

Brigadier General John E. MichelSpecial Assistant to the

Commander for StrategyU.S. Transportation Command

Strategic PlannerOverarching Strategic Guidance Provides Future Capability

Q&AQ&AU.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

www.MLF-kmi.com USTRANSCOM | MLF 6.10 | 1

Gen. William M. Fraser III, USAF Commander

James L. McGinley, SESJ8 Program Analysis and Financial Management

Col. Shawna O’Brien, USAFJ1 Manpower and Personnel

Gen. Raymond E. Johns, USAF

Commander

Rear Adm. Scott Stearney, USNCommander

Lt. Gen. Kathleen Gainey, USADeputy Commander

Capt. Daryl Hancock, USNJ2 Intelligence

Maj. Gen. David Post, USAJ9 Reserve Component

Directorate

Chief Master Sgt. Andy Kaiser, USAFSenior Enlisted Leader

Command Sgt. Maj. Lemuel Brock, USA

Senior Enlisted Leader

USTRANSCOM LeAdeRS

USTRANSCOM diReCTORS

AiR MObiLiTy COMMANdjOiNT eNAbLiNG CAPAbiLiTieS COMMANd

U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

Maj. Gen. Gregory Couch, USAChief of Staff

Rear Adm. William A. Brown, USN

J5/4 Strategy, Policy, Programs and Logistics

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Richardson, USA

Commander

Gail Jorgenson, SESAQ Acquisition

Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, USNCommander

Chief Master Sgt. Martin Klukas, USAF


Brig. Gen Gregory J. Touhill, USAF J6 Command Control

Communications & Computer Systems,

and Chief Information Officer

Command Sgt. Maj. Cedric J. Thomas, USA


Bruce A. Busler, SES AC Joint Distribution Process

Analysis Center

Maj. Gen. Samuel Cox, USAFJ3 Operations and Plans

Col. David O’Brien, USAFSG Command Surgeon

CMDCM Miguel Juan V. Reyes, USN


MiLiTARy SeALifT COMMANdSURfACe dePLOyMeNT

ANd diSTRibUTiON COMMANd

of choice, while ensuring we maintain our readiness to respond to the dynamic needs of those we serve. To best accomplish this, we identified four main focus areas:

1. Preserve readiness capability by ensuring the nation has access to necessary commercial and organic/military capability. This is our top focus area and is a no-fail business. We will do this by cultivating, strengthening and improving partnerships with members of the mobility enterprise and communicate our direction through the development of clear, concise and relevant command transportation guidance.

Major Objective 1Cultivate, strengthen and improve partnerships with members of the mobility enterprise

Major Objective 2Ensure viability of our organic and commercial mobility capability

Major Objective 3Preserve access to necessary commercial capacity and readiness of organic capability within financial constraints

Major Objective 4Develop and implement a clear, concise and relevant command transportation strategy

2. Achieve IT management excellence to guarantee systems enhance decision-making and can operate in a contested cyber domain. In an environment in which we are awash in data, we need to improve ways to access timely, relevant information so we can make smart choices. This will enable us to drive increased unity of effort and promote enhanced knowledge sharing and transparency across the joint deployment and distribution enterprise.

Major Objective 1Orient Transportation Working Capital Fund IT portfolio investments using a unified operational framework that can be leveraged to improve the rationale used to fund programs, systems and initiatives

Major Objective 2Develop and sustain an information environment that ensures secure, effective knowledge sharing, enhances decision-making and drives unity of effort

Major Objective 3Advocate, on behalf of the joint deployment and distribution enterprise, for information systems that are capable of anticipating, operating and responding in a contested cyber domain

Major Objective 4Consistently evaluate investment using criteria that address operational, technical and financial considerations

3. Align resources and processes for mission success to make certain USTRANSCOM continues to provide the most effective world-class transportation services and enabling capabilities as efficiently as we can. We have had many years of using the same processes and structures to carry out our business. As a result, we understand now is the time to

ensure we properly align our organization to meet the needs of future operations.

Major Objective 1Bring greater synergy and more effective alignment across the global mobility enterprise focuses on customer outcomes (effectiveness) and total costs (efficiency)

Major Objective 2Properly align skills and processes to best meet the needs of future operations

Major Objective 3Enhance collaboration forums and provide measures of tangible value to the enterprise

Major Objective 4Create a disciplined, transparent process to make appropriate resourcing decisions

4. Develop customer-focused professionals by adapting professional development programs and shaping a culture to emphasize and improve staff’s ability to satisfy customer requirements. We at USTRANSCOM recognize we are in the relationship business. Our partners and those we serve experience us through interactions with our people. To ensure we continue to serve others to the greatest of our ability, we recognize we must continue to invest in developing a culture that consistently communicates and emulates our organizational virtues of trust, collaboration, innovation and empowerment.

