Army news service (Aug. 3, 2004): Task Force Logistics restructures theater support.

WASHINGTON -- A Task Force Logistics conference July 28-30 at Fort Lee, Va., asked operations officers from the field to provide their take on the new Theater Sustainment Command.

This conference was the most recent phase of Task Force Logistics' design of a new organizational structure that will help the Army be more effective and efficient in its battlefield operations, officials said.

"We're bringing in the best and brightest from the field to get the field's expertise," said Col. John Wharton, Task Force Logistics deputy.

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Field attendees include operations officers from major military commands, the current theater support commands, and joint commands, Wharton said. The invited joint commands represented a push to involve all the Services in the development of the joint-capable TSC.

"Certainly [Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker] has made it clear that he is a joint soldier first," Wharton said.

The changes in logistics have been in the making since February when the chief of staff approved the separate focus area task force for logistics.

The new TSC will eliminate layering of commands by combining operational level functions of the current corps support command and the theater support command, officials said.

"[Theater Sustainment Command] is going to work on [eliminating] redundancy and maximizing flexibility," said Maj Chris Stolz, Task Force Logistics operations officer. "We want to maximize throughput by knowing demands and tailoring to the needs of the units of actions."

TSC will be a modular organization with a standard headquarters and subordinate support units tailored for the mission requirements of specific operations. Modular subordinate units will provide capabilities for theater opening; theater distribution; medical; petroleum, oils, and lubricants; aviation; civil engineering; and multifunctional supply, maintenance, and transportation support.

Wharton emphasized the collaboration with Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Va., to develop new standard requirement codes, known as SRCs, that are associated with tables of organization. He said SRC teams as small as one or two soldiers will be able to provide support based on their specific capabilities. Currently, a whole unit would be required to be mobilized to provide support for a job that could be done by a few.

TSC will work under the new unit of employment operational headquarters known as the UEy, with the TSC commander serving as the senior Army logistics commander in the UEy. TSC headquarters will provide command and control of assigned, attached, and operationally controlled units.

Sustainment brigades will provide support to operational-level units in the UEy's area of operations and sustainment support to tactical-level forces engaged in combat in forward areas. This will allow throughput of critical sustainment, like fuel and ammunition, from the theater logistics hubs at ports to brigade units of action engaged in combat, Stolz said

Right now, both corps support commands and TSC have to funnel supplies and services through different layers of management before getting to soldiers in the rear and forward of the battle areas. With the new technology, trucks will be able to transport materiel right from the ports to the brigade or units of action where they are needed, officials said.

Eventually, predictive technology will even be able to tell where units of action will be and what they will need, officials said. Consequently, UAs will have their necessary supplies even sooner. This technology is still in the conceptual phase, officials added, but said the prediction will take into account the operational environment of the units and anticipate their needs, Stolz said.

The big difference is in the way that the logistics systems will operate, according to Stolz. He called the present systems "stove-piped systems" that do not talk to each other. The emerging systems have integrated communications, Stolz said. This means that the logistics information system will receive all requirements and the computer network will show that.

"The big difference is everybody will see what everyone else sees," Stolz said. In the past, units could only see what affected their specific segment, he said. With integrated communications, it will be possible to look down the entire pipeline and speed the process by prioritization and reallocation, Stolz said.

The objective is to get rid of the layering of commands and redundant combat services support activities to get the necessary services to the field, Stolz said.

"The soldier is going to see that he or she is not going to have to ask for the same thing two or three times," Stolz said. "Soldiers will see shortened echelons of support, but the support that is forward with them is much more robust."

The goal is have much more rapidly deployed equipment, and the way to do that is through visibility to the soldier and the command, Stolz said. The command will be able to know where the soldier is and what he or she needs, and the soldier will know when he or she will be receiving the supplies needed.

"We are going to have Amazon.com type of visibility," Stolz said, explaining that soldiers will know the status of their orders and have confidence in when they will arrive.

TF Logistics is working with the Army Logistics community (Army Staff, the Army Materiel Command, the Army theater support commands) to develop the required capabilities based upon tasks, functions, and missions. Collaboration includes work with the Joint Forces Command and several regional combatant commands, according to Stolz.

"Everybody knows we have to do this, everybody wants to see it done, and everybody is working to get it done as quickly as possible," Stolz said.

The new modular structure is under way with brigade combat teams and the 3rd Infantry Division, which now has four units of action, Stolz said. He said it's now imperative to implement an end-to-end distribution system that can support the modular Army. TF Logistics hopes to have 80 percent of the TSC design in place no later than Sept. 30, Wharton said.