Mlf 6 7 final

The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community

Army CommunicationsElectronics Command Special Pull-out supplement

Readiness Maximizer Maj. Gen. Charles L. Hudson Commanding General Marine Corps Logistics Command

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August 2012

Volume 6, Issue 7

Exclusive Interview with:

Maj. Gen. Robert S. Ferrell CECOM Commander

Maintaining Readiness O Rugged Computers O Pacific Theater Logistics Educating the Logistician O Rapid Innovation Fund

Military Logistics Forum

August 2012 Volume 6 • Issue 7

Features

Cover / Q&A Educating the Logistician To stay ahead of the emerging trends in logistics, logisticians must continuously seek opportunities for professional development.

By Heather Baldwin

7 Rugged Computers Roll Out Computers are becoming a part of standard equipment and need to be more rugged in order to stand up to the environments they are operating in.

By Hank Hogan

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Who’s Who U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Special PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT

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Exclusive interview with

Major General Robert S. Ferrell Commander, CECOM

Major General Charles L. Hudson Commanding General Marine Corps Logistics Command

CECOM Top Critical Contracts 2012 CECOM Office of Small Business Programs

By Kelly Fodel

Asian Shift

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MLF talks with Brigadier General Mark M. McLeod, director of logistics Pacific Air Forces and Joint Task Force 519, about PACOM’s role in sustaining and supporting a more focused shift in geographic importance towards Asia.

Departments 2 Editor’s Perspective 4 Log Ops 5 People

Who, What, How The Army’s Rapid Innovation Fund looks for innovations to solve logisticsrelated issues.

Compiled by Jeff McKaughan

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6 Log Leadership Lessons 14 Supply Chain 27 Resource Center

SPECIAL SECTION Readiness Under Tight Budgets The warfighter cares little about the battle of the budget, only that their equipment and gear is where it needs to be and is operationally ready.

By Henry Canaday

Industry Interview

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28 Bill Carty Vice President and General Manager Defense and Government Services Division Northrop Grumman

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Military Logistics Forum Volume 6, Issue 7 • August 2012

Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community Editorial Editor-In-Chief Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com Managing Editor Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Online Editorial Manager Laura Davis laurad@kmimediagroup.com Copy Editor Laural Hobbes lauralh@kmimediagroup.com Correspondents Heather Baldwin • Peter Buxbaum Henry Canaday • Cheryl Gerber • Hank Hogan Leslie Shaver

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In its simplest form, there are four legs in the transportation of materiel to the warfight: intercontinental movement, strategic movement, theater movement and tactical movement. Under current guidelines, both USTRANSCOM and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics have oversight and responsibility for that supply chain—from start to finish. The USDATL takes a broader, high level view, mainly being responsible for policy, directives and instructions. It is USTRANSCOM that is charged with not only moving the materiel but with overseeing the overall effectiveness, efficiency and alignment of DoD-wide Jeffrey D. McKaughan distribution activities.

Editor-IN-CHIEF USTRANSCOM has been designated as the distribution process owner, the assignment that gives them supply chain oversight responsibility. In 2008, the command implemented distribution process ownership strategic opportunities (DSO) as part of an effort to ensure more precise vision of the supply chain process and to be the driver for more efficient processes—a critically important aspect, considering the budget constraints.

Under the umbrella of DSO, five specific improvements areas are being addressed: process improvement; strategic surface optimization; strategic air optimization; supply alignment; and strategic network optimization.

It’s been said in this column many times, and elsewhere, that the warfighter is not as concerned with the processes that are involved to move their equipment, food, mail and everything else they need, or the metrics used to measure the success of those processes. There is only one concern: Is everything I need to do my mission there when I need it?

Tracking materiel on the first three legs is not that much different from any commercial/retail entity tracking their inventory from vendors and to their customers. The last leg, that last tactical mile, is dramatically different and nothing in the commercial word compares.

While it is clear that USTRANSCOM manages the transportation requirements for materiel on the first three legs, the fourth leg is not theirs. There have been some calls for USTRANSCOM to be responsible for the metrics of delivery of that fourth leg. The bottom line needs to be, is another layer of reporting necessary to give USTRANSCOM responsibility for that metric, or should it remain with each COCOM? I don’t think we have the extra money to do both.

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LOG OPS Great Green Fleet Demonstration Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser, recently delivered 900,000 gallons of a 50-50 blend of advanced biofuels and traditional petroleum-based fuel to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) strike group. The fuel delivery is part of the Navy’s Great Green Fleet demonstration, which allows the Navy to test, evaluate and demonstrate the cross-platform utility and functionality of advanced biofuels in an operational setting.

This achieved one of the five energy goals established by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus: to demonstrate a Great Green Fleet in local operations by 2012.

Kaiser delivered 700,000 gallons of hydro-treated renewable diesel fuel, or HRD76, to three ships of the strike group. Kaiser also delivered 200,000 gallons of hydro-treated renewable aviation fuel, or HRJ5, to Nimitz. Both fuels are a 50-50 blend of traditional petroleum-based fuel and biofuel comprised of a mix of waste cooking oil and algae oil.

Using fuel hoses connected to the two ships moving at tandem at approximately 13 knots, Kaiser transfered the HRJ5 fuel to Nimitz, and the HRD76 fuel to guided-missile destroyers USS Princeton and destroyers USS Chung-Hoon and USS Chaffee, during individual underway replenishments.

The biofuel delivery is part of Kaiser's schedule of logistics support to the multinational forces participating in RIMPAC 2012. Kaiser, along with MSC dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Matthew Perry and MSC fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon, supported RIMPAC throughout the nearly five weeks of the exercise that lasted through early August.

Global Patient Movement Joint Advisory Board Medical personnel from all services and many federal agencies recently descended on Scott Air Force base to attend the Global Patient Movement Joint Advisory Board (GPMJAB).

Colonel David O’Brien, command surgeon for U.S. Transportation Command, welcomed more than 100 doctors, nurses, medical technicians and health care workers who are responsible for patient movement around the world.

“The GPMJAB is a group of people who visit us twice a year to talk about patient movement throughout the theater,” O’Brien said. “We have members from all services, from all the COCOMs [combatant commands] and from several of our federal interagency partners who join us to find out the latest in how we’re improving patient movement, as well as to offer suggestions on how we might do it in the future.”

“It’s always been a readjustment to look at what our customers in the field require, so we can improve both efficiency and clinical safety,” O’Brien said. “We move patients from all over the world, from the Pacific, from South America, from Africa. Some of that is easy, and some of that is difficult. And by getting together we can talk about how we can make the difficult a little bit easier, or at the very least, a little bit safer.”

Article by Bob Fehringer, U.S. Transportation Command

4 | MLF 6.7

“This is a great opportunity for both my crew and me,” said Kaiser’s civil service master, Captain Joseph Trogdlen. “MSC’s mission is service to the fleet and that is what RIMPAC is all about. Being able to bring a cutting edge technology like the biofuel to the fleet is an exciting part of a very busy schedule of UNREPS that we are conducting in support of this exercise.”

“This is just another example of the critical role MSC ships play in supporting significant Navy strategic priorities,” said Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, commander, Military Sealift Command.

Article by Sarah Burford, Military Sealift Command Pacific public affairs.

Short-order Entrees The Defense Logistics Agency is widening its food offerings for servicemembers dining in remote field locations around the world. A variety of short-order items now appear in the menu of field rations, including Philly steak hoagies, chicken nuggets, Italian sausage subs, beef enchiladas, chicken wings, pepperoni and cheese stromboli, hamburgers and hot dogs.

The new rations supplement the original unitized group ration [UGR] dinners that feature entrees like prime rib, chicken cordon bleu, and spaghetti and meatballs. DLA Troop Support officials said it’s a way to offer choices when a dining facility isn’t in reach. “We are always happy to provide new

food alternatives for our young men and women wearing the uniform,” DLA Troop Support commander Navy Rear Admiral David Baucom said.

The U.S. Army Quartermaster Joint Culinary Center of Excellence and the Army Natick Soldier Systems Center conducted research and testing necessary to make the new items a part of the rations package.

The UGR-A is a mix of perishable and non-perishable items prepared in a mobile kitchen. They contain a nutritional combination of food groups, including vegetables, beverages, meat, poultry, desserts and condiments that provide a balanced diet for servicemembers in the field.

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Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

SAMS-E Logistics Program Globalscape Inc., a developer of secure information exchange solutions, finalized a new contract with the U.S. Army to continue supporting the Standard Army Maintenance System-Enhanced (SAMS-E) logistics program. This is the fourth U.S. Army contract for Globalscape since 2005.

The new contract extends through July 2013, replacing a previous three-year contract awarded in 2009. This sole source contract is for $1.35 million over the first year, with the revenue recognized in equal installments over the term of the agreement, and also includes two one-year options that, if exercised, could result in a total value of $4.4 million over the next three years, making it potentially the largest single contract win in company history.

Under this agreement, the company will continue to provide maintenance and support to previously purchased software licenses,

including the Enhanced File Transfer Server Army and information security regulations. solution and CuteFTP Pro managed file The company’s leading product certificatransfer application. tions, such as Federal Information Processing “More than 30,000 Army and DoD Standards and the U.S. Army Certificate of licenses are used to support various mili- Networthiness, give them an advantage when tary operations and humanitarian efforts competing for mission-critical and timearound the world,” said Bill Buie, execu- sensitive projects. tive vice president of sales and marketing. “Globalscape provides mission-critical software solutions, for securely sharing digital files, to thousands of commerLockheed Martin has won a potential $206,882,540 cial companies and government follow-on contract to provide the U.S. Navy with logistics organizations worldwide. We are packages and production baseline updates for a missile particularly proud that the U.S. defense system.

Army uses our secure file transfer The Defense Department said the contract also solutions for their logistical and includes foreign military sales for the Aegis weapon supply needs.” system spare and repair material support. Those potential Globalscape solutions enable customers are unknown at this time, according to the the SAMS-E program to maintain Pentagon. compliance with federal and U.S.

Missile Defense Systems Support

PEOPLE James M. Coyne has been appointed to the Senior Executive Service and is assigned as deputy general counsel, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va. Coyne previously served as associate general counsel, operations/chief counsel, overseas operations and international law, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va. Frederick N. Baillie has been assigned as chief of staff, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va. Baillie previously served as director, Defense Logistics Agency accountability office, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va.

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Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Glenda Scheiner has been assigned as director, human capital and resource management, Office of the Under Secretary of DefenseComptroller, Washington, D.C. Scheiner previously served as deputy director of financial management, Headquarters Air Force Material Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Gary W. Ervin, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, and James F. Pitts, corporate vice president and president of Electronic Systems, have both informed the company of their

intention to retire. Ervin will retire on February 28, 2013, and Pitts will retire on December 31, 2012. Linda A. Mills will assume a new leadership position of corporate vice president, Operations.

Thomas E. Vice will become corporate vice president and president of the Aerospace Systems sector. Gloria A. Flach will become corporate vice president and president of the Electronic Systems sector. Kathy J. Warden will become corporate vice president and president of the Information Systems sector. Christopher T. Jones will become corporate vice president and president of the Technical Services sector.

Mark A. Caylor will become corporate vice president and president of Enterprise Shared Services.

ADS Tactical Inc. has announced that Jason Wallace has been promoted to chief operating officer replacing Dan Clarkson, who will become president of the company. Brant Feldman has been promoted to vice president of sales and the company has hired Karan Rai as director of international and strategic business development. ADS further announced that William A. Roper Jr., ADS’ president and principal financial officer and a

member of ADS’ board of directors, is retiring.

