Materiel Optimizer Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody

Transcription

The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community
AUSA
WINTER
Issue
Materiel
Optimizer
Gen. Ann E.
Dunwoody
www.MLF-kmi.com
Commanding
General
U.S. Army Materiel
Command
February 2012
Volume 6, Issue 1
Interview with:
Brian Butler
Executive Director, Integrated
Logistics Support Center
TACOM LCMC
EAGLE Update O FOBs O Reset O Global Combat Support System
Securing the Ammo Base O Logistics C2 O Flight Line IT
PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
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LEBANON
JCT., KY
PERMIT # 805
Military Logistics Forum
February 2012
Volume 6 • Issue 1
Features
Cover / Q&A
Getting Vehicles War-Ready Again
Army Materiel Command (AMC) runs the service’s major reset and recap
programs, which respectively restore vehicles to their original condition—
often to zero miles, zero hours, depending on the scope of work—and
upgrade vehicles into enhanced versions.
By Henry Canaday
8
EAGLE Update
15
Standardization and consolidation of process and procedures will lead to
effective program and contract execution. An exclusive interview with Scott
Welker, deputy to the commander of U.S. Army Sustainment Command
(ASC), on the EAGLE program.
By Henry Canaday
IT on the MX Line
19
Flight line maintenance crews are accustomed to using Windows as
the standard operating system on rugged laptops. But that landscape is
changing fast. Rugged, lean tablets—and in some cases, smartphones—that
run other operating systems are staking a claim.
By Cheryl Gerber
TACOM Life Cycle Management Command
25
General Ann E. Dunwoody
Commanding General
U.S. Army Materiel Command
Special PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
1
7
10
Interview with Brian Butler
Executive Director, Integrated Logistics Support Center
TACOM LCMC
Doing Business with TACOM LCMC
TACOM Top Contracts for FY11
Expeditionary Base Camps
32
Housing and protecting the warfighter in extreme locations. The U.S. armed
forces’ expeditionary posture of recent years has challenged logisticians to
position forces, equipment and supplies at forward locations expeditiously.
By Peter Buxbaum
Departments
2 Editor’s Perspective
4 Log Ops/People
6 LOG Leadership Lessons
23 Supply Chain
43 Calendar, Directory
Logistics C2
37
Improvements to the supply chain continue as Department of Defense
logistics experts and their industry partners look to improve the flow and
quality of information from within the supply chain in order to improve
planning and usability.
By Christian Bourge
Global Combat Support System
40
GCSS, developed by DISA, is designed to respond to the concept of focused
logistics. That concept, articulated in Joint Vision 2010 and reinforced in Joint
Vision 2020, combines logistics information and transportation technologies
for any number of scenarios.
By Leslie Shaver
Securing the Base
42
Industry Interview
It has always been critical to pay deliberate attention to the ammunition
sector’s industrial base. It is even more critical now, as we face defense
budget cuts, that the government-owned ammunition industrial base must
not only be sustained, but modernized.
By Brigadier General (Promotable) Gustave F. Perna and Alan R. Buester
www.MLF-kmi.com
44
H.A. “Graz” Graziano
Vice President
Combat Support & Sustainment
General Dynamics Land Systems
Military Logistics
Forum
Volume 6, Issue 1 February 2012
Publication of Record for the
Military Logistics Community
Editorial
Editor-In-Chief
Jeff McKaughan [email protected]
Managing Editor
Harrison Donnelly [email protected]
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Correspondents
Christian Bourge • Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday •
Cheryl Gerber • Leslie Shaver
Art & Design
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Jennifer Owers [email protected]
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Kailey Waring [email protected]
Advertising
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KMI Media Group
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Kirk Brown [email protected]
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Constance Kerrigan [email protected]
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David Leaf [email protected]
Editor-In-Chief
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Data Specialists
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Donisha Winston [email protected]
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE
The Department of Defense and its branch services are doing more than
talking the “going green” talk—they are walking that green mile. The most
recent example is the agreement between the DoD and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) that formalizes the agreement between the two. The
desired result will be a strong effort to develop and implement technologies
that will create sustainable U.S. military bases around the world.
The agreement, in the form of an MoU, calls for the EPA’s Office of
Research and Development to be the engine for innovative technologies and
concepts that will help “create sustainable and resilient military bases across
the country and overseas.” As it has been for the ages, the military is a leader Jeffrey D. McKaughan
Editor-IN-CHIEF
in bringing technologies to fruition that can then be commercialized and
brought to the civilian world for, at least in this case, the same purpose—sustainable environments. The
military’s announcement notes that by sharing resources, the two agencies can collaborate in the incubation
process for these green initiatives and use the infrastructures of military bases to mature the technologies.
The Air Force and the Navy have been working with biofuels for some time and the Navy jumped in as a
leader by announcing that it was acquiring a significant stock of biofuel to be used during major exercises.
Small changes in the way the military consumes fuel will not come cheap and everyone should be
prepared for that. The cost of the new fuels—both direct and indirect—only has marginal levels of savings;
switching to any of the renewable types of energy will have a high level of upfront costs. Even though installing
automatic timers that turn lights off after periods of inactivity saves money in the long term, this comes with
upfront costs that may be tough to accept.
The Navy’s largest fuel buy, 450,000 gallons, has been thrown under the bus by many because the fully
allocated cost per gallon works out to be about $15 per gallon. That simple math misses the point of the
greening construct. Until there are more users—of anything green—the unit costs will be higher. The
long-term savings will be there and will statistically grow as more
users come online. Those curly light bulbs that we ALL use cost more
upfront—the payoff is on the long run.
Any thoughts on the greening of the military?
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LOG OPS
Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
The Intelligent Micro-Grid
Supporting the E-6B
Arista Power Inc., a manufacturer, designer and integrator of renewable energy generation and
management and distribution systems, announced that it has been awarded a $922,000 U.S. Army
contract to be the prime contractor to complete Phase One activities for the development of a new
Intelligent Micro-Grid.
The Intelligent Micro-Grid will be designed to seamlessly integrate both renewable and traditional
energy sources to provide the scalability and automatic operation needed to deliver highly reliable
power in areas where military operations are taking place across a broad spectrum of energy requirements and applications with a goal of minimizing the use of fossil fuels and saving lives by reducing
the need to transport diesel fuel.
Arista Power will develop the Intelligent Micro-Grid for the Renewable Energy for Distributed
Under-Supplied Command Environments (REDUCE) program under the guidance of the U.S. Army
Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC).
Under Phase One of the REDUCE program, Arista Power will deliver a demonstration of the system
in approximately three to six months at CERDEC. The program has a Phase Two option for CERDEC to
provide additional funding for continued development upon the successful completion of Phase One.
“We are pleased to have been selected by the U.S. Army for this vital program and to be playing
an integral part in the Department of Defense’s broad-based initiative to reduce its reliance on fossil
fuels and to improve energy efficiency,” said William A. Schmitz, chief executive officer of Arista Power.
“The vast majority of power used by the armed forces for operating environments is provided by diesel
generators. Supplying fuel for these generators is costly, not only in a financial sense, but also in terms
of the dangers to human life inherent in transporting fuel.”
DRS Technologies Inc., a Finmeccanica
company, has announced that its C3 & Aviation
Group received a one-year incrementally funded
option to their current firm fixed-price contract to
provide contractor logistics support (CLS) for the
U.S. Navy’s E-6B.
Under the terms of this contract modification, DRS will manage government-owned inventory and provide additional material support
for E-6B aircraft. DRS will also provide residual
spares for other Boeing 707 derivative programs,
such as the U.S. Air Force’s VC-137 and C-18.
“We are proud to be part of the Navy team
in support of the E-6B platform. We have worked
diligently to provide the best ‘round the clock’
support and are honored by the opportunity to
support team TACAMO,” said Rear Admiral Ed
Boyington (USN, Ret.), vice president/general
manager of aviation and logistics at DRS C3 &
Aviation Group.
PEOPLE
It has been announced
that Frank Kendall
will be nominated to be
the under secretary of
defense for Acquisition,
Technology, and Logistics
(AT&L), Kendall has been
the acting AT&L chief since
Ashton Carter became
the deputy secretary of
defense in September. He
was appointed as AT&L’s
principal deputy in March
2010 and had previously
served in DoD from 1982 to
1994 in a number of senior
acquisition positions.
Kendall served as an officer
in the U.S. Army from 1971
to 1982.
Army Major General
Patricia E. McQuistion
for appointment to the
grade of lieutenant general
4 | MLF 6.1
and for assignment as
deputy commanding
general/chief of staff,
U.S. Army Materiel
Command, Redstone
Arsenal, Ala. McQuistion
is currently serving as
commanding general,
U.S. Army Sustainment
Command, Rock Island, Ill.
Lt. Gen. Dennis L. Via
Army Lieutenant
General Dennis L.
Via for appointment
to the grade of general
and for assignment as
commanding general, U.S.
Army Materiel Command,
Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Via
the deputy commanding
general/chief of staff, U.S.
Army Materiel Command,
Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Brigadier General
Camille M. Nichols, who
has been selected for the
rank of major general,
program executive officer,
soldier, Fort Belvoir, Va.,
has been assigned as
commanding general,
Army Contracting
Command, Redstone
Arsenal, Ala.
Air Force Colonel Cedric
D. George has been
nominated to the rank of
brigadier general. George
is currently serving
as commander, 76th
Maintenance Wing,
Oklahoma City Air
Logistics Center, Air Force
Materiel Command, Tinker
Air Force Base, Okla.
Army Brigadier General
Darrell K. Williams
has been nominated for
appointment to the rank
of major general. Williams
commander, Defense
Logistics Agency, Land and
Maritime, Columbus, Ohio.
Army Brigadier General
Aundre F. Piggee has
been nominated for
appointment to the rank
of major general. Piggee
commanding general,
21st Theater Sustainment
Command, U.S. Army
Europe and Seventh Army,
Germany.
Navy Vice Admiral
William R. Burke for
reappointment to the
rank of vice admiral and
for assignment as deputy
chief of naval operations
for warfare systems, N9,
Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations, Pentagon,
Washington, D.C. Burke is
currently serving as deputy
chief of naval operations
for fleet readiness and
logistics, N4, Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations,
Pentagon, Washington,
D.C.
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LOG LEADERSHIP LESSONS
Jim Hall, a vice president with Gartner, has addressed a variety of logistics challenges as a
line manager in industry, a principal of management consulting firms, and an assistant
deputy under secretary of defense. He has also served as a surface warfare officer in
combat operations in Southeast Asia. [email protected]
Jim Hall
What Else Can Change?
Change often results in a desire to keep as much as possible the same and
minimize the amount of change that occurs. Change should be the opportunity to re-examine activities, processes and tasks to determine the assumptions and beliefs that drive the way work is done. Leaders should determine
if an initial change can permit other changes that may produce even more
significant improvements.
Frequent change is common in the world of logistics. Volumes change,
requirements change, technology changes, etc. Leaders should use change,
which they may not control, as opportunities to create benefits in areas they
do control. As I worked with executives in a variety of commercial industries,
I found the willingness to understand that the full potential of change could
produce significant benefits to organizations. Two examples demonstrate the
benefits of change.
A leading retail grocery chain was updating its store replenishment system
(the system that stores use to order stock for the shelves). The store replenishment process ensures product availability and minimizes out-of-stocks. The
new system permitted the stores to order any time of day, not at a fixed time as
the legacy system required. Forward thinking logistics leaders saw this small
change as an opportunity to ask, ‘What Else Can Change?’ and commissioned
a study to identify the best time for a store to place its order. The current time
posed no issues for stores, and the replenishment process permitted a store
to order today and receive stock the day after tomorrow. Performance was
acceptable.
By understanding if changing the time a store ordered could possibly
enable other changes, these leaders were willing to examine their entire store
replenishment process and potentially introduce big changes. Rather than
simply assume the current time of day was the best, they were willing to challenge and possibly change the way their stores, distribution centers, trucking
programs and buyers conducted operations. Seeking to be more responsive to
demand, they also looked at hourly demand patterns.
They discovered that changing the time of day stores ordered permitted a
demand-driven process and created an ‘order this afternoon, receive tomorrow
morning’ replenishment process. That improved product availability in a business for which in-stock performance and product freshness are essential objectives. Achieving those improvements required not only changes in the time
stores ordered, but also changes to distribution center practices, transportation
planning and routing, and buying practices. The willingness to ask ‘What Else
6 | MLF 6.1
Can Change?’ produced a significant performance improvement.
A leading automotive supplier was presented a ‘Strategic Supplier
Relationship’ program by their largest aftermarket retail partner. The two
enjoyed a successful but ‘arms-length’ relationship. Both organizations asked
‘What Else Can Change?’
Cross-enterprise process integration was of interest, but the reality of a
‘customer-supplier’ relationship seemed a barrier. Using an objective intermediary to ensure proprietary information and capabilities were protected,
they examined their planning processes, ordering process and other points of
interaction.
Opportunities to cut inventory to 25 percent of previous levels while
increasing stock availability were uncovered. This required changing the
planning processes so each provided the information the other needed at the
right time for their decisions. Previously, forecasts by the retailer were provided
about 10 days after the manufacturer had to make commitments for materials
and production capacity.
As they examined the information they provided to each other, they found
that the level of detail the customer developed was not necessary. The planning
detail could be simplified while providing the information the supplier actually needed for efficient production and low product cost.
The recognition of the existing disconnects in planning created additional discussions that led to another benefit. Analysis revealed final product
configuration could be postponed to take place much closer to when demand
occurred. That change enabled a demand-driven replenishment process,
increasing product availability and reducing inventory at stores, while long
lead time manufacturing could be efficient. Better knowledge of what drives
each other’s processes provided this benefit.
For each of the organizations above, there was no problem that needed to
be fixed. A small change—store order system for one and supplier relationship
structure for the other—didn’t have to change anything else. But logistics
leaders asked ‘What Else Can Change?’ and discovered significant opportunities to be more demand driven and achieve timeless logistics objectives of
higher stock availability, faster responsiveness, lower inventory investment
and reduced costs.
Military logistics is facing many changes as funding levels are reduced.
Small changes can produce large benefits if the instinct to minimize change is
challenged. Logistics leaders must ask: ‘What Else Can Change?’ O
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The reset and recap process is expensive, but cheaper than
the alternative.
By Henry Canaday
MLF Correspondent
Army Materiel Command (AMC)
runs the service’s major reset and
recap programs, which respectively
restore vehicles to their original
condition—often to zero miles, zero
hours, depending on the scope of
work—and upgrade vehicles into
enhanced versions. Major vehicles
deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan
intended for continued use will be
either reset or recapped until both
wars are over and then for about
two years more, noted James Dwyer,
deputy chief of staff for logistics at
AMC headquarters at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
8 | MLF 6.1
The heavy expanded mobility
tactical truck (HEMTT) is reset at
Oshkosh Defense, where it may be
“recapped, or upgraded with drive
trains, suspensions and cabs,” said
Dwyer.
The family of medium tactical
vehicles (FMTVs) is reset at Red River
Army Depot. “We will do two to three
thousand this year,” Dwyer noted.
“And we will continue doing these for
a couple of years after hostilities.”
The high mobility multipurpose
wheeled vehicle has a $900-million
recap program. Eighty percent of
HMMWVs are serviced at Red River,
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Photo courtesy of U.S. Army. Taken by Spc. Micah Clare.
while the remaining 20 percent are sent to Letterkenny Army Depot.
“We have already done 9,000 this year,” Dwyer said.
Reset of the M1117 armored security vehicle is split between Red
River and Textron.
Reset of mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) and MRAP
all-terrain vehicles will be done at Red River, but only for the MRAPs
and M-ATVs the Army chooses to keep. So far, the Army has decided
to retain 1,900 MRAPs and M-ATVs out of the 18,000 in the fleet.
When the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, the biggest reset
challenge was getting Level 2, 3 and 4 suppliers ramped up to supply
parts. “We had to work closely with suppliers and the Defense Logistics Agency [DLA] on forecasting and collaboration,” Dwyer noted.
Collaboration works well today.
Reset work peaked in 2008, and is expected to continue declining. With the Army out of Iraq, the big workload question is how
many MRAPs and M-ATVs will be retained and reset.
