SDDC training workshop successful.

They came from as far away as Singapore, Japan, and Hawaii and as nearby as Corpus Christi. They all had one overarching goal in mind--to gain new tools and further advance their knowledge to better support the warfighter.

After a four-year hiatus, SDDC hosted the Western Regional Training Workshop from Feb. 6-9 in San Antonio to showcase SDDC's expanded distribution and deployment mission as well as identify trends impacting on the movement of all DoD commodities.

Maj. Gen. Charles W. Fletcher, Jr., SDDC Commander, hosted the event and told the group of over 200 functional level DoD personnel and contractors that the workshop was designed specifically with them in mind.

"We are partners in an enterprise that supports our nation--the Defense Transportation System," said Fletcher. "We are here to meet the strategic needs of the Combatant Commands."

The workshop was well represented by all the Services as well as a myriad of government agencies to include Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), Army/Air Force Exchange System (AAFES), Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Government Services Administration (GSA) and the Installation Management Agency (IMA). They all came ready to "synchronize the game plan," this year's workshop theme, to help get their vital jobs accomplished.

"It is not a matter of just getting the job done, it's doing it well," said Don Casey from GSA. "There are soldiers overseas who really need the stuff we send them."

Patricia Young, SDDC Deputy to the Commander, echoed the importance of the attendees' mission, and said the workshop's purpose was to focus on the day-to-day business of what it takes to move all materials from beans to bullets.

"These functional level experts are the heart and soul of the deployment process," said Young. "This is a 'devil in the weeds' type of workshop. It is SDDC reaching out--what can we do to help you?--in essence, if we make your jobs easier, it makes ours flow smoother too."

Various deployment and distribution functional experts provided insight and training on a multitude of topical transportation issues and systems. Training sessions emphasizing real-time, day-to-day transportation topics such as carrier selection, hazardous shipment movement, SDDC mission/unit flow process, container management, negotiations, claims procedures, cargo booking, customs issues, and Powertrack were among those featured.

Representatives from major transportation systems such as Global Freight Management (GFM), Freight Acquisition Shipping Tool (FAST), Worldwide Port System (WPS), Cargo Movement Operating System (CMOS), Battle Command Sustainment Support System (BCS3), Distribution Standard System (DSS), Integrated Booking System (IBS), and Transportation Coordinators Automated Information for Movement Systems (TC-AIMS) also provided informative demonstrations showcasing each system's capabilities.

In addition, several other intransit visibility systems were also featured which help track and report the progress and locations of cargo such as SDDC's pipeline asset tracking tool (PAT), the redeployment tracking tool (Criss-Cross), IRRIS (Intelligent Road and Rail Information System) and IntelliTrans. Safety Net, a web-based document management retrieval system, was demonstrated for those shipping exceptional Hazmat cargo to help users select correct authorization documents.

Capt. Bob Marcinek, USN, SDDC's Chief Information Officer, provided a snapshot into the future on what SDDC is doing with systems to make things better for the user in the field. For example, he shared with the audience a recent test at the Port of Beaumont called the Beaumont wireless initiative.

"The beauty of it is if I am the commander I get to see what is going on at my port on my desk top in near real time," said Marcinek. "It's all about this ballet going on from the fort to the port to the vessel and looking to extend the view from the operator in the port to the commander's desk. That's the beauty of this new technology."

"After four years, this was a learning curve for us," said Young. "We will take this and build upon it. Their input helps us understand what they go though and helps us make this a better process."

Story and photos by June Pagan, Command Affairs Specialist SDDC Headquarters Fort Eustis