With Clarkson assuming the position of president, Patricia Bohlen, chief financial officer since 2004, will assume Roper’s duties and responsibilities as principal financial officer.

Dave Schmitz has been named for the newly created position of chief operating officer. Schmitz will be responsible for all facets of Cubic Defense Applications’ worldwide operations, engineering and product line day-to-day performance, and will directly support business development initiatives.

MLF 6.7 | 5

LOG LEADERSHIP LESSONS

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Kevin Trammel is the general manager of military aftermarket services at Pratt & Whitney.

He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science. He has served as Pratt & Whitney’s executive for Defense Logistics Agency’s Strategic Supplier program. He is a frequent speaker on the benefits of a performance based logistics, is on the AIA Product Support Executive Board, and works on the advisory board for Aviation Week’s MRO Military.

Kevin G. Trammel General Manager Programs Military Aftermarket Services Pratt & Whitney

Logistics in an Era of Peace and Austerity As the defense industry enters an age of “peace and austerity,” current budgetary realities make logistics more important than ever. The winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan coupled with the new emerging operations, such as Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya, are changing the missions of our warfighters. Simultaneously, congressional budget pressures have put the Department of Defense under greater scrutiny. The defense spending sequestration threat forces us to ask, “How can we maintain readiness while saving money?” With a fiscal environment that poses the greatest challenge to our armed forces in a generation, senior leaders rightly worry about the danger of a hollow force.

The Pentagon’s need to adapt to this new reality is underscored in a recent memo from Frank Kendall, acting undersecretary of defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, endorsing the implementation of Next-Generation Performance-Based Logistics Strategies. The memo, written to service acquisition executives, noted that operations and support costs comprise 60 to 70 percent of total ownership costs and that “We must find ways to lower our O&S expenditures while maintaining the right readiness for our warfighters.”

Having spent 29 years in the aftermarket sector, I know that across our industry, we are determined to save money for our DoD customer so they can safeguard the resources of the American taxpayer. Our goal at Pratt & Whitney is to provide and deliver affordable readiness to customers. We know we must provide more than dependable engines to stay in business.

We must also provide flexible maintenance, repair and overhaul services that ensure customer readiness, from delivery through retirement, all over the world.

Engines are among some of the most technologically sophisticated machines ever built. Out of 10,000 parts in an engine, up to 4,000 parts will be evaluated in a typical overhaul. Furthermore, engine parts are often made of super alloys composed of expensive materials, meaning these parts 6 | MLF 6.7

do not sit on the shelf waiting to be installed; they have long lead times in manufacturing. Improperly forecasting overhauls can result in part shortages, which lead to work stoppages, which lead to decreased readiness. And when you consider that an engine only comes into the shop for overhaul every seven to eight years—and then only for a few months—the overhaul “window” is the only opportunity to inject new technology into the engine.

This illustrates the importance of proper planning and forecasting.

Pratt & Whitney and others in the industry use forecasting to streamline the aftermarket supply chain. Working with the DLA, we provision military engine customers with spare parts for in-service products and develop data analysis tools and forecasting models for engines, spares and the administration of business warranty claims. Additionally, there are longterm contracts (LTCs) in place for part support. Multi-year pricing included in these LTCs enable the DLA to get parts on order quickly. We can reduce administrative lead times from 120 days or longer to 45 days or less. This speeds up the supply chain process, but while these processes have evolved and improved, the next generation of performance based logistics is where the real potential for cost savings lies. Integration of supply, maintenance, planning and forecasting with a life cycle approach can greatly minimize the logistics footprint of an engine system, increasing the tooth-to-tail ratio.

At its root, logistics is about preparedness. It requires precision accounting of consumption and replenishment; it maximizes efficiency; and it minimizes burdens on the supply system. Advances in information technology are powering a new era in logistics that is arriving just in time.

The future demands better supply chain planning.

Fortunately, many companies across our industry are preparing for these contingencies. We are paying attention to the long-term consequences of our decisions to make sure we have the right products, services and logistics in place to support our men and women in uniform and keep the warfighter mission ready. O www.MLF-kmi.com

To get the best, you have to educate first—and continuously.

By Heather Baldwin MLF Correspondent The field of logistics is more global, with a longer pipeline than ever before. The technologies facilitating the transfer of goods throughout the globe are evolving with eye-popping speed. And the number of people and logistical specialties involved in this field is greater than at any time previously. To stay ahead of these and other trends in logistics, logisticians must continuously seek opportunities for professional development. Here’s a look at seven of the top institutions educating tomorrow’s logistics leaders.

Army Logistics University The Army Logistics University (ALU) is a composite campus for military and DoD logistics leader education. It opened in July 2009 at Fort Lee, Va. Home to an academy and three colleges, ALU supports military and civilian logistics leaders.

The institution consolidates more than 187 courses previously offered by five schools to educate sustainment leaders. ALU’s three colleges include the College of Professional and Continuing Education (formerly the Army Logistics Management College), the Logistics Leader College and the Technical Logistics College. Together with the Logistics Noncommissioned Officer Academy, they share the mission of providing professional military education and key functional training to Army and DoD civilian, officer, warrant officer and NCO sustainers.

“The establishment of the Army Logistics University has enabled the Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE) to enhance the logistics capability and sustainability of United States forces. It does so by educating and developing leaders in logistics, acquisition and operations research systems analysis at one location, which provides synergy and opportunities for consolidated/cross training that did not previously exist when the schools were separate. Invaluable training opportunities, meetings, informing of new and latest developments and more are now able to be coordinated and executed quickly with minimal effort,” said ALU Executive Officer Jeryle Jones.

With its expanded Fort Lee campus, ALU hosts international military students from more than 60 countries, creating a global learning environment and networking opportunities. Additionally, ALU has partnered with several civilian universities for graduate and undergraduate programs of study in logistics management, acquisition and contract management, disaster relief, supply chain management, operations research, business and other related areas. www.MLF-kmi.com

Equipped with reconfigurable rooms, video teleconferencing capabilities, a modern food court, bookstore and an 18,000 square-foot logistics research and community library, the ALU educates more than 30,000 students annually.

The International Society of Logistics The International Society of Logistics (SOLE) is a non-profit international professional society aiming to enhance the art and science of logistics technology, education and management. Founded in 1966, SOLE has more than 90 local chapters in more than 50 countries.

Chapters conduct technical meetings, symposia and workshops to provide members with opportunities for professional advancement.

Chapters and districts also sponsor regional technical meetings.

The society offers three professional certification and recognition programs to further the accreditation of professionals in the logistics field: Demonstrated Logistician Program, Certified Master Logistician and Certified Professional Logistician (CPL). SOLE calls the achievement of CPL certification “the ultimate recognition in the profession” as it encompasses “the entire scope of practice that the logistics professional will engage in during his or her career.”

Each year, through its Logistics Education Foundation (LEF), SOLE awards a number of scholarships supporting logistics study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. LEF, founded in 1974, is a non-profit foundation providing financial support to the educational activities and programs of the society, including funding the annual scholarships, grants, publication of technical/educational material, and other financial assistance to further logistics education, as determined

by LEF’s board of governors.

Individual members of SOLE “take an active part in shaping the future in areas like the environment, space frontiers and alternative energy sources,” according to the society. They also build on their knowledge base by working with peers and other experts “to find solutions to matters of worldwide importance.”

American Military University/American Public University System American Military University/American Public University’s (AMU/ APUS) Transportation and Logistics Management program offers online, asynchronous classes for military and civilian students seeking to earn MLF 6.7 | 7

a graduate or undergraduate degree. It offers an M.A. in transportation and logistics management with concentrations in maritime engineering management and reverse logistics management. At the undergraduate level, students can earn a B.A. in transportation and logistics management with concentrations in air cargo and reverse logistics management.

Reverse logistics deals with the logistics flow in reverse when a product is returned, recycled or refurbished.

In mid-2012, the school added a Leadership and Logistics graduate certificate to its catalog. “Our programs continue to grow each year, largely because the logistics industry continues to grow,” said Jennifer Batchelor, program director of the Transportation and Logistics Management program. “Our student body is very diverse. We have military personnel looking for growth opportunities; people looking to transition out of the military into a civilian job; or people seeking a career change in general. And we have everyone from Jennifer Batchelor military supply techs or fueling specialists to someone who stocks the stockroom at a retail chain.”

Batchelor said AMU/APUS’s instructors are “scholar-practitioners” who bring real-world experience to the classroom. Their experience enables the school to bridge the gap between the academic world and the real world, one of AMU/APUS’s main goals. “We focus on problem-based learning,” Batchelor said. “Students take real-world scenarios and apply what they’ve learned to those problems. They create their own solutions and strategies that they can go out and apply immediately in their jobs.”

Institute of Logistical Management The oldest logistics distance learning school in the U.S., the Institute of Logistical Management (ILM) focuses exclusively on instruction in the area of logistics and supply chain. Founded in 1923, the institute began transitioning to an online format in the mid- to late-1990s; by 2001, it offered classes exclusively online. Its students hail from more than 40 different countries.

Logistics professionals can expand their knowledge through ILM’s Logistics Practitioner program and college-level courses in transportation and logistics that can be applied to a degree at other accredited U.S. colleges and universities. The school is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council and affiliated with the Defense Agency for Non-Traditional Educational Support (DANTES), entitling ILM to offer its courses to U.S. military personnel worldwide.

“The courses we offer aren’t about theory,” said Frank Breslin, ILM Dean. “We deal in real-world knowledge and we make sure students understand how that knowledge can be applied in their jobs. Our faculty are all leaders in the real world in various aspects of logistics.”

He added that ILM strives to teach its students to think differently about logistics as a whole. For instance, they teach students to take a new view of facilities such as warehouses. “Years ago, a warehouse was a storage facility; today, it’s a logistics facility,” he said. “We are stretching students to go from thinking of a building as brick and mortar to a location that adds value.”

Going forward, Breslin said ILM is examining the creation of degree programs so students can earn their associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “It’s a strategic priority for us,” he concluded. “It could be anywhere from one to five years away.”

8 | MLF 6.7

Institute for Defense and Business The IDB, established in 1997, offers a suite of joint educational initiatives serving the U.S. Military as well as government and non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Its flagship program is the Center of Excellence in Logistics and Technology (LOGTECH) at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. The U.S. Army Materiel Command is the DoD Executive Agent for LOGTECH. “At the IDB, our primary focus is to improve the business acumen of our students and to foster learning among and between students from a wide range of organizations and backgrounds so they can do their jobs more effectively,” said IDB President Mark Cramer.

The IDB specializes in developing custom education programs for the logistics community. For instance, its Logistics Cooperation for Stabilization and Reconstruction (LCSR) program, launched in early 2010, was developed at the JCS J4’s request for a weeklong course that would bring together multiple organizations to better understand the roles and responsibilities of each and to build relationships among them. “The practice of logistics has broadened considerably and the military has much greater interaction with other parts of the U.S. government, the international community and the private sector than ever before,” Cramer explained. “The LCSR program brings all those groups together to improve how they function cooperatively.”

The IDB’s newest course is the UNC-IDB Strategic Studies Fellow Program. Created at the request of the U.S. Army, the five-week course teaches high-potential senior captains to look at national security issues from a more strategic level. Going forward, the Institute is developing programs that would build an educational foundation for implementation and execution of enterprise resource planning across organizations. The courses are expected to roll out by early 2013, both online and resident.

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University’s (NDSU) Transportation and Logistics Program is an interdisciplinary program involving eight departments and five colleges at NDSU. It offers doctoral, master’s and graduate certificate level courses.