The Army repairs battle damage in theater at 10 sites. Like depot
work, but even more challenging, field repair requires tight collaboration on the supply chain among AMC, DLA and suppliers.
Reset work is big. AMC does $5 billion a year in reset and recap,
including aircraft. Tactical wheeled vehicles account for $3.5 to $4
billion of that total. Even with facilities that date back to World War
II in some cases, reset sites are ISO certified and have won a number
of Shingo awards for world-class efficiency. AMC has achieved $5.9
billion in cost saving, cost avoidance and operational benefits over
the last four years using Lean, Six Sigma and Value Engineering.
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10 | MLF 6.1
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“We have been in the reset business since the late 1990s,” summarized Mike Ivy, vice president and general manager for Army
programs for Oshkosh Defense. The company has reset or recapped
more than 11,000 HEMTTs and palletized load systems. In reset, Oshkosh tears vehicles down to frame
rails and rebuilds them into effectively
new vehicles with fresh warranties to
match. The Army’s definition of reset
can be broader than the complete
tear-down that Oshkosh does in the
U.S., and the company has done different resets in Kuwait. Recap to new
standards still saves money over proMike Ivy
curement of new upgraded vehicles
because some old parts can be saved.
Ivy expects the Army to reset or
recap many more HEMMTs. “There
are more than 20,000 out there. They
probably will not recap all because
the Army may get smaller.” Oshkosh
hopes to help maintain the trucks as
well.
The HEMMT has been modernized
and upgraded according to customer
requirements and changes in enemy
Jeff Koga
threats, noted Jeff Koga, senior director integrated product support for Oshkosh. “We design upgrades of
armor and electrical [and] give them kits and set up Lean programs
in the field to do upgrades.”
Koga said Oshkosh would like to be part of any recapping and
upgrading M-ATV, if this is done.
As fleets come out of Afghanistan, major questions concerning
reset and recap programs will be: How much work will be done?
Where is it done? Who does it? Ivy emphasized that Oshkosh has the
capability of bringing its services anywhere. “We can go to Fort Hood
or wherever the customer desires,” Ivy said. “We can do full recap on
our assembly line, just repairs at depots or a mix of both.”
“We have been building trucks for nearly 100 years with a focus
on off-road four-wheel drive,” Koga said. “We have the engineering
background and we go where the customer goes.” Ivy added, “We can
manage the supply chain, and have manufactured almost 100,000
military vehicles, so we know a little bit about them.”
David Hahn, vice president of business development for the ISO
Group, does not expect to see many new Army ground vehicles until
2024-2030. “There will be SLEP [service life extension programs],
recaps and upgrades to extend life for 10 to 20 years programs of
record, Strykers, Bradleys and HMMWVs, as they come back from
the field.” Hahn expects resets to last another two years and recaps
six more years.
Many of these vehicles were not built by the same manufacturer
from start to finish. “There were joint ventures, teaming agreements
or the OEM [original equipment manufacturer] changed through
acquisition,” Hahn said. “Many companies focused on ramp-up, not
sustainment, so in many cases the OEM does not have sustainment
capabilities.”
Therefore, Hahn expects an abundance of recap and modernization work up for bid on 180,000 HMMWVs, Bradleys and Strykers,
and anticipates less work on MRAPs and tanks. Upgrades could
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include electronics, interoperability with other platforms and interchangeability of parts.
ISO’s advantages are that it touches over 100
ground vehicles in parts support and has focused on
sustainment for 10 years. “It is our main business,”
Hahn said. “We will be in this market. We are bidding
and will bid.”
Force Protection is now resetting Cougar and
Buffalo MRAPs for requirements in the field, said Ed
Smith, senior vice president for logistics. The Cougar is primarily a Marine fleet. “We do not know yet
how many they will retain, and that will set the reset
requirements.”
He expects reset will primarily be done at Marine
Corps Logistics Base Albany or Barstow. “We will have
to see how we can support that,” Smith said. “We
Just one of the thousands of trucks to undergo reset at the Red River Army Depot. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army]
might help with parts or with workforce.”
About 4,000 Cougars were delivered to the
Marines, and Force Protection has supported them
into a period of national transition under significant budget conwith a couple hundred field service representatives (FSRs) in the
straints will result in a large amount of equipment requiring repair,”
U.S., Afghanistan and Kuwait.
said Lobeto. “Exelis continues to hone its systems, processes, and
The Buffalo is operated in small quantities by the Marines and, in
technology through innovation and ingenuity to enhance produclarger numbers, as a new vehicle by the Army, which will field the A2
tion efficiencies wherever we support our customer. This coupled
variant through 2014. “Buffalo reset will follow two paths—a small
with disciplined, accountable, and committed teams of professionals
one for the Marines, then for the Army,” Smith explained.
will always provide trustworthy solutions for our customers.”
Force Protection sustains Cougars and a small number of BufW.W. Williams is a subcontractor to AM General and BAE
falos. Most Army Buffalos are sustained by ManTech.
Systems for the reset and recap of HMMWVs at Red River and LetForce Protection has FSRs at the maintenance sustainment facilterkenny. Chris Emery, vice president business development, said
ity for MRAPs in Kuwait, part of a mixed workforce that supports
Williams is also under contract for BAE on reset and recap of Bradwhatever MRAPs come in for repair. “We work on some other comleys at Red River.
panies’ vehicles too,” Smith said. “This will continue into next year.”
“Our responsibility is generally warehousing and inventory conForce Protection may consider bidding to support other firms’
trols,” Emery explained. “We also position parts on a just-in-time
vehicles. “That is not off the table,” Smith said. The firm has just
basis at the depot.”
been acquired by General Dynamics Land Systems.
BAE contracts with depots to do the work. But on HMMWVs, AM
ITT Exelis provides U.S. Army maintenance support for combatGeneral is contracted by DLA to do the work, supply materials and
tested equipment coming out of the theater of operations. “Equipmanage the supply chain.
ment needing repair is shipped to Kuwait from throughout the
Emery noted that reset and recap sometimes draw on different
Middle East and we repair it prior to returning the equipment back
funding sources, and this makes things challenging. “In the case of
to the Army,” said Max Lobeto, director of logistics for ITT Exelis
Red River they are not able to do recap on the same line as reset.”
Mission Systems. “We have the innovative capability to maintain
Williams hopes to do more of this type of work in the future. “A
and repair wheeled vehicles, power generation equipment, engineerlot of vehicles out there will need this, [like] the MRAPs that come
ing equipment, material handling equipment, armament systems
back from Afghanistan and tactical wheeled vehicles like FMTVs.”
and communications equipment. This capability exists not only in
The firm would continue to work as a subcontractor.
Kuwait, but also at Fort Bragg, N.C., where about a third of the
The company has done field support for reset and recap and, with
workload is reset related and at Fort Benning, Ga., where we just
350 certified techs, has worked for several different companies.
completed a heavy tracked recovery vehicle reset project and where
Since 2006, AM General has provided part support through its
we are about to begin an Army heavy equipment transport repair
Integrated Logistics Partnership for the reset or recap of 38,000
project.”
HMMWVs at Red River and Letterkenny. It will continue to support
Lobeto explained that most Exelis Logistics Service and Support
this program through 2013 and beyond as needed.
contracts normally extend about 3 to 5 years. “We are motivated
Beyond reset, AM General contributes to the life cycle of
by our customer’s complex challenges and recognize the budget
HMMWVs by design, continuous improvement, technical manuals,
pressure they are experiencing. As an agile company, we are able to
training, part support and field services. The company’s Service Parts
reduce the complexity of most industrial processes and associated
Logistics Operations (SPLO) division supports 250,000 HMMWVs
supply chain. We also simplify resource-to-task ratios without sacrioperated by the U.S. and friendly foreign nations through hands-on
ficing performance or standards. As a result, we can concentrate on
equipment training, all levels of driver training, in- and out-ofproduction efficiencies to provide our customers greater flexibility
country field service, parts, kits and supply chain management. FSRs
and innovation.”
lead on-the-job training, oversee updates and modifications, and do
One of the greatest challenge is in the maintenance support
quality-control inspections when requested. AM General quickly
world is volume. “A protracted period of global conflict subsiding
12 | MLF 6.1
www.MLF-kmi.com
supplied thousands of new armor kits in Iraq and Afghanistan and
FSRs provided instructions on installation of armor and upgraded
suspension kits.
The company would consider supporting reset or recap for any
wheeled or tracked vehicles, said Mark Whalen, senior vice president defense programs and business development. “Due to heavy,
long-term war use and budget constraints, the entire U.S. wheeled
and tracked fleets, including Humvees, MRAPs, medium and heavy
trucks will be candidates for reset or recap,” Whalen said.
AM General’s capabilities are enhanced by its in-house engineering and design group and expertise in supply chain management,
contractor logistics support, performance-based logistics, EDI supply
chain integration and FSRs that can deploy globally on short notice.
“Our logistics made it possible to order parts and expedite delivery
even when customers thought it impossible,” Whalen noted. “FSRs
have earned a tremendous reputation for quick response and troubleshooting success.”
BAE Systems provides support for Heavy Brigade Combat Team
programs, the Bradley, the M113, M88 and M109A6 Paladin. Roy
Perkins, director of market creation for combat vehicles, says reset
methods depend on scope of work.
First, there is a joint inspection by AMC and the program manager to determine what needs to be done. Three levels of reset are
possible: Level 1 reset is done at the unit. Level 2 reset is done at Red
River and BAE leads this effort. Level 3 is a full tear-down and rebuild
at BAE facilities.
Level 2 means that if a part works, it is not removed. “For
example, the Bradley has armor on the side,” Perkins said. “In Level
3 we take it off and redo connections. In Level 2, if it’s fine, we don’t.”
All four vehicles are at some level of reset activity. The Paladins
that only got Level 2 are almost all done. The M113 is on its last
contract. Bradleys have another year or two at Level 2. The M88 has
another two years of a combination of Level 2 and 3.
Some M113s will be retired, not reset, Perkins said. And some
Paladins will be upgraded to Paladin Integrated Management.
BAE’s M777 howitzer is fairly new. Perkins said some reset will
eventually be needed but he is uncertain what the Army and Marines
will want to do.
BAE’s major advantage in reset is that, as an OEM, it knows its
vehicles. Perkins referenced the case of Army pre-positioned stocks
for BAE and General Dynamics heavy vehicles in Kuwait where the
service went with a low-cost firm, but had to call in BAE to help when
problems developed.
Perkins expects less reset work, at least for his heavy platforms, as
U.S. wars wind down. So BAE is looking at other markets, primarily
outside the U.S. 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.
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EAGLE Update
Standardization and consolidation of processes and procedures will lead to effective program and
contract execution.
By Henry Canaday
MLF Correspondent
Interview with Scott Welker, deputy to the commander of U.S. Army Sustainment
Command (ASC), on the proposed Enhanced Army Global Logistics Enterprise (EAGLE)
program, currently working through the formal acquisition approval process.
Scott Welker
www.MLF-kmi.com
MLF 6.1 | 15
Q: Of the three main areas that EAGLE covers—materiel
maintenance, retail/wholesale supply and transportation support—where do you expect the biggest gains in cost saving or
efficiency?
A: We spend most of the dollars in maintenance, but that is not the
way we break out savings. We expect to save in standardization of
requirements, standardization of acceptance criteria and metrics,
and the consolidation of a significant number of contracts and
requirements. We have a multitude of contract vehicles for logistics
today and it is difficult to execute them. EAGLE will consolidate
these into fewer contracts with a common oversight strategy.
So, the savings are in consolidation and standardization. The
Army will need fewer people to administer these contracts. For
example, where we might have had six contracts, we will now have
one and can consolidate our oversight on it. We will also team with
the Mission and Installation Contracting Command to reduce oversight requirements.
Q: Can you summarize the results of the cost-benefit analysis of
EAGLE?
A: We looked at the cost-benefit analysis [CBA] last spring for the
Army Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cost and Economics. We
looked at how much we could save just by consolidating Directorate of Logistics [DOL] requirements, even though EAGLE covers
much more than just the DOLs. And we looked at savings in the
continental United States [CONUS] even though EAGLE will cover
more than just CONUS.
We found significant savings in a number of areas. We can
reduce excess capacity, reduce redundancy and we can improve
acquisition lead time. And we looked at increasing small business
opportunity to become prime contractors.
We also looked at the guidance laid out in memorandums
issued by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and by Dr. Carter
[Ashton Carter, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from April 2009 until October 2011, now
Deputy Secretary of Defense] and the Secretary of the Army, John
M. McHugh, on Optimization of Service Contracting, May 9, 2011.
We wanted a strategy that hits all those initiatives to improve planning and oversight. The CBA told us that if we stood up an EAGLE
business office for validation and oversight of requirements, we
could consolidate 148 contracts for installation logistics to about 40
and we could make substantial savings and increase opportunities
for small business.
It is important to note that EAGLE covers the three functional
areas of maintenance, supply and transportation services, but it
does not cover aviation maintenance, dining facilities and laundry/
dry cleaning services.
Also, we wanted to give opportunities for small businesses.
EAGLE employs a set aside for installation logistics with annual
requirements from $1 million to $35.5 million. We estimate that
for small businesses operating as primes, the contract values will
increase by 160 percent under EAGLE, compared with the fiscal
2010 contract values awarded to small businesses. The EAGLE
strategy also recognizes that at many installations there are outside
the gates, so to speak, mom-and-pop businesses. EAGLE will not
award those smaller contracts when the annual dollar value is less
than $1 million. Those requirements will be contracted for by the
16 | MLF 6.1
local Installation Contracting Offices out of the Mission Installation
Contracting Command.
Q: How will EAGLE change or simplify ASC’s and Army Contracting Command’s [ACC] management of logistics?
A: It will reduce the number of people needed for oversight and will
reduce the burden of contact oversight.
EAGLE has morphed considerably over the last seven months.
Instead of an IDIQ [indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity] contract, we
will use a multi-step process under EAGLE.
The first step will be to assess the viability of companies to be
qualified to hold basic ordering agreements [BOAs] for EAGLE
requirements. A BOA is an agreement, not a contract. It does not
commit the Army to purchase anything. Firms have until January
12, 2012, to submit their step 1 BOA response. We will then review
responses and will inform industry if their proposed plan is viable or
not viable. In the second step, we will issue a request for proposal
along with a projection of task order requirements for the initial
annual requirement to obtain proposals from prime contractors,
teams, or joint ventures interested in receiving an EAGLE BOA. Subsequent to evaluation of each response, BOAs will be executed to
qualified prime contractors. Once the BOAs are in place, we will issue
requests for proposals to compete for individual task orders, which
are the real contracts. Under the multi-step process, qualified contractors that hold a BOA can participate in the task order competitions.
We are improving competition by not limiting the number of BOA
holders. All qualified contractors will be issued a BOA. Since a BOA
is not a contract, there will not be any dollars awarded until the task
orders are executed.
Q: Are any new IT systems necessary to implement the EAGLE
approach?
A: Not for the contracts themselves. But we are working with the
Defense Acquisition University on their Automated Requirements
Roadmap Tool [ARRT] for requirements documentation. The ARRT
focuses on high-level objectives to generate performance-based
requirements and associated metrics. It will provide a tool for EAGLE
to implement standardization of performance work statements, quality assurance surveillance plans and performance-requirement summaries across the enterprise.
Q: What are the primary criteria for evaluating EAGLE proposals?
A: There will be criteria at each step. Since we are only at the first
step, assessing viability for BOA, we have only developed criteria
for this step. For viability, the firm must understand the requirements for being a single provider of all three logistics functions for
each installation. We will look at the proposed solution, whether it
is fully supported by a prime or is a teaming agreement or a joint
venture, what similar experience they have in terms of equipment
worked, missions supported, types of customers, and Standard Army
Management Information Systems/Automated Information Systems
for maintenance, supply and transportation support. We will either
validate them or inform them of potential shortfalls in their approach.
We have not developed the final criteria for steps two and
three. The criteria for step two of the BOA will follow current source
selection guidance to determine if contractors are capable and
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experienced to be qualified to hold a BOA. The one exception
here to normal processes is that for a BOA, there will not be a cost
proposal since the BOAs are not contracts and no award is planned.
Step three, task order awards criteria, is established based on
individual requirements and guidance from the EAGLE business and
contracting offices. Those criteria will be available as part of the task
order request for proposal process.