Major Objective 1Develop an enhanced integrated professional development program for mobility professionals

Major Objective 2Improve sophistication of our focus on customer requirements

Major Objective 3Develop a human capital strategic plan that aligns skill requirements to the future joint force

Major Objective 4Optimize support for global mobility by enhancing workforce capability and innovation

Q: You had also mentioned objectives. What are they, and how do they fit in with the focus areas?

A: Within each focus area are four objectives to guide development of plans to better position the command to meet and overcome future challenges. These plans will provide a greater level of detail and metrics to realize our strategy. We developed a series of charts that depict the objectives of the four focus areas [see boxes on this page].

Q: What’s the next step?

A: Our next step is to develop the tactics necessary to put this strategy into action. We see the associated implementation plans we are developing as living documents that will guide our efforts in ensuring ‘Our Story 2013-2017’ becomes the new normal at USTRANSCOM.


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We have published our strategy online to make it publicly available. We also recognize information delivery and strategic messaging are critical enablers of success in our dynamic operating environment. This is one of the primary reasons why we have been so intentional in broadly promoting our new strategy with custom-ers, stakeholders and partners across the logistics enterprise. To that end, we encourage people to access a copy of ‘U.S. Transportation Command: Our Story, 2012-2017’ [www.ustranscom.mil/strategy]. We are excited about this publication. Not only is it the first pub-lished strategic plan to integrate QR [quick response] technology within the Department of Defense, it features our people telling their story of how proud they are to be a part of this unfolding story.

Q: How will the strategy affect USTRANSCOM’s commercial partners?

A: We simply can’t accomplish our global mission to move people and cargo worldwide by air, sea and land without them. We are committed to maintaining our strong relationships with industry. For the past decade, industry has helped us support military deploy-ments to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as many global humanitarian and disaster response missions. In fact, commercial partners have provided muscle for our overall mission, moving about 88 percent of our cargo and people by land, 50 percent by air and 64 percent by sea.

As you can see by these numbers, the commercial sector will remain an essential element of our ability to deliver the requisite capabilities to those who will count on us to be there in the future. With the pending withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, we are now facing significant pressures to become more efficient in how we conduct business, while, of course, ensuring we continue to be effective in delivering the appropriate balance of both military and civilian readiness capacity. We are working this issue hard, which is reflected in our making ‘Preserve Readiness Capability’ our top focus area going forward.

Q: How will USTRANSCOM’s business diminish when the last U.S. forces exit Afghanistan, marking the end of Operation Endur-ing Freedom?

A: Redeploying forces and equipment is a huge undertaking in itself. For instance, the president called for the military to recover from the surge of forces to Afghanistan by the end of September. Together with our commercial partners, we were able to deliver on the presi-dent’s direction to bring more than 30,000 of our men and women home more than a week before deadline.

As we continue to reduce our forces dedicated to OEF, we pre-dict our requirements will recede to those before the deployment of forces to Iraq and Afghanistan, roughly half of what we have today. Specifically for our transportation contracts, we predict we will decrease from about $14 billion to about $8 billion.

Through various forums, including the National Defense Trans-portation Association, executive working groups and new structures such as the Corporate Executive Advisory Board and enterprise readiness center, we continue to work closely with industry to ensure we preserve the appropriate levels of readiness to meet DoD requirements.

Q: Can USTRANSCOM provide its services to others, such as non-defense or non-government agencies?

A: We do provide capabilities and services for some non-defense agencies through intergovernmental agreements, including the State Department, National Science Foundation, Congress and others. U.S. law does limit what we can do, however. That said, we recognize there are other possibilities out there worth exploring to help us preserve our surge capability and meet our objective of a coherent, cost-effective, whole-of-government approach to deliver-ing on diverse mission requirements.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

A: The men and women of USTRANSCOM understand keenly that we exist to serve others. As General Fraser likes to say, we are an ‘ING combatant command’—as in supporting—and our success is measured through the eyes of our customer.