At the master’s level, its Master of Managerial Logistics (MML) is targeted specifically at career military officers, DoD civilians and other logistics professionals. Designed to be completed in one calendar year, it is tailored to the DoD’s strategic goals of joint officer and civilian development and logistics transformation.

“When we first developed the program in 2007, we designed the curriculum to address all 12 points of the National Logistics Curriculum as outlined by the U.S. Army Logistics Management College,” said Denver Tolliver, director of NDSU’s Transportation and Logistics Education Program. “We also have Denver Tolliver a capstone requirement for them to study one area of the world and apply what they have learned to solve a logistics challenge for that geographic area.”

Tolliver said the program includes some unique courses, including organizational change management, contracting and acquisition law, crisis and disaster analysis, and a course in logistics decision-making www.MLF-kmi.com

when dealing with incomplete information. “Here we focus a lot on risk analysis and how you treat uncertainty in the decision-making process,” said Tolliver.

Tolliver said his team is working on three priorities going forward.

First, they are taking the MML program international, working with universities in South Korea and Morocco to offer the degree to students who come to study at NDSU. Both programs are expected to roll out in 2013. Second, Tolliver is looking at broadening the MML program out to the National Guard, something he expects to see happen within the next two years. Finally, he is talking to the Army about offering the MML at Fort Lee.

Webster University Webster University offers a number of cooperative agreements with programs throughout all branches of the military. The agreements were created through Webster’s office of academic affairs to provide servicemembers the opportunity to earn credit towards a graduate certificate based on their military training and education.

“We use our learning outcomes for the courses and compare them to the program of instruction for whichever military training program we are considering,” explained Michelle Loyet, Webster’s assistant director of advising. Military personnel can then apply their training to a degree at Webster.

Loyet said most students come in through the M.A. in procurement and acquisitions management program after they have

completed the U.S. Army Acquisition Basic Course. They typically transfer into the program with 15 of the 36 credit hours required for a standard master’s program at Webster. Other degrees to which these students can apply this credit, said Loyet, include an M.B.A. (nine credit hours transfer) and an M.A. in information technology management (12 credit hours transfer).

Students can complete their education either through distance learning or at Webster’s more than 100 campuses worldwide.

In July 2012, Webster appointed Brigadier General Michael Callan, USAF (Ret.), as associate vice president for Military and Governmental Programs. In this newly created position, Callan will provide leadership and strategic direction for Webster’s alliances with all branches of the military related to the development and delivery of education programs. He also will develop and strengthen relationships with federal and state agencies.

“Our history of cooperation with the military goes back to the 1960s,” Loyet said. “As we move ahead, we felt it was important to have strong guidance for our programs as a whole and that’s what General Callan will provide.” O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mlf-kmi.com.

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6/15/2012 12:57:10 PM

MLF 6.7 | 9

More functions, lighter weight and more rugged.

The story is enough to make anyone who’s lugged a laptop around cringe: Maintenance techs were working with a portable computer on the wing of a bomber when they dropped the device, sending it bouncing off the rock-hard surface 9 feet below. However, because it was fully ruggedized, the computer still worked. More importantly, all of the information on it—schematics, drawings, maintenance processes, instrumentation and asset data—was still there. That example of sturdy electronics is the kind of performance needed for the move away from paper.

The transition to ruggedized computers in motor pools and other logistics applications has been complicated by the advent of the Android operating system, touchscreens, tablets and other technological innovations. The U.S. Army has a way to keep pace, however.

“The CHS-4 [Common Hardware Systems] contract allows Army program managers to meet their tactical computer hardware needs and add new items via technology insertion. The latest commercial technologies can be added, including touchscreen and voice control technology,” said Roland Kopp, deputy product director for common hardware systems. “CHS can also have the hardware tested and modified to meet requirements for more rugged environments,” he added.

The CHS product director’s office doesn’t directly field systems.

What’s more, the common hardware systems contract is currently being used to support tactical command, control and communications requirements for warfighters and their enterprise support under programs within PEO C3T, PEO IEWS and PEO EIS, said Kopp.

Nonetheless, technology good enough for the front line will likely be suitable for maintenance on the flight line and logistics in motor pools. Those in such jobs who are moving ruggedized tablets and computers will find an array of choices from various vendors.

10 | MLF 6.7

By Hank Hogan MLF Correspondent One such is the Secaucus, N.J.-based Panasonic Corp. of North America. It and its Japanese parent company have been in the business of supplying ruggedized computers for decades, with a line that includes traditional clamshells, tablets, convertibles that can transform between the two form factors, and handhelds.

The company started its Toughbook line of ruggedized products with a clamshell first adopted by law enforcement and then the military, said Tim Collins, senior director of Panasonic North America’s federal sector. He noted that Panasonic devices have been dropped and in vehicle fires, while either still working or preserving precious data.

Over the years, the company has upgraded its products through the incorporation of the latest processors, storage, connectivity options and operating systems. One thing that has not changed is the laptop form factor. Many of these are held in a specialized mount inside a vehicle, and so the size and shape of the clamshell cannot be significantly altered. That constraint doesn’t apply to the newer ruggedized computers, such as the recent Toughbook tablets.

Panasonic’s line includes fully rugged and semi-rugged devices.

The former have waterproof membranes, shock mounted hard drives, impact-resistant screens, magnesium encasing and port covers.

They meet the IP65 ingress protection rating, which means dust and low pressure water jets can’t penetrate the device. The computers also comply with MIL-STD-810G, which can involve vibration and extreme temperature testing.

The semi-rugged products have some of these features but not all of them. Forward-deployed warfighters may use the fully ruggedized version for such logistics functions as vehicle maintenance, fleet support, flight line maintenance, and material movement and tracking.

For handling those same tasks when not in a forward position, the semi-rugged systems, a less costly option, can work well. www.MLF-kmi.com

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almost nothing, while lights can be turned off and sound muted at the touch of a button.

There’s also a desire for a longer operating life between charges, Morris said. Xplore Technologies satisfies this at the cost of greater weight by using a 10-cell battery, instead of a lighter 6-cell version, in its clamshell design.

Motorola Solutions leverages a platform-based approach to deliver devices that suit their specific ergonomic and task-oriented requirements. “In warehouses and military distribution centers, rugged handheld gun-style, wearable and vehicle mount mobile devices enable highly efficient and accurate tracking of a wide range of assets—from military equipment and supplies to vehicle fleets and IT assets,” said Jean Flanagan with Motorola Solutions’ U.S. Federal Government Markets Division. “Our fully rugged handheld devices provide wireless access to all the information required to service the right vehicles at the right time, The deployability and durability of small computers dramatically improve the situational awareness of ground forces. ensuring dependable operation at home and in theater. The [Photo courtesy of DoD] Motorola Mobility Platform Architecture [MPA] leverages common, scalable, software and standards-based hardware across many of our mobile computing products.

“You’ve got a fairly rugged, fairly tough product that can be Addressing handheld mobile computer durability and reliability, dropped and can be used outdoors. It’s sunlight viewable. It can be Motorola designs hardware to meet or exceed MIL-STD 810 G drop used with both an RFID and barcode reader to track material movespecification, IP sealing ratings, operating temperature requirements ment,” Collins said. and published IEC standard tumble test results (which better repliAbout a year ago, Panasonic began to hear from its military cate everyday wear and tear in industrial rugged environments). An customers about the desire for a ruggedized tablet. The company example of this is the company’s MC9000, which is used for numerous responded with the Toughbook H2, which features an Intel i5 procesindustrial supply chain applications. Motorola uses product quality sor, the Windows operating system and Bluetooth. It also has a mobile engineering processes to continually elevate product reliability. broadband connectivity option. The company also offers a Toughpad Functionality and ease of use are key drivers in innovating current Android tablet, with the latest Android OS, encryption of data at rest technologies for future use. “We are focusing on hands-free, wearable and in transit, embedded hardware security and mobile device manand head-mounted solutions that increase degrees of freedom for agement. applications that demand the constant use of hands,” said Flanagan.

These tablets are build-to-order products, as are the other rug“Hands free and head-mounted systems give operators the convegedized and semi-ruggedized computers that Panasonic offers. This nience to handle more tasks, while keeping the technology needed to means that there are a wide variety of possible options and configurafurther improve productivity and accuracy right at their fingertips— tions of each. including bar code scanning and mobile computing.”

Of course, there are also much smaller companies in the rugged Motorola is also addressing the DoD’s mobility challenges, includcomputer space. One such is Xplore Technologies of Austin, Texas. ing mobilizing modern consumer smartphones with the Assured The startup makes the toughest PC available, said Dan Morris, direcMobile Environment [AME]. “AME combines an enterprise-level tor of marketing. Its computers can, for instance, take a drop of up to handheld device with hardware and software that provides NSA Suite 7 feet, be buried in sand, immersed in the ocean, and still work. As a B voice security for mobile communications,” explained Flanagan. “It matter of fact, they’ll even work while underwater. also features the Motorola Cryptr micro encryption and key manageWhen it comes to logistics applications, one need is for a high resment in a microSD form factor adds support for Federal Information olution camera built into a ruggedized computer. The imaging device Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 Level 3. AME can be installed and can provide the bar code scans required for inventory on vehicles and enabled in a handheld held computer for users who require higher other assets, Morris said. levels of security and mobility.”

He added that the tablet form factor is proving very popular in VT Miltope has a long history of supporting military and comflight line and other maintenance settings. Because of where such mercial aerospace customers with custom designed solutions which devices are being used, they require more than a magnetic strip meet a wide range of performance, environmental, and EMI/EMC reader. That type of reader works for cards used by civilians but requirements. does not handle the common access card (CAC), which is used by “We are constantly researching and evaluating the latest technolDepartment of Defense personnel for identification and authenticaogy for incorporation into our products in order to provide cuttingtion. edge, rugged solutions for our military and commercial aerospace “One of the key features that this group is asking for is a CAC customers, said Wes Kephart, vice president of rugged systems reader, and that’s a feature we’ll be putting in our products in short program development. “Each new technology is stringently evaluated order,” Morris said. using several decades worth of design knowledge for rugged applicaOther attributes incorporated in the company’s offerings are the tions, Mil-Std testing experience, and an intimate knowledge of the ability to work in bright sunlight and a high contrast ratio. For night needs of our customers. As the role of our customers evolve and and other low light situations, the brightness can be adjusted down to 12 | MLF 6.7

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become more engrained in the use of sophisticated computer systems, We utilize technology advances to address the need for size, weight and power reductions all while providing solutions which are able to perform the function needed in some of the most harsh environments in the world.”

The future look of the DoD budget is a major concern. Perhaps the biggest challenge is to fully understand the customer requirements given the uncertainty. “Design and manufacturing companies need end user input on what products need to do,” explained Kephart. “NIE is one current activity that provides that information. Historically, conferences and tradeshows provided that sort of information as well, but with DoD funding support for these activities under pressure, that avenue of user feedback looks to be waning.”

“We believe that if procurement monies for new capabilities in ground vehicles and aviation assets decline, the need to maintain current aircraft and ground vehicle assets for a longer period will increase utilization of the maintenance support device at platform test and maintenance capability that the Army relies on today,” he continued.

Another company, Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Texas, also has a line of rugged and semi-rugged computers, said Joe Trickey III, rugged mobility and digital forensics marketing manager. Less than five years after announcing its first product, Dell is on its third generation notebook, with the fully rugged variety complying with MIL-STD810G and IP65. It also meets MIL-STD-461F, which means that it can be used on a flight line because it does not create radio interference.