Q: What is the status of EAGLE? Are you still on track for contract
awards in June 2012?
A: I should emphasize that EAGLE is still in the development stage.
It has not been given final approval yet. We are still working through
that process.
We are projecting executing the BOAs in the June 2012 time
frame. It should take us about nine months after that to award the
first task orders, so that would be around March 2013. Not all requirements in the enterprise will be converted to EAGLE initially.
Q: When might you expect to have EAGLE fully up and running?
A: It will take some time to roll out all EAGLE tasks orders. It depends
on what contracts are currently in place and when they expire. It will
take three to five years to bring it all under the EAGLE umbrella. After
three years, we will have data on how effective EAGLE is and we can
make changes for the next iteration.
Bill McKenna is the director of the EAGLE Business Office for ASC
at Rock Island. We realized that we needed a business office in addition to contract oversight.
McKenna: “We saw a need to centrally manage requirements
in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness of our service contracting efforts. Recent emphasis on portfolio management and
governance supports a need to establish an EAGLE business office
to ensure requirements are properly validated and documented prior
to entering the contracting phase. The EAGLE business office is the
organization that is responsible for standardization of requirements
documentation across the enterprise.”
Q: What were the chief areas in which industry sought clarification
about EAGLE?
A: All contractor inquiries and responses are posted to the EAGLE
website: [www.aschq.army.mil/ac/aaisdus/eagle.aspx]. There were
many questions. For example, they wanted to know what a single
logistics provider means, how to establish joint ventures and where
the small business set asides were.
Q: Can you tell me about how many Army installations EAGLE will
support?
A: There will be in the neighborhood of 60 to 80 installations, but
EAGLE is bigger than installations. All the retrograde from Afghanistan will eventually be under EAGLE and sustainment in the field
will be under EAGLE as well. Starting in fiscal year 2013, we will
have ownership of the DOLs. We will be able to take an enterprise
approach across the whole Army.
Q: Can you tell me about the annual volume of contracts EAGLE
is supposed to replace?
18 | MLF 6.1
A: It depends on periods of performance. We expect about 15 to
25 task orders per year and the stack of requirements is about $23.5
billion over five years, although that figure can go up and down.
The intent is to have one provider per installation, but one BOA
holder may serve more than one installation, each with a separate
task order.
Q: Can you give me a rough idea of how many EAGLE prime
contracts are planned?
A: The BOAs are unlimited. We have received interest from 81
separate contractors to date [December 21, 2011], so there could
be as many as 100 or more qualified BOA holders.
Q: Are you satisfied from the industry interest you have received
that the Army will be able to get the better pricing and faster
and better contractor performance expected under EAGLE?
A: Absolutely. I expect the Army to save money with EAGLE or we
would not be pursuing this strategy. But we will not know pricing
until we receive proposals for the task orders.
Q: Do you think you will be able to secure the small business
participation levels you originally sought?
A: For annual requirements between $1 million and $35.5 million,
that is set aside for small business at the task order competition.
And there will be a rule of two above $35.5 million. If two or more
responsible small businesses can perform a task order at a fair market price, then that requirement will be set aside for small business.
Other contractors will have small business subcontracting goals
in their contracts. The CBA estimated that we will increase small
business dollar volume by 160 percent over what it was awarded in
fiscal 2010. This is a win-win for the Army and small business. The
Army’s small business office has been very supportive.
Q: Have the other services shown any interest in participating
in EAGLE?
A: We have not had any discussions with the other services. I don’t
expect them to participate initially but as we get experience, they
may seek to come under it. The most likely one would be the
Marines because of similar equipment fleets.
Q: Any closing thoughts?
A: The Army has always focused on procurement of hardware. This
is the new way of doing business in procuring services. We are fulfilling the goals of Dr. Carter in optimizing procurement of services.
This will be very important after the drawdown in Iraq and as we
face tighter budget pressures. We have to think out of the box and
find a way to get the services we need at reduced prices. We have
got to do this effectively at reduced costs. O
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
www.MLF-kmi.com
The smaller, more rugged and connected computer
devices can be, the more useful they are to
By Cheryl Gerber
maintenance teams.
MLF Correspondent
Flight line maintenance crews are accustomed to using Windows
as the standard operating system on rugged laptops. But that landscape
is changing fast. Rugged, lean tablets—and in some cases, smartphones—running other operating systems, with big storage, efficient
processing and wireless connectivity are staking a claim in areas once
presumed to be Windows-only.
“There’s a lot of functionality you can put in a rugged tablet or
smartphone that you don’t have in a rugged laptop that is limited to
DoD-standard Windows,” said Mike McCarthy, director of operations
and program manager, brigade modernization command and lead,
Army smart phone project, Fort Bliss.
“On a tablet or smartphone, there are other operating systems like
Android and Apple that are lower cost, lighter weight and smaller size,”
he said. “The type of tablet we use boils down to what we use it for and
the operational environment we’re in. For example, soldiers deployed in
a theater of operation like Afghanistan prefer a 7-inch tablet. It’s small
enough to fit in their cargo pants pocket.”
Both the 7-inch and 10-inch tablets now come with big memory to
hold the technical manuals and reference publications needed by flight
line maintenance crews. “Internally the 7-inch and 10-inch tablets have
fundamentally the same capability. The devices we are looking at have
between 29 to 50 Gigabytes. With the option of SED cards they can add
with up to 2 Gig of storage per card,” said McCarthy. “Both form factors
can store, maintain and keep current 2,600 technical manuals.”
The difference is in the screen display. “Flight maintenance training and operations personnel tend to prefer the 10-inch tablet since
the larger screen is easier on the eyes,” said McCarthy. “They include
WiFi to get the latest digital versions of tech manuals. The cost savings
in printing these tech manuals alone is a huge advantage,” he added.
By staying device and system agnostic, the Army can control costs
and take advantage of technology innovations with do-it-yourself, offthe-shelf (OTS) ruggedizing. “There are some environments where
you absolutely need to buy a rugged device, but for most situations,
even in theater or austere environments, we can make commercial
OTS products semi-rugged at a more affordable cost than investing in
a specially ruggedized device,” McCarthy said. “We’re using the iPads
in training environments and we’ve had great success with them. We
semi-ruggedize them with Ziploc bags.”
McCarthy is launching a pilot project this year in theater to
examine the use of low-cost tablets and smartphones in an austere
operational environment. “We will have 7-inch Dell Streak tablets with
WiFi, but we need to increase the level of protection so we’ll use Gorilla
glass and OtterBoxes rather than spending another $2,500 per device
for ruggedizing,” he said.
Corning Gorilla glass is scratch- and impact-resistant yet thin,
so as not to interfere with touch sensitivity on a touch screen or add
weight to the device. OtterBox provides protective cases and covers for
tablets and smartphones that guard against drops, scratches and shock.
However, the cases do not protect against water and dust ingression as
rugged laptops do.
Android just received its first DISA certification for use on the
Global Information Grid (GIG) using the Secure Android solution
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deployed by Good Technology, a Dell partner. Good worked with Dell to
augment the security framework within the Android and deploy it on
Streak 5 devices. The new solution will pass and manage sensitive data
from Microsoft Exchange servers in DoD data centers via Good’s email
application to Android devices wirelessly, using a FIPS 140-2 validated
cryptographic module with AES encryption to ensure data protection
for data-at-rest and data-in-transit. DISA certified the Secure Android
to work with the common access card and the DoD Public Key Infrastructure.
Last year, Fort Bliss completed testing of the Panasonic Toughbook
handheld H2 for use by flight line maintenance. The H2 is a 10.1-inch
tablet PC running Windows 7, with sealed all-weather design and a
sunlight-viewable LED screen capable of up to 6,000 NIT.
The dual touch tablet PC contains an Intel Core i5 vPro processor. The H2 meets military standards 810G and IP-65 and contains a
built-in camera. The H2 delivers a range of embedded wireless features
including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and optional 4G LTE or Gobi 2000 3G
mobile broadband. Hot swappable twin batteries provide 3.25 hours of
uptime each or 6.5 hours when used in tandem. The H2 contains USB,
serial and Ethernet ports and offers optional integrated barcode and
SmartCard readers. It complies with IP65 and 810G military standards.
Dual touch refers to the ability to use both a stylus and finger gestures. It is not multi-touch (common with the iPad and the upcoming
Panasonic Toughpad), which allows for multiple fingers on the screen
and features such as pinching to zoom in or out. However, dual touch
is preferred for pinpoint accuracy with a stylus or working with gloves.
Panasonic recently entered the Android rugged tablet arena, with
the 10.1-inch model of its A1 Toughpad now in engineering preproduction and the 7-inch Toughpad B1 model to be released later
in 2012. “We are showing them to CIOs at various commands and
bases now and will begin field testing the A1 with manufacturing preproduction units in the March timeframe,” said Tim Collins, director,
federal defense and intelligence, Panasonic Solutions Co. “We said we
wouldn’t produce this unless it was a true Toughbook product,” he said.
The company is positioning the A1 Toughpad for highly-mobile
outdoor aviation and construction crew who work in extreme environments. With its introduction of the Android Version 3.2 tablet, Panasonic is supporting an applications store, peripherals, developer tools
and deployment support.
The A1 contains a 1.3 GHz dual-core processor, 16 GB of storage
with optional MicroSD up to 32 GB, a 500 nit, daylight readable, multitouch screen with a 10-hour battery. The A1 weighs 2.13 pounds, meets
military standard IP65 for dust and water ingress and offers hardwarelevel and FIPS 140-X security. It has 802.11 WiFi, satellite GPS and
Bluetooth v2.1 with 4G (LTE or WiMAX) mobile broadband as optional.
The rugged tablet also includes a wearable camera with forward or
backward-looking video capture. “Flight line maintenance can use it for
inventory control with an RFID barcode via the micro USB connector,”
noted Collins.
Despite the sight of Android and Apple perched on the horizon, the
mainstays are still tried-and-true Windows-based rugged laptops and
tablet PCs. The Air Force selected Panasonic Toughbook 31 rugged
MLF 6.1 | 19
notebooks and Toughbook 19 rugged convertible tablet PCs running
Windows 7 as part of the Air Force Quantum Enterprise Buy program
last year for flightline maintenance and operations. The Toughbook 31
and 19 feature all-weather design, daylight readable touch screens and
wireless connectivity.
One reason for the Windows rugged laptop stronghold is the Air
Force e-tool program to convert technical orders (TOs) for aircraft
into digital format this year. The Air Force is now purchasing 40,000
laptops, or e-tools, to eliminate 65,000 heavy TOs and manuals in
more than 53 million pages. The project will render maintenance
and operations more efficient and TOs far less weighty to transport.
The conversion to digital will also save on the cost of fuel to transport the heavy paper documents. With e-tools, TO updates can be
accomplished by connecting to the AF network add and update TOs
overnight, instead of the weeks required for TO updates.
Warner Robins Air Force Base, one of three U.S. air logistics
centers, has been testing rugged e-tools for flight maintenance and
digital conversion for more than a year. “We are also prototyping
usage of wireless and High Velocity Maintenance on the flight line to
test the TOs maintenance process and procedures, including things
like aircraft management, wiring diagrams and illustrated parts
breakdown. We run PDF and IETMS (the digital data broken down
into sections and jobs like main landing and gear removal),” on the
same e-Tool giving us dual capabilities, said Gregg Kelley, e-tools
program manager, engineering directorate at Warner Robins AFB.
“We prototyped and also purchased the fully rugged Getac V100
for use on the flightline,” said Kelley. The Windows 7 rugged convertible transforms from a laptop to a tablet PC by rotating the 10.4
inch, glove-friendly, multi-touch display, which uses Getac’s 1,200
NIT Quadra Clear sunlight-readable LED technology. It complies
with 810G and IP65, offers various wireless capabilities and contains
an Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost technology.
Robins also tested the VT Miltope Armadillo, also known as the
Rugged Tablet Computer Unit or RTCU-2 for use by Air Force flightline maintenance, Kelley said. The Armadillo, running Windows 7,
carries an Intel Core i7 processor, a 10.4-inch LED display, 80 GB
of Intel SSD (solid state hard drive) and 2GB of RAM expandable
to 8GB with 6.5 hours of battery life. The tablet PC can be vehiclemounted. The fully rugged tablet PC complies with numerous military standards, including 810G.
The Armadillo’s Intel i7 processor and solid state hard drive
seemed to demonstrate speedy operations in testing. “The Intel i7
processors with solid state hard drives have improved the speed of
log in and log out and the speed of getting applications loaded onto
the system wirelessly,” noted Kelley.
Taking advantage of the broadening technology choices for
flightline training and maintenance, the Air Force has turned to
Apple. “The Air Force Reserve is testing iPads now but the testing
has not yet been completed,” said Kelley.
A broader selection also means refined definitions of which
technology solutions fit best where. “An iPad in a classroom is a different use model than flightline maintenance in Alaska,” noted Julie
Briggs, CEO, VT Miltope.
“The military customer community is redefining requirements
right now, partially based on comfort and familiarity with new
devices. But the jury is still out with respect to security. The military
is still evaluating how and whether new devices can be adapted effectively to the military environment,” she noted. “There is still testing
and evaluation for sunlight readability, temperature extremes and
20 | MLF 6.1
how new devices behave in the presence of some electromagnetic
conditions that can impact the operation of the device,” she said.
Robins is also testing the Dell Latitude E 6420 XFR, a fully
rugged clamshell with an Intel i7 processor and sunlight-readable
14-inch, glove-friendly Resistive touchscreen.
“We use the faster, larger voltage processors such as the i5 and
i7 with Quad-cool technology that uses an industrial-rated fan. It
forces air to hot spots which provide cooling that allows the system
to spin faster in a hotter temperature,” said Jeffrey Hill, Dell rugged
mobility account executive. “We also increased our drop spec in the
NFR to a 6-foot drop,” he noted.
A competitor of the Dell XFR is the General Dynamics 8200.
“We have had a continued partnership with the Air Force for aircraft maintenance and the tankers that are part of the Air Mobility
Command,” said Timothy Hill, senior product manager of rugged
notebooks and wearable computing platforms, General DynamicsItronix. “The tankers are used for refueling and transport of equipment within the U.S. and from the U.S. to theater,” he said.
The GD 8200 is used to download diagnostics to determine
aircraft status and provide information about maintenance that
needs to be performed. “The primary purpose is to provide access
to technical orders that inform the maintainer how to perform the
tasks of diagnosing and addressing problems,” he said.
The GD 8200 has many improvements over its predecessor, the
GD 8000. It is IP65 and 810G certified. “We went from a Core 2 Duo
processor in the GD 8000 to a Core i7 in the GD 8200,” said GD’s
Hill. “That improved computer performance and battery run time,”
he said. “We also improved the display from 500 to 700 NITS and
increased the outdoor viewability by 30 percent from bright sunlight to nighttime operations using night vision goggles,” he said.
GD uses proprietary technology for 802.11 wireless connectivity, using WiFi radio modules to create a WiFi hotspot. Using this
WiFi technology, flightline maintainers can stay connected up to
approximately two miles, thereby expanding the operational service area for the aircraft.
General Dynamics continues to develop technology to allow
tablets to work in hostile and extreme environments. “We want to
deploy iPads and Androids, but there is still less performance from
them. Consumer devices were not made to survive mission-critical
environments,” he said.
VT Miltope and General Dynamics recently teamed on the
Common Hardware Systems-4 (CHS-4) program for the Army
Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground. VT Miltope will
provide rugged handheld, PDA and notebook products under this
contract.
Robins AFB is also testing DRS Technologies’ Armor10 rugged
tablet running Windows 7. The Armor X10gx has a 10.4-inch LCD
display that supports both pen and touch input. The rugged tablet
is 810G and IP67 certified and contains 802.11 WLAN, Bluetooth,
Gobi WWAN and GPS connectivity.
“The DRS X10gx rugged tablet was designed for dual use, for
both industrial and military. The tablets are much lighter—as
much as half the weight of a laptop,” noted Bill Guyan, vice president of programs and strategy at DRS.