We recognize we have significant challenges ahead. We are also aware, however, that times of dynamic change provide great opportu-nities to think differently and act boldly in creating the kind of orga-nization we desire and those we serve deserve. The strategy marks just the beginning of this journey. Our customers can be assured that when it comes time to deliver the rapid and responsive global mobility support they’ve become accustomed to, we will be there. The future requires it, our customers deserve it, and our nation is depending on it. O

Utility vehicles with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power drive on the flight line in preparation for loading onto a C-17 Globemaster III at March Air Reserve Base, Calif. The Department of Defense assisted with the flow of forces, capabilities and logistical supplies to the New York/New Jersey region in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Sandy. [Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force by Tech. Sgt. Francisco V. Govea II]


www.MLF-kmi.com6 | MLF 6.10 | USTRANSCOM

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffSUPPLY CHAIN

Abrams Engine Upkeep

Honeywell has been awarded two contracts worth a combined $221 million to continue its highly successful support of the Army’s M1 tank program.

The first contract is a $111 million, 18-month follow-on agreement through December 2013 for continuation of the Total Integrated Engine Revitalization program, a collaboration between Honeywell, the U.S. Army’s Abrams Project Management Office, the Army’s Tank-automotive and Armaments Command and the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD). This contract continues to leverage Honeywell’s expertise in maintenance and product improvement for the AGT1500 M1 Abrams engine to extend operational life and reduce life cycle costs for the tank.

The second contract is valued at $110 million for the production of 125 new Honeywell AGT1500 engines from September 2012 through October 2015. This contract extends Honeywell’s relationship with ANAD in Alabama where new AGT1500 engines are assembled and tested.

“Honeywell’s integrated approach to support for the Abrams fleet of tanks incorporates

demand and supplier management, product support and condition-based maintenance to reduce our customers’ life-cycle costs. When combined with the Department of Defense’s significant investment in infrastructure and its hands-on repair and overhaul experience,

the Honeywell and Army enterprise team delivers higher-quality, more reliable AGT1500 engines for the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and international customers,” Tom Davis, vice president, Honeywell, U.S. Army Programs.

Bradley Reset

BAE Systems received a $97 million contract to reset up to 146 Bradley fighting vehicles, one of the most survivable and reliable combat systems in the U.S. Army inventory. Under the reset effort, Bradley vehicles will be partially torn down, rebuilt and tested to restore and extend the life of the vehicles.

“We are proud to ensure that our soldiers are receiving Bradleys that are restored to their full capability,” said Mark Signorelli, vice president and general manager of vehicle systems at BAE Systems. “This important work reinforces the Bradley as a vital asset to the U.S. Army and helps maintain the skilled workforce imperative to the defense industrial base.”

The contract was awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command and work was anticipated to begin in October 2012 with final delivery expected in July 2014. Initial teardown of vehicles will be performed at the Red River Army Depot. This is considered a level-II vehicle reset where key components are removed for reset, then returned to BAE Systems and the Red River Army Depot to be rebuilt and tested for performance.

Hook ’EmOnboard Systems International Inc., a provider of helicopter cargo hook equip-

ment, has introduced its next generation Talon MC Keeperless 6,000-pound cargo hook, which includes additional safety-oriented and user-friendly features.

The updated hook includes a new, highly-visible manual release lever on the side plate, below the bumper ring. The addition of a lever in an accessible location will make it easier for the ground crew to open the hook during loading and unloading operations. The hook lock indicator has also been redesigned to make it easier for the ground crew to quickly verify that the hook is securely locked after loading.

“Onboard Systems is always looking for ways to improve the safety and usability of our cargo hooks,” said Karsten Lemmon, vice president of sales and marketing for Onboard Systems. “Customers who already have Talon MC Keeperless hooks will be able to buy an upgrade kit to add these improvements to their existing equip-ment, or they can ask about the upgrade when they send it back to the factory for overhaul.”


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General William M. Fraser III is commander, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. USTRANSCOM is the single man-ager for global air, land and sea transportation for the DoD.

Fraser entered the Air Force in 1974 as a distinguished graduate of the Texas A&M University ROTC program. His operational assignments include duty as a T-37, B-52, B-1, and B-2 instructor pilot and evalua-tor. Fraser has commanded an operations group, two bomb wings and a major command. His staff duties include tours on the air staff, joint staff, and joint strategic target planning staff at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. He has also served as chief of staff for U.S. Strategic Command, as the assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the 34th Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

Fraser has extensive wartime, contingency, and humanitarian relief operational experience. During Operation Enduring Freedom he led an intelligence fusion organization that provided direct support to the warfighter. Prior to assuming his current position, he was the commander, Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va., and air component commander for U.S. Joint Forces Command, where he led over 130,000 Total Force airmen.

His major awards and decorations include: Defense Distinguished Service Medal; Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters; Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf clus-ter; Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster; Air Force Achievement Medal; National Intelligence Medal of Achievement; Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award, Department of State; Combat Readiness Medal; National Defense Service Medal with bronze star; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Armed Forces Service Medal; and Military Outstanding Volun-teer Service Medal.