Finally, the rugged computers are certified to UL 1604, meaning they’re safe to operate in a hazardous environment.

Dell’s rugged and semi-rugged clamshell laptops have 14-inch screens, backlit keyboard, and a passive and active touchscreen that works with both gloved and bare hands.

They also are modular, allowing batteries, hard drives, ports and connectivity options to be swapped in or out as desired. This approach helps hold down the weight of the deployed clamshell because what’s not needed in a particular application can be left behind.

With regard to the future, Dell is looking at other form factors.

This may be a smaller clamshell, a convertible device, or a tablet.

“Everyone is using these touchscreen tablet type devices. As they become more prevalent, you’re going to start seeing that pushed down operationally into the military,” Trickey said.

The advantages of tablets include greater portability, easier use and lighter weight. Drawbacks involve the need to develop applications for such things as manuals and checklists, with the software optimized for touchscreen use.

That may be helped along by the advent of Windows 8, which has native support for such touch-based activities as pinching, spreading and rotating. These three are particularly useful with zooming in or out of a portion of the screen or when moving an image around, but they all require multi-touch sensing.

Current Dell clamshells have single-finger touchscreens, unlike the multi-touch technology found in consumer tablets. The singletouch technology works with fingers, gloves or a stylus, and the same capability will be present when multi-touch is implemented, Trickey said.

A relatively new ruggedized computer comes from Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla. The company’s first product in this category is a 7-inch Android tablet, which was announced earlier this year.

One intended use is the warfighter, with the tablet tethered to and interfacing with tactical radios supplied by Harris or other vendors.

Another anticipated use is military logistics, where the tablet’s ability www.MLF-kmi.com

Not anchored to an office environment, rugged systems are out on the flightline giving maintainers an informational advantage. [Photo courtesy of DoD]

to integrate with tactical radios, as well as 3G and 4G LTE networks, could be important.

“It has the interface capability to get data back and forth, and certainly can stand up to the abuse. It’s still small enough for logistics,” said Elle McBeth, product manager.

Harris chose to go with the Android operating system in part because it’s upgradable and flexible. That allows the OS to be locked down, if necessary, for security or other reasons. Just which party does this securing of the OS varies. Some end-users want to control this, and others have asked Harris about doing it.

As for the future, the hardware in the tablet’s initial release has been fixed, McBeth said. The software is more fluid, in part because of the rapidly changing Android operating system.

The first tablet-specific Android version, Honeycomb, was released early in 2011. Six significant revisions followed in a year. A successor, Ice Cream Sandwich, debuted late in 2011 and the next one, Jelly Bean, arrived by mid-2012. While this rapid change may not be ideal, there is no other viable alternative to Android in the tablet space.

Microsoft’s latest operating system, which is supposed to support tablets, is not yet released and Apple’s OS is tied to its proprietary hardware.

The situation will almost certainly change, perhaps with the pace of innovation slowing down as the technology matures. For now, those who want to use ruggedized computers for logistics will have to manage under these circumstances, and that will take some care.

The best solution may be for vendors to listen to what customers are saying, watch what they’re doing, and then take action, McBeth said.

As she noted, “There are certain things in Android that they’ll want us to rev to whatever the latest and greatest is, but other aspects we may be OK where we are. So it’s just going to be monitoring what version of the OS our customers are using.” O For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mlf-kmi.com.

MLF 6.7 | 13

SUPPLY CHAIN Cold Container

Mission Planning Enterprise

Klinge Corp has been awarded a subcontract with the U.S. Army Contracting Command to design and manufacture the refrigeration unit for the Joint Services Expandable Refrigerated Container System.

Klinge Corp’s refrigeration unit for the JSERCS project will provide cooling in a single or dual zone simultaneously in a -25 degrees F to +125 degrees F ambient temperature range. The refrigeration unit will provide temperature control of refrigerated and frozen food in the field.

The refrigeration unit design is based on equipment that has been qualified to a number of military standards, such as vibration, Category A1 & B2 Cooling, Category C0 cold climate, driving rain, and power source/fuel. It uses components that have been proven in the container transport industry to be reliable and require very little maintenance.

The Joint Service Expandable Refrigerated Container System project, referred to as JSERCS, is intended to be the next generation of an advanced TriCon System and may replace the current generation of this equipment.

The refrigeration unit will be mounted on an insulated and expandable TriCon container.

A TriCon, or triple container, is configured so when three are adjoined, the footprint is that of a standard 20-foot ISO container.

The JSERCS will be used in stationary base camp operations and will support all of the expeditionary kitchen systems. The modularity of the JSERCS will allow for easy transport and deployment by each service. The objective of the JSERCS is to reduce the transportation footprint by replacing three TriCon refrigerated container systems with one JSERCS unit.

DCS Corp has been awarded the mobility air forces (MAF) delivery order under the U.S. Air Force’s Mission Planning Enterprise Contract (MPEC) II, which provides aircraft mission planning systems for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Work on the MAF delivery order will occur over a four-year period and is valued at approximately $29.4 million, including all priced options.

Under the MAF delivery order, DCS will provide mission planning software development, integration and sustainment for special mission Air Combat Command platforms, foreign military sales mobility platforms, and the optional development and integration of Air Mobility Command’s global mobility platforms.

“DCS looks forward to the opportunity to continue to provide winning technical solutions to the Air Force on the MAF delivery order,” said Dave Russell, president and chief operating officer. “I am confident that our dedicated team of employee-owners will deliver innovative approaches to project management and software development that provides the best value to the Air Force.”

The MPEC II contract provides future mission planning software development, maintenance and integration to the Department of Defense Mission Planning Enterprise. The enterprise encompasses partnering organizations in the Air Force, Navy, Army and Special Operations Command. The total value of the multiple-award contract is up to approximately $920 million over 10 years.

14 | MLF 6.7

Environmentally-friendly Industrial Absorbent Eco>Absorb, an all-natural, environmentally-friendly industrial absorbent, was recently demonstrated at Master Jet Base Oceana, Va. While there, Eco>Absorb was tasked with picking up three different spills: JP-5 jet fuel, antifreeze and used motor oil. “The entire group was blown away,” said Tommy S. Cheng, director of operations, manufacturing and quality control. “We simulated a real world spill by using asphalt as the surface. Not only did we clean each spill thoroughly, but I reused the same product from one spill to clean-up the next, clearly demonstrating the highly absorbent nature of Eco>Absorb.”

Historically, the U.S. military has used clay for spill clean-up and remediation. Clay is significantly heavier and far less effective, typically requiring multiple applications to clean up a spill, and still leaving oily residue behind. Clay, also referred

to as kitty litter in the industry, also contains crystalline silica, a Group 1 carcinogen that requires the user to wear a protective mask to mitigate the risk. “I’m amazed at how many industries continue to use clay despite the risks and the costs associated with its use,” added Cheng.

Not long after tests of the product, initial orders were placed with customers including the Norfolk Navy Shipyard, Langley Air Force Base, AMSEC, and the Army & Air Force Exchange.

“The military is an ideal proving ground for our products. They are regularly dealing with a wide array of spills, from oil and petroleum products, to chemicals and bodily fluids. Our line of products can meet these demands and offer specific benefits that clay just can’t match. We look forward to a long and growing relationship with the U.S. military,” added Cheng.

www.MLF-kmi.com

SUPPLY CHAIN

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Another AMPed-up C-130 Boeing and the U.S. Air Force’s Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex delivered the second C-130 avionics modernization program (AMP) aircraft modified by Warner Robins on July 17. The aircraft is the fifth to be delivered to Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.; the first three were modified by Boeing.

The Boeing C-130 AMP contract with the Air Force is currently in the Low Rate Initial Production phase.

“C-130 AMP is production-ready,” said Mahesh Reddy, Boeing C-130 AMP program director. “Its integrated systems and other improvements increase crews’ efficiency and situational awareness. The AMP solution achieved by Boeing and its Air Force customer also offers a common fleet configuration that reduces maintenance costs over the lifetime of the platform by addressing parts obsolescence.”

Multiple enhancements on the C-130 AMP are designed to reduce total ownership cost. Upgrading the electrical power system,

Shipping Protection Atlantic Shrink Wrapping recently had to prepare five military helicopters for transportation by both barge and truck. The company chose 12-mil flame retardant shrink wrap and eight custom doors, as well as white preservation tape, from Dr. Shrink for the job.

“Dr. Shrink was instrumental in completing this project,” said Dustin Hoover, co-owner of Atlantic Shrink Wrapping. “We couldn’t get the job done without them. Dr. Shrink is very responsive and always solves any problem we run into. We’re at the top of the shrink wrap installation market and we honestly wouldn’t be here without Dr. Shrink.”

Dr. Shrink’s flame retardant wrap contains specialized additives to extinguish the cover within four seconds from removal of ignition source. It meets and exceeds NFPA 701 specifications. Available in opaque white, it allows light to pass through and make a well-lit workspace. The flame retardant shrink wrap is available in 26-foot wide rolls in 7, 9 and 12-mil thicknesses, 32-foot wide rolls in 9 and 12-mil thicknesses and 40-foot wide rolls in 12-mil thickness. www.MLF-kmi.com

replacing analog gauges with an integrated glass cockpit, and new wiring will greatly reduce the number of hours maintainers spend repairing old parts and increase the aircraft’s mission-readiness rate.

Another program improvement is the switch to digital technical publications,

which are easier to update, reduce weight on the aircraft and save paper. The integration of the cockpit reduces flight crew workload by allowing the aircraft to be operated without a navigator, saving the Air Force about $1 billion over the entire fleet.

Preparing for the Ship-to-Shore Connector The Navy awarded recently a $212,722,820 fixed-priced incentive-fee contract for the detail design and construction of a ship-toshore connector (SSC) test and training craft to Textron Inc., New Orleans. The contract also includes options for up to eight additional craft which, if exercised, brings the cumulative value of this contract to $570,451,044.

The SSC is an evolutionary replacement for the current landing craft, air cushioned (LCAC) vehicle, and benefits from more than 20 years of lessons learned from LCAC operations and maintenance.

“The SSC program demonstrates the Navy’s commitment to competition, while reducing acquisition and total ownership costs in the process,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “This is the first major naval acquisition program in more than 15 years to be designed in-house. The level of detail provided by the government design increased competition, reduced overall procurement

costs and leads to smooth transition to full production.”

The SSC program will significantly enhance the Navy and Marine Corps team’s capability to execute a broad spectrum of missions well into the 21st century, from humanitarian assistance and disaster response to multidimensional amphibious assault. Deliveries will begin in fiscal year 2017 with initial operational capability projected for FY20.

The SSC will be a high-speed, fully amphibious landing craft with a 30-year service life capable of carrying a 74-ton payload that can travel at speeds of more than 35 knots, day or night. SSC supports rapid movement of Marine Expeditionary Forces from the sea base to shore and can tactically deliver personnel and heavy equipment to trafficable terrain well beyond the beach with the built-in reliability to operate in the harshest littoral environments.

MLF 6.7 | 15

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Readiness Maximizer

Q& A

Maximizing Readiness and Supporting the Logistics Enterprise

Major General Charles L. Hudson Commanding General Marine Corps Logistics Command

Major General Charles L. Hudson is currently assigned as the commanding general, Marine Corps Logistics Command.

Hudson was commissioned in 1981 after graduation from the Citadel. He was subsequently assigned to the 2d Force Service Support Group where he served as a platoon commander and detachment commander with 2d Landing Support Battalion and Marine Amphibious Unit Service Support Group 22. In 1984, he reported to headquarters, 12th Marine Corps District where he served as the supply and logistics officer.