Regardless of the growing choices today, technology usage
naturally will vary. “We are not going to use the same rugged laptops and tablets across the board. Our use of the technology will
depend on the area and the requirements of the job and network
security requirements,” said Kelley. O
www.MLF-kmi.com
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VT Miltope’s new RCLC-1 rugged convertible laptop is
mission-ready in any form. The RCLC-1 is an integral part of the
MSD-V3 program developed for the U.S. Army’s At-Platform
Automatic Test Systems (APATS) Integrated Family of Test
Equipment (IFTE). Our family of HARD WEAR sets the standard
for rugged military computing. Built rugged down to their core
processors, our products improve warfighters’ ability to perform
maintenance missions in extreme environments and challenging
tactical conditions. The VT Miltope Family… mission-ready in
the hangar, on the flightline, or on the move.
RUGGED RUNS IN THE FAMILY
SUPPLY CHAIN
Expeditionary
Power
During the majority of this decade,
INI Power Systems has worked with the
Department of Defense to help solve the
weight and logistics issues associated with
providing portable power to the dismounted
soldier. “Our competitive advantage on the
battlefield is based on mobile electronic
technologies worn by the soldier,” said
Larry Markoski, president of INI. “All of
these mobile electronics require batteries
for power,” he added, explaining that “our
major issue in regard to portable power
is found within the current methods of
resupplying or recharging batteries on the
battlefield.
“In many instances, our troops are
using large diesel [JP-8] generators or
Humvees to recharge the batteries for their
mobile electronics,” said Markoski. “This
inefficient practice often leads to a gallon
or more of fuel to charge one small battery
or device.” To solve this problem, Markoski
and his team rapidly developed the Trinity
System, a man-portable plug-in hybrid
system comprised of flex-fuel power generation, harvesting and storage modules that
combine together to form a smart microgrid. “The Trinity System is ideal for efficiently recharging batteries and providing
spot power in austere environments and
remote forward operating bases with
minimal to no logistics support required,”
he said.
The system is available in two sizes: the
1000, capable of 1,000 watts, and the 2000,
which has a peak output of 2,000 watts.
Each system and its components come in
a rugged case and was designed for squadlevel power for tier 1 and tier 2 environments in support of forward operating bases
and expeditionary missions.
“We used direct solider feedback from
Army LUT exercises and input from Army
personnel at CERDEC, PM-SWAR and
PM-MEP to help design the system and
we are ready to put our V1.0 Trinity 1000
system into field trials,” Markoski stated.
22 | MLF 6.1
Floating on Air
A new concept in material handling, the LoadRunner, makes it safe for one operator to easily
move loads up to 2,500 pounds on air. The LoadRunner utilizes on-board compressed air to
‘float’ the load across the floor. This movement method reduces friction, requiring a fraction of
the normal operator effort to move the load. The LoadRunner effectively assists or replaces traditional material handling equipment including hand trucks, pallet jacks and forklifts. Completely
self-contained, the unit features a low profile deck design with a 2-inch insertion height and
intuitive throttle-style fingertip controls. LoadRunner is quiet and emission-free, ideally suited for
manufacturing, cleanrooms, assembly, testing and warehouse applications requiring redundant
and recurring load movement.
Founded in 1967, AeroGo Inc. provides innovative load moving solutions for highly sensitive and exceptionally heavy loads using air film technology. AeroGo products comply with
ISO9001:2008 quality standards. New Cat in Town
The Cat TL1255C telehandler, the largest machine in the new C Series range, has a maximum lift
capacity of 12,000 pounds and a maximum lift height of 54.3 feet.
The high-strength boom enables the TL1255C to handle job site loads and the large box sections are
designed to handle the demands of the side tilt and swing carriages. High boom pivot and side-mounted
power module ensure improved, all-around visibility. Job site productivity is enhanced due to the simultaneously extending telescopic boom.
The TL1255C’s Cat C4.4 ACERT engine meets 4 Interim/Stage IIIB emissions regulations, developing
142 hp. It is specially designed for telehandler applications and can accommodate B20 biofuel. These diesel
engines are built with Cat components that ensure smooth, quiet operation and long life. Fuel consumption
is optimized to match operating applications, which lowers operating cost.
The TL1255C features the new Cat power shift transmission, which has four forward and three reverse
gears. The transmission has clutch modulation fitted as standard, resulting in smooth gear change and
increased operator comfort.
The cab features a Cat full-suspension seat and improved job-site visibility. A pilot-operated, single lever
joystick combines boom crowd and lift functions with an adjustable, two-position button for work tool tilt.
A range of Cat work tools extends the versatility of the machines. A high visibility manual IT coupler
comes as standard, with the option of a hydraulic quick coupler to allow work tool changes without leaving
the cab.
Service points are readily accessible and major components are at ground level. Service access points
are conveniently located under the engine cover, and routine daily maintenance is reduced to checking fluid
levels and a walk-around inspection.
www.MLF-kmi.com
SUPPLY CHAIN
DESP Support for AFMC
First Mobile Landing Platform
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has received a
design and engineering support program (DESP)
III prime contract from the Air Force Materiel
Command (AFMC) Contracting Directorate.
Officials estimate the potential value of this
multiple-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to be $1.9 billion over the seven-year
period of performance.
Under the DESP III contract, Jacobs is providing
engineering services to support AFMC weapon
systems, components and support equipment. Since
2005, Jacobs has provided program management,
systems and specialty engineering, logistics support
and research and development as a prime contractor
on the predecessor DESP II contract.
In making the announcement, Jacobs President
and CEO Craig Martin stated, “We have a longstanding relationship with our Air Force customers,
and we are excited to have this opportunity to build
on our ongoing support and contribute to the
success of the AFMC mission.”
A keel laying ceremony for the first mobile landing platform (MLP) ship was
recently hosted by General Dynamics NASSCO at the company’s shipyard in San Diego.
Delivery of the first MLP ship is scheduled for May 2013. The 765-foot long ship
will be used as staging areas for the Navy and Marines. Secretary of the Navy Ray
Mabus recently announced that this first MLP ship will be named Montford Point, for
the North Carolina facility where 20,000 African-American Marines were trained over
seven years, starting in 1942.
“In today’s challenging fiscal environment, shipbuilders must continue to provide
our Navy customer with competitive pricing and fair value,” said Fred Harris, president
of General Dynamics NASSCO. “With the mobile landing platform, NASSCO is meeting
that challenge once again. The Navy and Marines will be getting a ship with significant
capability at approximately one-third the cost of the Navy’s original plan.”
One initiative that NASSCO employed with this ship was to incorporate a designbuild approach into all phases of design and planning development. The design-build
approach included the assignment of the company’s most
experienced shipbuilders within
functional engineering and detail
design teams. These teams played
an important role in developing
build strategy initiatives that are
improving the ship’s readiness for
construction, making MLP among
the most producible designs in
NASSCO’s history. Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles
The U.S. Army has awarded Oshkosh
Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation,
a bridge contract to continue production and
support of the family of heavy tactical vehicles (FHTV). Under this extended contract, the
government can place orders through October
2013 and Oshkosh Defense can deliver through
September 2014.
The Oshkosh FHTV includes the heavy
expanded mobility tactical truck, heavy equipment transporter and palletized load system.
Army and National Guard soldiers have relied
on these vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and
in other missions around the world, to safely
haul heavy payloads in challenging terrain and
extreme conditions.
“The FHTV’s proven performance,
particularly during its extensive use in two
www.MLF-kmi.com
operational theaters during the last 10 years,
has enabled successful logistics operations
while protecting soldiers,” said Mike Ivy,
vice president and general manager of Army
programs for Oshkosh Defense. “The success
of the FHTV program is the
result of close and continuous
collaboration with our Army
customer. We appreciate the
opportunity to insert the latest
automotive and survivability
technologies into these trucks and
to join soldiers, first in Iraq and
now in Afghanistan, sustaining
fleets in the most demanding
circumstances.”
To date, Oshkosh has
produced more than 58,000 FHTV
trucks and trailers for the Army. Oshkosh also
has remanufactured more than 11,000 FHTV
trucks, delivering the vehicles in zero-miles/
zero-hours condition for significantly less than
the cost of a new vehicle.
MLF 6.1 | 23
WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION /// MANUFACTURING SUPPORT /// AFTERMARKET SERVICES /// MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT /// TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT /// SUPPLY CHAIN CONSULTING
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Materiel Optimizer
Q& A
Ensuring Global Materiel Readiness for the Warfighter
General Ann E. Dunwoody
Commanding General
U.S. Army Materiel Command
General Ann E. Dunwoody assumed the duties as the U.S.
Army Materiel Command’s commanding general on November
14, 2008. AMC is one of the largest commands in the Army with
more than 66,000 employees and impacts, and has a presence in
48 states and 127 countries.
Dunwoody received a direct commission as a quartermaster
officer in 1975, after graduating from the State University of
New York at Cortland. She later earned a Master of Science
degree in logistics management from the Florida Institute of
Technology in 1988 and a Master of Science degree in national
resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed
Forces in 1995.
Her command assignments include: the 226th Maintenance
Company Fort Sill, Okla.; 5th QM Detachment (ABN) Kaiserslautern, Germany; the 407th Supply and Service Battalion/782d
Main Support Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.; the 10th Division
Support Command Fort Drum, N.Y.; the 1st Corps Support Command Fort Bragg; the Military Traffic Management Command/
Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Alexandria, Va.; and the Combined Arms Support Command, Fort
Lee, Va. She most recently served as AMC’s deputy commanding
general.
Her key staff assignments include 82d Division parachute
officer; strategic planner for the chief of staff of the Army;
executive officer to the director, Defense Logistics Agency; and
deputy chief of staff for logistics G-4. She deployed with the 82d
as the division parachute officer for Desert Shield and Desert
Storm from September 1990 to March 1991, and in 2001, as
1st COSCOM commander she deployed the LOG task force in
support of OEF1 and stood up the Joint Logistics Command in
Uzbekistan in support of CJTF-180. As commander of SDDC,
she supported the largest deployment and redeployment of U.S.
forces since WWII.
Her awards and decorations include: the Distinguished
Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Defense Superior Service
Medal; Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Defense
Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with
www.MLF-kmi.com
Silver Oak Leaf Cluster; Army Commendation Medal; the Army
Achievement Medal; the National Defense Service Medal with
Bronze Star; SWASM (two campaign stars); and the Kuwait Liberation Medal. Her badges include the Master Parachutist Badge
and the Parachute Rigger Badge.
She has been recognized as a 2001 Distinguished Alumni for
the State University of New York at Cortland, the 2004 recipient of the National Defense Transportation Association’s DoD
Distinguished Service Award, the 2007 recipient of the Military
Order of the World Wars Distinguished Service Award and the
2009 recipient of the Association of the Industrial College of the
Armed Forces Eisenhower Award. She also received an honorary
Doctorate of Humane Letters from the State University of New
York at Cortland in 2009.
General Dunwoody was interviewed by Editor-in-Chief Jeff
McKaughan.
Q: As the December deadline for Iraq approached, what were
the challenges that AMC faced as time compressed?
A: The key challenge for us was to balance the sheer size and
scope of AMC’s global mission while at the same time completing the drawdown of Iraq. We were engaged on two fronts—
MLF 6.1 | 25
Afghanistan and Iraq—while supporting contingency operations
in places like Haiti, Pakistan and Japan. We finalized the largest
BRAC in history. Eleven thousand AMC employees were impacted
by BRAC, which is one in six of our employees, mostly civilians,
and many of them moving for the first time in their lives. I was
truly inspired and amazed at the job they did maintaining consistent support to the warfighter.
I think it’s important for folks to remember that our drawdown in Iraq was one of the largest retrogrades in U.S. history
and really represented ‘Ph.D.-level’ logistics. Some of your readers probably remember studying the famous Red Ball Express
from WWII. What we’ve had to do in Iraq is comparable. Just to
give you a visual, if you put all the equipment in Iraq into a single
convoy, it would stretch over 2,000 miles. Now that’s a challenge.
It’s also important to remember that AMC serves as an extension of the CENTCOM and ARCENT families and is a member of
that great logistics team. The magnitude of the president’s mandate required an AMC forward presence to facilitate responsible
drawdown but also to serve as the Army’s executive agent for
reset. One of AMC’s key initiatives in support of the end of our
Iraq operations was to establish our first deployable command
post, the Responsible Reset Task Force [R2TF], in 2009. That
capability enabled us to first gain visibility and accountability
over all equipment, and then to quickly triage that equipment
and distribute it to where it was needed. It’s a forward deployed,
three-star AMC presence, commanded by the AMC deputy commanding general. R2TF served as a large ‘catcher’s mitt’ in
Kuwait for all the equipment coming out of Iraq to ensure we
could not only track it but return it, repair it, dispose of it or
redistribute it. In fact, because of our R2TF effort, more than 50
percent of the equipment needed for the Afghan surge was supplied from equipment coming out of Iraq—a tremendous cost
avoidance. R2TF is now a model for the coming Afghan drawdown as we shift our focus to provide the same level of support
for Operation Enduring Freedom.
We also continued the reset of our Army’s equipment after a
very hard decade at war to regenerate combat power for the next
deployed forces. This meant operating our depots, arsenals and
plants at three times the rate we ran them at the height of the
Vietnam War.
Q: These are still very uncertain times, but can you speak to
the missions that AMC is tasked with and what the impacts will
be if budgets are reduced? Can you continue to do more with
less, or is the reality that at some point, all missions will not be
possible and still be done at the required levels?
A: We’ve all been through times of doing more with less and less
with less, but I think we have opportunities to consolidate and
optimize capabilities. AMC is getting after the budget challenge.
We want to be part of the solution. It’s going to come down to
balancing our ends, ways and means. We know the ‘ends,’ our
missions, all of those things that our leaders and the American
people expect our Army to accomplish, won’t change.
So the only answer is to get after the ‘ways.’ We have to fundamentally change the way we do business. It means adapting the
institutional Army—our part of the Army that generates combat
power—to be as flexible and agile as the operational Army. We
haven’t really adapted the institutional Army in over 40 years.
26 | MLF 6.1
So we now have a 21st-century operational Army, supported by a
mid-20th-century institutional Army. Relentless commitment to
institutional adaptation is one way we’ll be able to better balance
all of our many mission requirements.
Speaking of adapting, along with our partners at the Assistant
Secretary of the Army for Acquisitions, Logistics and Technology
[ASA/ALT], we’ve been engaged in a major Secretary of the Army
directed effort to identify efficiencies and optimize how the Army
does materiel development and sustainment. This effort is really
going to pay dividends in the coming years—not just in terms of
money, but in terms of adapting our institutional processes and
organizations.
One of our key responsibilities at AMC, as we go through
this budget process, will be to ensure we retain those critical
capabilities that exist throughout our nation’s industrial base. I
like to refer to our depots, arsenals and plants—and the skilled
people who work in them—as national treasures. Not only are
they the foundation for resetting our equipment as we prepare
to meet the challenges of the coming years, but they represent
capabilities that often exist nowhere outside our Army. So maintaining critical capabilities, while working to optimize the size of
our industrial base needed for Army 2020, will remain a primary
focus for us.
Fortunately, I think if you look at the major efforts underway
now, for example the defense strategic guidance and the defense
budget priorities and choices that the president, SECDEF and
the chairman released just last month, you’ll see that we recognize these potential consequences and we’re all committed
to making tough strategic choices, prioritizing the capabilities
we need, eliminating redundancies and identifying where we’re
willing to accept risk to make informed decisions about the way
ahead.
Q: What, if anything, is left to do to wrap up the loose ends of
BRAC and bring everything together?
A: Well, I’m proud to say that our BRAC mission—a challenging
seven-year terrain walk—is now successfully complete and we
did it on time or, in many cases, ahead of schedule. Not many
people know that this last BRAC round was the largest in the
history of the Army, three times larger than the Army’s previous
three BRACs combined. In fact, at AMC, BRAC impacted one out
of every six employees, more than any other organization in the
Army.
A lot of people view BRAC as big blue arrows moving around
on a map, but it’s the human dimension that’s key to understanding BRAC’s impact. Those aren’t arrows—they’re people
with families. Because AMC is 97 percent civilian, we were asking many of our folks to move for the first time in their lives.
That’s a very tough decision. So we had to recognize that and
support our unique, talented workforce throughout the BRAC
process—whether they elected to move with us or move on to
other opportunities.
