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Reducing MRO Expenses O Contractor Logistics SupportAfghanistan Logistics

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Air Lifter

Gen. Paul J. SelvaCommanderAir Mobility Command

Special pull-out Supplement

Air Force Air Logistics compLexes

Exclusive Interview with ALC Commanders:maj. gen. H. Brent Baker sr.Brig. gen. Donald e. “gene” KirklandBrig. gen. cedric george

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September 2013Volume 7, Issue 8

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Cover / Q&AFeatures

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General Paul J. Selvacommander

air mobility command

15

September 2013Volume 7, Issue 8

Departments Industry Interview2 editor’S PerSPective4 loG oPS/PeoPle12 SuPPly chain23 reSource center

Shelley lavenderVice president and General manager, integrated logisticsthe Boeing company

AIr Force AIr LogIStIcS compLexeS SpecIAL puLL-out SuppLement

MILITARY LOGISTICS FORUM

24

MaJor General h. Brent Baker Sr.

commander ogden air logistics

complex

BriGadier General donald e. “Gene” kirkland

commanderoklahoma city air logistics

complex

BriGadier General cedric GeorGe

commanderWarner Robins air logistics complex

“When I travel

around to our

active, Guard

and Reserve

units, I tell

everyone my

first priority is

mission. We will

do whatever

is needed to

meet mission

requirements

and to position

ourselves to

meet future

missions.”

- Gen. Paul J. Selva

excluSive interviewS with

6contractor loGiSticS SuPPortcontractor logistics support was one of the earliest and is still one of the most valuable arrangements for motivating private firms to sustain military assets effectively and efficiently.By Henry Canaday

8how Much Private Sector reliancethinking both short- and long-term on aircraft maintenance. Sequestration and budget constraints are driving further analysis of maintenance methods and procedures in a search for lower costs and increased efficiencies.By Henry Canaday

21afGhaniStan loGiSticSu.S. military agencies charged with managing the drawdown from afghanistan are faced with a tangle of complexities, a situation far more challenging than the similar process that took place at the end of the iraq conflict. managing transportations costs while managing the supply of an engaged force requires skill.By Peter BuxBaum

Within the U.S. DoD supply chain, what are the inventory levels for Klimov TV3-117VM powerplants, Perm Motors transmissions, pitot tubes, cockpit gauges or virtually any parts found on the Russian-built Mi-17? I can’t exactly answer that question either, but it appears that DoD holds about $2.6 million in Mi-17-compatiable spare parts.

The Non-Standard Rotary Wing Aircraft Project Management Office (NSRWA PMO) appears to have strayed from processes and procedures in its quest to procure spare parts and then did not adequately administer and manage the overhaul contract on five Pakistani Mi-17 helicopters. The PMO spent about $8.1 million on the parts and contract. Of that amount, perhaps as much as $4.5 million were spent on parts that were, based on historical data, unnecessary. Additionally, the aforementioned $2.6 million was spent on parts DoD already owned—a good question would be, although they owned the parts, did they have a system in place to tell everyone they owned these parts and did they know where the parts were?

Nevertheless, about $7.1 million is fundamentally gone from the cookie jar and there is nothing tangible—no spare parts inventory and no rebuilt Mi-17s to fly around.

The contracting officer, working under a misunderstood aspect of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, violated those regulations and failed to follow accepted norms when vetting a contract, especially in a deployed environment and when dealing with foreign contractors and subcontractors.

As with most everything, once the dust of the investigation settles, there will be new training required, new procedures to follow and hopes that some of the misallocated funds will be recovered. And, as with everything, there is no single point of failure that if corrected would make everything better.

Action items have gone out to Army PEO Aviation, Army Contracting Command-Redstone, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, and Army Materiel Command. Responses are anticipated by the end of September.

The Mi-17 is a workhorse and a valuable logistics tool for U.S. opera-tions, and one that fits into the Afghans’ operations and comfort zone. Despite our efforts to complicate the process, the helicopter is robust and easily maintained. We need to stop wasting money, but we also should not over-engineer solutions.

Jeffrey D. mcKaughaneditor-in-CHieF

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

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Rear Admiral (lower half) Vincent L. Griffith, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral, will be assigned as commander, Naval Supply Systems Command Global Logistics Support, San Diego, Calif. Griffith previously served as

deputy chief of staff for fleet ordnance and supply/fleet supply officer, N41, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va.

Brigadier General Jacqueline D. Van Ovost, vice commander, U.S.

Air Force Expeditionary Center, Air Mobility Command, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., has been assigned to deputy director, Politico-Military Affairs (Europe), J-5, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Captain John P. Polowczyk, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as deputy chief of staff for fleet ordnance and supply/fleet supply officer, N41, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va. Polowczyk

previously served as comptroller, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk.

Captain Paul J. Verrastro, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as director, Logistics Programs and Operations Division, N41, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C. Verrastro previously served as commanding officer, Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Brian E. Chappel has been appointed vice president and program manager for the Northrop Grumman Corporation F-35 Lightning II program.

Compiled by Kmi media Group staffPEOPLE

Multiple Award Solar Technology Contracts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, working with the Army Energy Initiatives Task Force (EITF), recently awarded multiple award task order contracts (MATOC) to a group of 22 qualified solar technology contractors.

Solar is the second of four technologies being awarded under the $7 billion Renewable and Alternative Energy Power Production for DoD Installations MATOC. The first, geothermal, was awarded May 3. The remaining technolo-gies—wind and biomass—will be awarded on a staggered schedule by the end of the calendar year.

The contractors that are qualified through this process will be able to compete for future projects within their approved technology area for any renewable energy task order issued under the MATOC by the Army or DoD.

“The MATOC represents a major step forward in the procurement of renewable energy for the Army and the other services that will significantly reduce timelines by streamlining acquisition processes. Utilizing the MATOC in this way will assist the EITF in meeting the Army’s goal for one gigawatt renewable energy by 2025 as well

as additional congressional mandates,” said John Lushetsky, EITF’s executive director.

This MATOC will be used to procure reli-able, locally generated, renewable and alterna-tive energy for DoD installations through power purchase agreements (PPA). The $7 billion capacity will be expended for PPAs to procure energy during a period of up to 30 years from renewable energy generation systems that are designed, financed, constructed, operated and maintained by contractors using private sector financing.

The companies awarded contracts are:

• Acciona Energy North America Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

• Apex Wind Energy Holdings LLC, Charlottesville, Va.

• Borrego Solar, San Diego, Calif.• Cobra Industrial Services Inc., Houston,

Texas• Dominion Energy Inc., Richmond, Va.• Element Power US LLC, Portland, Ore.• Emerald Infrastructure, San Antonio, Texas• Enel Green Power North America, Andover,

Mass.

• Energy Matters LLC, Arlington, Va.• Gehrlicher Solar America Corporation,

Springfield, N.J.• Johnson Controls Government Systems,

Milwaukee, Wis.• Lend Lease, Nashville, Tenn.• LTC Federal LLC, Detroit, Mich.• New Generation Power, Chicago, Ill.• NRG Energy Inc., Princeton, N.J.• Photon Finance LLC – SunPower,

Mountain View, Calif.• Siemens Government Technologies Inc.,

Arlington, Va.• Silverado Power LLC, San Francisco, Calif.• Solar Power Ventures, Arlington, Va.• Standard Solar Inc., Rockville, Md.• Sunpower Corporation, Richmond, Calif.• Washington Gas Energy Systems Inc.,

McLean, Va.

These contracts will place the Army one step closer to meeting its congressionally mandated energy goal of 25 percent production and consumption of energy from renewable sources by 2025 and improving installation energy secu-rity and sustainability.

Brian e. chappel

rear Adm. Vincent L. griffith

Brig. Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost

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Contractor logistics support (CLS) was one of the earliest and is still one of the most valuable arrangements for motivating private firms to sustain military assets effectively and efficiently. Sometimes considered “PBL-Lite,” CLSs pay private firms for delivering products or services according to very specific mea-sures, or maintaining military assets at very specific levels.

The approach has paid off in many ways, including cost savings and asset availability, compared with the old transaction-based sup-port contracts.