In 1988, he was assigned to the 1st Force Service Support Group and served as the operations officer and executive officer of Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group 15 and as a company commander and operations officer for 1st Landing Support Battalion.

Assigned to the Marine Corps Combat Development Command from 1992-1996, he served as the logistics assessment officer within the Warfighting Development Integration Division and as the aidede-camp to the commanding general. From 1996 to 1998, he was assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force where he served as the I MEF Maritime Prepositioning Force program officer and the I MEF G-4 operations officer. From 1998 to 2000, he was assigned to 1st Force Service Support Group where he served as the commanding officer, Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group 11 and the 1st Force Service Support Group G-3 operations officer. Following graduation from the Marine Corps War College, he served on the faculty of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College from 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the 1st Marine Logistics Group Assistant Chief of Staff G-3, chief of staff, and commanding officer, Combat Logistics Regiment 15. From 2006 to 2007, he served as the chief of staff, Logistics Directorate, U.S. Central Command. From 2007 to 2009, he served as the chief, Office of Military Cooperation and the United States Defense Representative-Kuwait. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the commanding general, 1st Marine Logistics Group. During the period March 2010 to March 2011, he served as the commanding general, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), the Logistics Combat Element for I MEF (Forward)/NATO Regional Command (SW), in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

He has participated in operations conducted in Grenada, Lebanon, the Arabian Gulf, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hudson is a graduate of the Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Marine Corps War College. In addition to a Master of Military Studies and a Master of Strategic Studies, he holds an M.S. in human resource management. www.MLF-kmi.com

Q: Please describe Marine Corps Logistics Command’s roles and responsibilities within the Marine Corps.

A: Marine Corps Logistics Command has four core competencies: supply, maintenance, distribution and prepositioning support management. We apply these competencies across the Marine Corps to maximize readiness and to support enterprise and program level total life cycle management of ground weapons systems.

In the area of supply, we plan, manage and oversee ground equipment supply chains to ensure effective and efficient support to Marines in combat and in training. We also provide Corps-wide inventory management for ground equipment principle end items.

From a maintenance perspective, we serve as the Marine Corps’ focal point for integrated maintenance management in support of ground weapons systems.

As the distribution process owner for the Marine Corps, we monitor, track and trace the movement of equipment and materiel within the Department of Defense’s distribution pipeline.

When managing the Marine Corps’ prepositioning programs, we ensure the readiness of supplies and equipment embarked aboard prepositioning ships and at other global prepositioning sites, as well as assist combatant commanders with subject matter expertise in prepositioning operations.

It’s a wide mission set that impacts nearly every element of the Marine Corps. These are critical tasks that sustain operations every day, across the globe.

MLF 6.7 | 17

Q: How is Marine Corps Logistics Command supporting the reset of Marine Corps forces as they return from Afghanistan?

A: Placing the right equipment in the best maintenance condition in the hands of the operating forces is vital to the Marine Corps’ transition from a sustained land combat force back to our mission the nation’s expeditionary force in readiness. Marine Corps Logistics Command is the lead organization for retrograde and reset of equipment returning from Afghanistan.

Our reset is in-stride with reconstitution, and our maintenance strategies are synchronized with acquisition plans and force structure requirements. Marine Corps Logistics Command Forward [MCLC(Fwd)] has been on the ground in Afghanistan for several years now, and works very closely with tactical Marine units deployed in theater and Marine Forces Central Command [MARCENT] to identify, account for, and ship returning equipment to its destination.

Based on the condition of the equipment and the Marine Corps reset strategy, the Marine Corps’ organic depot facilities at Albany, Ga., and Barstow, Calif., will be major sources of repair for USMC depot maintenance reset requirements. In addition, the USMC will leverage other DoD depots and commercial vendors as required. Otherwise the equipment will be sent directly back to the operating forces’ home stations to fill critical shortfalls.

To achieve the highest readiness possible from our reset efforts, we aggressively track every single item through the entire process.

Our supply, in-transit visibility and maintenance management systems ensure the accountability of each piece of equipment. This starts with the identification of equipment for retrograde, continues through the transportation and maintenance systems, and ends with reissue to a unit in need. We also maintain strict fiscal accountability throughout our reset operations to ensure that every dollar is efficiently used to develop and improve the combat capability of our expeditionary Corps.

Marine Corps Logistics Command manages this process from start to finish to ensure two vital outcomes: first, Marine forces in Afghanistan maintain focus on their combat mission, and second, the Marine Corps’ reset efforts effectively contribute to the reconstitution and regeneration of our nation’s expeditionary force in readiness.

Q: In addition to the retrograde and reset effort in Afghanistan, Marine Corps Logistics Command is providing other sustainment support in theater. Can you discuss these efforts?

A: Marine Corps Logistics Command has been working alongside Marine forces in the Central Command area of responsibility [CENTCOM AOR] for over nine years, and we still maintain a significant presence in Afghanistan. MCLC[Fwd] manages several efforts designed to sustain the readiness of combat forces and allow them to focus on their tactical mission. We provide a forward-in-stores [FIS] capability, an inventory of critical equipment that is used to replace damaged or destroyed items immediately instead of waiting for them to be shipped from the United States. We also manage the principal end item [PEI] rotation program, an effort designed to maintain a steady flow of refurbished equipment throughout the theater. Finally, MCLC[Fwd] coordinates the use of all available in-theater maintenance resources to keep equipment combat ready.

In support of the CENTCOM and MARCENT commanders, we manage the Marine Expeditionary Unit [MEU] Augmentation 18 | MLF 6.7

Program [MAP]. Supporting the MEUs that serve as CENTCOM’s strategic reserve, the MAP is an inventory of equipment—mainly rolling stock and armored vehicles—on call in Kuwait. This prepositioned equipment set frees up critical embarkation space aboard the amphibious ships on which the MEUs are deployed, yet still enables them to conduct combat operations supported by armored equipment.

The intent of all these programs is clear: sustain the operating forces in theater so they can concentrate on their combat mission.

Despite the fact that we are reducing the size of our forces in Afghanistan, those that remain have an ongoing and dangerous mission. We are there to support them as they accomplish it.

Q: What measures is Marine Corps Logistics Command taking to remain effective and efficient in anticipation of upcoming budget reductions?

A: Earlier this year we consolidated our two maintenance centers under a single command. The new command, headquartered in Albany, Ga., is called the Marine Depot Maintenance Command [MDMC] and we expect to attain full operational capability in late 2013. Production Plants Albany and Barstow [PPA and PPB] will provide maintenance and maintenance-related services while the production planning, business operations, engineering and material management will be performed at the single headquarters element in Albany. This initiative reduces the duplicative business overhead functions inherent with two separate commands, thereby significantly reducing costs. Standardized production processes between PPA and PPB will further increase efficiency and develop economies.

We expect to save the Marine Corps up to $65 million between now and 2018 through this consolidation. We believe the time is now to invest in these cost-saving measures so the Marine Corps can be properly positioned for the upcoming defense budget reductions. We are all keenly aware of the fiscal realities on the horizon.

Consolidating the Marine Corps’ depots achieves the right balance between fiscal efficiency and meeting the unique requirements of the Marine Corps as America’s expeditionary force in readiness. I believe that the establishment of the MDMC demonstrates the Marine Corps’ continued commitment to remaining the fiscally-responsive force of choice.

The Marine Corps’ ground depot maintenance capability is essential to generating readiness organically when operational requirements demand that we surge capability. Marine Corps Logistics Command’s foremost purpose is to ensure that Marines have the ground equipment required to accomplish their assigned mission.

The MDMC executes the depot maintenance function of this responsibility with a more effective chain of command, greater organizational efficiency and decreased operating cost.

Q: What other kinds of sustainment support does Marine Corps Logistics Command provide to Marine forces?

A: On any given day, Marine Corps Logistics Command has approximately 1,000 civilian, contracted and military personnel working alongside Marine forces at their home stations and abroad. Many of the tasks we perform are ones that are manpower, resource and time consuming for the operating forces, ones that are more effectively and economically outsourced to Marine Corps Logistics Command.

Other tasks require subject matter expertise that only we possess. www.MLF-kmi.com

Across the major locations of Marine forces—North Carolina, California, Hawaii and Okinawa, Japan—we operate consolidated issue facilities that manage all the individual combat equipment for an entire Marine expeditionary force; we assist with the receipt, issue and accountability of new and refurbished ground combat equipment; we provide maintenance equipment left on station by deploying forces; we coordinate the inventory of secondary reparables; we operate corrosion control facilities, battery reclamation sites and tire exchange activities. Marines and civilians from our maritime prepositioning program at Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., are constantly on the go, providing exercise planning and execution support across the globe. In addition, we have several hundred personnel deployed to Afghanistan to support Marine forces conducting operations there and to manage retrograde and reset operations.

Marine Corps Logistics Command goes where Marines go. We provide critical logistics and sustainment support that enables the operating forces to concentrate on tactical missions, pre-deployment training events and crisis response. Our job is to keep the operational commander focused on the mission in front of him by providing services and solutions that keep his forces in the fight.

Q: What future challenges do you see in sustaining combat readiness across the Marine Corps?

A: I believe all the services are wrestling with this issue, given the fiscal environment, and we all have varying approaches to readiness. In order to manage operating and investment costs, some services opt to selectively reduce the readiness status of some units between their scheduled deployments. This technique is known as tiered readiness.

Under circumstances of limited resources, non-deployed units pay the price to ensure that deployed and next-to-deploy units maintain sufficient readiness to accomplish their assigned missions. This approach can result in longer, indeterminate spans of time during which those paying units endure reduced combat readiness.

Our leadership has made it clear that this approach does not work for the Marine Corps. We are the nation’s expeditionary force in readiness, a rapidly deployable, crisis response capability.

Our country cannot afford to hold the entire joint force at high readiness, so it has chosen to keep the Marines ready, to provide immediate response, to hold the line during international crises until other forces are made ready and other options become apparent. We cannot afford to keep only our forward-deployed units at high states of readiness at the expense of the rest of the force.

Frequently it is our non-deployed forces that are called upon as a rapid deployment capability to respond to unanticipated crises at a moment’s notice.

A tiered readiness concept is not compatible with the Marine Corps’ mission. Every Marine and every unit has to be ready to go and we recognize that organic logistics capabilities are critical to this concept. Too often, logistics units are cut first in order to preserve combat forces. But we know that this approach diminishes the ability to respond to crises and apply sustained combat power to particular situations.

These concepts are foremost in the minds of our leadership as they examine force structure, acquisition programs and risk mitigation strategies. We recognize that readiness will be challenging in the days to come, but our leadership is committed to sustaining a Corps that fulfills its national security role and accomplishes its missions. www.MLF-kmi.com

Q: Recently there has been much discussion on the Marine Corps’ expanded presence in the Pacific theater. What are some of the logistics issues associated with this?

A: First, I think it’s important to note that that the Pacific theater is predominantly a naval one. The United States Pacific Command area of responsibility encompasses about half the earth’s surface. It’s over 64 million square miles in size, larger than the combined area of all the earth’s land. There are somewhere between 20-30,000 islands in the Pacific. So when you talk about forward presence and persistent engagement, you have to appreciate the scale and character of the theater.

For a logistician, this vast area poses what we call “the tyranny of distance.” As General Dunford, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps has said, “Imagine the future, where we’ve got about 2,500 Marines in Australia, hundreds training in and around Southeast Asia on a daily basis … we’ve got hundreds of Marines training in the Philippines five to seven years from now, we’ve got about 5,000 Marines in Guam, and about 11,000 plus or minus on Okinawa and another 4,000 on Iwakuni.” Sustaining them as they conduct deliberate and contingency operations will be a challenge. But this is one of the Corps’ highest priorities and we are heavily engaged in a thorough and thoughtful planning effort to developing the logistics concept of support.