Q: What is USTRANSCOM’s strategy for the future as the U.S. com-pletes its mission in Afghanistan?

A: The Department of Defense, and by extension our command, is at a historic threshold that requires us to reset to a post-war footing in fis-cally challenging times. As our workload declines from an all-time high, we need to develop options and solutions to retain the surge capacity necessary to meet national military transportation needs during times of peace as well as war.

We need to be there for expeditionary warfighter support, exercise execution, humanitarian response and other missions that require global mobility. Consequently, examining how we can do business bet-ter and at the same time, supporting those partners who’ve been critical to our mission success, will be critical ingredients to how we maintain the viability of the enterprise.

For us to accomplish the mission entrusted to us, we must continually sharpen our focus to be more responsive to those we support. We needed and created a vision for smart change, which we’ve outlined in our new command strategy. The strategy and follow-on implementation plans propel us toward our goals of preserving readiness capability, achieving information technology management excellence, aligning resources and processes for mis-sion success, and developing customer-focused professionals.

These are elements of our new strategy, the most comprehen-sive and collaborative effort of its kind in our command’s 25-year history. Transformation will not be easy, but we must remain rel-evant to our customers. And only together will we deliver on our vision to be the transportation and enabling capability provider of choice.

Q: Acknowledging that the budget is a big question mark, what are your major initiatives and focus areas for the year?

A: Quite simply, we are at a strategic turning point in our com-mand and we must ensure USTRANSCOM maintains a vibrant mobility enterprise across the globe.

Our priority is ensuring the success of our warfighters and combatant commanders. And in light of the budget issues and other challenges, we must position the command smartly so we can be ready whenever and wherever needed.

General William M. Fraser IIICommander

U.S. Transportation Command

Strategic MoverMaintaining a Vibrant Mobility Enterprise Across the Globe

Q&AQ&A


Many questions persist about the fiscal environment for this year and beyond. USTRANSCOM remains focused on our mission, to provide full-spectrum global mobility solutions and related enabling capabilities for supported customers’ requirements in peace and war. Our top priority remains wartime readiness. We will continue to execute our mission as efficiently as possible and continue our efforts to operate in a lean manner while reducing overhead costs.

This is why I asked my staff to develop a five-year comprehensive strategy built on self-assessment and candid insights from custom-ers and partners.

We refined our focus by taking an inventory of our core strengths, and looked at how we needed to posture for the future. We then came up with a strategy we will use to address the future in terms of processes, structure, culture, and, most important, our people.

Our four focus areas include preserving readiness capability, achieving information technology management excellence, align-ing resources and processes for mission success, and developing customer-focused professionals.

Q: Do you see USTRANSCOM’s relationships with commercial partners increasing, decreasing or remaining a current levels? Are there ways to make those relationships more efficient?

A: The amount of DoD business for commercial carriers will inevi-tably shrink as U.S. forces redeploy from Afghanistan. We must still preserve our readiness, strengthen our relationships with our com-mercial partners and carefully balance transportation requirements between commercial and military fleets. We also need specific con-tracts to ensure commercial carriers can respond to DoD’s needs in the coming years. Our carriers can be assured USTRANSCOM is doing everything we can to maintain a solid level of business.

We continue to engage industry at all points, from including them early in defining requirements to after action reports following procurements. With an eye to the future, we have created an enter-prise readiness center, a cross-functional team, to explore ways to improve partnerships and attract more government customers from within and outside DoD. We will also continue to address carrier concerns and USTRANSCOM initiatives through the executive work-ing groups in partnership with the National Defense Transportation Association and other forums.

The Corporate Executive Acquisition Board is one such forum for government and industry executives to meet quarterly to discuss distribution and acquisition issues. We have also established an innovative Transportation and Technology Industry Liaison Office as a point of entry for new and existing commercial partners to com-municate, collaborate and present us with information on industry capabilities, fresh ideas, and solutions. A ‘reverse’ panel for airlift, sealift, surface and information technology for industry representa-tives gives us their perspectives on various acquisition issues.

Teamwork also shows a lot of promise for innovation leading to new transportation capabilities. We aim to build more collaborative partnerships with industry and academia like those we have cur-rently, studying satellite tags, gaming techniques, hybrid airships and computing advances. USTRANSCOM has built processes to team up with experts to work as a federal laboratory through our Tech-nology Transfer function. Ideally, our industry partners will learn as much as we do about future DoD capabilities—what works and what doesn’t, so when that future arrives, we’re all better teammates.

