TACKLE GAPS in Transportation Corps Mission By MG Fred E. Elam, USA (Ret.) This article originally appeared in ARMY magazine, Vol. 66, No. 9, September 2016. Copyright 2016 by the Association of the US Army and reprinted by permission of ARMY magazine. The article below represents the thoughts of numerous discussions and debates by the informal “Stammtisch” group—former Transportation Corps Leaders who meet monthly in the Washington, DC area. Their concerns are focused on the atrophy of the strategic deployment capability of the US Army and its associated support of the joint community for future national military requirements. It is meant to be a thought provoking piece. We welcome your thoughts on this subject and look forward to adding your perspectives to the discussion. –COL Jim Veditz, USA (Ret.), Senior VP of Operations, NDTA
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rom the earliest westward expansion of our nation to global deployments in World War II to more recent combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, expeditionary missions have always been part of the US Army’s DNA. But how the Army organizes, trains and prepares for such missions is becoming more complicated. Today’s rapidly evolving national security threats demand that expeditionary Army forces from all components, ranging from teams to divisions to corps headquarters, must be ready to strategically deploy anywhere in the world with little or no notice, with or without unit equipment, and alone or together with allied forces, as well as provide DOD-wide support through the US Army Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC). What’s more, the closure of some overseas bases raises the likelihood that these forces will have to deploy from stateside installations over much greater distances. At the Association of the US Army’s most recent Global Force Symposium and Exposition, LTG Patrick J. Donahue, Deputy Commander of the US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), put it bluntly: “The way we’ve been deploying is not useful for the world we live in now. We’ve gotten rusty.” The “expert bench” at all levels has been seriously weakened and diminished. This has significant long-term implications for the US Army and the US Army Transportation Corps, along with its many functional experts throughout the force structure who must plan for and execute the growing multitude of complex deployment scenarios in coordination with the Air Force, Navy, combatant and joint commands, and the 12
| Defense Transportation Journal | DECEMBER 2016
many civilian organizations that provide departure and arrival airfield, surface port of embarkation and debarkation, and rail and highway convoy support operations. To meet the strategic deployment challenges of the 21st century, the Army must identify and address the gaps in doctrine, organizational structures, training, education and functional as-
To meet the strategic deployment challenges of the 21st century, the Army must identify and address the gaps in doctrine, organizational structures, training, education and functional assignments essential to the mission of the Transportation Corps. signments essential to the mission of the Transportation Corps. Here are five things we can do: • Centralize the transportation focus. There’s a lack of centralized functional focus within this multifaceted arena, a problem that only grows as budgets shrink. The chief of transportation should reorganize the current Deployment Process Modernization Office, and establish an Army Center of Strategic Deployment Excellence reporting directly to the chief of transportation to be responsible for developing concepts, doctrine, organizations, training, education and equipment required to meet new deployment requirements. All deployable Army units and assigned personnel must be trained and exercised on their individual and collective reception, staging, onward movement, integration and redeployment (RSOI&R) mission responsibilities.
To develop the future logistics leaders who will be needed to project and sustain an expeditionary force, the US Army Transportation School should assume the lead role in overseeing assessments and educational and career assignments for all officers, warrant officers, soldiers and Department of the Army civilians. These are the key individuals whose functional specialties involve strategic deployment and working with the US Army Human Resources Command to properly code specific positions to MOS 88 series so they reflect the skills required to manage assignments to ensure that sufficient bench expertise is achieved and sustained. Given RSOI&R’s functional importance to the Army’s mission, serious thought should be given to realigning the SDDC back to a direct-reporting Army command, with the 7th Transportation Brigade realigning back to a direct-reporting FORSCOM unit. This would give the Army and FORSCOM direct oversight/ direction of these two mission-essential organizations. • Formalize and standardize strategic deployment expertise. The US Army Training and Doctrine Command, and the Transportation School led by the chief of transportation, should take concrete steps to restore deployment and RSOI&R skill sets that have atrophied over the past 15 years. Through training and associated doctrinal development, tasks associated with unloading, organization, staging, and moving to final destinations and redeployment must be essential elements of transporta-