Q: What do you see as Marine Corps Logistics Command’s role in meeting these challenges?

A: The simple answer to the question is that we will continue to maintain a strong supporting relationship with Marine forces in the Pacific, just as we maintain that same relationship with all Marine forces stationed or deployed anywhere. This is why we embedded liaison support teams in each Marine expeditionary force logistics staff to monitor, assess and communicate their requirements back to our headquarters.

Specific to this region, however, there may be some unique opportunities to support or reinforce designated logistics capabilities that find themselves requiring assistance because of the challenges associated with such a large and dispersed area of operations.

As the Marine Corps’ leadership develops its concepts and plans, we might recognize some opportunities to apply our core competencies of supply, maintenance, distribution and prepositioning support to enable a more effective and ready force in the Pacific. Our job is to keep the operational commander focused forward on his mission; if the opportunity to do this arises as a result of the Marine Corps’ expanded presence in the Pacific, we will be ready to execute smartly.

Q: Do you have any closing thoughts?

A: Any discussion of logistics is bound to address complex topics like resources, finances, force structure and readiness. But to me, it all comes down to a single, sustained and overarching principle: Marine Corps Logistics Command exists for one reason—to ensure that the young Marine, that 17- or 18-year-old private first class or lance corporal walking point in harm’s way, has the equipment he needs to prevail in combat. It is imperative that we conduct all actions required to ensure that the individual Marine has the operational logistics support to execute his or her assigned mission. O MLF 6.7 | 19

Military Logistics Forum talks with Brigadier General Mark M. McLeod about PACOM’s role in sustaining and supporting a more focused shift in geographic importance towards Asia.

The Defense Department has publicly acknowledged that the Asia-Pacific region is where their attention will turn. While the turn will resemble that of a large oil tanker—slow and steady—as

always, the first steps begin with logistics. KMI Media Group Editorin-Chief Jeff McKaughan recently had the chance to talk with Brigadier General Mark M. McLeod, director of logistics, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces and commander of Joint Task Force 519, about what is being done and what is being planned to prepare for the focus shift.

Brigadier General Mark M. McLeod Director of Logistics Pacific Air Forces and Joint Task Force 519

Brig. Gen. Mark McLeod

Brigadier General Mark M. McLeod is the director of logistics, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. He is responsible for the maintenance and support of tactical fighter, reconnaissance and support aircraft; management of supplies and equipment valued at more than $3.3 billion; allocation and maintenance of general- and special-purpose vehicles; and storage and maintenance of war-reserve materiel valued at more than $640 million. He also provides guidance and management assistance for 16,488 military and civilian logistics personnel assigned to Pacific Air Forces.

He is responsible for Pacific Air Force’s 178,000 short-ton, conventional-munitions stockpile valued at $4.8 billion dollars, stored and maintained at locations in the Pacific Air Force’s area of responsibility.

He is also the director of logistics for Joint Task Force 519 and is responsible for campaign logistics support for all military forces assigned to the task force.

Q: DoD has said that there will be a shift in geographic priorities toward Asia and the Pacific region. From a logistical perspective, what does that mean for the way you do business today?

A: The president’s strategy to rebalance U.S. forces to the Pacific is designed to reinforce the importance of this region and demonstrate to allies and partner nations that we continue to be a cornerstone of security in the region.

From a logistics perspective, this shift reinforces many of the precepts and objectives we’ve traditionally supported in the theater— security assistance and the continued development of cooperative capabilities with partner nations; advancing joint capabilities; and setting and synchronizing the theater for logistics. Thus from an overall perspective, our logistics, engineering and security assistance objectives remain consistent—providing the support necessary to conduct the full range of military options on behalf of the USPACOM commander.

What this new focus is affording us the opportunity to do is identify and advocate for additional requirements across all areas of the portfolio—including logistics—and provide our senior decision-makers with all the information they need in order to make fully informed decisions which advocate for the interests of all combatant commanders, sustain readiness and align resources to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.

Q: Can the current military infrastructure support what the plans call for?

A: Yes. The United States has built a unique capability to deploy forces throughout the Pacific theater and the world. Our agility, deployability and flexibility are supported by a robust global distribution network with the capability to sustain forces with sufficient materials to accomplish all our strategic objectives.

20 | MLF 6.7

That said, the world continues to change, and challenges abound.

Given the potential for simultaneous regional and global engagements across the range of military options, and as national policy refocuses attention to the Pacific, we must continue to refine and develop our processes, partnerships and capabilities in order to rapidly, effectively and efficiently move and supply our forces and advance collective security throughout the region.

Another challenge we’re facing is cyber protection, since the majority of our distribution network travels on our commercial infrastructure and networks. Thus, in addition to the air- and sealift lines of communication, rapid and agile logistics will depend more and more on secure networks in the future.

Q: Are there plans to increase the pre-positioning of stocks above current levels? Will you add additional pre-positioning locations?

A: We’re studying options in the theater as we speak. Prepositioned stocks are clearly a force-multiplier in this combatant command, allowing us to directly address the ‘speed of response’ challenges presented by the vast distances in the AOR. Prepo also gives us the opportunity to save on transportation costs, lessen lift requirements during exercise, humanitarian assistance and contingency responses, and ultimately increase the agility of our forces. Prepo is also another way we can increase the strength of our security cooperation with emerging partners in the theater.

As we continue to assess force structure requirements for the theater and look to expand access into places like Australia and the Philippines, we’ll also be looking at the forward presence value of additional pre-positioned materiel. www.MLF-kmi.com

Q: Would you like to expand the face-to-face relations at the command logistician level with friendly countries in the region?

A: This is clearly one of my prime directives as the USPACOM J4.

Fortunately, my predecessors in this position built many avenues that help pave the way for stronger ties with our allies and partners. The most notable of these is the Pacific Area Senior Logistics Symposium [PASOLS], a yearly meeting of the senior logisticians from 26 nations.

I attended my first PASOLS in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last year as a component representative from Pacific Air Forces. This year, Australia has graciously agreed to host PASOLS ... and I’m looking forward to building relationships with all participating nations—from Australia to Indonesia, to China and our various other partners as we collectively review humanitarian assistance processes and opportunities.

In addition, we’ll be traveling to our 19 treaty alliance and partnership nations throughout the year in order to meet our counterparts, strengthen bi-lateral mil-to-mil cooperation and foster improved relations.

Q: There is a lot of blue water in your AOR. What is PACOM’s relationship with commercial shipping companies to keep supplies flowing?

A: We directly benefit from strong relationships with our commercial sea- and airlift partners, who are vital partners to our success. Fortunately, the details behind this world-class level of support are left to the experts at United States Transportation Command, the agency responsible for overseeing deployment and distribution requirements for all combatant commands.

We enjoy an outstanding relationship with USTRANSCOM, and have liaison officers on our staff who provide us with a valuable interface in both planning and execution support to our theater missions.

The new strategic focus on the Pacific will also be the focus of fourstar level talks this fall to further align our strategies and objectives.

Q: Will you be seeing an increase in the number of ships and aircraft assets to keep the supply chain moving?

A: The linchpin of our strategy in the Pacific will continue to hinge on the concept of forward forces. Traditional basing in places like Japan, the Republic of Korea and Guam will be supplemented by emerging initiatives with important partnerships in Australia, Singapore and the Philippines. As we consider where to bed down Marine forces projected to leave Okinawa for example, we’ll concurrently need to address the increased lift requirements associated with a more diverse laydown of capabilities.

As I mentioned in the previous answer, we’re beginning those discussions with U.S. Transportation Command later on this year.

Q: Will that increase cause your maintenance and other support elements to increase to support the additional platforms?

A: It could cause some growth, or at a minimum give us the opportunity to rebalance where we place our theater infrastructure resources to support operations. That’s because establishing these forward capabilities is not an effort to set up permanent basing arrangements.

Rather, our approach will be to share these facilities with our partner nations and support our operational requirements through rotational forces … the same construct we are using very effectively throughout the world today. www.MLF-kmi.com

Q: Is PACOM concerned about the risks of piracy to commercial shipping lanes? Any particular concerns about U.S.-flagged ships?

A: Assuring the freedom of commerce in the Pacific, where major sea lines of communication in international waters carry a significant portion of the world’s goods, is important to USPACOM. That’s why we work with our partner nations and allies through security assistance programs to increase maritime domain awareness and maritime security capabilities.

Our goal is to help build the capability of regional nations to be interoperable and complementary assets providing security to these valuable commercial waters.

Although we don’t have any concerns about U.S. flagged carriers/ vessels at this time, we’re not taking anything for granted through this cooperative approach.

Q: What other challenges are you working to meet current requirements and the new shift as it evolves?

A: There are four strategic focus areas we’re concentrating on over the next 12 months.

First, setting and synchronizing the theater for logistics—prioritizing requirements and communicating guidance to components and partners to help synchronize our collective efforts. A great example of that is country security cooperation plans, which were developed during a recent Pacific Area Security Assistance Conference in Thailand, where senior country officers from 30 regional nations worked with components and PACOM to identify and prioritize specific goals and initiatives for their respective nations. The other imperative this approach allows us to address is the obligation to balance priorities against the fiscal demands we’re facing … making sure that we are both effective and efficient.

Our second focus area is on developing robust theater engagement.

This includes visits, exercises, conferences, discussions to make sure we have the necessary agreements in place with our allies and partners to facilitate increased access. That’s where acquisition cross servicing agreements for logistics services and foreign military sales programs to increase interoperability and cooperation come into play. All of these efforts are keyed towards facilitating and supporting forward forces and balancing effectiveness and efficiency.

Developing joint logistics capabilities is the third focus—defining and advocating for such things as strategic infrastructure and fuel distribution capabilities, all the while keeping an eye on operational energy requirements in order to balance capability with affordability. We’re also continuing to further develop logistics command and control through our logistics common operating picture, and ensuring we have access to key enablers—such as mobile construction battalions—required to support our operations.

Finally, we want to continue the great work my predecessors undertook in workforce development. Professional logisticians—military/civilian, active, Reserve and Guard alike—require training and opportunities to lead, professional development, rewards and recognition, and time to develop their physical fitness. Investment in these areas is necessary in order to continue creating agile and responsive joint logistics leaders who possess the expertise and ingenuity necessary to support combatant commander’s freedom of action.

This is a very exciting time to be a logistician in the largest AOR on the planet! O MLF 6.7 | 21

The Army’s Rapid Innovation Fund looks for innovations to solve LOG-related issues.

Compiled by Jeff McKaughan KMI Media Group Editor-in-Chief Enacted by Congress in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as the Rapid Innovation Program, the NDAA provides DoD with the authority to fund programs that facilitate the rapid insertion of innovative technologies into military systems or programs that meet critical national security needs.

As a result of this authority, the Office of the Deputy Assistant of the Army for Research and Technology recently issued a broad agency announcement (BAA) for the Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF). The BAA is primarily for the transition of technologies developed by small businesses, including those resulting from the Small Business Innovation Research program and DoD reimbursed independent research and development.

The goals of the RIF reflect DoD’s emphasis on rapid, responsive acquisition and the engagement of small, innovative businesses in solving defense needs. The RIF is seeking projects that address innovative technology, that resolve operational challenges or other critical national security needs, and have a demonstration path into a defense acquisition program, including but not limited to capabilities that: accelerate or enhance a military capability; reduce the development, acquisition, sustainment or lifecycle costs of defense 22 | MLF 6.7

acquisition programs or fielded systems; reduce technical risk; and improve the timeliness and thoroughness of test and evaluation outcomes.