However, CLS veterans caution that there are some real challenges in making this con-tract method work. Data access is crucial to a smart and very attractive bid. Government customers should be wary of lowball bidders that will seek expensive change orders after securing contracts. “Industry offers some innovative solutions that help save money,” summarized John Hayward, vice president of AAI Logistics & Technical Services. “All of our CLSs have saved money in the 20 to 25 percent range.”

Hayward said CLS enables AAI to more efficiently do both repairs and management of the supply chain. And it allows the firm to provide support either in person or as an on-call service, whichever is “the right level of support for the need.”

CLS also enables AAI to give the govern-ment availability in excess of requirements. Hayward said contracts usually require 95 or 96 percent availability. “We have run about 99 percent and have produced some long runs at 100 percent.” In addition, an AAI CLS may increase the actual capability of the system that it supports.

Hayward illustrates these general points with three specific AAI CLSs. The first is for the Air Force’s Tactical Meteorological Observation System, or TMOS. AAI provides both on-call and in-person support, manages the supply chain, repairs parts, and purchases replacement and spare parts. One TMOS station has run over a year at 100 percent availability, and the entire CLS has reduced Air Force costs by 27 percent.

AAI also has a CLS for sustaining the training system for the C-17 at 12 sites, one in Australia, for the Air Force. There are about 150 devices at the dozen sites and availability is typically above 99 percent, as high as 99.8 percent. At the same time, Defense Depart-ment costs have been cut 27 percent.

Finally, AAI has a CLS for a highway-driv-ing simulator for the Department of Trans-portation. This CLS includes sustainment, maintenance and modifications. Availability has been maintained at 99 percent, and AAI’s approach to sustainment has enabled DoT to double the number of experiments it per-forms with the simulator.

In all three cases, Hayward noted, AAI was not the OEM of the equipment it sup-ports through CLS. So one major challenge has been access to data when AAI proposes a CLS for another OEM’s system. “The data is often not available or it is limited,” Hayward explained. “So it is a challenge in how to price it. What sort of business model should we use? Should we provide in-person or on-call support?” Hayward said that when the government competes a CLS it should make sure it gets good data rights from the system’s OEM.

The AAI exec would also like to see the government make CLS more like full per-formance-based logistics (PBL) contracts. “Make CLS more expansive; it should cover more, everything from soup to nuts.” And he thinks CLS could fruitfully be applied to more defense systems and platforms.

Now vice president services and support solutions at Elbit Systems of America, Kurt Huff helped start PBLs at Naval Inventory Control Point Philadelphia. His Elbit unit, M7 Aerospace, performs CLS on military versions of civilian aircraft: the C-20 Gulfstream, C-23 Sherpa, C-26 Metroliner and UC-35 Cessna Citation. “The customer comes back from a mission, parks the aircraft on the line, and we have six hours to get it ready for the next mis-sion, do maintenance checks, gas and clean it,” Huff summarized. “It’s like a PBL.”

The M7 exec said the big distinction is that in a PBL the contractor is responsible for

managing obsolescence by finding replace-ment parts or new parts.

For military versions of civilian models, CLS is not complicated. Huff said it is mostly making sure the supply chain is robust. M7 has been able to keep mission-capable rates (MCR) for the Navy in Qatar at 96 percent across the board.

“The big benefit to the government is cost,” Huff stressed. “We do it cheaply. We have incentive to do it cheaply and our profit margin is thin.”

One key to private sector economy is that CLS requires mostly mechanics, and highly trained, experienced civilian mechanics are easy to find in the right locations. “We do not have to train then and then have them leave as they do in the military,” Huff noted. He estimated that M7 probably has 30 to 40 per-cent fewer mechanics than the services would for the same jobs because it is using experi-enced people who know the aircraft. And with MCR at 96 percent, performance is as good as or better than the services would achieve.

Huff acknowledged that some private firms win CLS contracts with low-ball bids and then go back afterwards to ask for more money. “We don’t,” he stressed. Huff points to a CLS on the UC-35 and C-26 for the Navy in Hawaii where, after winning the contract, M7 had to add a sixth person to its original staff “on our own nickel.”

Huff said there are really two kinds of CLSs for military versions of civilian aircraft. In one kind, the government owns the inventory. In these cases, private firms know the headcounts required and know compensation rates, generally from union agreements. Although private firms will need substantially fewer people than the government, due to their ability to hire experienced mechanics, likely bidders will each need about same headcounts. “So you are just bidding overhead, profit and G&A [general and administrative expense]. That means a very thin profit margin.”

This first situation is thus very good for the government, but it can be tough for the CLS firm.

CLS repreSentS effeCtive and effiCient optionS for the miLitary. By henry Canaday, mLf CorreSpondent

Contractor Logistics Support


The second situation arises when the contractor owns the part inventory. Private firms can minimize this inventory, while the government tends to buy too much. So here, smart contractors can win bids, make a profit and serve the government well, all at the same time.

“It is tricky to find out how many parts will be needed per flight hour,” Huff said. “The government does not share that data.” He said M7 spent six weeks estimating part requirements for one recent bid and still does not know if it has estimated accurately.

Huff believes this sort of CLS approach could work well for land vehicles as well as aircraft, “especially land vehicles that are not complex.” He noted that Bradley fight-ing vehicles have engines and transmissions similar to those widely used in commercial fleets, so this requirement is met. “As the Army and Marine Corps downsize, there is an opportunity to apply CLS to land vehicles.”

Huff distinguishes this type of CLS, on military versions of civilian platforms, from supporting purely military aircraft and other assets. Here the choices are support at the platform level, or support below that, for sys-tem, subsystem or components.

For platform level CLS, Huff said prime contractors may need high profit margins to compensate for risks posed by subcontractor equipment for which the prime does not have intellectual property or data. “I don’t know if that means it costs more or less than govern-ment management,” he acknowledged. “The jury is out on costs.” But Huff is confident that CLS, even at the platform level, does

improve availability. “Say you go from 70 percent MCR to 86 percent MCR. That is like getting 15 percent more aircraft.”

Jerry King is the owner-founder of King Aerospace, which has done CLS for military customers for two decades. King said one benefit is that CLS often comes with a fixed price for multiple years, giving some predict-ability to budgets.

Another benefit is that private companies are in a better position to increase or decrease headcounts as conditions change. “For mili-tary or civil servants, it is more expensive to do that,” King observed.

But CLS only really works for custom-ers when the contractor takes ownership of performance. King recalls his firm took over a poorly performing CLS for the Air Force and got MCR up to 99 percent. It helped that the family-owned King Aerospace did not need to meet short-term profit goals, as some pub-licly traded firms may have to do.

King urges defense customers to com-pete CLS contracts and make sure awards go to firms with a record of meeting both stated and unstated expectations. Like Huff, he said there is some gamesmanship in CLS bidding. Some firms will exclude a cost item in bidding, even though they know it will be necessary, and then will seek a change order after winning to recover the expense.

Another CLS challenge is that govern-ment and military staff are stretched so thin, they have difficulty auditing all the require-ments of contracts. “Often you find one contractor is supervising other contractors, and that is not very good,” said King. A related

problem is that there is so much rotation of government or military staff that the contrac-tor is the only expert and audits itself.

Maximizing CLS potential requires met-ric goals that are a “stretch but reachable,” King advised. “And make sure you fully dis-close expectations, so you do not get change orders.”

David Dober manages Chromalloy’s work on CF6-50C2 engines as a subcontrac-tor to Northrop Grumman on the KC-10 Extender. The company overhauls more than 200 engines plus 75 auxiliary power units. Northrop’s metric commitments to the Air Force flow down to Chromalloy. In fact, “our metrics are a little tighter than the govern-ment’s for Northrop,” Dober said.

Dober’s unit must turn the engines around in less than 75 days, and it is doing turns under 65 days now. The engines must come out of overhaul with a specified exhaust gas temperate margin, which Chromal-loy approximately doubles. Dober said the arrangement clearly saves the government money and delivers a good product.

