Joint Task Force--Port Opening: supplies when you need them most.

Consider moving to a new duty station and a room is ready for you when you arrive. The furniture has arrived and is unpacked. Clothes are already put away. The refrigerator is stocked with your favorite foods and the mail is already arriving at your new address. If anything is missing or incomplete, you can find out exactly where it is at and when it will arrive to you.

A scenario like this would definitely reduce stress and make accomplishing your job much easier by allowing you to focus on your responsibilities instead of using your time to deal with the logistics of your move.

Imagine if such preparation and support for the Soldier could be accomplished in a field environment. The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) and United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) are working to bring this level of support to the Soldier in austere areas where the military footprint is not yet established. The Joint Task Force--Port Opening is a concept that USTRANSCOM and SDDC have developed to bring logistical support and open distribution nodes with an early entry force opening distribution pipelines immediately after securing an area. With this expeditionary capability, supplies can be brought in within hours after the military has arrived, in order to support the range of military operations from combat to humanitarian aid.

Deploying to different parts of the world is nothing new to the military. Usually, the military deploys the initial forces into the nearest airfield to establish a presence. However, the actions at the airfield for the Army and the Air Force have been very distinct and separate.

Airfield operations would normally take into consideration the actions needed to receive an airplane and send it to its next destination. The plane would be unloaded and the passengers processed, but that was about the extent of the Air Force aspect of the mission.

Army logistics would follow a few days after the first planes landed and stand up the airfield to dispatch equipment forward to the end destination.

Too often, large amounts of equipment and supplies would stockpile at the airfield until they could be directed to the right place or unit causing delays in support and a challenge for warfighters to find out where their supplies were in the pipeline. As a result, multiple requests for material already in the supply channels could be submitted, further creating a logjam in the support operations.

In the current world of limited resources and the rate of rapid change of world events and scenarios, the need for a quick, efficient, and responsive support system has never been greater.

JTF-PO is a concept initiated by USTRANSCOM to integrate the efforts of the Army and Air Force at the Aerial Port of Debarkation (APOD) so that reception and onward movement of forces and equipment is seamless and immediate to the customer. JTF-PO is designed to arrive first at an airfield, establish placement location and tracking of equipment in the theater from the very beginning--minimizing those items 'lost in the system.'

The need for a jointly trained, rapid response team that enters a new area has already been seen throughout the world.

Initial operations in Southwest Asia and the need to improve assistance for victims of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina are recent examples where JTF-PO could have proved invaluable during the early stages of the operations.

The JTF-PO consists of an air element for airfield operations and the surface element for cargo movement control and cargo handling operations. This mix of Army and Air Force units was validated during the recent Bright Star exercise, where a JTF-PO unit successfully conducted all reception of personnel and equipment though the primary APOD at Jenicles, Egypt.

The first phase of the JTF-PO is the deployment of the Joint Assessment Team (JAT). The JAT assesses the APOD in order to ensure that it is capable of supporting operations and identify any modifications that would be required to make the operation more efficient.

The key role of the JTF-PO is to rapidly open and establish ports of debarkation and initial distribution networks for joint distribution operations supporting humanitarian, disaster relief, and contingency operations. Until the creation of JTF-PO, USTRANSCOM did not have authority of the forces necessary to implement this mission. Normally, the responsibility for this mission resided with the Regional Combatant Commander (RCC) who was also responsible for the deployment of all forces to the operation. By giving USTRANSCOM the responsibility of deploying the JTF-PO and standing up the APOD, the RCC is available to focus his attention on his primary responsibilities. Furthermore, USTRANSCOM is now able to deploy the necessary forces to successfully open the APOD much quicker, as they have access to internal airlift assets required to support enroute and airbase infrastructures.

The first JTF-PO unit rotation is scheduled for the latter part of 2006. The integration of training and equipment for the unit is already underway. When this unit stands up USTRANSCOM will be able to provide the RCC a robust logistical mission capability with a small footprint. The requirement to deploy to support humanitarian missions quickly has never been more prevalent, but we must still be able to effectively support contingency operations. The flexibility of this unit to tailor its force to the need of the operation is a key strength of the JTF-PO, since it has Soldiers and skills that transcend all operations at an APOD.

While most initial equipment will arrive by aircraft, we cannot overlook the need to streamline and maintain control of assets that arrive over the sea. SDDC is already looking into how to expand the role of JTF-PO to integrate joint forces and missions--to include in-transit visibility (ITV)--at the Sea Ports of Debarkation.

The JTF-PO is a formalized process streamlining the capability of logisticians to move supplies forward to the point where they are required, when they are needed. The team integrates the abilities of the Air Force involving reception of cargo and passengers at an APOD with the strength of the Army to process the people and equipment and move them forward to where they are needed.

This joint team can be anywhere in the world as the first military logistical support force and can establish the support channel to bring sustainment to the Soldier or victim of natural disaster. JTF-PO is the integral piece of the equation that allows us to efficiently use our resources to get what is needed to who needs them as soon as possible.

Col. Kenneth King

SDDC Headquarters, Alexandria, CTIO