Anticipated funding is about $50 million, although the amount of funding allocated—up to the $50 million level—is contingent on proposals meeting required needs. Deadline for submissions is September 17, 2012.

Requirements Force Protection—Basing Problem Statement: It takes too long and too much manpower to deploy, set up, protect, sustain and relocate combat outposts (COPs) and patrol bases (PBs).

Challenge: Reduce the percentage of soldiers needed to set up a COP/PB and protect against threats (including small arms, indirect fires, air delivered weapons and CBRNE) in austere, restricted terrains.

Who: Focus on combat outposts and patrol bases in Afghanistan-like conditions.

What: Representative COP/PBs baseline indicates that it takes 60-90 days using 70 percent of the manpower assets (i.e., 70 percent not available for mission tasks).

How: Measure impact on soldier availability and set-up time.

Objectives: Increase soldier availability for mission tasks versus set-up and security tasks to 50 percent in 30 days with increased force protection; decrease teardown time to no more than four days; and increase the percentage of material reusable at next COP within 100 miles.

Sustainability/Logistics—Basing Problem Statement: The Army needs improved capability to enable sustainment independence/self-sufficiency and to reduce sustainment demands at expeditionary basing levels. It is too costly, too unpredictable, and too labor intensive for a small unit to carry all required consumables to last for weeks or months at a COP/ PB. Storage facilities and systems do not meet needs of these small bases, and resupply efforts are highly unpredictable.

Challenge: Increase self-sufficiency, reduce supply demands and reduce waste at COPs/PBs, and improve the ability to sustain the small unit for the duration of the mission at lower cost and lower risk to suppliers without adversely impacting primary mission soldier availability.

Who: Small units in Afghanistan-like environments.

What: Identify tools, tactics and techniques to achieve demand reduction. www.MLF-kmi.com

Objectives: Reduce need for fuel resupply by 20 percent, reduce need for water resupply by 75 percent and decrease waste while increasing quality of life over COPs/ PBs in Afghanistan.

Sustainability/Logistics— Transport, Distribute and Dispose Problem Statement: The Army needs improved capability to tactically transport and reliably deliver consumables to forward operating bases and smaller satellite bases in remote, dispersed, austere locations with reduced supplier and equipment risk, including improved efficient and safe methods for disposing waste.

Challenge: Leverage all available conveyance modes to ensure supply delivery, to increase the reliability and timeliness of supplies delivery, and to be able to predict when and where all classes of supplies will be needed. In addition, the program will devise methods to reduce waste and use it to provide power.

Who: For forward operating bases with applications to expeditionary bases (small units in COPs and PBs).

What: Rapidly deliver significant quantities (volume, weight, etc.) of supplies.

Air drop and convoy operations—develop ability to conduct rapid movement of emergency, planned, or critical logistics support that enables precise delivery of supplies and repair parts to forward battlefield locations, medical evacuation operations and relief operations.

How: Representative Afghanistan-like environment baseline.

Objectives: Develop tools that efficiently manage, track, redirect, account for and distribute supplies to support forced entry, early entry and non-contiguous operations.

In order to be considered, technologies proposed must show a clear transition path into an Army program of record or as a fielded Army prototype system.

RIF Science and Technology Thrust Areas Enhancing Energy Security and Independence For technologies that will improve energy efficiency, enhance energy security and reduce the department’s dependence on fossil fuels through advances in www.MLF-kmi.com

traditional and alternative energy storage, power systems, renewable energy production and more energy efficient ground, air and naval systems.

Examples of capabilities include: sensors, communications and software needed to collect energy consumption information at point of use across the deployed force (e.g., fuel consumption measurement systems for vehicles), platforms and various devices in contingency bases; technologies that reduce the size and weight of thermal management systems onboard vehicles and platforms; modeling and simulation technologies that examine the effect of energy demand and improvements on operations and integrate power and thermal systems onboard vehicles and platforms; hybrid energy storage, with high energy and power density power systems for autonomous air, ground and undersea systems; and energy capture and conversion technologies for low power sensors, electronics, micro-autonomous systems.

Developing Advanced Materials For investment in a broad range of materials technologies, both organic and inorganic, that can provide enhanced performance in extreme environments; enhanced strength and reduced weight for the spectrum of applications from aerospace to lighter warfighter loads; enhanced survivability of ground, air and naval systems; and tailored physical, optical and electromagnetic properties for a wide variety of the challenging environments and unique properties demanded of military systems. Such materials could include advanced metals and alloys, advanced composites and hybrid materials, engineered nanomaterials, and alternatives for critical and strategic materials. Investments can address new techniques for manufacturing and processing of materials, including advancements in forming, joining and shaping.

Examples of other capabilities include: methods that enable accelerated discovery, development, performance prediction and certification of materials and systems; development of viable, environmentally benign alternative technologies to extract ore, reduce metal from the ore, or to recover critical elements from scrap and waste; predictive tools for affordable and efficient structural health management and [management] of military assets;

materials supporting both structure and propulsion in space access applications; and materials that improve the performance and fuel efficiency of air-breathing engines. Investments can further address materials and processes research directed toward extending the life of components in defense service, in accelerating insertion of novel or newly tailored materials, or in decreasing sustainment costs of defense systems.

Improving Manufacturing Technology and the Industrial Base For increased investment in advanced and innovative manufacturing technologies across the spectrum of applications to significantly compress design to production time cycles, reduce cost, minimize waste and energy consumption, and improve producibility as well as product quality and reliability.

Based on coordination with the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, needed manufacturing technology advances include: advanced joining techniques (e.g., composite bonding, friction stir welding and laser welding) for shipbuilding, aviation and combat vehicle programs; flexible automation and advanced robotics to improve the yield of critical parts; techniques for ballistic survivability that satisfies performance, cost and weight goals for both soldier and weapon system armor; additive manufacturing to fabricate parts in a layer-by-layer fashion directly from a digital design; manufacturing for portable power such as fuel cells; and secure network applications that provide for secure protocol transfer, integrated data sharing and protection of intellectual property.

Advancing Microelectronics Increased investment in the development of resilient advanced microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, printed circuit boards, photonics devices and other related electronics components for the next generation of military and intelligence systems. O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mlf-kmi.com.

MLF 6.7 | 23

SPECIAL SECTION

The warfighter cares little about the battle of the budget, only that their equipment and gear is where it needs to be and is operationally ready.

By Henry Canaday

MLF Correspondent

Money is tight, but military assets must still be kept ready, even after heavy wartime use.

“As are all the services, the Air Force is looking at what we can do to maintain readiness with slightly reduced budgets,” summarized Scott Reynolds, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for logistics.

Sustainment is 65 to 75 percent of life cycle costs for Air Force aircraft. The main cost drivers are the supply chain, maintenance and sustainment engineering, so that is where the Air Force is seeking to reduce costs.

The focus takes two forms. “We are looking at where we can use more performance based logistics (PBL) contracts,” Reynolds said.

“And where we do not have a PBL, we are looking at having effective competition.”

Federal statutes set limits on Air Force discretion, especially the requirement that critical sustainment of tasked weapon systems be done organically. Reynolds said the Air Force has mostly done a good job of meeting this core requirement, “but there is a challenge in software.”

24 | MLF 6.7

Software is growing rapidly. For example, there are five times the lines of code on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as on the F-22 Raptor. “We are working aggressively on that, but the other buckets are satisfied,” Reynolds noted.

To maintain competition, the Air Force needs flexibility, and that requires “ownership of technical documents and data to put a requirement contract on the street,” Reynolds said. “This is one of the tenets of Doctor [Ashton] Carter’s better buying power memo of a couple of years ago. We are working diligently to do that.”

Competition is needed on both major new programs and on new modifications, of which there are often two to three going on at the same time. “Especially early in a program, we rely on OEMs to help us out,” Reynolds said. “But we need to acquire the data at the right time, so we have the opportunity to compete it at the right time.”

Reynolds said the Air Force has managed to do that for major new programs for the last seven to 10 years. “The problem is [with] the late ’80s and ’90s programs, we have a struggle to get the data.

In some cases we buy it, in others we decide it is not worth it. Those programs are a struggle.” www.MLF-kmi.com

SPECIAL SECTION Another requirement for effective competition is being able to provide potential bidders with data on demand patterns, consumption and failing parts on subsystems. Reynolds said the Air Force is getting this data.

The Air Force is re-thinking another dimension of economy and competition: the length of contracts. “There is a balance between giving contractors enough time to get a return on the investment they make on a program versus locking the Air Force into what may be a bad deal,” Reynolds noted. “We are thinking two to five years for the base contract, with a series of options, may be the sweet spot.”

On contract metrics, the Air Force has experience with contracts that just measured aircraft availability and not much else. As things are now evolving, the Air Force is looking more at subsystem PBLs, for example on radar and electronic warfare. “Then you need metrics for those subsystems and may need a larger set of metrics,” Reynolds said.

The Air Force will probably get into more detail, both to understand where the cost drivers are on a current contract and to make smarter decisions about future PBLs. Access to metrics must be provided for in contracts. “If we ask for more data, they can price that into contracts, and we will sometimes be willing to pay more to get more data,” Reynolds said.

Combat operations result from proper maintenance and an optimized supply chain. Tighter budgets create So far, information technology (IT) systems have not challenges up and down the process, but can never be manifested in less-than-absolute operational limited data. “We are able to get the data we need, even when readiness. [Photo courtesy of DoD] IT systems are not interconnected,” Reynolds said. “But in third priority is modernizing maintenance capabilities, including the future, we want IT systems to talk back and forth. We better maintenance reporting and asset-management systems, need our ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] systems to connect and more use of prognostic, health-management and autonomous with contractor ERP systems. That will make it easier to do, but we systems. can do it now.”

One big efficiency challenge is in the seams between supply, The Air Force does not know yet exactly where cost savings are maintenance and transportation. “Cross-functional integration, at possible, but is looking at opportunities weapon by weapon, espethe process-level, is the next significant area for greater efficiency cially at pass-through costs, management fees and bundling where and effectiveness,” Kratz said. He cited the Air Force’s Industrial bundling may not be necessary. “We are asking the contractors to Prime Vendor program as proof. “The contract specifies metric outhelp us understand where those extra costs are,” Reynolds said. comes significantly higher than those achieved through traditional “They have an interest. They want to sell us these systems and not processes and has been an unqualified success. Under the new conprice themselves out of the market.” tract, bin fill rates have averaged over 99 percent, compared to a low So the Air Force is reviewing all its sustainment programs, of 62 percent under prior support.” looking for cost drivers and savings. Major programs include the Kratz continues to support the PBL approach, citing a recent F-35, MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, C-17 Globemaster III, F-22 and DoD estimate that PBLs could save $10 to $20 billion annually, KC-46 tanker. while improving readiness. He said the Navy’s H-60 Tip-to-Tail PBL The Air Force is definitely not looking at less readiness to save with Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin, which provides supply chain money. “No one here is thinking about that,” Reynolds stressed. “We management support for 1,266 repairable H-60 items, has reaped do not want iron on the ramp that is not ready.” more than $60 million in savings while increasing readiness.