We also used BRAC as an opportunity—not just to move—
but to reorganize and posture ourselves for the future. At our
new AMC HQ, we have designed and implemented a world-class
operations center that equals any other major logistics provider
in the private sector such as FedEx or UPS. For the first time in
Army history, we have an integrated operations center providing
www.MLF-kmi.com
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Supply ChAin
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MAintenAnCe
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near real time and real-time visibility of the materiel and services
our warfighters need.
We shifted our AMC centers of gravity to four locations—
Redstone Arsenal, Ala., Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Warren,
Mich., and Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.—to take advantage of synergies in our organization. For example, at Redstone, where our
headquarters is now located, we also have the U.S. Army Security
Assistance Command, the Army Contracting Command—along
with Aviation and Missile Command which was already there.
Now that BRAC is complete, we can focus on enhancing our collaboration, while leveraging new state-of-the-art technologies.
Overall though, I think what I am most proud of when it
comes to BRAC is how our workforce continued to support the
warfighter in both theaters, supported contingency operations
around the globe—all without missing a beat.
Q: Is the organization now structured in such a way to do what
it needs to do during the time of continuing conflict and when
that too winds down?
A: I mentioned earlier how critical institutional adaption would
be to AMC’s future and how we need to do business in a fundamentally different way. Well, we’ve already made a lot of progress
toward some of those goals. Over the last 10 years, we’ve really
operationalized AMC to link the industrial base to the operational force and to focus on supporting the joint force and our
combatant commanders. For example, our Army field support
brigades, Army contracting brigades and transportation brigades
are all now aligned with each of the COCOMS in order to respond
to the needs of the joint warfighter across the logistics spectrum.
All of that structure is new since 9/11 and it is important to realize that joint is more than just a joint headquarters or a joint
manning document. For us at AMC, it is about how the Army sustains all our joint and coalition partners under a wide variety of
operational circumstances. These brigades support USMC, USAF,
USN and special operations forces all across the fight.
Today’s AMC is truly organized along the needs of the joint
warfighter across the entire logistics spectrum, from research
and development to contracting, to ammunition and to global
distribution.
We’ve also better aligned our AMC core competencies
through efforts like the transfer of installation directorates of
logistics from our garrison commanders to AMC, along with
realigning responsibility for the maintenance of TRADOC’s
training fleet to AMC. We’re also conducting a special installation pilot program to transfer management of AMC installations
to IMCOM. Each of those efforts allows us to focus on what our
respective commands do best.
Another of the Army’s key efforts is to get after the total life
cycle cost of a product. AMC is working closely with Heidi Shyu
and her entire ASA/ALT team to find better predictions of operation and sustainment [O&S] costs in products, which can easily
exceed initial procurement costs. This is extremely important
as wartime supplemental funding ends. We at AMC are looking
very closely for better ways to forecast O&S costs and invest
up front in smarter ways to reduce the overall life cycle costs.
Some of the ways that AMC is already doing this is through the
use of condition-based maintenance, corrosion control and item
unique identification tracking.
28 | MLF 6.1
There’s still more to do, of course. Our vision for AMC 2020 is
to be a globally networked, fully transparent, materiel enterprise
that serves as a single entry point for the logistics needs of our
joint forces. We want AMC 2020 to be an adaptable and scalable
organization that brings the full power of the national industrial
base to our forward deployed forces. Our goal will be to optimize
ourselves for efficient and effective sustainment, distribution
and reset, while providing global, end-to-end visibility of our
materiel.
That’s a mighty big vision, but we’re well on our way to
achieving it.
Q: What would be the top two or three accomplishments that
AMC looks back on over the past two years?
A: What I’m most proud of is that in spite of BRAC, in spite of
the demands to support global contingency operations, hands
down—our greatest accomplishment was and is our continued
ability to support our warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve
visited the CENTCOM theater many times and our senior commanders there always tell me they never worry about logistics—
and this is in some of the toughest distribution environments
imaginable. Believe me, there’s no greater compliment for a
logistician than that. By operationalizing our command and
moving AMC right into the foxhole, our soldiers and civilians
have proven themselves and earned the credibility and trust of
our joint force commanders.
Along with how our command has adapted to meet to the
demands of our joint forces, I’m also very proud that the Secretary of the Army, back on March 22, 2011, designated AMC as
the lead materiel integrator [LMI] for the entire Army. The LMI
approach to materiel management stands out as a transformational model for the Army and will forever change how the Army
equips our warfighter. In fact, it’s the key to getting us to our
AMC 2020 vision. Through LMI, we’ll leverage state-of-the-art
automation to establish one distribution manager, one source
of repair, one authoritative database, all working together to
provide the kind of visibility I was just talking about—visibility
of every piece of equipment across the Army. LMI will allow AMC
to optimize supply against demand, minimize friction, and make
distribution decisions in minutes or hours instead of weeks or
months.
As we execute LMI, we are seeing Army wide materiel management efficiencies and cost savings. LMI will give us the visibility
and flexibility we didn’t have and is a premier example of the kind
of institutional adaptation that will really help us move toward
our goal of becoming a globally networked logistics enterprise.
There are so many accomplishments that I’m equally proud
of as well. From establishing the Army Contracting Command
and increasing our civilian professional contracting workforce
by more than 25 percent; to expanding our foreign military
sales program by more than 300 percent—a critical tool for our
COCOMs as they build the capacity of allies and partners around
the globe; to the folks at our Chemical Materials Agency, who’ve
helped us meet many of our nation’s chemical destruction and
demilitarization treaty obligations, more than five years ahead
of schedule; to moving the Directorates of Logistics under AMC.
Everywhere you look in AMC, you’ll see truly amazing accomplishments like these.
www.MLF-kmi.com
EXTENDING A LIFELINE TO THE
FRONTLINE
© 2012 Lockheed Martin Corporation
THIS IS HOW
ADVANCED LOGISTICS AND SUSTAINMENT
Ensuring our troops have what they need. Where and when they need it. Maintaining, repairing and tracking essential equipment.
With a record of superior performance in operations, maintenance, and supply chain management, Lockheed Martin provides
the logistics support that is the foundation for the fight. Mission readiness and sustainment is all a question of how. And it is the
how that Lockheed Martin delivers.
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Q: How can the Army
contracting process be
improved? Is the Army proactive enough in contracting
with small businesses?
A: Well, there’s really been—
not just improvements—but
a real revolution in how the
Army does contracting. I
just mentioned the establishment of the Army Contracting Command and the
expansion of our contracting workforce as one of our
key accomplishments. We’ve
hired and trained more than
900 new acquisition professionals to meet growing
demand for contract operations. In addition, we’re
implementing initiatives
such as our service contract
reform, a tool that will incorThese restored HMMWVs were prepared to ship back overseas if necessary. [Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army]
porate better buying power
and optimization of service
contracts across our Army.
other, they enable us to resolve differences and build confidence
Another evolution in contracting is the Enhanced Army Global
and respect. Trusting relationships create environments where
Logistics Enterprise [EAGLE] contract. It’s a new way of doing
business using standardized contracts, expanded competition creative ideas and problem solving can flourish.
A lack of trust results in more rules, more oversight, more
and a reduced acquisition lead time. It delivers three functions:
review and more bureaucracy and that is especially hard on small
maintenance, supply and transportation services and incorporates
business. Trust is really a must for those of us in our business as
the better buying power and optimization of service contracting
we confront the challenges of the years ahead.
directives.
I’ve also had the opportunity to engage with small business
Q: To be successful as the Army’s lead materiel integrator, I
and industry in a number of forums. I always tell them—and it’s a
would think that there is a heavy reliance on a sophisticated
message we need to continually reinforce—that there are plenty of
and interconnected IT system that communicates with all of the
opportunities still out there despite the current resource environvarious stakeholders in the process. How would you describe the
ment. Opportunities to help us reset and upgrade existing platIT infrastructure that AMC has built and what is being done to
forms, opportunities in research and development, opportunities
improve it?
in using energy and resources more efficiently and opportunities in
foreign military sales, which helps build the capacity of our interA: You’re absolutely right. In fact, the heart and soul of LMI will
national partners while preserving our U.S. industrial base. Small
be a single information system, called the Logistics Information
business delivers the innovation, adaptation and rapid technologiWarehouse or LIW. It’s the single, authoritative logistics database
cal advancements we need.
for our entire Army.
Again, there’s still more to do. We need policies that incentivFor the first time ever, with LIW, we’ll have a common operize good behavior and optimize performance in both Army and
ating picture for all of our many materiel stakeholders to access
industry and we, in the Army, need to continue to transform our
information and establish total asset visibility worldwide. It will
contracting processes to allow small business and industry more
not only make source data available for everyone across the matepredictability and transparency.
riel life cycle, but will also allow us to divest ourselves of some
You know, one of the keys to success in our small business
legacy information systems. The key is to provide the best inforefforts is for us to move from building strategic partnerships to
mation to the Department of the Army to allow the Army to make
building strategic relationships. I think “partnerships” often conthe best decisions.
notes primarily business deals, and I think we need to grow beyond
that to relationships that are built on a foundation of trust. General
Q: What is the role of the Responsible Reset Task Force today?
Odierno, in his initial guidance to the Army, highlighted the importance of ‘trust’ as the bedrock of our Army profession. I believe it’s
A: R2TF is our Army face forward that facilitates CENTOM and
also the bedrock of AMC’s relationship with our many stakeholdARCENT retrograde while serving as the Army agent for reset.
ers. Trust and communication help us to better understand each
30 | MLF 6.1
www.MLF-kmi.com
It’s been a tremendous success. The task force has supported the
retrograde of over 2.4 million pieces of equipment, the closure
of 250 FOBs and 18 supply support activities, and avoided over
$731 million in costs while managing retrograde to generate
combat power for the next deployment.
Now, our focus is to shift the R2TF lens to Afghanistan and
set the stage for our Afghan drawdown. There will be some new
challenges as we wind down OEF. For example, as we departed
Iraq, we were fortunate to have Kuwait to act as a hub for our
equipment retrograde effort. We won’t have that in Afghanistan.
It’s a landlocked country the size of Texas with few paved roads
and 18 to 20,000 foot mountains. When you add in elements
like the border delays, you can really see why this is such a
tough distribution environment. Yet we’ll need to achieve the
same kind of visibility, accountability and velocity of equipment
retrograde that we accomplished in Iraq.
Q: Several months ago, several teams at AMC received Army
Lean Six Sigma recognition for their efforts. As an organizational leader, what are you doing to further embrace what Lean
Six Sigma [LSS] brings to the institution and are there efforts
to go even farther?
A: One of things that’s most impressive about our AMC workforce is their commitment to continuous business processes
improvement and transformation. Because of that, we’re seeing
enormous operational efficiencies and financial benefits that
reduce cost and process cycle time for our equipment.
Not too long ago, it used to be that we benchmarked industry—now industry often benchmarks us. We’re using multiple
approaches to include Lean Six Sigma and Value Engineering
and we have real proof that it’s working. AMC has earned 26
Shingo Medallions since 2005 for our Lean improvements. And
AMC prides itself on our LSS self-sufficiency. We now have 17
certified LSS Master Black Belts; that’s 1/3 of all the Master
Black Belts in the entire Army. Overall our total continuous
process improvement benefits since 2007 exceed $5.9 billion
dollars. This is just one more example of how AMC is transforming the way it does business and something that will really help
us get after the budget challenges we’ll be confronting.
Q: In what ways is AMC tackling green initiatives to be better stewards of the environment and become less fossil fuel
dependent?
A: Integrating power and energy solutions is one of my top
priorities. We’re using an integrated approach to energy that’s
aligned with the OSD Strategy and Army Campaign Plan and
we’re working closely with Katherine Hammack, the Assistant
Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment and her team. AMC’s efforts are focused on energy and
resource science and technology along with leveraging LOGCAP
and contractor energy efficiencies.
Across the industrial base, our AMC units are focusing on
demand reduction and enhancing our capabilities at our installations and contingency bases. Some great success stories so far
include the wind turbine at Tooele, the first major wind turbine
in the Army, and Tooele’s future renewable efforts like the Sterling solar array.
www.MLF-kmi.com
At some of our other installations, we are looking at wind,
biomass and geothermal projects to move toward clean, renewable energy. So far, we’ve invested over $16 million for various
energy savings and renewable projects. AMC agencies on several
installations are part of a larger Army net zero effort to conserve
energy and water and to eliminate waste to landfills.
In the operational energy arena, we’re leaning forward as
well. In Afghanistan, we have the Microgrid Project, which is
the first attempt by DoD to evaluate microgrid technologies in
an operational environment. It enables the use of alternative
energy sources and energy storage. We’re also heavily involved
in the AMPS generator fielding and the testing of solar shades
and thermal quilts for shelters. One of the most exciting new
technologies we are working on is the use of more efficient and
lightweight soldier power technologies. This will give our soldiers more power for tactical use while reducing our reliance on
massive amounts of liquid fuel and lugging around heavy battery
packs.
Q: Any closing thoughts?
A: I want to emphasize three important things. First, our success
always comes down to our people. At AMC, we have an incredibly
talented workforce made up of over 69,000 people and 97 percent
are civilians—that’s one out of every four civilians in our Army,
and we are part of an even larger Army team. Thousands of these
civilian professionals have deployed since 9/11 and many have
skills and abilities that exist nowhere outside our Army. As we
move to reshape ourselves for the Army of 2020, I want AMC to
be a champion for our Army Civilian Corps—a loud and a proud
voice—to ensure we not only preserve this tremendous resource,
but that we also do all we can to incorporate the talent, ability
and leadership potential of our Army civilians across the total
force.
Second, we can never forget what we owe to this generation
of veterans. I know many of your readers are leaders in public
service and in the defense industry and this is an area where we
need their help. The unemployment rate for our disabled veterans is 50 percent higher than for their counterparts and we can
do something about that.
At AMC, we’ve established a program called Always a Soldier
to hire wounded warriors. Recently, we also partnered with the
Naval Sea Systems Command—together we’re the two largest
employers of civilians in DoD with more than 115,000 employees—to hire even more. We owe these veterans a future that’s
equal to their service and sacrifice and we welcome opportunities
to help in any way.
Finally, we all understand there are some very challenging
years ahead as we confront an era of reduced resources and an
uncertain international environment. We must continue to be
good stewards and look at where we can gain efficiencies, but I
worry if the institutionalized bureaucracy will allow us to adapt
in order to achieve these efficiencies.
But believe me, if we can accomplish all we have over the
last decade—engaged on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
responding to contingency ops all around the globe, all while
executing the largest BRAC in history—working together, I’m
absolutely confident we can overcome the challenges of the coming decade. O
MLF 6.1 | 31
Expeditionary Base Camps
Housing and protecting the warfighter in extreme locations.
By Peter Buxbaum
MLF Correspondent
The U.S. armed forces’ expeditionary posture of recent years
has challenged logisticians to position forces, equipment and supplies at forward locations expeditiously. Future engagements will
also likely require the military to deploy forces and materiel to
hot spots within a matter of days.
The complexity of such operations presents logistical problems, but the military has learned from recent experience that
logistics can provide solutions as well. By planning the deployment of expeditionary base camps with an eye toward logistics,
the Department of Defense can come up with concepts and solutions that allow for the quick and efficient delivery and setup of
forward installations.
The U.S. Army is now strategizing on how to develop base
camps that are modular, scalable and easily deliverable. The logistics implications of base camps go beyond the delivery and setup
of structures. Army data shows that 18 percent of U.S. casualties
in Iraq and Afghanistan are related to ground supply missions
and that as much as 80 percent of resupply or convoy weight in
theater is made up of fuel and water. Fuel efficient generators and
heating and air conditioning units, therefore, reduce the logistics
burden required in setting up and operating base camps. Water
treatment systems likewise streamline logistics and reduce the
risk of casualties by taking truck convoys off dangerous roads.
The Army’s suppliers are already providing products and
solutions that anticipate these logistics requirements and are
continuing to pursue innovations that will make the processes of
delivering, establishing and operating expeditionary base camps
more effective.
“The Army has acknowledged the need to institutionalize contingency bases,” said Lieutenant Colonel Brad Hodge, an assistant product manager for force sustainment systems. “A lot of
expeditionary camps used in Iraq and Afghanistan are ad hoc. We
are trying to standardize what needs to be integrated into a fully
functional base camp. There is a contingency-basing community
of practice looking at the development of base camps and their
employment in the current fight and future military activities.”