On challenges, Dober said that if a firm is just starting a CLS, “they better have the right management set up and the right pro-cesses set up. You better be efficient before you start because the government will expect efficiency from day one.” O

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

at www.mlf-kmi.com.

www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 7.8 | 7

The budget-sequestration pressures that have been sending shock waves throughout the federal government are, in a sense, just an intensification of something that has been going on for a while in sustainment of defense assets. For more than a decade, maintenance managers for Navy and Army aircraft have been looking for ways to economize.

Most of these efforts have involved increased reliance on the pri-vate sector, through contractor logistics support, performance-based logistics (PBL), public-private partnerships (PPPs) or other arrange-ments. Overall, these new maintenance tactics have both improved performance and saved money. So it makes sense to take them further to save more money, and that is generally what private firms recom-mend under sequestration pressures.

But general answers are not enough; many specific questions must be answered. What arrangements with private firms work best? How important are very high availability metrics in light of budget pres-sures? Where can PBL approaches be extended, at what level and over how long a term?

How can the government’s own formidable main-tenance resources, in facilities and labor, be exploited without creating new resources?

Most important, how do defense planners address these big long-term questions even as they struggle with intense short-term challenges?

aviation maintenanCe

The largest portion of aviation maintenance spending at the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is for the reset and repair of Army aircraft returning from Afghanistan, explained Colonel Donald Nitti, director of AMCOM’s Field Support and Readiness Directorate. Nitti said the sequestration

budget reductions have reduced the funding below that needed to fully meet this critical requirement in fiscal year 2013. “This has caused the reset deferment of some FY13 aircraft until FY14.” The deferment has not had an immediate impact on Army aviation readiness yet.

Nitti said that, so far, the only adjustments made for sequestration have been reset production quantities. “There has been no change in the scope of reset and AMCOM will never compromise in the area of quality.”

AMCOM has exploited industry best practices and partnerships and begun several new initiatives to reduce the cost of the aviation reset program. The newly awarded Army aviation field maintenance (AFM) contract is one of those initiatives. “The AFM contract is a cost-plus-incentive-fee contract that is designed to incentivize civilian contrac-tors to reduce operating cost and completion times while maintaining quality,” Nitti explained. “AMCOM is also working test programs to use commercial off-the-shelf automation tools to more efficiently and cost-effectively manage workload and supply stocks.”

To date, the only adjustments made by private contractors for AMCOM are those related to reset production quan-tities. Again, Nitti emphasized, “there has been no change in the scope of reset.”

AMCOM has not directly requested that contrac-tors modify their maintenance-support structure. But the composition and size of a contractor’s workforce is determined by each contractor, based on actual work-load, maintenance requirements and other factors. Nitti said that, due to declining budgets and reduced FY13 workload, contractors have begun to significantly reduce their workforce in most locations.

For its own part, AMCOM is consolidating opera-tions and reducing its maintenance footprint through

the closing of off-post maintenance locations. It is concentrating its operations at Army installations as a cost-saving initiative.

col. Donald Nitti

thinking Both Short term and Long on airCraft maintenanCe.By henry Canaday, mLf CorreSpondent

How Much Private Sector Reliance


Navy aviation is facing the same kind of pressures. Due to fur-loughs following the sequester, the Navy’s fleet readiness centers saw significantly reduced overtime, elimination of overnight shifts and reduction in contractor support, explained spokesman Gary Younger. “This had a significant adverse impact on Naval and Marine Corps aircraft, engine and component production,” Younger said.

Fleet readiness managers and supervisors are still assessing the impact of the furloughs and determining which and how much of the maintenance, repair and overhaul work can be recovered. But Younger stressed that curtailing furloughs does not by itself automatically mean that the centers’ production will revert to previous rates. “We are working hard with employees, unions and industry partners to keep open lines of communication.”

Shelley Lavender, vice president and general manager, integrated logistics at Boeing, said one key is seeking optimum readiness, rather than maximum readiness, in tight budget environments. Sustain-ment programs should be configured according to funding available and mission needs, both of which may change dramatically over time.

Lavender also argued that saving money comes from two sources. The first is improving productivity, which is output per unit of labor or other factor of production. The second source is innovation, which alters the way the defense customer approaches sustainment. Boeing’s experience in maintenance and support of commercial aircraft enables it to help defense innovate new approaches.

One promising innovation is better modeling and simulation of aircraft maintenance. Lavender said this improves forecasting maintenance demand, maintenance planning and managing the supply chain. She also believes contracts and other terms should motivate investment in both productivity improvement and innovations.

Mark Buongiorno, director of domestic aftermar-ket business development at Pratt & Whitney, said budget pressure has “absolutely increased” on aviation maintenance. But Buongiorno has been seeing, and Pratt has been reacting to, these kinds of pressures for at least the last seven years.

Pratt has been addressing budget pressures with tools like life extension for its engines. For example, it has increased the depot interval for the F100 engine on F-15s and F-16s from 3,000 hours to 6,000 or 7,000 hours. Life extension started with the F100 but has been extended to other engines, such as the F117 on the C-17, and has taken the form of improved exhaust gas temperature margins and time-on-wing.

“It’s no secret that the cost of operating jet aircraft is tied to keep-ing engines in service for a very long time and extending the time between overhauls, whether this is a fixed interval or on condition,” Buongiorno noted. “The longer you can give a customer between overhauls, the lower your life cycle cost will be. We have been seeing this pressure for years.”

But controlling maintenance costs requires a long-term planning horizon, and Buongiorno is seeing some pressure to merely save money in the short term, sometimes by deferring maintenance. “This is a hot button for me. It may be an act of necessity, something you have to do to get through the short term. But it is always a bad thing to do. It never costs less to do maintenance tomorrow. We know that from personal experience and it also true in aircraft maintenance. Yet we are seeing more pressure to do it when local budget are affected.”

Ultimately, the only way to maintain availability under reduced budgets is to get more efficient, one way or another, Buongiorno stressed. Efficiency can come through more effective contract struc-tures. For example, some defense customers still buy parts individually and need staff to forecast needs and to cut purchase orders. Pratt in turn must have staff to process all these individual orders. All of that adds up to substantial administrative expense.

Alternatively, under material-management programs, Pratt guar-antees a fixed price for the parts necessary to maintain engines. This PBL-like program not only simplifies contract administration, but takes advantages of scale in stocking parts. Pratt, with worldwide fleets of engines, can size its stocks to match the needs of many customers, rather than buy the extra parts that individual customers would need

to be safe. “Lots of customers do their own forecasting and

buy parts they don’t need,” Buongiorno explaind. “We as the OEM can aggregate demand over our entire cus-tomer base. We have 30 military customers. So we can reduce administrative burdens and the cost of inven-tory by only providing what they need to do overhauls.”

Pratt sees a lot of interest from foreign militaries in these material-management programs and thinks there are opportunities for U.S. defense customers to exploit them as well. However, U.S defense purchase of parts is often more complicated than it is abroad, with the Defense Logistics Agency and various commands

involved.Buongiorno also urges defense maintenance managers to take

full advantage of existing resources, whether public or private, when

mark Buongiorno


planning support capabilities. Espe-cially under severe budget pres-sures, maintenance capacity must be rationalized, while duplicate or redundant facilities are eliminated and certainly not freshly built.

Buongiorno said more mainte-nance contracts should be written with metrics and incentives for both sides, industry and government, to continuously improve efficiency and reduce costs. Merely giving pri-vate firms incentives or a fixed price will not work, he said. Both sides must collaborate to reduce costs. If not, the government may drive costs up or simply let them drift higher. The contractor will then lose money and the next bid will be a lot higher. “There is no free lunch,” he noted.

Properly structured contracts and shared incentives to innovate are especially important in PPPs, such as Pratt has at Oklahoma City and Jacksonville, two big U.S. propulsion depots. The firm also applies this partnership approach around the world with military customers, seeking to exploit each partner’s special strengths. For example, one depot in northern Europe was highly capable, but lacked forecasting and planning staff due to budget cuts. Pratt supplied the latter capabili-ties as part of its material-management solutions.