As the U.S. draws down from wars, there will be some natural Kratz prefers fixed-price incentive contracts with built-in incensavings. “There will be less expense due to harsh environments—for tives to improve reliability while allowing for a fair profit. And he example, the sand in Afghanistan,” Reynolds said. “We had a lot of favors longer-term contracts to encourage investment and labor corrosion on engine fan blades. So that will help us lighten the stability. Kratz said a guidebook on how to make public-private partworkload in depots.” nerships (PPPs) work, published in February, can help maximize As the Army and Marines pull out of Afghanistan, they must go benefits from the partnership approach. through reset, increasing maintenance requirements. “But we have Kratz thinks better IT can also help, saying the Littoral Combat cycled our aircraft in and out, and have done our maintenance, so Ship (LCS) Sustainment Portal “is a good example of the art of the we don’t have that reset spike.” possible.” The LCS Portal enables advanced planning of maintePersistent terrorism threats and the need for resets, especially nance availability and schedule, records, and maintenance status. It for ground forces, require a short-term maintenance surge, argued has an automated depot asset management system, which manages Louis Kratz, vice president of logistics and sustainment at Lockheed part inventories, supports help-desk activity and stores ship data for Martin. Afterward, normal operations should aim for a vibrant and analysis. competitive industrial base in both government and industry. A www.MLF-kmi.com

MLF 6.7 | 25

SPECIAL SECTION Kratz said the Air Force’s Flightline of the Future will make integration of maintenance and operational planning seamless.

Aircraft status will be self-reported. Less human effort will be needed for trouble shooting and planning as predictive health management systems and ground systems become part of wings and squadron.

Total cost of ownership will go down.

“The move to performance-based life cycle support, versus paying for failure, still seems to be right,” observed Betsy Warren, integrated product support director at BAE Systems Electronic Systems. But she believes defense managers need to decide on the levels of readiness they really need. “Do they need 93 percent of two years ago or do they need 70 percent?”

Warren noted that availability is essentially a function of three variables: mean time between failure, time to repair and mean logistics down time. Dialing availability up or down requires adjusting logistics down time, which determines cost.

PPPs are essential to cost control, because they combine useful infrastructure. IT systems can help, and “we think they need improvement,” Warren said. “We have initiatives to improve connectivity between our ERP and military systems. It is easier with some services than with others.”

BAE use a variety of internal metrics to manage its costs, but seeks only one of two contract metrics. Multiple contract metrics makes it harder to control costs, Warren said.

“There are lots of benefits in transaction-based commercial processes,” argued Jim Groom, director of integrated logistics support

at Navistar. Navistar provides commercial services on U.S. vehicle fleets domestically and overseas, as well as for NATO fleets.

“The government does not use this as much on tactical vehicles in theater,” Groom said. “They purchase full contractor logistics support or PBL to incent the right behavior. But that is very expensive and you have to pay up front, estimating how much equipment and spares you will need.”

But not every military asset is a $50 million aircraft. “If an accessory falls off a truck, it is not the same as an aircraft falling out of the sky,” Groom argued. “You could handle it on a more commercial basis, paying for what you need when you need it, not buying based on statistical probabilities.”

Groom admitted the approach would not work for all assets, “but it might for 80 percent. Life cycle support is 70 percent of costs, and you must have flexibility, even for tactical vehicles.”

Under this approach, the customer buys some spares and trains mechanics, then puts assets into shops only when needed. Navistar can do scheduled repairs or major repairs when government does not have capacity.

“We try to do smart maintenance, prioritizing both projected life on wing and cost,” explained Dan Gonzales, vice president of government and military strategy at Standard Aero. “I used to think doing a complete overhaul was best. Now I know best is balancing life on wing with lowest cost.”

Standard Aero has overhauled Rolls-Royce T56 engines on the Air Force C-130 Hercules under a 15-year contract since 1999 at the largest T56 facility in the world. It is one of three contractors supporting Navy T56s. “We designed our facility for speed, control and turnaround time [TAT],” Gonzales said. TAT is 40 to 45 days, “and we hit that target.”

To optimize cost and wing-time, Standard Aero collects and analyzes data on performance, both on shop floors and at forward bases with its own staff. Data is provided by an Air Force system, but the company provides a module that helps line techs decide on removals and swap-outs. “It’s hard to quantify cost savings,” Gonzales said.

“But it’s great to hear someone say they reduced engine removals by 25 percent.”

Data, analysis, facilities and investment make this possible. “I don’t know what all other facilities are like, but I have seen some and they have not done what we have done,” Gonzales said.

Sheer volumes of work over more than a dozen years have also helped. “We have more data to project the age and wear of the fleet,” Gonzales noted. “And high volume justifies investment in facilities and data systems.”

The ability to predict engine performance and wear enables prediction of material requirements. “You do not need to buy justin-case inventories,” Gonzales said. “You can buy what you need.”

Standard Aero works on cost-plus-fixed-fee, not under a PBL. Gonzales said PBLs can also produce efficiency, instancing Boeing support of the C-17. In both cases, “the secret is investing.”

The Standard Aero exec believes industry and government need to share best maintenance practices. “Some of our practices are confidential and competitive, but we can share philosophies. We have an open door and let customers walk the floor.” O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.mlf-kmi.com.

26 | MLF 6.7

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The advertisers index is provided as a service to our readers. KMI cannot be held responsible for discrepancies due to last-minute changes or alterations.

MLF RESOURCE CENTER Calendar

Advertisers Index AEG Group...................................................................................... C3 www.aeg-group.com GSA................................................................................................... 3 www.gsa.gov/acqmpm New Breed Logistics....................................................................... 16 www.newbreed.com North Dakota State University........................................................ 9 www.ndsu.edu/transportation Oshkosh Corporation.................................................................... C2 www.oshkoshdefense.com Panasonic...................................................................................... C4 www.panasonic.com/business-solutions VT Miltope...................................................................................... 11 www.miltope.com

September 9-12, 2012 NGAUS Conference Reno, Nev. www.ngausconference.com/12NS

October 22-24, 2012 AUSA Washington, D.C. www.ausa.org

September 22-26, 2012 NDTA Forum & Expo Anchorage, Alaska www.ndtahq.com/events_forum_expo. htm

October 31-November 2, 2012 TACOM LCMC APBI Dearborn, Mich. www.ndia.org/meetings/3520

Special PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT

October 7-11, 2012 Logistics Officers Association Conference Washington, D.C. www.loanational.org/conference/

IHS.................................................................................................... 3 www.ihs.com Northrop Grumman.....................................................................4-5 www.northropgrumman.com/performance Northrop Grumman Technical Services....................................... C2 www.northropgrumman.com/ts ManTech........................................................................................... 7 www.mantech.com

NEXTISSUE

September 25-27, 2012 Modern Day Marine Quantico, Va. www.marinecorpsexpos.com

November 1-4, 2012 Tanker Airlift Association Conference Anaheim, Calif. www.atalink.org November 13-16, 2012 DoD Maintenance Symposium Grand Rapids, Mich. www.sae.org/events/dod/

September 2012 Vol. 6, Issue 8

The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger Commander Air Force Materiel Command

Special Section MRO

Features •

EAGLE Program Update

•

Materiel Handling/ Construction Equipment

•

Inventory Management

•

Maintaining Aging Systems

SPecial Pullout Supplement Who’s Who at Army Aviation and Missile Command A special pull-out supplement featuring an interview with Major General Lynn A. Collyar, AMCOM commanding general, plus a detailed look at the organizational structure and business operations of AMCOM. Other features include a two-page pictorial spread of AMCOM’s senior leadership plus a review of top critical contracts.

Bonus Distribution

National Defense Transportation Association Forum Air & Space Conference & Technology Expo Logistics Officer Association’s Conference

Insertion Order Deadline: August 24, 2012 • Ad Materials Deadline: August 31, 2012 To Advertise, Contact: Jane Engel, MLF Associate Publisher 301.670.5700 x 120 • jane@kmimediagroup.com

www.MLF-kmi.com

MLF 6.7 | 27

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Military Logistics Forum

Bill Carty Vice President and General Manager Defense and Government Services Division Northrop Grumman Bill Carty is the vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman’s Defense and Government Services division.

Carty has more than 30 years of experience in management of companies providing a wide array of support and services to both the federal government and commercial customers.

Q: Please provide some background on Northrop Grumman and the company’s logistical work with the Department of Defense.

A: Logistics has been a central focus of Northrop Grumman since its inception and will continue to be well into the future. As an industry leader in sustainment, modernization and innovative logistics, we understand that our customers not only expect quality in our services, but also affordability. By pioneering logistics processes designed to enhance cost savings, we’ve been able to help our customers save money without sacrificing results.

Currently, we deliver a full range of logistics support while operating maintenance and repair programs for several thousand tracked and light, medium and heavy tactical wheeled vehicles at two of the U.S. Army’s premier training facilities: National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., and the Joint Readiness Training Center [JRTC] in Fort Polk, La. Our more than 35 years of experience result in high first pass quality ratings and operational readiness rates that are consistently above Army standards.

Internationally, Northrop Grumman is responsible for the Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization program, where our employees provide direct and general support maintenance capabilities for nearly a thousand light armored vehicles.

Q: How is Northrop Grumman helping the DoD meet current logistics objectives?

A: It’s all about innovation. Through processes developed on-site, our employees design special tools and procedures to 28 | MLF 6.7

shorten repairs times, improve logistical processes and generate customer savings, while increasing operational ready rates. For example, by using supply chain inventory tools, integrated training solutions, process improvements and reliability-center maintenance approaches, we’ve been able to drastically reduce program execution costs for our customers.

At Fort Irwin, we’ve been able to reduce the processing time required for vehicle turnin by 60 percent and reduce the flow time for the issuing of equipment by 33 percent, giving the Army back these days for additional training or time with family before deployment.

Similarly, at Fort Polk, we have applied the lessons learned from Fort Irwin to the unique JRTC requirements and effectively reduced processing time while greatly increasing vehicle fleet availability and first pass quality. These rates are well above U.S. Army standards and are especially impressive given the high usage of the vehicles. Having the fleet fully operational enables the units to gain maximum advantage from their training opportunities.

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

A: One of the major challenges is to continue working hand-in-hand with the government to provide quality support to the warfighter in a timely manner given ever-changing requirements. The warfighter’s needs must be satisfied as quickly as possible. So there’s a requirement for both parties to remain agile in developing and implementing productive solutions to difficult problems.

As the system is currently structured, it is very deliberative in nature, meaning that the process of developing a request for proposal and evaluation period for solicitations are too long. This process does not adequately address the present day requirements of our service members who are placed in life or death situations. Often the solution is needed to save lives or provide significant benefit based on the current situation, but presently arrives too late. There are many examples that would prove this point.

Q: What about the challenges of potentially operating within a reduced DoD budgetary environment?

A: Challenging times have a tendency of generating the most innovative and practical solutions. Given the current environment, Northrop Grumman is getting creative in the way we do business by challenging ourselves to look for novel ways of accomplishing missions with our customer’s budget in mind.

The traditional methods of doing business will no longer cut it.

With the services being limited as far as new acquisitions, there is an underlying need to reset current assets coming out of the area of responsibility. One solution we’ve been working as a company is the concept of teaming with original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] to generate cost savings.

Instead of bringing equipment back to a central location for reset, allow the service provider and OEM or depot team to perform the engineering and building of the kits and take those kits to the vehicle location for installation. This process allows the services to maintain OEM/depot experience in terms of design and building of the kits, but lowers cost while increasing operational readiness rates.

Costs would lower through competition and unit participation would increase by allowing all work to be accomplished locally.

Indirectly, the customer maintains the industrial base while making the skills of the OEM or depot available to ensure high quality work. O www.MLF-kmi.com

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