Q: Knowledge is power, so with that, how does USTRANSCOM use intelligence assets to stay ahead of threats to the supply chain—insur-gency, piracy, organized crime, petty crime, etc.?

A: We have great synergy between our intelligence specialists and our operational coordinators, using the intelligence they provide to mitigate and avoid threats to the supply chain. We do this through our fusion center, the nerve center of USTRANSCOM, which is run by our Operations Directorate. The fusion center is staffed with representatives from a broad range of backgrounds and several partner organizations, not the least of which is a strong cadre of strategic and real-time intel-ligence analysts.

Let’s say, for example, we receive intelligence that an enemy force intends to ambush one of our transport planes landing in Afghanistan. We can avoid this threat as easily as shifting the flight schedule to a different day or by applying mitigating procedures, such as landing the aircraft at night with no running lights or lights on the runway.

We use intelligence, also, to meter our force protection status. For example, we may choose to restrict the movement of personnel off our bases if we know there is an active threat.

For criminal activity, we work with supporting Army and Air Force criminal investigators both within the United States and overseas to prosecute those who steal or pilfer our material.

Q: Staying with threats for a minute, how serious is the cyber-threat to the transportation network and can you talk about some of your initiatives to address intrusion of the system?

A: We take cybersecurity very seriously. A cyber-threat posed to USTRANSCOM is a threat to DoD operations worldwide. Advanced cyber-threat actors are relentlessly targeting logistics command and control systems that support our warfighters and project our global military operations.

We are bringing all available resources to bear and have begun several initiatives to combat the threat. This year, we stood up a joint cyber center to integrate cyber into our operational planning process, respond to developing threats and integrate our equities into strategic initiatives across the whole of government.

We have also created partnerships with DoD, U.S. Cyber Command and law enforcement to gain situational awareness and warning of impending threats. Finally, USTRANSCOM is consolidating Transpor-tation Working Capital Fund systems into a secure environment to enhance our ability to protect critical logistics systems.

Q: The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command [JECC] is USTRANS-COM’s new subordinate command. Tell me about its role and its relationship within the command.

A: The JECC is unique. It deploys personnel to support joint com-mand and control capabilities anywhere in the world, within hours of notice. Its subordinate commands—the joint planning support ele-ment, the joint communications support element and the joint pub-lic affairs support element—provide highly trained, responsive and cohesive joint planning, communications and public affairs forces to help the joint force commander set up headquarters functions.

The JECC is a great addition to USTRANSCOM’s portfolio of capabilities. Like USTRANSCOM, the JECC has both a global mis-sion extending across all combatant commands, as well as a focus on providing the planning, communications and public affairs support,


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enabling joint forces to respond rapidly to global threats and disas-ters. When you consider USTRANSCOM’s mission of providing global mobility and strategic enablers, it makes perfect sense for them to join us as a subordinate command.

When not deployed, JECC members train with each of the com-batant commands to build joint expertise and maintain their readi-ness to support the joint force commander efficiently and effectively. The JECC’s comprehensive training programs coupled with extensive operational experience ultimately contribute to our USTRANSCOM goal of full-spectrum global mobility solutions and related enabling capabilities to meet our nation’s requirements.

Q: USTRANSCOM’s En Route Infrastructure Master Plan [ERIMP] has identified construction projects that will improve the distribu-tion network. Can you provide an overview of the major efforts?

A: Our ERIMP outlines our long-term global access strategy, includ-ing the ‘demand signal’ in the various theaters and a description of the detailed analysis our team conducted to determine our priority en route and multimodal nodes overseas. Based on that analysis, we developed a prioritized list of the most important overseas en route construction requirements that will sustain and enhance our global distribution network.

Just like the other combatant commands, USTRANSCOM does not receive dedicated funds for military construction projects. But we do have an annual process to submit our high priority ERIMP infrastructure requirements for funding consideration.

By participating in the combatant commander issue nomina-tion process, we have seen more than $300 million in critical en route infrastructure projects funded through Department of Defense Resource Management Decisions. These funded projects include a control tower at Rota Air Base, Spain, and a taxiway extension at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom.

Our current 2012 ERIMP lists 15 projects in 10 locations which are planned for fiscal year 2014 through 2017, totaling more than $500 million. We continue to advocate for our most pressing needs, such as a new ramp in Oman, a joint mobility processing center for Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, and a cargo marshaling yard in Qatar.

We’re now putting the final touches on our 2013 ERIMP, which will address emerging changes to the strategic environment and identify new project requirements. Through our proactive work to add capability and resiliency to our transportation network infra-structure, USTRANSCOM will be better postured to deliver anytime, anywhere.