Buongiorno acknowledged that none of his cost-savings ideas are brand new. They have been around for a while. But both Pratt and its military customers have acquired valuable experience in executing these ideas and learned lessons in how to make them work better. Perhaps most important, budget pressures may finally prod defense managers to adopt these approaches more widely. “Maybe desperation will be the mother of invention.”

Sikorsky has been notified of reductions in aircraft flying hours caused by budget reductions, said George Mitchell, vice president–mil-itary customer support for Sikorsky Aerospace Services. “The defense budget uncertainty has caused a lack of clear direction for our industry and a slowdown in contracting,” Mitchell observed. “Reductions in flying hours have diminished consumption of parts and the need for line maintenance.”

But Mitchell said there are ways to maintain availability and reli-ability under reduced maintenance budgets. He said PPPs, PBLs and total assurance programs can provide firm fixed-price contracts with key contract performance metrics to ensure fill rates and aircraft availability with lower cost to taxpayers. “We have demonstrated year-over-year cost reduction, reliability improvements and lean repair turnaround times on major U.S. government fleets. These programs provide the government with hard savings, while maintaining high aircraft up-time. We believe this is the way to save money and continue to achieve mission objectives.”

Mitchell also believes there are ways to defer maintenance spend-ing without degrading availability and reliability. Sikorsky has devel-oped comprehensive analytic tools and fleet-management systems that optimize fleet utilization and control cost. “These tools focus on maximizing aircraft availability while minimizing aircraft unplanned

maintenance. Operators are able to make fact-based decisions about maintenance, aircraft utilization and fleet performance using these tools.” Using these tools, most aircraft daily maintenance can be done as planned maintenance. And by using Sikorsky’s advanced health usage monitoring system and other data sources, preventive mainte-nance can be performed.

Mitchell said Sikorsky’s S-92 commercial helicopter fleet has been supported with these tools for many years. “Operators are able to maximize aircraft usage while allowing maintenance to be performed proactively as a lower-cost planned event. Our S-92 aircraft are flying hundreds of hours per month, with aircraft availability in the mid-90s percent range, based on continual monitoring of the fleet’s health.”

Mitchell said performance-based contracts can align customer needs to each contract’s statement of work. Incentives and penalties are tied to key performance factors to ensure common goals and align-ment are achieved. “Industry is very good at finding ways to optimize business systems, personnel, tools and daily management to achieve the desired end state. Developing new entrepreneurial programs is what we do best.” He thinks developing PPPs and collaborating in solv-ing complex budget issues offer the best opportunities to save money and increase support.

To save the government cost over five-year contracts, Sikorsky is actively talking about PBL programs, fleet-management systems, expanded depot partnerships and a DLA corporate contract. It is also executing existing long-term contracts to ensure continued support and partnering and expanding internationally. “We have proven long-term contracts that have saved our customers millions of dollars over the life of the program,” Mitchell noted. “Expanding these approaches to other Sikorsky platforms and customer locations is a way to lower cost and sustain high operating tempo, without sacrificing product quality and safety.” O


at www.mlf-kmi.com.

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KNOW-HOWKNOW-HOWLogistics

When it comes to logistics, we know how to deliver integrated solutions that increase effi ciency, ensure operational readiness and improve services. DynCorp International has been providing base operations, supply chain management and infrastructure support worldwide for more than 60 years. Whether it’s fl eets, formations or functions, our global logistics capabilities help our government, military and commercial customers reduce costs and achieve new levels of performance and productivity at home and around the globe.

DynCorp International provides our customers with unique, tailored logistics solutions for an ever-changing world.

Dyncorp_knowhow_series_8.375x10.875.indd 3 5/21/13 3:11 PM

Maintenance teams felt the pinch of sequestration as furloughs impacted the number of man hours available per week. [Photo courtesy of DoD]


www.dyn-intl.com

KNOW-HOWKNOW-HOWLogistics

When it comes to logistics, we know how to deliver integrated solutions that increase effi ciency, ensure operational readiness and improve services. DynCorp International has been providing base operations, supply chain management and infrastructure support worldwide for more than 60 years. Whether it’s fl eets, formations or functions, our global logistics capabilities help our government, military and commercial customers reduce costs and achieve new levels of performance and productivity at home and around the globe.

DynCorp International provides our customers with unique, tailored logistics solutions for an ever-changing world.

Dyncorp_knowhow_series_8.375x10.875.indd 3 5/21/13 3:11 PM

Compiled by Kmi media Group staffSUPPLY CHAIN

Heavy Duty Floor/Surface Matting

PortaFloor Max is a heavy-duty, modular flooring and expeditionary surface system that can support over 80,000 psf (557 psi). Connor Sport Court International (CSCI), the world’s largest producer of modular flooring, recently introduced the pre-engineered PortaFloor Max system as an all-purpose, all-weather, indoor-outdoor flooring system that is lighter, faster to install and more eco-friendly than cement, wood, AM2 matting, or aggregate material.

The U.S.-made interlocking panel system is engineered for quick and easy assembly and disas-sembly with no need for tools or specialized skills. Each 18-by-18-by-2-inch panel weighs less than 7 pounds and features interlocking edges similar to a jigsaw puzzle that enable a crew of four to install up to 1,000 square feet in less than 10 minutes. Each lightweight panel is molded from recycled polypropylene with a patented honeycomb grid that enables PortaFloor Max to support an extraordinary 80,000+ psf.

Military uses for this durable, deployable, removable and reusable surface system include flooring warehouses, hangars, tents, shelters and other support facilities, along with open-air training, maintenance, MWR recreational facilities, helipads, assembly grounds, access roadbeds, and outdoor storage areas requiring stable ground matting.

PortaFloor Max is manufactured under rigorous ISO 9001 and 14001 standards and passed a battery of ASTM and other grueling development testing. The new system withstood load-bearing evaluations by the Army and is now in use at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Apache NIU Overhaul and Upgrade

Cobham has been awarded a contract by the Defense Logistics Agency worth up to $7.1 million to overhaul and upgrade nitrogen inerting units (NIUs) for the AH-64 Apache helicopter.

In September 2012, Cobham received a five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract valued at some $15 million to manufacture on-board inert gas generation system (OBIGGS) NIUs for the AH-64s. The OBIGGS fulfills a critical aircraft safety system role by displacing fuel tank vapors with inert nitrogen gas, reducing the risk of explosion. More than 1,500 Apache helicop-ters with Cobham NIUs have been delivered worldwide.

Cobham Life Support president Kelly Coffield said: “This award reflects Cobham’s unrivaled decades of experience in the design, development, delivery and support of fuel tank inerting systems, ranging from depot repair to equipping and training customers to fully maintaining products at their own facilities.”

Army Ground Combat Systems Engineering

and Logistical Analyses

Wyle has been awarded a task order worth $39.9 million to provide engineering and logis-tical analyses to improve the reliability of U.S. Army ground combat systems, tactical wheeled vehicles, associated subsystems and related test equipment and infrastructure while lowering life cycle costs.

Under the award from the Defense Technical Information Center’s Reliability Information Analysis Center, Wyle will provide support to the Program Executive Office for Combat Support and Combaat Service Support and the Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems, both located at the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command in Warren, Mich.

Wyle will conduct detailed quantitative investigations and analyses of maintenance practices, as well as logistics structured reli-ability and maintainability engineering to refine and improve sustainability initiatives.

“Wyle experts have extensive experience in test and evaluation systems engineering, infor-mation technology, life cycle management, life sciences research, science and mission integra-tion, testing services, and design and construc-tion of advanced test equipment,” said Dan Gensch, Wyle’s reliability engineering sector manager.


Compiled by Kmi media Group staffSUPPLY CHAIN

ARL Explores 3-D PrintingNew technology being developed by research

engineers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Purdue University will soon help just about any soldier deployed in far-off locations to immediately spot and fix damaged aircraft and ground vehicle parts.

Researchers found that combining the general purpose, finite-element analysis software Abaqus with Python, an open-source code used to optimize logical structures such as topologically interlocked structures, improves energy absorption and dissipa-tion, productivity and lowers maintenance costs.