“We have learned that we may be staying in some locations
for long periods of time,” said John Munroe, the Army’s chief
32 | MLF 6.1
engineer for force sustainment systems. “We want to make the
base camps operate better and more efficiently. We want to take
trucks off the road because these are often the targets for insurgents. These are big issues that have both strategic implications
and opportunities.”
The Army is moving toward an “integrated and holistic
approach” toward the planning of expeditionary camps, said
Munroe, which is characterized by modularity, scalability and
extensibility as well as by resource and manpower efficiency and
environmental effectiveness. These bases normally accommodate
between 200 and 1,000 personnel, but must to be flexible in order
to meet the requirements of different missions.
“Many times the camps will expand or contract or both in different directions,” said Munroe. “The ability to morph the camp
to different capabilities, sizes and scales is very important to this
integrated approach.”
Resource efficiency refers essentially to effective fuel and
water management. Manpower efficiency strives toward setting
up and taking down camps with as few personnel as possible. The
environmental component speaks to capabilities that allow for the
setup, operation and removal of base camps with minimal impact
on the local environment.
The Army program of record for expeditionary base camps is
the Force Provider integrated system. The system, transportable
in TRICON containers, consists of shelters for billeting, administration, dining facilities, showers and latrines; environmental
control units and Tactical Quiet 60 kilowatt generators; and the
shower water reuse system, which filters and reuses 75 percent of
the water used for showers.
“The system is currently based on a 600-person base camp
model but is deployable in 150-person modules,” said Hodge.
“Each 150-soldier module can be deployed in a single C-17.” For
differing climates and missions there are add-on capability kits
available, such as insulated tent liners, solar shades, ballistic protection kits and others.
The building blocks of expeditionary base camps are their
structures. Shelters for base camps may be the more traditional
framed tent-like units or inflatable structures using patented
www.MLF-kmi.com
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The CRS meets the growing need for energy efficiency and far exceeds that of current tent structures by
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AirBeam technology. Force Provider currently favors the inflatable variety, manufactured by HDT Engineered Technologies.
HDT AirBeam shelters produce a fiber-reinforced composite
capable of containing high gas pressure that resists bending.
“These base camp shelters can be formed in a multitude of different shapes, allowing for many uses,” said Mike Stolarz, vice
president for business development at HDT Engineered Technologies. “AirBeam shelters are light weight, low cube and are rapidly
erected.”
HDT also manufactures framed structures known as the BaseX Expedition Shelter system. “The patented folding frame design
gives the system superior strength and rapid setup and strike capabilities,” said Stolarz. “This performance is achieved while keeping
the system to a minimum weight and size when packed, making
it more mobile and easier to ship.”
DHS Systems’ DRASH (Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter)
systems are used for a variety of
applications in many remote locations around the world by the U.S.
military and NATO. “Currently, we
are most known for providing the
Army with the trailer mounted support system in cooperation with
Northrop Grumman’s command
post platform,” said Ron Houle, vice
Mike Stolarz
president for government relations
at DHS. “We are able to provide
high mobility tactical operations
centers that can be rapidly deployed
for command and control and communications on the battlefield.”
The TMSS is towable by a HMMWV
and includes a power generator and
environmental control unit.
The DRASH shelter’s components boast advanced technology
such as Titanite, an aerospace comRon Houle
posite that makes up most of the
shelter’s frame and is 270 percent stronger than aluminum. Xytex
is a specially coated fabric that is fire retardant, mildew resistant,
water repellent and resistant to abrasion and ultraviolet rays.
DRASH recently introduced shelters featuring the new Xytex 500
fabric, which uses nanotechnology to provide protection against
microbes.
“The name of the game is adaptability,” said Mark Pickett,
marketing director, AAR Mobility Systems. “Missions change,
requirements transform, environments vary. We understand this
so well that we base our product designs on the ability to make
adjustments to accommodate mission requirements, especially
when it comes to shelters.”
AAR has a comprehensive range of intermodal shelter systems
including air mobile shelters (AMS), 20-foot ISO shelters, and
vehicle-mounted shelters. Their AMS line offers six variants; two
that are non-expandable single pallet and double pallet positions,
two that are soft-sided expandable, and two that are hard-sided
expandable. All are made of lightweight aluminum, feature 463L
locking detent rails, and are air-transportable and helicopterslingable.
34 | MLF 6.1
Their 20-foot ISO shelters include non-expandable, 2:1 expandable, and 3:1 expandable units. All are air-transportable in the C-130
with their 463L-compatible detachable detent rails, eliminating the
need for pallets and chains at the airfield.
The vehicle-mounted shelters include some that are permanently mounted to their carrier vehicle, while others are designed to
be positioned on the ground so that transport vehicles can perform
other functions.
One of their newest shelter systems is the Lightweight Multipurpose Shelter (LMS). “Manufactured to be permanently mounted
onto a HMMWV, this unique shelter comes in four types including
a shortened version as well as EMI shielding and a double-door
configuration,” said Pickett. “Its modular design gives the customer versatility across a broad mission spectrum to include command and control applications.”
AAR also services existing mobility assets of their customers.
With constrained budgets, it may not be feasible for customers to
purchase new products. “AAR has a very skilled services group to
provide maintenance, repair, reset, sustainment and modifications
of not only our current and past products, but the products of other
manufacturers as well,” said Pickett. “Our customer is telling us
that they must sustain their existing shelter and container equipment to support the war fighter, and we are listening.”
Camss has provided camp kits to all of the U.S. armed services,
which include frame shelters of varying shapes and sizes as well
as power generation and distribution systems and heating and air
conditioning units. “We provide complete camp packages,” said
Morgan Brooke, a company program manager. “It is all plug and
play, meaning that everything a forward operating base needs is
included with the package. The camp packages are very modular so
that more capacity can be built on if more personnel are sent to a
particular area.”
Camss strives to produce shelters that are compact and light
weight. “We have a manufacturing capability that allows us to form
and shape the frame so that they use less space,” said Brooke. “We
are able to pack more square footage into a smaller space, which
saves money on transportation.”
AirBeam technology has some advantages, acknowledged
Brooke. “But some folks who have looked at AirBeam, including
NATO and the Canadian and Israeli militaries, have moved away
from it,” he said. But Munroe and Hodge contend that the AirBeam
structures are quicker and safer to put up.
Stolarz of HDT, which makes both frames and AirBeam shelters,
said that the optimality of each type boils down to the specific situation. “If you have the manpower but limited generator support,
the frame shelter makes more sense,” he said. “If you are building
a large base camp and want to reduce the manpower involved in
setting it up and have a generator, then the needle starts moving
toward AirBeam. You can just fill it and forget it.”
Makers of barrier systems suitable for expeditionary base camps
have also developed products that are logistics friendly. Fiberweb,
the makers of Defencell, have created barriers that Frank Hollowell,
the company’s senior sales manager, dubbed “sandbags on steroids.”
“Defencell allows the warfighter to quickly and effectively build
barriers for bullet, fragmentation, blast and crash protection, even
in the most remote locations,” said Hollowell. “It is light in weight
and man-portable. It also has a small logistical footprint. Large volumes of materials can be stored and moved in small spaces and it is
also air portable and droppable.”
www.MLF-kmi.com
The Defencell containers are made of a non-woven, threedimensional geotextile that dampens the effect of impacts to it.
They can be filled with any available, flowable material such as
sand, soil, or rock. “Sand is recommended because it absorbs the
most energy,” said Hollowell. “Rock is least desirable for military
applications because of the danger of secondary fragmentation.”
The product was designed with a reduced logistical burden
in mind. “That means you get more value for the shipping and
storage and less space is required,” said Hollowell, “which lowers total life cycle costs and allows
more space available for other
essentials. A 1,000-foot perimeter
forward operating base with 8-foot
high walls can be sling-loaded in
one 20-foot container on a Chinook
helicopter.” U.S. Navy construction
battalions have made use of Defencell.
Delivering power to expeditionary base camps is one problem
Kevin Duke
being tackled by DRS Technologies
with its on board vehicle power
(OBVP) technology solutions. “These solutions are embedded
within a vehicle drive line and are capable of delivering large
amounts of either AC or DC power to off-vehicle demand loads that
would be common in expeditionary base camps,” said Kevin Duke,
a company vice president.
The value proposition of OBVP is that power can be delivered wherever a vehicle can be driven. “Normally, soldiers are
required to tow generators or occupy valuable cargo space with
skid mounted power generation sources, both of which can limit
mobility and range of the vehicle,” said Duke. “With OBVP, the
power system is transparent to the cargo space and does not
require a towed trailer.”
DRS has worked with vehicle manufacturers to engineer
the OBVP solutions. “They preserve existing vehicle drive lines
and deliver integrated power systems that don’t impact vehicle
drivability and reliability,” said Duke. “All of the DRS OBVP
systems provide for the power generation capability without
having to burden the vehicle with energy storage devices that
present other types of problems.”
DRS has delivered the OBVP system in over 1,100 HMMWVs to
the U.S. Marine Corps. The Army is currently evaluating the system. The Army is also currently testing DRS’s Combined Heating
Air-conditioning Medium Mobile Power System, which is capable
of providing five tons of heating or cooling and 30 kilowatts of
power to support base camps.
Solutions utilized for expeditionary base camps have made use
of recent innovations, noted Hodge. “The AirBeam shelter is one
innovation allowing for an improved transportation capability as
well as more rapid setup and strike times,” he said. “The all-electric
kitchen is based on warfighter feedback and allows for increased
sanitation while delivering a quality meal more efficiently. Energy
efficiency kits are a recent improvement to reduce the necessity of
convoys through the conservation of fuel by attacking the demand
side of power usage with a more efficient overall system.”
Energy efficiency kits are comprised of insulated tent liners,
solar shades and a micro-grid system compatible with tactical
quiet generators. Micro-grids are essentially management systems
that allow power to be distributed to various camp components
based upon their individual demands.
Hodge expects future innovations to continue focus on
increased efficiency through reductions in fuel and water consumption. “We are working toward reduction in water resupply
demand by adding waste water treatment and filtering systems for
water reuse,” he said, “and reduction in the entire waste stream
including solid and liquid waste by incorporating incinerators and
waste-to-energy technologies. Integration of these capabilities will
also reduce manpower necessary to manage and operate the base
camp.” The Army has plans to start production of a water reclamation system in 2014 and of a wastewater recycling system in 2016.
“We are also looking at quality of life and durability through
the employment of insulated containerized, deployable rigid
walled structures,” said Hodge. DRS Technologies has developed
Logistical Support
to the Last Tactical Mile-Pikes Peak Cargo Secure, Inc.
Pikes Peak Cargo Secure, Inc. (PPCS) manufactures the Modular Intermodal Logistics System (MiLS™)
a comprehensive suite of tactical pallet and load assembly platforms, containers and straps, tie-downs,
slings, pallets, and heavy duty container/vehicle recovery systems that are Class IX and NSN’d (or pending)
to provide “Logistical Support to the Last Tactical Mile”.
The core component of the PPCS “Configured Load” logistics system is the Pallet Load Assembly –
Tactical™ (PLA-T™) platform. The PLA-T™ provides the critical missing link between “ground to air to
ground” cargo transport for most Classes of Supplies. PPCS developed the TL-FICCS™, AL-FICCS™ and
CL-FICCS™ in response to the need for collapsible and reusable tactical containers. PPCS also supports
sandbags, tri-wall boxes and wooden pallets.
For more information contact: Rob Henley, Director Sales & Marketing, Phone (719) 579-0476, [email protected], www.ppcsinc.com
www.MLF-kmi.com
MLF 6.1 | 35
hard-walled shelters as an alternative to the
tent-like construction in the typical base
camp. The hard-walled shelters are especially suitable for base camps that include
UAV ground control shelters and refrigerated containers for food storage, according
to Dan Ryan, DRS’s vice president of shelter
and support systems. “These shelters have
been designed and qualified to withstand
the rigors of military transportation as well
as withstanding harsh environments that
range from arctic to desert deployments,”
said Ryan. “They are designed for rapid
deployment anywhere in the world.” They
have also been designed to promote thermal
efficiency and to provide electromagnetic
shielding to protect communications.
DHS is following the lead unveiled in
2011 in the Pentagon’s first “Operational Planning, technology and mobility allows the FOB in a box to be a reality. [Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army]
Energy Strategy,” a plan that will transform
the way fuel is used in theater. “The strategy
will increase the energy efficiency of operaFrom large items such as generators to small supply and
tions and minimize the amount of defense resources on energy
warfighter gear, most equipment is moved forward in a container of
consumption,” said Houle. “We are in a unique position to support
some sort. In response to requests from soldiers at Fort Carson for
this strategy with our next-generation utility support trailers that
a container that was durable, reusable, stackable and waterproof,
transport the shelter systems. They are equipped with DRASH
Pikes Peak Cargo Secure (PPCS) developed the TL-FICSS (tactical
Intelligent Power Technology, a digital power management system
lightweight-flexible integrated collapsible container system) in
that permits operators to create networked micro-grids in the
2005. “These containers provide an asset that the Army has never
field. Testing has shown its ability to significantly reduce current
had in the past,” said Rob Henley, PPCS director, government sales
military fuel consumption over current technologies in the field,
and marketing. “The containers are 48 inches long by 40 inches
but also reduce maintenance and provide users with greater flexwide and 30 inches high with mirror image tops and bottoms—
ibility as well.”
and are stackable. Our primary customer base is the Army, but our
DRASH Intelligent Power Technology has been used by solproducts are supported by DLA and GSA, and are stocked in many
diers at the Network Integration Evaluation trials at Fort Bliss.
DLA warehouses, support supply activities, and even in some units
Systems have already been fielded and can be found supporting
as combat spares.”
programs such as terminal high altitude air defense and HarborThe company also produces the CL-FICCS and the AL-FICCS,
master command and control center.
which share dimensions with the others but are not as tall. “The
HDT is toying with the idea of developing a precision air drop
basic design could be scaled down to a minimum height of less
capability, which would deliver a self-deploying camp by air in austhan 6 inches or up to a height of 47 inches without compromising
tere environments. “We’re talking about the art of the possible,”
its basic functionality and strength,” said Henley. “Smaller length
said Stolarz. “The system would hit the ground and with sensors
and width can be accommodated but larger sizes would require
embedded in the containers, or through remote initiation, the
design modifications.”
generator would kick on and the AirBeam shelters would deploy.
These systems are designed to be loaded and strapped onto
With the use of robots, brush could be cleared and the camp laid
the PLA-T (pallet load assembly-tactical) platform, into MILVANs,
out even before the troops get there.”
onto 463Ls and most military vehicles. The PLA-T is designed to
For all of the developments and innovations that have been
support the brigade combat team’s rapid movement of small indewitnessed in this area, the Army’s vision for a modular, scalable,
pendent workforce packages by being loadable onto PLS (containextensible base camp capability is still in its early stages. “We want
erized roll-in/out platform), directly into MILVANs (with minimal
to be able to integrate recreation, morale, welfare and other eleblocking and bracing) and onto 463L pallets.
ments of a base camp that are not now part of Force Provider,”
PPCS’s comprehensive integrated suite is called the modular
said Munroe.
intermodal logistics system. It consists of the PLA-T tactical palWhether or not the Army succeeds in its vision will depend on
let and load assembly platforms, containers and straps, tie-downs,
how well it is accepted within the budget process. “We haven’t won
slings, plastic pallets, and heavy duty container/vehicle recovery
this argument yet as far as getting money for out-year budgets,”
systems that are Class IX and have an NSN. O
said Munroe. “But we are making the argument that the Army can
get a good return on its investment. By investing money in these
capabilities, the Army can derive high value in terms of military
operations, troop detachments, and logistics costs savings, and in
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
realizing a better tooth-to-tail ratio.”
36 | MLF 6.1
www.MLF-kmi.com
Logistics
C2
Connecting every aspect of the logistics
supply chain.
By Christian Bourge
MLF Correspondent
U.S. President General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the allied forces in World War II, once famously opined,
“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns and
even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.”
With the improvements made to the Army’s Battle Command
Sustainment Support System (BCS3) logistics data and tracking
system, which has been in use by various commands and other
joint forces over the last decade, commanders have been able to
take logistics planning and awareness to once-unthinkable levels.
While not without issue, the system allows for the view of command and control (C2) logistics information in near real time.