Q: I’m sure everyone tires of the comparison to larger retailers, but is DoD in general and USTRANSCOM in particular satisfied with the level of in-transit visibility that exists today, and is it enough to meet your needs? Where does the technology need to go to meet the next generation of visibility needs?

A: In-transit visibility [ITV] is a critically important element of any world-class supply chain. Given the nature of the DoD deployment and distribution system, ITV is even more important to DoD than it is to a major retailer. ITV is always a challenge, and I doubt any logisti-cian would ever be completely satisfied, short of having 100 percent real-time visibility throughout the supply chain. We have made great strides in the capture and display of ITV data, putting a wealth of information into warfighters’ hands.

DoD automated information systems, once stovepiped, now share data, making data more readily available to operators at all levels and in all services. We also reap great benefit from automatic data capture. From bar codes to active and passive radio frequency identification to satellite devices, DoD’s use of automatic identification technology, or AIT, has greatly improved the capture and flow of ITV data. Of course, we continually evaluate emerging AIT technologies to determine where new technology can enhance our logistics business processes.

Since technology will continue to improve ITV, it’s essential to emphasize education and training. Trained and educated logisticians are the ITV backbone for marking of cargo, using appropriate shipping documents, affixing the proper AIT device and data entry into informa-tion systems. These actions ensure the ITV and business information systems provide quality data throughout the stages of the supply chain.

These same transportation specialists must also expand their knowledge of the business processes of all military services to bet-ter support joint operations and create an environment where best practices across the military match with new technology to increase efficiencies throughout the entire DoD deployment and distribution enterprise.

Q: How do you see USTRANSCOM’s role in educating and developing the logistician of the future who thinks and sees the supply chain as a whole?

A: Here at the USTRANSCOM headquarters, we take a holistic approach. From the very first day, logisticians have the benefit of entering a culture where learning is at the forefront of our strategy and developing customer-focused professionals is a top priority. Soon after reporting for duty, members of the staff attend USTRANSCOM’s Distribution Academy where our culture and guiding principles are introduced. USTRANSCOM directors further promote the culture and principles throughout each staff member’s time at the command.

The Joint Deployment Distribution Enterprise [JDDE] education program, which is a competency-based program, provides executive-level education curriculum across 12 functional areas. JDDE courses include supply chain management, joint planning, leadership and change management. We use a variety of academic institutions to give our ‘loggies’ opportunities to hear and learn about industry best prac-tices and bring innovative ideas back to the command.

In addition, my deputy commander serves on the Logistics Devel-opment Council that develops competencies and education require-ments for the joint logistician. We’re the only combatant command represented on the council, mainly because of our groundbreaking work in developing a competency model for joint deployment and dis-tribution. Through the council, we are shaping learning objectives for the professional military schools for logisticians and helping to define an approach to education that includes accredited university programs.

Q: General, do you have anything you would like to add?

A: I am extremely proud of the men and women of USTRANSCOM, and I thank them for everything they do for our warfighters and the nation. They have accomplished so much. Their ability to learn and adapt in recent years has given us successes in areas we never antici-pated. I am also very thankful to our families and the sacrifices they make in order for us to accomplish our mission. In responding to worldwide humanitarian crisis or providing support to global contin-gencies, we make sure that … Together, We Deliver. O


Compiled by KMi Media Group staffLOG LEADERSHIP LESSONS

The capability to anticipate and act before problems occur can enable logisticians to better match resources to requirements, increasing material availability, improving inven-tory productivity and reducing unnecessary purchases. The ability to anticipate and act utilizes advanced analytics, enabled by the data resident in service enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to provide predictive indicators. Such capability is even more necessary now since the information sources are often overwhelming, less time is available and decisions are critical. The volume, variety and velocity of data today preclude ‘experienced judgment’ as an analytical approach.

logistics ManageMent aPProaches

As I’ve worked with private sector and government logistics leaders through my career, I’ve seen the approaches used to manage logistics evolve. Technological innovations have produced increasingly powerful decision support tools for network planning, warehouse management and inventory optimization. The science of logistics has grown as academicians and universities have expanded the body of knowledge available to practitioners. The art of logistics has been strengthened as professionals have developed and shared best practices through associations and peer forums.

Approaches to logistics planning have progressed from a ‘plan and prepare’ approach, using static data and a focus on probable scenarios with sensitivity analysis, to approaches that ‘recognize and respond’ to issues, enable by RFID, ASNs, sensors and networked systems.