The combination of Abaqus and Python provides an automated process for auto-generation of the

geometries, models, materials assignments and code execution, said Ed Habtour, a research engi-neer with ARL’s Vehicle Technology Directorate at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

He said the code is developed to assist designers with tools to model the new genera-tion of 3-D additive manufactured and TISs structures.

“The benefit for the soldier is an after-effect,” Habtour said. “The TIS would provide an excellent energy absorption and dissipation mechanism for future vehicles using additive manufacturing. Subsequently, the soldier can print these structures in the field using additive

manufacturing by simply downloading the model generated by the designer/vendor.”

“Sometime in the near future, soldiers would be able to fabricate and repair these segmented structures very easily in the front lines or forward operating bases; so instead of moving damaged ground or air vehicles to a main base camp for repair, an in-field repair approach would essen-tially mean vehicles would be fixed and accessible to warfighters much faster at lower costs,” said Habtour. “We want to change the conventional thinking by taking advantage of exciting materials and manipulating the structure based on the prin-ciple of segmentation and assembly.”

Are You a Qualified C-5 Flight Engineer?

The Air Force Reserve has a critical need for flight engineers to serve on C-5 Galaxy cargo planes with the 439th Airlift Wing at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.

To fill these positions, the Air Force Reserve will consider applicants who are: experi-enced Air Force flight engineers; experienced civilian flight engineers willing to join the Air Force Reserve; or current and former airmen with Air Force Specialty Codes beginning with 2A.

Innovative and Responsive Logistics

Support

Science Applications International Corporation has been awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Command (LOGCOM) to provide innovative and responsive logistics support to meet the evolving mission needs of the warfighter.

LOGCOM provides worldwide integrated logistics/supply chain and distribution management; maintenance management; and strategic prepositioning capability in support of the operating forces and other supported units.

Under the contract, SAIC will provide logistics support in several task areas, including: program management and operations; information/technology specialized support; training support; program support; transpor-tation/supply support; and maintenance and logistics technical data. SAIC is one of 19 contractors eligible to compete for task orders under the unrestricted category.

“The logistics services SAIC and our team offer through this contract vehicle will improve LOGCOM’s ability to meet the emerging needs of the Marines during this key transition period,” said SAIC Senior Vice President and Group General Manager Larry Hill.

AFCAP Task Order in Qatar

The U.S. Air Force has awarded DynCorp International (DI) a new task order under the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program III (AFCAP) to provide installation services at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

“We are proud to be able to expand our extensive work in the AFCAP program to provide installation service support in Qatar,” said George Krivo, senior vice president, DynLogistics.

As part of the task order, DI will provide personnel, vehicles, tools and equipment necessary to support installation services for the 379th

Expeditionary Force Support Squadron, 379th Expeditionary Medical Group and Hospital Aseptic Maintenance Services. DI team members will support operations in fitness centers, lounges, community activity centers, media centers, learning resource centers, theaters and lodging areas, and provide maintenance, custodial services, management and linen exchange services.

The competitively-awarded task order has a one-year base period with two one-year options and a total contract value of $20.4 million, if all options are exercised.


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General Paul J. Selva is commander, Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. Air Mobility Command’s mission is to provide rapid, global mobility and sustainment for America’s armed forces. The command also plays a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world. The men and women of AMC—active duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and civilians—provide airlift, aerial refueling, special air mission and aeromedical evacuation.

Selva graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980, and completed undergraduate pilot training at Reese AFB, Texas. He has held numerous staff positions and has commanded at the squadron, group, wing and headquarters levels. Prior to his current assignment Selva was the vice commander, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

He is a command pilot with more than 3,100 hours in the C-5, C-17A, C-141B, KC-10, KC-135A and T-37.

His major awards and decorations include: Defense Distin-guished Service Medal; Distinguished Service Medal; Defense Superior Service Medal; Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clus-ters; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters; Air Force Commendation Medal; Air Force Achievement Medal; Joint Meritorious Unit Award; Combat Readiness Medal with two oak leaf clusters; National Defense Service Medal with bronze star; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with two bronze stars; Southwest Asia Ser-vice Medal with bronze star; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; and Armed Forces Service Medal.

Q: I’d like to start with the short-term and long-term impact of sequestration on AMC. In the near term, furloughs are a vis-ible reaction to short-term goals, but how is AMC positioning its portfolio to manage the longer-term effects of the budgetary constraints?

A: You are exactly right; the furlough of our civilian airmen is the most visible manifestation of the sequester.

I am pleased we were able to curtail the furlough to six days. The furlough has impacted morale and productivity across all of government. Civilians are an integral part of our institution and fill important positions throughout our Air Force. Secretary Fan-ning likely put it best when he said, ‘Furloughs made it obvious to everyone just how integral and important civilian airmen are to what we do every day.’

As you suggest, the prospect of significant budget reductions means Air Mobility Command had to develop a set of options to redistribute our resources to reduce our capacity across time while minimizing the risk to our ability to support wartime requirements.

We placed particular emphasis on the replacement of our aging tanker fleet and on the near- to mid-term modifications that are necessary to increase the efficiency of our fleets while also addressing the readiness needs of what will very likely be a smaller force. If we are forced to reduce the size of our airlift and tanker fleet, we must be able to address the modernization and sustainment needs associated with operating around the world every day.

Q: Within the past three years, your position was named the core function lead integrator for the Air Force’s Rapid Global Mobility portfolio. How has that helped shape and guide Air

General Paul J. SelvaCommander

Air Mobility Command

Air LifterDoD’s Lead Worldwide Air Mobility Provider

Q&AQ&A


Force investments and the pay dividends to the Mobility Air Forces?

A: As you are aware, Air Mobility Command has been the lead command for the Mobility Air Forces [MAF] since 1998, standardizing processes for airlift, aeromedical evacuation and air refueling across all of the Air Force’s major commands. The core function lead integrator role added the responsibility to plan and program for those capabilities as part of the larger rapid global mobility portfolio.

The lead integrator function is a natural extension of the lead command role and brings a consistent, congruent voice to the planning, programming and operational execution of the global mobility mission.

Q: What adjustments has AMC made—and will be making—to fulfill its mission task-ing as it relates to the pivot to Asia? [as it relates to basing or people and assets, number of flight hours, maintenance and support services, etc.]

A: I came to AMC headquarters straight from my previous job as vice commander of Pacific Air Forces [PACAF]. So it’s interesting to view the Pacific through this lens here at AMC as well as from the PACAF perspective.

As the mission in the Pacific theater evolves, it’s important that AMC here at Scott Air Force Base continues to engage with PACAF and works through U.S. Transportation Command to understand Pacific Command’s [PACOM] future requirements. The 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing at Joint Base Pearl Har-bor Hickam is AMC’s theater representative. The folks there are working within the AMC Requirements and Planning Council to upgrade logistics capabilities and adjust AMC’s en route support structure in response to PACOM’s evolving requirements. AMC en route support is provided by military and civilian personnel as well as contracted capability. We routinely review and adjust our deployed en route support capability to address combatant com-mand [COCOM] needs.

Evolving COCOM requirements can be manifested in chang-ing support structures, or more nuanced changes to operational and exercise requirements.

Here’s one example of global reach in support of the pivot to Asia: To support U.S. Pacific Command priorities, mobility airmen from AMC and PACAF recently participated in Exercise Talisman Sabre demonstrating the U.S. military’s ability to quickly move combat forces over strategic distances.

Mobility airmen accomplished a five-ship strategic air drop moving Army paratroopers from Alaska to Australia non-stop, with air refueling support, air dropping them into the exercise scenario on time and on target. This field training exercise demonstrated combined and joint interoperability with our Australian partners. It also exercised our command and control relations between the Combined Task Force in the joint opera-tions area, PACAF’s 613th Air Operations Center, and Air Mobility

Command’s Tanker Airlift Control Center [618th Air Operations Center].

Q: With fleet and manpower numbers, budget and other fac-tors, are the Mobility Air Forces as deployable and expeditionary as they were in recent years, as much as they need to be now, and can you maintain that capability based on the look-ahead forecasts?

A: When I travel around to our active, Guard and Reserve units, I tell everyone my first priority is mission. We will do whatever is needed to meet mission requirements and to position ourselves to meet future missions.

