President's corner.

Ah, Spring is here. The long, grey Northeast winter is over and our focus continues on our members, events, and committees. By the time you read this, SDDC will have completed its first Training Symposium under its new name, with NDTA supporting the Expo. Our European members will be anticipating our conference in Bitburg, Germany 8-12 May. We will be closing in on the National Transportation Week activities (18-19 May) and talking about the NOLSC Symposium (new name for the Navy Training Symposium) in Norfolk, VA (12-16 Jul). While all this is happening we are preparing for our Forum in Milwaukee (11-15 Sep). We just completed a successful site visit in March. Milwaukee is a superb city--all the attractions and facilities of a large city but located on beautiful Lake Michigan, great food, many local attractions to choose from, and little traffic congestion. I want to thank all of our members, sponsors, exhibitors, and program participants for your great support of these events and your many contributions to ensuring the success of our association. We will provide more information about Milwaukee in the next issue.

My previous columns have talked about the two new committees we have established. They are now fully functioning with a growing list of members who want to participate. The Security Best Practices Committee--led by Tom Blank, Associate Administrator for Policy, TSA and Ted Rybeck, CEO, Benchmarking Partners--met at the new TSA Operations Center in January. TSA provided a tour of the facility and the group spent the day discussing security issues impacting the industry. The next meeting is scheduled for 24 June. The Distribution Committee--led by Radha Sekar, IBM Business Consulting and RADM Chris Ames, TD-J5 USTRANSCOM--met in Fairview Heights, IL, in late Feb. This is another dynamic group focusing on helping USTRANSCOM think through and implement the Distribution Process Owner (DPO) designation.

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In the event you missed reading two articles in the Feb issue of the DTJ, I want to call your attention to them. The first by Gen John Handy addresses the Secretary of Defense's designation of USTRANSCOM as the DPO. The second article is an Army Logistics White Paper that describes the four focus areas the Army will hold preeminent over the next two years. These two articles are complementary as they address distribution and the integrated supply chain. Understanding the future direction of end-to-end supply chain management in DoD should position industry for potential public/private partnerships. Articles like these enhance the quality of the DTJ and contribute to advancing the knowledge and science of transportation/distribution within government and industry. We invite you to provide articles for publication in the DTJ.

At headquarters we continue to focus on adding value for our members. The results are superb. Our individual membership drive lead by Norbert Grabowski and Mark Victorson is a success story. By reading the chapter news sections in the DTJ, one can feel the enthusiasm and competitive spirit of our chapters as they participate in the "Marching on Milwaukee Campaign." Chapters are being revitalized, new programs implemented and value provided to the members--San Diego, Andrews AFB, Sacramento, Arctic, and Mediterranean chapters are leading the charge. I recently attended a breakfast with the San Diego chapter with over 80 people in attendance. A luncheon at Andrews, AFB, drew 40 plus attendees. While I could not attend the installation of officers at the Mediterranean Chapter, Brigadier General Mike Worden, Commander, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano AFB, participated in the event along with 45 personnel. In January, I had the opportunity to travel to North East Asia. I spoke to a large group of the A-Frame Chapter at a dinner meeting in Seoul, shared lunch with members of the Honshu Chapter in Yokota Japan, and visited with members on Okinawa and Guam. I can confidently report your association is active and involved around the world. I commend the Presidents of the Chapters and thank you for the great work you are doing in support of our association and more importantly the impact you are having in our communities and on individuals who share our vision.

We continue to gain corporate members and focus on adding value for them. The committee structure is the strength of our value to our corporate members. As I attend the committee meetings I am impressed with the exchange of information, the sharing of knowledge, and efforts to work constructively to address the issues. As I talk to senior members within DoD and DHS, they are complementary of NDTA, our structure, and how we are able to bring government and industry together to advance the knowledge and science of transportation and distribution. I encourage all of our corporate members to participate actively in the committee appropriate to your industry, attend our events, participate on the panels, speak at chapter functions, promote your business by exhibiting at our Expositions and by writing articles for publication in the DTJ. Active, committed involvement pays dividends! As a reminder, our Chairman's Circle members receive automatic membership on the Committee of their choice, have the opportunity to participate as a member of the Transportation Advisory Board, receive priority consideration for speaking opportunities and participation on panels at the Forum, and prime locations in the exhibit hall. Additionally, we publish profiles of Chairman's Circle Executives in the DTJ. There are many benefits for all of our members. Learn about them and gain value from your association membership.

Thank you for your continued support and active participation in NDTA. We look forward to seeing you at our scheduled events. Please let me know how we can make our association even better.

LTG Ken Wykle, USA (Ret.)

NDTA President