Technology, management science and artful practitioners now permit logisticians to prog-ress again, developing the capability to ‘antici-pate and act’ ahead of problems, progressing beyond capabilities that recognize and respond to performance issues after they occur.

forecast, collaBorate, anticiPate

An integrated supply chain, with customers, suppliers and logistics service providers orchestrating their coordinated response to requirements, would have little unnecessary investment of inventory. Yet unneeded material exists and this issue can serve to provide a realistic description of how a capability to anticipate and act can improve logistics outcomes.

Unneeded material limits DoD’s capability and flexibility to respond to warfighter require-ments. DoD’s high volume, rapidly changing and complex supply chains can benefit from predictive approaches, applied in concert with existing prescrip-tive and planned approaches.

Some unnecessary inventory may be the result of poor forecasts and solved with better math. ERP systems at the services and DLA support excellent forecasting tools that can predict future demand using historical data. Utilizing multiple forecasting models across the broad range of commodities that must be managed can reduce forecast error. However, the changes in the services’ force level in theater and impacts of change of geographic environments on weapons systems increase the risk that forecast algorithms may recommend unnecessary purchases since historical demand is less relevant.

DoD’s demand planning process provides a means for services to identify major changes to demand. While collaborative demand planning processes can benefit from commercial best prac-tices, unnecessary inventory was acquired to support a known requirement. Therefore, additional capa-bilities to assess and prescribe actions that will mini-mize procurement of items that could later become unnecessary are needed.

Predictive analytics for an ‘early warning’ caPaBility

Advanced analytics can provide an early warning of a potential problem by examining DoD’s daily requisition volume and flag those items that have

high potential to become over requirements in the future based on characteristics that have been found to precede items becoming over require-ments. Advanced analytics enables the creation of insight from associations, characteristics, relation-ships, patterns, or other factors that exist for items that become excess. Such foresight could flag items for a more rigorous collaborative demand planning process, a change of the algorithm in the forecasting tools, or other corrective actions. The volume, variety and velocity of data require better decision support tools for procurement professionals to apply their expertise.

Advanced analytics have been used in the health care industry to analyze data from patients, doctors, hospitals, drug companies and financial records to improve the prediction of heart attacks based on a patient’s frequency of doctor’s visits and types of lab tests ordered. Advanced analytics is used by public safety forces to anticipate and act to staff and patrol locations they foresee to need their services. Advanced analytics is also used to uncover patterns that lead to computer equipment failures in order to anticipate and act to perform predictive maintenance and maintain extremely high uptime.

new aPProach coMPleMents known aPProach

An ability to anticipate and act to improve performance outcomes offers a powerful new capa-bility to DoD’s management of the supply chain. Application of prescriptive analysis, to complement predictive algorithms, can improve responsiveness to the warfighter and support good stewardship for the taxpayer. Improvements in forecasting approaches, coupled with a better collaborative demand planning process, supported by an early warning capability would not replace procurement professionals; rather, these improvements would enable them to anticipate and act, bringing their skills with customers and suppliers to bear to serve the warfighter while also being good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars.

[email protected]

Anticipate and Act

Jim Hall has addressed a variety of logistics challenges as a line manager in industry, a principal of management consulting firms, and as an Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. Jim served as a surface warfare officer in combat operations in Southeast Asia. He now assists DoD utilize Gartner research to improve logistics.


Special Supplement to Military Logistics Forum

AssureMission Readiness

iHS delivers product Design and Supply chain solutions enabling opti-mized supply chain management, reduced sustainment costs, and maxi-mized mission readiness.

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January 28-30, 2013Military Sustainment SummitArlington, Va.www.militarysustainment.com

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MLF RESOURCE CENTER


Christopher T. Jones is sector vice presi-dent and general manager of the Integrated Logistics and Modernization division of the Northrop Grumman Technical Services sector. Jones leads the Integrated Logistics and Modernization division of Northrop Grumman Technical Services, which is responsible for the company’s business activities in global logistics and modern-ization, systems logistics and moderniza-tion, and operational responsive systems. He was appointed to this position in 2010. Jones was recently selected to assume the position of corporate vice president and sector president for Northrop Grumman Technical Services and will assume leader-ship responsibilities January 1, 2013.

Q: Please provide some background on Northrop Grumman and the company’s work with DoD in the logistics arena.

A: Our mission is to be the sustainment, modernization, training and deployment provider of choice for defense aerospace and electronics systems solutions for both domestic and international customers.

Q: Please indicate the primary business areas of Northrop Grumman and briefly explain the functions of each.

A: Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative sys-tems, products and service solutions in unmanned systems, cybersecurity, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to govern-ment and commercial customers world-wide.

Q: As a major player in the military logis-tics arena, how is Northrop Grumman helping DoD meet current key logistics objectives?