Mobility is our middle name and we will always maintain our rapid, deployable, expeditionary capabilities. We are feeling some of the effects of reduced resources, but the need for our services remains vital—the warfighter is crippled without mobility air forces. We will meet our obligation to keep our global deployment skills sharp.

As wartime requirements draw down, we keep our skills up by increasing our focus on optimizing training opportunities with the various combatant commands we support. Improved exercise scenarios that are mutually beneficial and pack in more training objectives are helping to mitigate the overall reduction in real-world experience we have had because of so many non-stop years of fighting wars.

Partner nation access is another aspect of global mobility. And we have to continue to engage with partners around the globe through exercises, and build partnership capacity with tools like our mobility support advisor squadrons that travel to friendly nations. They meet face-to-face to advise and train with host-nation personnel, providing military-to-military contact opportunities in some of our more remote locations to improve

Air Mobility Command is the lead command for the Mobility Air Forces and is the only command capable of rapidly moving large force numbers globally. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force/by Senior Airman Courtney Richardson]


cooperation, access and friendly-nation capability.

Q: The Afghanistan drawdown is requir-ing a coordinated, multi-modal effort to move people and equipment out of coun-try. What will be the major challenges to the air portion of the mission as it intensifies?

A: I think the most significant AMC chal-lenge to emerge during the retrograde operation from Afghanistan will be manag-ing the flow of airlift to give U.S. Trans-portation Command and U.S. Central Command the option and flexibility to shift from politically fragile land routes to a set of multi-modal air or surface routes in order to keep the flow of personnel and equipment moving.

U.S. Transportation Command has developed a series of multi-modal routes that use airlift to move equipment from Afghanistan to surface ports in the region. These multi-modal routes maximize the velocity of retrograde movement and save significant transpor-tation costs by optimizing the use of air and sea lift to transport equipment back to home station. These multi-modal routes are a great example of the partnership between military and com-mercial air lift linked with commercial sealift providers. As the manager of the Defense Transportation System, U.S. Transpor-tation Command brings this kind of synergy to complex move-ment challenges.

It is USTRANSCOM’s intent to maximize surface routes, for those materials able to move on the ground. However, for materials that must be air transported, USTRANSCOM devel-oped guidance to balance the various ground distribution routes and air options for outbound routes. AMC has positioned airlift assets in the Central Command AOR. Working hand-in-glove with AFCENT, 18th Air Force—AMC’s operational command—stands ready to support increased retrograde operations when necessary.

Q: Knowing that the decision on a future tactical airlifter is based on lift requirements from all of the services, is there a timetable and capabilities project underway to look at a C-130 replacement?

A: AMC is continuously examining total airlift fleet require-ments based upon evolving customer needs and fiscal budgetary constraints.

Specifically, in the near to mid term, we are examining an investment strategy for the C-130H fleet, considering avionics system modifications that would extend the life cycle of the H-model. Part of that investment strategy is examining a con-tinuing procurement of the C-130J.

Q: Same question but with an eye on a new strategic airlifter. What are your thoughts on timing and capabilities?

A: The Air Force Life Cycle and Management Center recently com-pleted a capability planning and analysis [CP&A] effort for AMC on a future strategic airlifter [C-X]. Long range strategic planning for C-X envisions defining initial requirements in the mid-2020s with production beginning in the mid-2030s.

The CP&A examined and compared several design con-cepts—tube and wing, blended wing body, and airships. The effort examined and compared several factors for these three design concepts—range, speed, payload capacity, operational and support risks, and costs.

Q: How interested is AMC in more novel transportation options like airships or unmanned platforms? Do you foresee either with a viable military role down the road?

A: Our immediate focus is limited to monitoring commercial development of novel transportation options. The AMC Future Concepts Office continuously examines novel transportation options that could improve rapid global mobility to support the warfighter.

Over the last several years we have examined several novel options in collaboration with USTRANSCOM, the Air Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Air Force Research Laboratory, other services and industry. That collaboration includes an ongo-ing examination of airships and unmanned platforms that might have viable military roles.

Q: AMC must be looking forward to the KC-46 coming online. What is being done now to prepare for the new tanker and to keep the KC-135 doing the job until replaced?

A: The KC-46A program begins the replacement of our aging KC-135 fleet which has been a leader in air refueling for more than five decades. But even the 179 planned KC-46s will not replace all

The Air Force recently completed a capability planning and analysis study looking at a future strategic airlifter, a notional C-X. Possible initial requirements in the mid-2020 range with production in the mid-2030s. [Photo courtesy of DoD]


of the KC-135s, so we will continue to invest in fleet modifications and will continue to rely on our KC-135 aircraft to meet air refuel-ing demands for decades to come.

Our KC-135 modernization efforts address critical airspace access and major obsolescence issues. As an example, the current Block 45 program is replacing obsolescent analog systems with digital systems that include a new integrated digital flight direc-tor/autopilot and an electronic engine instrument display. Our upcoming automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast transpon-der upgrade will upgrade the KC-135 to the new Federal Aviation Administration standard as air traffic control transforms from ground-based to satellite-based systems.

It is certainly worth emphasizing that our maintainers do an outstanding job in maintaining and sustaining the 52-year-old KC-135. In addition, the KC-135 System Program Office has sev-eral initiatives in progress to improve aircraft availability. These items continue to yield significant gains across the fleet and help us keep the KC-135 mission-ready to meet challenges through 2040. The newest modification is the Block 45 Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management upgrade that improves safety and addresses critical obsolescence and issues with the aircraft.

Additionally, the KC-135 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program takes a proactive approach to stay ahead of corrosion on the aging fleet. The ASIP program includes 10 initiatives, to include tear-down analysis of three KC-135s. This initiative exposes hidden

portions of the airframe to help identify future target areas for corrosion control inspections. A 2013 audit conducted by the Air Force Corrosion Control Prevention Office rated the KC-135 ASIP program as ‘Green,’ meaning our current initiatives are working to keep the KC-135 viable until at least 2040. These programs, along with other current and future initiatives such as improved fuel bladders, will ensure the KC-135 will be a viable air-refueling asset for the long haul.

AMC is excited to begin fielding KC-46A aircraft in early 2016. Tankers underwrite our nation’s ability to project power rapidly and they fulfill multiple roles, from aerial refueling to airlift to aeromedical evacuation, not only for our airmen, but for our joint and coalition partners. Compared to the KC-135, the KC-46A will have more refueling capacity, improved efficiency, and increased capabilities for cargo and aeromedical evacuation. To ensure a fully sustainable aircraft upon delivery, an AMC team of experts is working a number of KC-46A sustainment activities. These activi-ties include main operating base site activations, provisioning spare parts, flight and maintenance technical order development, determining support equipment needs, as well as aircrew and maintenance training systems development. All of these activities will enable a mission-ready aircraft on day one.

The Air Force recently announced the preferred bases for KC-46 training and initial main operating bases. Our next step is to conduct an environmental impact assessment. Our preferred bases are Altus AFB, Okla., as the formal training unit and

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McConnell AFB, Kansas, and Pease ANGB, N.H., as the first two main operating bases for the KC-46.

The Air Force Tanker Program Executive Officer has also authorized the establishment of a KC-46 Sustainment Feasibil-ity Demonstration Executive Steering Committee and Working Group. The group will address the maintainability and sustain-ment roadmap for the new tanker. Teams from across the enter-prise are reviewing facility, equipment and parts requirements to ensure we have a capable and viable platform for many years to come. We are excited about the capability the KC-46 will bring to our air refueling fleet.

Q: How have operational issues affected your use of simulators and other training devices to keep skills current?

A: Our units use simulators to execute aircrew formal training, complete currency events and maintain aircrew readiness to the maximum extent possible. MAF aircrew training and cur-rency events are accomplished through flight events, simulator events and ground training. Our crews have used simulators to accomplish a large portion of their required training events for many years. The current fiscal environment, combined with con-tingency operations and reduced flying hour program funding, make continued use of simulators and investment in future sim-ulator capabilities absolutely vital to the success of the mission.

