U.S. Pacific Command/599th Transportation Group: multi-modal workshop stresses key role of industry partnerships.

Effective military-industry partnerships are critical to providing the best distribution solutions to the war fighter.

This was the prevailing theme throughout the 599th Transportation Group's Multi-modal workshop, co-hosted by Group Commander Col. Peter J. Gitto as the command's 2003 training workshop began December 18.

"Together," said Gitto, "we are a ready and responsive team that will meet the transportation challenges of this century."

We must be prepared to rapidly respond to the needs of our nation across the entire spectrum of conflict, from small-scale contingencies to a major theater war, said Gitto.

The commander, during the 2003 training workshop, punctuated the critical imperatives of the Military Traffic Management Command's aggressive strategic plan to accomplish this mission and underscored customer support and teamwork.

"Only as a team can we provide responsive, safe, best-value services," said Gitto. "All our efforts focus on customer support--this is why we exist."

The event, in its ninth year, was co-sponsored by U.S. Pacific Command.

Air Force Col. Nonie C. Cabana, Deputy Director for Logistics, Engineering and Security, and U.S. Pacific Command's co-host, accentuated a strategic vision for the Department of Defense's Distribution System.

There are three critical principles that are key for this vision to be realized, said Cabana. "We need to centralize stock at two "Strategic Distribution Platforms" for increased efficiencies; maximize the use of scheduled transportation; and synchronize all steps in the distribution process."

Top transportation leaders agreed.

Echoing Cabana's strategic distribution critical points, MTMC's Deputy to the Commander, William Lucas, said MTMC is changing to meet today's challenges, including shifting from supply-based to distribution-based logistics.

"The strategic distribution initiative grew out of our experience in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, where mountains of unneeded supplies accumulated in the desert clogging the system, wasting money, and actually delaying delivery of needed supplies to the war fighters," said Lucas.

This occurred because supply officers would order cargo but had no way of "seeing" their orders in the logistics pipeline. Often, orders were reordered multiple times, resulting in a clogged system and poor customer service.

Following Desert Storm, the transportation and supply communities partnered to find ways to provide better customer service to the war fighters, with the following results.

"Defense Logistics Agency is repositioning their stocks closer to the customers, reducing customer wait times," said Lucas. "MTMC and U.S. Transportation Command are working with our geographic command customers to determine when deliveries should be scheduled to meet customer needs, and not just when it's convenient for transporters."

Both Cabana and Lucas homed in on the importance of synchronization.

"Department of Defense and industry are synchronizing each link in the supply chain to ensure that cargo keeps moving from source to customer, rather than waiting on docks and in intermediate warehouses," Lucas said.

"Improved velocity is not just faster transportation but also synchronization of end-to-end processes," echoed Cabana. "Taking out the traditional "hurry-up-and-wait" approach reduces overall customer wait time."

Global industry partner, Maersk Line, concurred with the concept.

"We [global industry partners] must be able to support the combatant commander's requirement for total asset visibility so that full knowledge of what is in the pipeline heading to the area of responsibility is available on demand," said Maersk Line's Director of Military Sales, Lou Lambremont, opening ceremony guest speaker.

More than 400 transporters registered for this year's workshop at the Renaissance Ilikai Hotel in Waikiki, said Martin Leehane, 599th's workshop manager.

Participants learned about the latest in Department of Defense transportation technology and processes from the 35 presentations, said Leehane. This year's workshop theme was "Global Connection End-to-End-Taking Care of the Warfighter."

Coming from diverse backgrounds, military and commercial industry transporters found the workshop helpful with new issues and technologies.

Sgt. 1st Class Jacqueline Pickering, from the 836th Transportation Battalion in Japan, appreciated the information presented on Ports and Railroads Internet Listings.

Having this information at our fingertips is extremely useful, said Picketing. "This saves valuable time as we gather required data in support of our missions."

At the heart of the workshop were the hands-on demonstrations and training, in applications such as the Automated Air Load Planning, Global Transportation Network, Cargo Movement Operations, Hazardous Material, Port and Harbor Interactive Simulator and Microchip Logistics.

Following a successful display at last year's workshop, Label Master returned this year to exhibit their regulatory software programs.

"The workshop provides an excellent way to learn of the government transporters' needs and to expose what our organization can offer as solutions," said Chuck Reed, Label Master's on-site representative.

Transportation managers learned about the new Hazardous Materiel Documentation Program, as Reed demonstrated the application of the Compliance Network, a multi-modal regulatory resource.

At the opposite end of the exhibit hall, James Hayes, Senior Information Engineer at Unisys Corp., responded to a stream of inquiries from transportation professionals attentive to the dual-focused demonstration of in-transit visibility worldwide support to the Department of Defense.

Hayes capitalized on the opportunity to meet face to face with 599th's three battalion commanders from Japan, Okinawa and Korea.

"Being able to personally meet and clarify the instrumenting process of water ports in Korea, Okinawa and Japan to the commanders of the 599th transportation battalions was the best part of the workshop for me," said Hayes.

The 837th Transportation Battalion in Pusan, Korea, is the test site of Unisys' in-transit visibility worldwide support to the Department of Defense. The workshop provided Hayes an opportunity to meet the unit's commander, Lt. Col. James Brundage, for the first time.

"I just found out that all three 599th battalion commanders recently took charge of their units in the Orient, said Hayes, "and there's no better way to explain a brand-new process that we are implementing in that portion of the theater, than in person."

Providing information on express service provided to Department of Defense customers to and from the Pacific theater were Federal Express representatives, including Cheryl Laney, who attended the workshop for the second consecutive year.

There is just no substitution for face-to-face meetings for building confidence levels, said Laney. "You need to continue having these workshops. They're great for disseminating information about our services, and we can learn how others handle challenging issues," she added.

Echoing the positive comments were Gunnery Sgt. Paul Lauzon and Sgt. Edgar Arriaga of the Transportation Management Office, U.S. Marine Corp Base Kaneohe, Hawaii.

"I never knew there were so many different transportation services available through Federal Express alone," said Lauzon, whose office handles transportation and storage services for the unit deployment program and contingency deployments. "I know we'll be able to make good use of this information."

For Arriaga, the new Staff Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge who processes shipments of personal property at the Marine Corps command, the entire workshop was educational.

"I learned so much that will help me do my job more effectively, said Arriaga."

According to the 599th workshop coordinator, Leehane, planning for the Oct. 21-23, 2003, workshop at the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel has already started.

Terri Kojima

Command Affairs Officer

599th Transportation Group