Improvements to the system continue as Department of
Defense logistics experts and their industry partners look to
improve the flow and quality of information from within the supply chain in order to improve planning and usability. The Army and
industry partners are working to move forward from the original,
sometimes difficult-to-use BCS3 system model with better training and by implementing a more discreet, web-based interface that
can take advantage of the latest wireless technologies.
But the usability of the data that BCS3 aggregates, as well as
the technological improvements that have been made since BCS3
was first developed in 2003 and fielded operationally in Afghanistan and Iraq, are really only as good as the information going into
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the system—particularly, in how that information can be applied
at the command level for operations planning. Even the best logistics system in the world has little usability if commanders can not
easily understand the meaning of the information it has collected
or how it should inform their decisions.
Given the vast flow of information to and from the battlefield—which incudes combat and communications data, automated reports from various combat system information platforms
and logistical pipeline data—it is not a surprise that there are
concerns about the reliability of logistics and shipping information in the system and whether all of this data is properly informing battle decisions.
Sam DeFord, president and CEO of San Diego-based Tapestry
Solutions Inc., which helped design the system for the Army but
has been replaced by IBM in a rebid, said that despite the “great
strides” DoD has made in improving the systems, stovepiped
access to logistics information systems remains an issue. For
instance, the Air Force personnel system is not accessible by
BCS3. “The legacy stovepipe systems have been one of our biggest
problems,” he said.
Calvin Pilgrim, the Army’s product director for Sustainment C2, explained that for BCS3, the basic system only collects
information and pushes it out. It’s up to the individual user how
MLF 6.1 | 37
they apply the data; the need for an individual computer unit for
use has created another stovepipe system on top of the already
convoluted panoply of logistics systems of record across DoD. In
addition, there are issues related to getting proper information
from RFID tags on equipment in transit, such as when the device
is incorrectly modulated.
“We don’t really produce data,” Pilgrim, who oversees the
Army’s BSC3 program, told Military Logistics Forum. “We collect,
aggregate, apply business rules and then push that data out.”
Pilgrim added that some of the stovepipe issues that have
plagued system reliability have been addressed and they continue
working on getting updates from systems of record more often to
ensure data is as up to date as possible.
The Marines’ Holistic Approach to Logistics
For the Marines, who are the second largest users of BCS3
after the Army, the answer to the problems stemming from their
logistics integration issues is their sense and response logistics
(S&RL) undertaking. It is intended to provide real-time actionable
logistic intelligence to individuals for its use as a combat-centric
and controlled operational tool by implementing a network-centric, adaptable logistics model. It’s a logistics concept that has also
been explored by the Navy and Army. Computerized logistics data
systems are an integral part of such a strategy, with the emphasis
on responding to warfighter needs, the visibility of in-transit deliveries and real-time information.
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Krohmer of the Logistics Vision
and Strategy Branch Installation and Logistics Department, United
States Marine Corps Headquarters, told MLF that the historic
military logistics model of stockpiling so-called “iron mountains”
of military equipment needs doesn’t fit into the contemporary
military logistics model, or that of the modern logistician who
uses the latest information to inform command decisions through
information technology. S&RL is partly an attempt to help address
the need to further modernize marine stockpiling.
“For a force that is supposed to be light and responsive, it
really doesn’t meet our needs,” said Krohmer. “We have to come
up with a better way of doing business.”
He explained that S&RL is an overarching management
approach to stovepiped logistics data intended to help commanders and logisticians “making sense of all [the information].” This
will be accomplished through the use of a decision support tool
and other software currently being designed to help respond to
individual command logistic information and fulfillment needs.
Currently in testing, parts of the Marines’ S&RL system will
begin rolling out later this year in a phased approach. The overarching focus will be to provide the latest information to commands electronically, in order to help anticipate and respond to
immediate logistical needs and to inform command decisions.
Although the concept is not logistician focused, it ensures that
logistics data can be used by individual commanders and the
Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
“As we move forward with information technology, it is not
enough to expose data to communications [systems] and make
decisions,” said Krohmer. “There is so much data provided today,
we could easily overwhelm the commands. We can walk into a
command center and we can see BCS3 up there and what it really
shows is a bunch of trucks moving up and down the road. What we
38 | MLF 6.1
have to ask ourselves is, ‘What is on the truck? Where is it going?
What operations requirement is it?’”
Specifically, the tools being designed—with design help on the
information architecture coming from Lockheed Martin—include
a collaborative planning and execution system aimed at ensuring
that battle and other plans are made with the understanding of
logistical ability to support the plan by accessing the collected
electronic information. The top level of the Marine Corps is
addressed with an adaptive planning system intended to allow
Marine HQ to better understand operational need and support
operational decisions.
Krohmer said he could not address technical implementation
specifics but did note that S&RL is being built around a tactical
service-oriented architecture-based applet that allows for varying
system functions. The fully realized, user-defined S&RL system
is also intended to securely integrate on any number of existing
web-accessing systems.
Improving BCS3 Capabilities
As the Marines look toward implementing a tech-based, holistic approach to logistics management’s role in battle, Army logisticians and their industry partners are looking to expand the use of
BCS3 with integrated predictive tools and an easier-to-use wireless
interface that can be used on multiple systems as a replacement to
the current dedicated computer controls.
Despite the issues with the system, advocates argue that the
efficiencies provided by BCS3 can act as a force multiplier in
combat situations. With over 5,000 system computers deployed,
DeFord said that all currently deployed American forces are using
the system. It’s also available for use by 92 percent of active forces.
BCS3 is also fielded by the National Guard and Reserve training
components, as well as by U.S Army Training and Doctrine Command. However, the ability to use the system has not necessarily
resulted in robust access.
Pilgrim said that, in practice, BCS3 is, “a number of different
things to a number of different users.” For instance, outside of
access to aggregated logistics information, commands can take
advantage of what Pilgrim described as one of its core competencies, a standardized format Logistics Reporting Tool implemented
in 2009.
The applet-based application aggregates data submitted by
users on the ground, ramping it for a logistical view of the world.
Procurement officials and commands submit logistics status information using a standardized system, without the need to access
the deployed BCS3 computer box. The system covers everything
from specific units’ asset visibility reports and in-transit supply
status within the distribution network to maintenance and personnel status information, including the number of people available for duty at a given location.
“We provide a map display [or report], aggregate information,
and show [logistics data] at certain situations anywhere in the
world,” said Pilgrim.
He added that while the system aggregates submitted logistics
information regularly available from the multiple logistics systems
of record like the Standard Army Maintenance System and Standard Army Retail Supply System, from an operations standpoint,
BCS3 is increasingly used by the Army to push relevant logistical
information forward, particularly to commanders in the field.
www.MLF-kmi.com
Despite this aggregate level of available access and tailored
use, BCS3 has not been used to the degree originally envisioned,
both because of system problems as well as the sorts of issues the
Marine’s S&RL program intends to address. Individual unit and
field use remains limited despite the broad system penetration.
One initial problem was that information taken from the various
DoD procurement systems of record was aggregated on separate,
unsynchronized BCS3 databases, resulting in the questionable
reliability of some data. In addition, the original, non-intuitive
and cluttered menu interface was perceived as too complicated in
comparison to the graphics-friendly operating interfaces of contemporary PCs. The system computers were initially quite slow
both in boot up and in use.
Some of these problems have been addressed, but data quality
and ease of use issues remain despite improvement. While IBM
has won the contract on re-compete to support principal development and Lockheed Martin is partnering with CACI on the fielding and training of the system, the training model was updated
by Tapestry prior to these changes. In addition to a 24-hour
operations center that will answer user questions, training has
been broken down into sections to allow for focusing on specific
user needs.
DeFord said that one of the major improvements his firm
developed for the BCS3 system is the integration of BCS3-Node
Management (BCS3-NM). In use since 2006, the distribution management software allows command logistics situational awareness
by allowing tracking and management of transportation control
numbers, containers and pallets from shipping to the final destination, with integration not only with Army and Marines systems
but also Air Force, Navy and other DoD or multinational logistics
systems. The Afghanistan ITV Joint Task Force has recommended
that the system be used to develop a joint distribution system for
the Combined Joint Operations Area–Afghanistan.
The Predictive Future of BCS3
With the Army’s Mission Command Collapse Strategy aiming
to merge existing software capabilities to streamline logistics
capabilities that include BCS3 and BCS3-NM, Pilgrim and DeFord
said these systems are being slowly moved from their thick-client,
dedicated component-based roots to a web-oriented, service
oriented architecture or cloud-based model. This will allow for
increased interoperability across DoD systems as well as greater
flexibility and ease of use through portable wireless devices using
secure widgets (or applets).
“We are moving completely away from thick-client technology,” said DeFord. “Operationally, we need to do more than that
[system is capable of] right now.”
This is a major improvement from the current system’s
deployed computer box-based design. The current thick-client
design greatly limits use, especially in theater. The move also
eliminates the stovepiping aspect of deploying the individual
computer boxes. With the exception of the logistics reporting tool
applet—which only accesses unclassified Non-Classified Internet
Protocol Router Network systems and not the classified Secret
Internet Protocol Router Network—the broader BCS3 system
currently does not operate on wireless handheld systems.
“Over the next two, three, four years we are going to provide functionality via web services,” said Pilgrim. “We are using
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Ozone [Web Application Framework] system [for widget design]
because the operations community and intelligence community
are using it.”
Such designs are already moving forward in the commercial
logistics sector. Tapestry Solutions is currently approaching airlines operations with their parent firm Boeing to introduce air
crew scheduling applications tied to an established cloud, with
their parent firm as a model for fleet support. But the use of
web-based applications within the defense sector raises issues of
further systems security issues, particularly when compared to
current designs that run over established secure systems. This is
something Tapestry Solutions’ chief technology officer said can be
addressed.
“One of the big things right now is that DoD has a number of
agencies building up their own core networks and their own infrastructure,” said Tapestry’s Michael Taylor. “We think that is most
like the way they will implement cloud technology. They are trying
to apply security in that way.”
Pilgrim acknowledged that releasing an applet for Armywide,
even potentially DoD-wide use, raises a number of security issues.
There are varying wireless security protocols in use by the individual sub-commands throughout the Army and DoD as a whole.
Nevertheless, he noted there are formal information assurance
standards, including the Army Interoperability Certification, to
ensure any information remains secure through Army or other
DoD network systems and any design doesn’t interfere with any
current systems.
“Before I can put software into field, it has to be tested to
ensure it doesn’t introduce any vulnerability or cause other
systems to have vulnerabilities,” said Pilgrim. “We go through a
battery of tests, specifically in the information assurance arena,
to ensure we don’t introduce vulnerabilities and ensure we don’t
break any other systems.”
Taylor acknowledged that while the government is “trying
to catch up with the quick advancements in mobile technology”
and that security is probably the number one concern in terms of
cloud computing, DoD security needs can be secured though existing wireless encryption technologies. “There are a lot of ways they
can authenticate,” said Taylor.
DeFord also noted that Tapestry is working on a predictive
logistics software for integration into BCS3 to provide predictions
of what supplies and other needs commands will require 60 to 90
days in the future. A version of predictive logistics is already in use
by the Canadian Post to inform its mail distribution services. The
system applies existing data and historical information to algorithms to model future need. This software is part of the Marines’
S&RL efforts.
“If we are capturing this data and history, you can apply it
using algorithms,’ said DeFord. “[But] I think we will have to make
leaps in [logistics information capturing areas] before we can fully
implement predictive technologies.” O
at www.mlf-kmi.com.
MLF 6.1 | 39
DISA continues to push improvements with the
Global Combat Support System.
By Leslie Shaver
MLF Correspondent
The military’s implementation of the
Global Combat Support System (GCSS)
Combatant Commanders/Joint Task Force
is ambitious. The system, designed by the
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA),
is designed to respond to the concept of
focused logistics. That concept, articulated
in Joint Vision 2010 and reinforced in Joint
Vision 2020, combines logistics information
and transportation technologies for any number of scenarios.
GCSS has the ability to track and shift
units, equipment and supplies and the delivery of tailored logistical packages directly to
the warfighter.
“[GCSS] provides the warfighter with a
single end-to-end capability and allows them
to manage and monitor personnel and equipment over real time and through the mobilization process,” said Lieutenant Colonel
Camilla White, the deputy program manager
for GSCC-Joint for DISA. “It also provides
the joint logistics COP [common operating
picture] so you can make sure you can have
the right people, the right equipment, and
the right supplies at the right place and at the
right time.” Basically, in a time of crisis, the
GCSS will inform the warfighter where his or
her assets are.
The GCSS has an agile development process, which means the system is being constantly upgraded and improved. Producing
new versions and adding upgrades is a group
effort between the services, DISA, industry
and the troops in the field. Version 7.3 was
fielded in December. Version 7.3.1 is scheduled to follow this April, and version 7.3.2 will
follow in September.
New Insight
The GSCC brings a number of major
advantages to the table. For example, it
provides timely, accurate and trusted Agile
Combat Support (ACS) information to commanders, their staffs and ACS personnel at
all ranks and echelons, with the appropriate
level of security needed. For the Air Force,
40 | MLF 6.1
the GCSS-AF is the means by which ACSautomated information systems will be modernized and integrated to improve business
processes.
Another advantage is that it has classified
and unclassified versatility. “If you are on a
classified system, you can go to that system or
that desktop, type in the URL to go to the web
page, and you can go straight in and see everything,” White said. “We have servers that push
out to authoritative data sources. It provides
us with that accurate real-time data feed the
warfighter needs to support their mission.”
GSCC enables warfighters to pull realtime fuels and munitions data from authoritative data sources. “It gives them the ability,
instead of going to several different systems
[such as computers, data sources or different
locations within the one system that they’re
on], they can go in through [one] system and
log in,” White said. “When they do, they are
able to view several pieces of data that will give
them the real-time view.”
Essentially, it’s one-stop shopping. In a
world in which people aggregate information
by putting all of their RSS feeds into a news
browsing site instead of going to various web
pages, getting all of your essential information
from one source makes sense. “It prevents
what we consider a ‘swivel chair concept,’
where you are going from various types of
locations in order to get information that you
can get from one single point location,” White
said. “The information [in GSCC] is accurate
and timely. It provides quite a bit of benefits to
the warfighter.”
The GSCC also offers the ability to view
truck tracks. “If you are on or looking in our
system and you have the map view up, you
can actually turn a layer that shows you where
trucks are located because they have a RFID
[radio frequency identification] tag, which is a
satellite view that you can access,” White said.
Mike Clark, deputy director of GCSS for
the Air Force, said that the Air Force and Army
recently conducted a pilot initiative to allow
for the federation of the security services so
that a user of the Army Knowledge Online
(AKO) system could access a capability within
the GCSS-AF infrastructure through a federated security service. Because of this, the user
did not have to carry accounts in both AKO
and GCSS-AF or log off one system to get into
the other.
“Efforts like these will be the key to the
success of the GCSS-J effort and must serve
as the basis for building once and re-using
multiple times, which will get us to the IT
efficiencies we need within DoD,” Clark said.
Pulling Together
While GCSS-J has outstanding potential,
it is ultimately only as good as the sources
providing information. “We are pulling data
from authoritative data sources,” White said.
“We’re dependent on those. We want to make
sure that data is available to the warfighter on
a regular basis all the time. Many data sources,
whether for maintenance or various upgrades
or packages, may not be available. That dependency does cause a challenge for us at times.”
But White’s team seeks solutions. “We
work closely with the joint staff and user community to identify what they are using as data
sources, and where none are available GCSS-J
has provided in the past the ability to use
spreadsheet uploads,” she said.
DLSA uses direct, regular input from
its user community to make upgrades. “In
planning and development, our users have an
opportunity to go into a first look site, which
gives them a quick look at what the current
capability is,” White said. “They can go in
and check it out. They work with us on user
assessment. They provide us with feedback
on what they like and they didn’t like or what
they can do better as we field.”
White’s team coordinates with its functional sponsor, the joint staff J4, to provide
upgrades. The joint staff J4 communicates
with the services so White’s team can consolidate information and see what types of adjustments it needs to make.
“The joint staff J4 does the coordination
amongst the various services in combatant
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command,” she said. “Based on that coordination, we can give or receive the requirements
that we ensure are implemented in a timely
manner.”