Q: I understand that you recently created a chief learning officer position. What was the drive behind this, what are the results you want it to deliver and is this part of a large effort to educate future Air Force transportation officers?

A: We are the most capable Air Force in history, not because of our airplanes but because of our people. We need to ensure whenever the call comes in, we’re ready. Mobility force readiness and effectiveness depends on airmen who are intellectually fit, life-long learners.

To meet this challenge, AMC established a chief learning offi-cer position responsible for transforming AMC into a learning organization while leveraging modern learning techniques to better equip our airmen with the next generation of war fighting skills. Our objective is to assess the training needs of our force and deliver tailored learning tools, across all MAF mission areas to our airmen at the point of need, using the most cost-effective combination of technology and learning methods.

It almost goes without saying, people have differing views of learning. For example, what does learning mean to a 55-year-old? To me, it always meant going to class, lots of reading and homework—what many consider traditional methods of learn-ing. But advancements in technology, accessibility and learn-ing techniques have shifted that old paradigm into something different.

As a command, we have to adapt. Today’s learning environ-ment is far more dynamic that the brick and mortar classroom environment I grew up in. Given the vast array of teaching and learning tools available through live, virtual and constructive training, we must examine the opportunities that exist in a con-nected world. Integrating modern learning techniques into all facets of AMC’s training programs is essential to our long-term success. O

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U.S. military agencies charged with man-aging the drawdown from Afghanistan are faced with a tangle of complexities, a situa-tion far more challenging than the similar process that took place at the end of the Iraq conflict. In Iraq, vehicles that were headed home to the States could simply be driven across the border to Kuwait, where the U.S. military had staging, preparation and shipping facilities. The same vehicles being removed from Afghanistan must be trucked through Pakistan to the port of Karachi, a process complicated by touchy U.S.-Pakistan relations, or north to rail facilities in former Soviet republics for shipment to ports in eastern and central Europe. Particularly sensitive equip-ment, in some cases massively heavy vehicles like MRAPs, sometimes has to be airlifted out of the country, an expensive proposition.

Related to the costs and complexities of the Afghanistan drawdown is the decision to leave some equipment behind, either to be destroyed or sold or donated to other countries. The cost associated with transporting equipment out of Afghanistan creates an incentive, especially in these budget-constrained times, to leave more equipment behind. The decision not to remove all of the equipment and how to dispose of equipment not leaving Afghanistan triggers even more complexity.

On top of all that, there are still equipment and supplies coming into Afghanistan to sus-tain the shrinking U.S. and NATO presences in that country. “Supplies into the country are coordinated with movements out of the coun-try to the greatest extent possible,” said Army Colonel James Utley, chief of the East Division, U.S. Transportation Command’s Operations Directorate, “although we are not moving a lot by surface transportation into the country. We are carrying primarily food supplies via the Northern Distribution Network,” the route that takes cargo through the former Soviet republics. “Units carrying critical sensitive equipment inbound has pretty much dried up.”

“To reduce cost and leverage throughout, we are taking advantage of opportunities to use empty backhaul flights to load materiel and ship it out of Afghanistan,” said Army Brigadier General Francisco Espaillat, execu-tive director of operations in DLA Logistics

Operations. “But we still have a requirement to supply the forces with fuel, food, repair parts and other commodities like medical supplies. We stay very close to the warfighter as part of our deliberative planning efforts.”

DLA has personnel assigned to Central Command headquarters in Kuwait as well as 190 DLA military and civilian employees in Afghanistan. Espaillat is currently serv-ing a six-month deployment as the director of CENTCOM’s Deployment & Distribution Operations Center in Kuwait.

“Afghanistan is one of the most difficult places in the world to get to,” said Major Gen-eral (Ret.) Charles Fletcher, a NATO logistics senior mentor and a senior vice president at Alion Science & Technology. “In the north, it has some of highest mountains in the world, and it has deserts in the south. There are over 30 nations in the alliance fighting in Afghani-stan and many of them have a different view on how rapidly they want to get out of the country.”

“We still have product going into Afghani-stan, but the volume has dropped off consider-ably,” said Tim Smith, government program manager for Stanley Vidmar, a maker of stor-age cabinets for tools, supplies and bulk items. “They are winding down, but they are not getting out of Afghanistan completely. There will be a small contingency for the foreseeable future.”

The continued in-flow of equipment adds a degree of complexity to the problem, noted Fletcher, but the drawdown itself is enor-mously complicated. “You don’t want commanders on the ground who are in the process of building up Afghan forces focused on all the require-ments of moving equipment out,” he said. “Additional peo-ple had to be put in country to manage this process in coor-dination and cooperation with all the other needs in theater.”

In his position as a NATO senior mentor, Fletcher has been involved in months-long discussions on the coordination of outbound shipments. “A large problem involves fly-ing out high-priority equipment,” he said.

“It would be advantageous to fly them to a regional port and ship them out from there, but there is a finite amount of airlift and not a lot of space at area ports to stage the equip-ment.”

Another problem is raised by the issue of just who owns the equipment. “Some of it is U.S. equipment that was loaned to other nations that now want to keep it,” said Fletcher. “This raises the question of whether it is in U.S. interests to give or sell the equip-ment to the country that has been using it. If so, we may be the ones to ship the equipment out of the country.”

“The armed services are the ones making the decisions to bring out a certain amount of equipment and leave other equipment in place, whether for destruction or to be des-ignated as excess defense articles,” said Utley. “Excess defense articles have to be approved for sale to the other countries. We may or may not play a role in moving that equipment. Typically we do not. Usually the country that buys the equipment is responsible for moving it.” Transfers of equipment to other countries have yet to begin.

TRANSCOM is the end-to-end distribution process owner for the Department of Defense and manages all strategic transportation for all of DoD. “We have several partners we work with,” said Utley. “The Defense Logistics Agency is one primary partner. They procure supplies going into theater and we move

them into theater through the Defense Transportation Sys-tem.” The defense transporta-tion system consists of both organic military assets and capabilities as well as those provided by commercial pro-viders.

It’s DLA’s job to screen equipment for reutiliza-tion within DoD, federal civil agencies, and state and local governments. “Every effort is

made to reutilize materiel back to the military services first and foremost,” said Espaillat. “We also see what opportunities there are to use materiel as part of the Foreign Military Sales program. If it is determined equipment is no longer usable, it is demilitarized in theater

maStering forward LogiStiCS during a drawdown and Looking at optionS to reduCe tranSportation CoStS.By peter BuxBaum, mLf CorreSpondent

col. James Utley

Afghanistan Logistics


and removed from the inventory. That saves billions in transportation costs as we don’t have to bring the material back to the U.S. for disposal.”

There are two buckets of equipment that are getting shipped back from Afghanistan: unit equipment and theater-provided equip-ment. “Unit cargo is brought into theater by the unit and it goes back with the unit to the home station,” Utley explained. “The theater-provided equipment, things like big trucks that the units acquire in theater, is considered retrograde and goes through a somewhat dif-ferent process.”

“In the first place, units decide which of their equipment they want to take back,” said Smith. “They may designate 90 percent of the equipment to be shipped back because the rest is a maintenance nightmare. The unit sends its proposal to headquarters and headquarters sends it to division for approval. They may actually cut down on the equipment to be shipped back based in need. Eventually, the Department of the Army OKs the plan.”

The heavy equipment considered to be retrograde is not owned by units but by the theater command. “Units that need the equipment req-uisition it and then turn it back when they are finished with it,” said Utley. “Units that want to ship equipment out submit a requirement 120 days in advance to the U.S. Central Command.”

That request is analyzed through the Joint Operation Planning and Execution System (JOPES), an electronic information system that is used to monitor, plan and execute mobilization, deployment, employment and sustainment activities associated with joint operations. JOPES provides users with access to joint operations planning policies, proce-dures and reporting structures that are sup-ported by communications and automated data processing systems.

“CENTCOM uses JOPES to validate the requirement,” said Utley, “and we at TRANS-COM analyze its transportation feasibility. We plan the movement through transportation mode and port of embarkation. We can usu-ally accommodate unit requests unless it is last-minute.”