A: This mission will be accomplished through a combination of superior program performance, a focus on affordability, partnering with our customers, and

investments in products and services that support our customer’s mission. As part of our bundled service solutions, we have focused on delivering innovation that that enables both affordability and global mission readiness for our customers.

Q: What are some of the new programs you working on in partnership with DoD agencies and the military services?

A: We currently have two existing electron-ics sustainment public-private partnerships with the U.S. Air Force. Additionally, we recently won the Electronic Attack Pod Upgraded Program, which is an outstand-ing example of innovative, smart modern-ization with significant cost savings.

Q: What are some of the main challenges you are facing in meeting the needs of the 21st-century warfighter?

A: Meeting the needs of the 21st-century warfighter takes planning, foresight and commitment. To meet these needs, we are focused on maintaining a talented and trained workforce in the face of global uncertainties. We also emphasize rapid response capabilities to global mission pri-orities as well as solutions to diminished manufacturing sources issues related to modernization of legacy systems.

Q: How is Northrop Grumman ready to meet the challenging DoD budgetary times that are ahead?

A: Northrop Grumman remains focused on positioning the company for an increasingly competitive and challenging environment,

while being fully committed to meeting its customers’ requirements. Our focus is on delivering on our commitments to our customers while providing innovative and affordable solutions.

Q: How has Northrop Grumman posi-tioned itself and prepared for 2013?

A: We are focusing on organic capabili-ties in key performance areas that enable affordable, recurring business related to modernization, upgrades and capabilities that both improve mission availability and reduce total ownership costs. We con-tinue to shape our portfolio to anticipate customer global mission needs and have focused on strategic relationships to lever-age partner resources.

Q: What are your goals for 2013?

A: We are always committed to contin-ued superior performance on all programs with a relentless focus on innovation that enables affordability for our valued custom-ers. We also look to continue to leverage the strength of One Northrop Grumman, while prudently exploring international growth opportunities.

Q: Are you involved in partnerships with others in the industry?

A: We are strong industrial base part-ners with our industry peers, our strategic suppliers and our valued customers. We engage in the development of risk sharing relationships with a long-term focus on innovation, value creation and affordability. These relationships parallel the DoD ini-tiatives for increased affordability, quality improvement, increased mission readiness and industrial base leverage. We also have strong relationships with several state and local economic development agencies for training, infrastructure investment and job placement. O

[email protected]

Christopher T. JonesVice President and General Manager

Integrated Logistics and Modernization DivisionNorthrop Grumman Technical Services

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Military Logistics Forum


The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community

February 2013Volume 7, Issue 1

Bonus DistributionAUSA Winter

Defense Maintenance & Sustainment ConferencePBL Conference

Insertion Order Deadline: January 29, 2013 • Ad Material Deadline: February 5, 2013

Special SectionReset and Vehicle Sustainmentoperational deployments have taken a toll on the readiness and life expectancy of the vehicle fleet.

FeaturesOperational EnergyPowering front line operations takes fuel and a whole lot more.

Rugged ITLaptops and desktop systems have to work in every environment and stand up to harsh treatment.

JLTV SustainmentHow are the potential award winners approaching sustainment in the early stages of the program development?

PBL & Delivered SavingsCan PBLs deliver the level of savings and cost avoidance they have always promised?

LOGCAPLatest contracts and manifestations of this important logistics contracting vehicle.

A comprehensive special supplement profiling tACoM LCMC. this Who’s Who pull-out will include a cover and lead Q&A interview with Brian Butler, the Executive director of the integrated Logistics Support Center. other features include a profile of critical contracts, a review of the command’s components, plus a two-page pictorial spread of all major tACoM LCMC senior leadership.

CommanderU.S. Army Materiel Command

Exclusive Interview with

Gen. Dennis L. Via

To Advertise, Contact: Jane Engel, MLF Associate Publisher 301.670.5700 x 120 • [email protected]

Who’s Who at TACOMU.S. Army tACoM Life Cycle Management Command

Scan here for more information.

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GSA Global Supply provides access to a wide variety of items including safety and security products, maintenance and repair supplies, construction materials, tools, appliances, office equipment and much more. Our certified contracting professionals offer acquisition management services that support the pre-solicitation, pre-award, award and post-award phases of a project. Using the Special Order Program ensures compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and other applicable federal policies.

To learn more about GSA’s Special Order Program, visit www.gsa.gov/specialorderprogram or contact us at [email protected] or call (855) 809-6044.

For whatever you need to accomplish your mission, choose GSA Global SupplyTM.

Documents

MLF 6-10 (Nov./Dec. 2012)