The sharing of information in the system
also has benefits for the services. “The Air Force
benefits from the GCSS-J efforts through the
cross-service informational exchanges that
take place during the GCSS family of services
conferences,” Clark said. “These conferences
bring the services together to discuss the
progress and issues associated with bringing
multiple functional capabilities onto a single
infrastructure.”
Clark hopes these practices continue. “It
is important that the services continue to
share information as these hosted functional
applications begin to take on more of a crossservice role,” Clark said. “No longer do we
have just an Air Force need for explosive ordinance disposal information, but now it must
be shared across the services and the data
collected by one service must be shared with
the other services.”
Industry isn’t left out of the process either.
Cooperation between industry and the services plays a key role in providing continuous
improvement. White said DLSA relies on
industry in most of its development efforts
to provide a system open source and leading
edge technology. “We’re integrated with our
contracting company on a regular basis when
we do our development efforts,” White said.
“That’s how industry supports us.”
One company partnering with the services is McLean, Va.-based QinetiQ North
America, which was recently awarded a new
task order by the Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) to provide logistics
and inventory support to the Global Combat
Support Systems of the Marine Corps (GCSSMC). The company will support the GCSS-MC
program office with the integration and fielding of the Warehouse Management System as
a component of the fielded GCSS-MC enterprise system under a $13 million task order. It
will apply logistics applications expertise and
systems management solutions to automate
total force integration tools for GCSS-MC,
which should enhance the material management, equipment accountability/visibility, and
material readiness of serialized equipment, no
matter its status or location in theater.
“MARCORSYSCOM has given us the privilege to expand our existing scope of GCSS-MC
program support with this new task order,”
said John Radziszewski, executive vice president and general manager, QinetiQ North
America.
www.MLF-kmi.com
Continuous Upgrades
White’s team is constantly working to
upgrade through the agile development process. This means troops in the field are
constantly enjoying the latest and greatest
upgrades.
“[GCSS-J] actually provides the
warfighter with new capability every six
months versus the traditional 18 to 24
month timeframe,” she said. “Every six
months, we continue to develop and provide
enhancements and new capabilities. It’s a
constant development effort. Continuous
turnaround is involved in that process.”
White thinks her group does well with
this constant turnaround. “We do a very
good job at being able to handle that challenge and manage those challenges that
come in front of us,” she said. “It is something we have to deal with on a regular
basis.”
Right now, version 7.3 is in the field,
which offered big upgrades. “With 7.3, we
transitioned into a flexible environment,”
White said. “The NIPRNet [Non-secure
Internet Protocol Router Network] versions
of GCSS-J were merely an austere environment that provided a single sign on (SSO)
to the family of system (FOS) applications.
In the GCSS-J v7.3, NIPRNET GCSS-J provides capabilities including querying reports
against FOS members, mapping, truck
tracks; COCOMs [combatant command],
services, agencies, and FOS links; and SSO
support.”
More changes are coming this spring.
“The 7.3.1 version will support the development of web services for our munitions, and
it will also create new watch boards and will
include some Google Earth functionality and
capability,” White said.
There are even bigger goals for the fall
and into 2013. “GCSS-J continues to develop
using the agile method and the goal is to
provide a release of capability every 6 months
to include volume 7.3.2 and beyond,” White
said. “As for now, some of the goals for volume 7.3.2 and beyond are to expand on the
current watch board capability, provide ship
track information and work on a COCOM
LOGCOP [logistics common operating procedure].” 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.
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MLF 6.1 | 41
Securing the Base
Sustainment and modernization of the U.S. ammunition industrial base.
By Brigadier General (Promotable) Gustave F. Perna and Alan R. Buester
It has always been critical to pay deliberate attention to the
ammunition sector’s industrial base. It is even more critical now, as
we face defense budget cuts, that the government-owned ammunition industrial base must not only be sustained, but modernized.
Deliberations must supersede the traditional “business decisions” or return on investment. Investment is crucial to ensure that
ammunition is available and delivered to the battlefield whenever,
wherever and however required.
Within the ammunition sector, the industrial base consists of
some 244 commercial producers and 14 government-owned installations. The installations, also referred to as the “organic industrial
base,” were established in the 1940s. The government provides
the land, infrastructure and resources required to maintain those
ammunition logistics and production capabilities, which the commercial sector finds prohibitive to provide.
In total, the industrial organic base provides 15 production core
competencies that the commercial sector is unable or unwilling to
provide. Most of these core capabilities represent explosive operations and the production of propellants and explosives that are vital
components of all ammunition.
Given the advanced age and often deficient condition of the
organic industrial base, it is imperative to sustain and modernize
it even during times of defense budget cuts. This concept was reinforced recently in the “Organic Industrial Base Capabilities Portfolio
Review” led by General Peter Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army.
A prime example of this concept occurred during the early
days of Operation Desert Storm. At Lake City Army Ammunition
Plant, the facilities and equipment were antiquated and in need of
replacement and upgrades to modern standards. Fortunately, some
upgrades and modernization had already begun, including equipment re-fabrication and infrastructure upgrades. After 9/11, these
sustainment and modernization efforts intensified. The results were
improved production quality and increased machine efficiencies.
Consequently, production capacity expanded from 400 million to 1.5
billion rounds of small arms ammunition per year.
Because of these modernization efforts, which were accomplished during a period of four years, Lake City Army Ammunition
Plant was the only facility in the world that could have fulfilled the
small arms demands of the servicemember at that critical point in
time.
Another illustration of the need to maintain the organic industrial base occurred at Holston Army Ammunition Plant during Desert Storm. The plant had maintained its explosive capabilities during
peacetime, so when demands increased, the necessary capabilities
were already in place to fill a Navy order for 8 million pounds of
CXM-7 explosive for bombs. Production began within six weeks of
receiving the order and was completed in less than a year. Nowhere
else could this order have been met other than at Holston Army
Ammunition Plant.
A recent illustration of the value of modernization of the organic
ammunition industrial base took place at the Nitric Acid Concentration/Sulfuric Acid Concentration [NAC/SAC] facility at Radford Army
Ammunition Plant.
42 | MLF 6.1
Acid is required in the production
of nitrocellulose, which is used in all
propellants for ammunition. Radford
is the only source for nitrocellulose in
North America.
Brig. Gen.
Gustave F. Perna
The old NAC/SAC facility had
exceeded its projected useful life, had
frequent downtimes and presented significant quality of work environment challenges. A new, modernized facility was constructed in 2010.
Accordingly, the new structure’s capabilities provide propellant for
ammunition to warfighters now and into the future.
These examples demonstrate the benefits of sustaining and modernizing the ammunition industrial base. But this kind of upgrade has
not commonly occurred. The current ammunition organic industrial
base will require significant attention and considerable financial
resources to remain viable. Three critical domains must be addressed:
quality of work environment, safety and production enhancements.
These areas do not conflict with each other, but do require balance.
To achieve a positive end-state for the organic industrial base,
despite challenges of budget decline, resources must be identified and
committed to steady-state funding. Full assessments of working conditions, evaluations of facility conditions and planning ahead for the
projected lifespan and replacement of installations’ facilities are crucial.
It can be described as on one side of an equation are various funding sources used to sustain and modernize the organic industrial base.
Each type of fund addresses various facility needs for the diverse scenarios within the ammunition organic industrial base. Unfortunately,
during the past several years, the majority of these funding sources
have been cyclical in nature and underfunded.
To the right of the funding streams are three areas that must be
addressed: To determine the required level of steady-state funding,
defined standards must be achieved and maintained, and the targeted
end-state for the ammunition organic industrial base must be established. It is critical to commit to and sustain these steady-state funding
levels.
However, past experience has proven these funding levels difficult
to maintain. After every war and engagement, budget pressures distract
attention from the ammunition industrial base’s support and readiness.
Yet, facility modernization cannot afford to take a timeout. Like
NAC/SAC at Radford, other facilities and equipment already exist far
beyond their intended lifespan. Modernization provides a safe, quality
work environment, helps meet emerging environmental requirements,
increases productivity and ensures the ability to provide the munitions
necessary to meet the next global challenge.
Despite austere defense budgets, a sustained and modern industrial
base will more reliably maintain national security and support the
ammunition demands of our nation’s servicemembers, now and in the
future. O
Brigadier General (Promotable) Gustave F. Perna is the commander, Joint Munitions and Lethality, Life Cycle Management
Command. Alan R. Buester is the director of industrial support, Joint
Munitions Command.
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GSA................................................................................................... 7
www.gsaglobalsupply.gsa.gov
IHS.................................................................................................. C4
www.ihs.com
ISO Group...................................................................................... 10
www.iso-group.com/military
ITT Exelis Mission Systems.............................................................. 9
www.exelisinc.com/business/missionsys
JLG.................................................................................................. 11
www.jlg.com
John Deere....................................................................................... 5
www.johndeere.com/military/sales
Lockheed Martin............................................................................ 29
www.lockheedmartin.com
New Breed...................................................................................... 24
www.newbreed.com
Oshkosh Defense............................................................................ C2
www.oshkoshdefense.com
Pikes Peak Cargo Secure............................................................... 35
www.ppsinc.com
Sea Box........................................................................................... 33
www.seabox.com
Calendar
February 22-24, 2012
AUSA Winter
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
www.ausa.org
February 28-March 2, 2012
Defense Maintenance &
Sustainment Summit
San Diego, Calif.
www.defensemaintenance.com
March 26-29, 2012
National Logistics Conference
Miami, Fla.
www.ndia.org/meetings/2730
March 5-7, 2012
SDDC Symposium & NDTA Expo
Denver, Colo.
http://sddcsymposium.org
May 8-10, 2012
AUSA Sustainment Symposium
Richmond, Va.
www.ausa.org
The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community
NEXT
ISSUE
Cover and In-Depth
Interview with:
Alan F. Estevez
Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Logistics and Materiel Readiness
Special Section
• Logistics IT
Features
VT Miltope...................................................................................... 21
www.miltope.com
• Predictive Maintenance
• PBLs and Dod
• Operational Energy
• Obsolescence
W.W. Williams Logistics.................................................................. 13
www.wwwilliams.com
• Sierra Army Depot
TACOM LCMC
Bonus Distribution
Strategic Resources Inc................................................................. 41
www.sri-hq.com
Special PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
General Dynamics Land Systems.................................................... 9
www.gdls.com
March 5-8, 2012
Life Cycle Logistics Tools
Workshop
Huntsville, Ala.
www.logisticsengineers.org
Management
• NDIA Logistics Conference
SPecial Pull-out
Supplement
Oklahoma Air Logistics
Center
A comprehensive special supplement
profiling the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center.
This special pull-out will include an interview
with Colonel Cedric George, commander
of the 76th Maintenance Wing, a profile
of critical contracts and a look at doing
business with the ALC.
ManTech......................................................................................... C2
www.mantech.com
ManTech........................................................................................4-5
www.mantech.com
Northrop Grumman Technical Services......................................... 3
www.northropgrumman.com/ts
www.MLF-kmi.com
To Advertise, Contact: Jane Engel, MLF Associate Publisher
301.670.5700 x 120 • [email protected]
Insertion Order Deadline: February 20, 2012
Ad Materials Deadline: February 27, 2012
MLF 6.1 | 43
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW
H.A. “Graz” Graziano
Vice President
Combat Support & Sustainment General Dynamics Land Systems
H.A. “Graz” Graziano joined General
Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) in September 2011 as its vice president of combat
support and sustainment. In this role, he
is responsible for operational performance
and market growth of the Combat Support
business sector, including non-platform sustainment business. Additionally, he leads the
overall program for the company’s joint light
tactical vehicle and mine resistant ambush
protected vehicle programs.
Q: Please provide some background on
GDLS and the company’s work with DoD in
the logistics arena.
A: Protecting the fighting men and women
who defend our freedom is our company’s
number one priority. We embed with the
military and provide combat support and
sustainment throughout the world. We also
believe that what we do here matters there;
that’s how we start every day. Our logistics
team provides hands-on sustainment capability for the Abrams, Stryker, LAV and the MRAP
family of vehicles [FOV] as well as many other
variants. We are ready to provide this worldclass sustainment support to other Army and
USMC vehicles.
We provide our clients with a family of
vehicles that focuses on modularity, where
a common design provides differentiated
capabilities. For example, 10 variants of our
Stryker family of vehicles are with the troops
at locations around the world. Seven of the
Stryker variants are now equipped with the
double-V hull that increases survivability by
providing high-magnitude blast protection
from bombs and explosives. Further, we have
delivered and support more than 20,000 vehicles to the United States and its allies.
The products and services managed by
GDLS are trusted because they’ve been battletested. We work side-by-side with our clients
to develop vehicles that have a reputation for
strength, mobility, lethality, innovation and
survivability.
Maximizing survivability, performance
and operational effectiveness—total life cycle
support—of our vehicles is paramount. We
want to do this for other and USMC vehicles
as well. Moreover, Land Systems combines
44 | MLF 6.1
Q: What are some of the main challenges
you are facing in meeting the needs of the
21st-century warfighter?
our best-in-class systems engineering with
a connected, global network of field service
representatives. This results in an undeniable
battlefield advantage for our clients.
A: Cost is a continuing challenge, but we
are confident that Land Systems can provide
a better value in sustainment and services
offerings. We are using Lean Six Sigma,
continuous process improvement and whole
systems architecture to help us move the
cost needle in the correct direction.
Q: What would you characterize as the primary business areas of GDLS?
Q: How is GDLS ready to meet the challenging DoD budgetary times that are
ahead?
A: Land Systems businesses directly face
our clients in ground combat systems, Navy,
Marine Corps, combat support and sustainment, specialty vehicles and international.
This ensures their needs are continually
met or exceeded. Our client-facing teams
are designed to answer the call wherever
and whenever. These teams work hard to
maximize the survivability, performance and
operational effectiveness of a variety of ground
combat vehicles and MRAPs.
A: Mission failure is not an option. We are
positioned and prepared to help our customers meet their objectives and remain the
strongest military force in the world. We
can and will work to a reasonable budget,
to meet and exceed our customer’s expectations. Our workforce is diverse and flexible
in its thinking. Innovation is not unknown
at General Dynamics Land Systems and
proven by the rapid development of the
double-V hull Stryker design.
Q: As a major player in the military logistics
arena, how is GDLS helping DoD meet current key logistics objectives? Q: What are your goals for 2012?
A: To me, logistics is about being flexible,
responsive and affordable. We strive to create
the best value for our clients while enhancing
their capabilities. This is how we are meeting our client’s needs. Further, we are shifting from conventional, transactional business
methods to performance-based agreements.
Our goal is to focus more on the “what” than
the “how.”
Q: What are some of the new programs you
are working on in partnership with DoD
agencies and the military services? A: Our team is pursuing a program that provides maintenance service for all DoD tactical
wheeled vehicles in Afghanistan. In addition,
we are working to become the sustainer of
choice for DoD’s global MRAP FOV. We believe
we are the best suited to do both.
A: As a recent addition to the Land Systems
family, I am proud to lead the combat support and sustainment team. Having recently
returned from 18 months in Afghanistan, I
have witnessed firsthand how this company’s commitment to doing the right thing is
saving lives on the battlefield. I am committed to providing our clients with worldwide,
world-class, timely, high-quality, cost-effective solutions that sustain and support the
military.
GDLS has made a commitment to use
our proven platform sustainment capabilities to work on all vehicles in the force’s
fleet. To do this, we are entering the nonplatform sustainment market via our combat support and sustainment business.
It is my job to build on our already
well-established track record in the industry
and become the client’s choice in all things
combat support and sustainment. O
[email protected]
www.MLF-kmi.com
Fight proud. Work proud.
Soldier photo courtesy of U.S. Army.
“I’ve talked to [our warfighters] from Iraq
and Afghanistan and helping them get their
needed items is job one.”
– AbilityOne employee Stephen Tyler
Stephen helps America’s servicemen and women acquire the products
they need in the field as an AbilityOne contact center representative in
Battle Creek, MI.
With a presence on nearly every military installation in the U.S.,
AbilityOne has the experience, capability and workforce to keep our
fighting men and women fed, clothed, supplied, supported and protected.
In addition, AbilityOne enables people who are blind or have other
significant disabilities to be independent and productive citizens.
AbilityOneDoD.org

Materiel Optimizer Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody

Transcription

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