Retrograde goes through a more expedited 10-day process. “The equipment is returned to yards in Afghanistan where sensitive items such as radios are removed,” said Utley. “Army Materiel Command identifies the requirement

to remove the equipment using the same pro-cess but on a more condensed timeline. If the equipment is severely damaged or broken, the decision is made whether to send it home for repair or to destroy it because it’s not worth the cost of transportation.”

For equipment that is identified for trans-port, a decision of how it will be removed from Afghanistan is made. “Instead of driving equip-ment to Kuwait, as was done from Iraq, some of it is trucked or railed across 26 countries to ports in Eastern Europe or Russia,” said Smith. “Some sensitive equipment such as MRAPs often is flown out of the country.” Smith was referring to one option, the northern distribu-tion route, which brings equipment in and out of Afghanistan through neighboring former Soviet republics like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to ports on the Baltic Sea.

“We generally move sensitive equipment out by air,” said Utley. “The equipment is flown out of Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan to

Dubai or other locations. Other equipment is

trucked from Afghanistan to Pakistan, where it is loaded on board vessels in Karachi.

Delivery of materiel is facil-itated through DLA Distribu-tion’s 25 distribution centers worldwide. “DLA Distribution is responsible for all receipt, storing and issuing of it,” said Espaillat. “DLA uses our stra-tegic alliances with U.S. Trans-

portation Command to deliver to customer destinations. DLA Disposition Services is also responsible for demilitarizing and disposing of scrap no longer required by the military forces. It is also responsible for disposing of materiel for coalition partners.”

The starting point for trying to figure out what equipment goes and what stays, according to Fletcher, is whether the U.S. military needs the equipment and whether the Afghan military can use it and maintain it. “We equipped the Afghan army and security forces with HMMWVs,” he said. “Some HMMWVs could logically be left behind particularly those original HMMWVs that were not up-armored. They might be of value to the Afghans but less so to us. Other equipment like power-generation equipment and lighting equipment we will also probably want to leave behind.”

Some damaged or otherwise useless items could be sold as scrap. “There are scrap bro-kers and dealers in that part of the world that will want to pick that up,” said Fletcher. “But some damaged equipment, such as those that

have been hit by IEDs or projectiles, can’t be sold because we don’t want anyone looking at the effects of what a projectile or an IED has on our vehicles.”

Once a decision for scrapping is made, DLA Disposition Services gets involved. “DLA Disposition Services operates four disposal sites throughout the area of responsibility,” said Espaillat, “and provides mobile disposal teams that deploy to forward operating bases, thereby decreasing the amount of times mate-riel is touched and reducing the volume of transportation requirements in Afghanistan.”

Beyond donating excess equipment to Afghanistan, there is also the possibility of sell-ing equipment to other countries. Coalition forces have expressed interest in acquiring some of the equipment the U.S. may be leaving behind, according to Fletcher.

“In the first place, the U.S. military is going to see whether the equipment is of use to the military, to government agencies, or even if it could meet non-government require-ments,” said Fletcher. “If it is not needed, it could be a good candidate for a foreign military sale. At that point, the State Department gets involved to analyze the political implications of selling the equipment to a particular recipient nation.”

Today’s budget constraints create an incentive to leave more equipment behind, according to Fletcher.

“In previous years, additional funds were given to the services to pay for the additional requirement of operating in Afghanistan,” he said. “With the recent budget cuts, the services might have to pay for some of the transporta-tion costs out of Afghanistan from elsewhere in their own budgets.”

Fletcher believes the process is going as well as can be expected, given budgetary con-straints. “In the past there may have been more discretionary funding to support the process,” he said. “These days you have to go through the narrow confines of the military budget and there is not much money coming in from our coalition partners because most of them are in worse economic shape than we are.

“This is a top priority for many people,” Fletcher added. “Everyone understands the future implications for readiness of not bring-ing equipment out. This issue is consuming a lot of energy both here and in Europe.” O

maj. gen. (ret.) charles Fletcher


at www.mlf-kmi.com.


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Special pUll-OUT SUppleMeNT

MLF RESOURCE CENTER


Shelley Lavender leads Boeing’s Inte-grated Logistics division, part of the com-pany’s Global Services and Support business. Integrated Logistics provides comprehen-sive sustainment services and products for domestic and international military cus-tomers. Lavender has served in engineer-ing, supplier management and program management roles, including leading the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program. She most recently led the global strike portfolio of production tactical aircraft and attack heli-copter programs.

Q: How would you describe Boeing’s posi-tion within the DoD logistics enterprise?

A: Boeing possesses a wealth of experience from a large number and broad range of aircraft sustainment programs. We have been part of the expansion from traditional, transactional-type programs to those that are integrated and performance-based. Our customer base includes the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency, as well as military organizations around the globe, so we are able to build on a broad portfolio and many lessons learned as we work with those customers to structure affordable, effective sustainment programs.

Q: What are the keys to successful sustain-ment programs in today’s environment?

A: The main element is recognizing that there isn’t a cookie-cutter approach for every sustainment program and every customer. Each program needs to be structured around a unique formula that includes factors such as business models, partnerships and vary-ing levels of support. The key is to get that formula right. We recognize that the goal of sustainment programs often is not maximum readiness, but almost always is optimized readiness. Optimized readiness recognizes there is a balance between aircraft availability and customer funding levels, and that is especially important in the environ-ment in which we operate today. It’s about working with the customer to understand their CONOPS and mission, and tailoring a sustainment program to achieve their needs.

Q: So affordability is paramount in today’s sustainment programs?

A: It is, but in a broader way than perhaps we viewed it in the past. We think about afford-ability in two dimensions. The first dimen-sion is the more traditional view: reducing our cost to the customer by continued improvements in productivity. The second dimension, however, pulls on innovation to find new sustainment solutions that enable our customers’ business transformation in how they do work, and in the end save cus-tomers’ money. I feel good about the level of innovation we can bring to our customers, not only through the deep experience we have in developing and executing sustain-ment programs, but through the broad skills and extraordinary technical depth that exist across Boeing. Every day we are finding new ways to leverage the expertise and tech-nologies that exist within our commercial airplanes services organization onto our mil-itary programs and we are actively working to share innovations among both areas. We call it ‘One Boeing’ and it is a key strength we can bring to our military and commercial customers.

Q: What types of innovation are you work-ing on in the sustainment area?

A: We are seeing some game-changing appli-cations in the information technology and modeling and simulation areas. This is allow-ing significant advances in maintenance plan-ning, demand forecasting and supply-chain integration. But while we typically think of innovation coming from technology areas, we need to work hard to understand our customers’ missions and business practices to provide nontraditional business-model

innovation. We need to find new struc-tures for doing business that allow collabora-tion between the military organizations and industry, that include long-term strategic investments to drive the two dimensions of affordability I mentioned previously, and that incentivize both the military and its industry partner to achieve the desired outcome. In many ways it comes down to two things: innovative people and collaborative customer relationships.

Q: Can you talk about partnerships, both within industry and with your customers?

A: Definitely, because they are key. It is clear that we need to bring to our customers best-of-industry solutions to satisfy their needs, and we can do that only through strong industry collaboration. That collaboration is even more important between our customers and industry. If you step back and look at the environment in which we are operating, you quickly are struck by the magnitude of the challenges both the military and industry face. In many ways, there is not precedence nor are there processes for navigating these waters. That makes communication and partnership with our customers of utmost importance. Trust, transparency and open, honest dialogue have to make up the founda-tion of how we work together.

We are in the process of having frank dialogue with some of our customers. While we have been part of very successful sustain-ment programs, some have been less than successful and we have learned some tough lessons. Because of the latter, we are working hard to re-earn our right to partner on the sustainment of certain platforms. But we are drawing on lessons learned from all our programs to build on strengths and structure offerings that provide true savings and opti-mized readiness.

Part of being a good partner is basic execution and delivering on promises. But the other part is listening … listening with innovation in mind to understand needs and to provide unique solutions. That’s how we will provide our warfighters with the sup-port they need in the dynamic times that are ahead. O

Shelley LavenderVice President and General Manager, Integrated Logistics

The Boeing Company

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Military Logistics Forum


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