Mlf 9 6 final

Marine Corps Prepositioning Programs O Women-Owned Small Businesses Communications Support O Maritime Sustainment O Tough Handhelds

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Maj. Gen. Craig C. CrenshawCommanderMarine Corps Logistics Command

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August 2015Volume 9, Issue 6

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Lane CoLLieDirectorLogistics Readiness CenterU.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command

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Departments Industry Interview2 editor’s PersPeCtive10 suPPly Chain19 resourCe Center

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August 2015Volume 9, Issue 6MILITARY LOGISTICS FORUM

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5Marine CorPs PrePositioninG ProGraMscontractor support is key to managing the brigade loads and ensuring they are operationally ready for the marine corps maritime prepositioning Force and marine corps prepositioning program-norway.

6CoMMs sustainMentincreasing the number of radios among the services has created a tremendous sustainment requirement.By Peter BuxBaum

8touGh, ruGGed it solutionsthe military finds a host of small, powerful rugged devices available.By Karen e. thuermer

17sea stateDesigning for lean maritime sustainment. Ships need to spend less time in maintenance and more time at sea.By henry Canaday High-

Assurance Identity Management

u.s. arMy CoMMuniCations-eleCtroniCs CoMMandsPeCial suPPleMent

C2

Lane CollieDirectorlogistics Readiness centeru.S. army communications-electronics command

3wosB deliver advantaGesThe 2015 National Defense Authorization Act authorized federal agencies to award sole-source contracts to women-owned small businesses eligible for the Woman-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program.By Cheryl W. Snead

Exclusive interviews with:

Much has publically troubled the Air Force and its management of inventory and of the personnel that staff the launch facilities. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has examined the nuclear weapon stockpiles and the sustainment policies and procedures being imple-mented. While a re-energized emphasis may have something to do with the spotlight the services are under for the safekeeping of the weapons, more than that, it is recognition of the under-budgeting of resources for a long period of time and the need to address the issues before a tragedy occurs.

The DoD and the Department of Energy (DOE) are undertaking an extensive, multifaceted effort to sustain and modernize U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities, including the nuclear weapons stockpile; the research and production infrastructure; nuclear weapons delivery systems; and the nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) system. “The strategic missiles, submarines, aircraft and the nuclear weapons carried by these delivery systems are aging and being deployed beyond their intended service lives,” the GAO report explained. “Key National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) nuclear weapons research, development and production facilities date back to the 1940s and 1950s, and, according to the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report, require modernization to ensure a safe, secure and effective nuclear arsenal for as long as such weapons exist. As shown by DoD and DOE estimates, sustainment and modernization efforts are expected to cost billions of dollars over the next decade.”

Dividing the sustainment costs into three groups—nuclear delivery systems; nuclear stockpile and nuclear security enterprise; and nuclear command, control and communications systems—the lion’s share of the projected sustainment costs come from nuclear delivery systems (encompassing seven types of weapons) with a 10-year estimated cost of $163.4 billion. From the last estimate in 2013, this figure jumps about 40 percent ($116.7 billion in 2013) mainly due to inclusion of the Air Force’s new long-range bomber into the formula and for an increase in the Navy’s Ohio-replacement cost estimate.

Nuclear stockpile and nuclear security enterprise falls in line next with a projected $100.1 billion covering eight geographically dispersed sites.

With a paltry $34.6 billion, nuclear command, control and communications systems grab the last bit of the sustainment pie. Interestingly, the $34.6 billion is about 15 percent less than estimated just two years ago, when the estimated cost was put at almost $41 billion.

The U.S. nuclear portfolio is a mix of aging infrastructure combined with complex weapon and weapon delivery systems—some old, some not so much. In virtually everything the military does, there is little margin for error, but when dealing with nukes—most on home soil—the accepted margin of error is even smaller. Three hundred and some billion dollars is money well spent to keep the arsenal healthy.

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Volume 9, Issue 6 • August 2015

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Jeff McKaughanediTor

By Cheryl W. Snead

Women-oWned Small BuSineSSeS Can Be WarriorS noW, too.

As has been said by many people before me, it’s always a good idea to read the fine print in any document.

Normally, that statement carries with it largely negative connotations. But in the case of the passage of the voluminous 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the fine print was music to the ears of those who champion opportunity for women entrepreneurs. In it, there was some very important “fine print” located in section 825.

This fine print outlined that, for the first time, authorized federal agencies would be able to award sole-source con-tracts to women-owned small businesses eligible for the Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Pro-gram for defense-related contracts. That is a momentous development for women-owned companies all over the United States. It will provide women and their companies the same level of access to the federal contracting marketplace that other

disadvantaged groups currently enjoy. Women-owned small businesses are closer than ever to achieving parity, thanks in large part to the passage of the 2015 NDAA.

While the defense industry has done better at meeting diversity goals for minor-ity-owned businesses in recent years, and should thus be applauded for their prog-ress, until the passage of the 2015 NDAA there was a gaping hole in efforts to catalyze opportunities for the burgeon-ing women-owned business segment in America. As a woman and a small business owner, I am intimately familiar with the unique challenges women face when trying to build a business in this country. As we continue to build conversation around the special difficulties facing women-owned small business with discussion and poten-tial legislation, the passage of this act is quite encouraging. Increased awareness spurs the potential for these businesses to increase their share of their business markets. We are now closer than ever

to achieving equality with non-minority-owned businesses, and we’re well on our way towards having a fighting chance at competing with larger organizations and contractors when it comes to bidding on large, complex and multi-faceted govern-ment contracts.

I have had the chance to voice my opinions on the issue of opportunity for women-owned small businesses many times recently, the most notable of which was a discussion with the president of the United States. As I told President Obama when I had the great privilege of making his acquaintance, one of the key areas that the federal government was lagging was the need to widen opportuni-ties for women-owned businesses to par-ticipate in the billions of dollars of defense industry contracts that are helping fuel local and regional economies. The 2015 NDAA represents a critical step forward for women-owned businesses. It will allow us to participate fully in the opportunity to

www.MLF-kmi.com MLF 9.6 | 3

help serve our country by supplying the defense industry with goods and services that back the critical mission of supporting the American warfighter.

Why is it important that women-owned businesses be granted this access to defense industry contracts? Because women-owned businesses represent a very significant driver in the U.S. economy. And the future only predicts more growth for this under-recognized segment; in fact, women-owned businesses are growing at an unprecedented rate each day. Today, more than one in four U.S. companies is owned or led by a woman. Most importantly, women-led companies have an estimated economic impact of $3 trillion. This type of revenue translates into the creation and/or maintenance of more than 23 million jobs. That’s an enor-mously significant figure that we can be proud of. It represents fully 16 percent of all U.S. jobs. These jobs not only sustain the individual worker, but contribute to the economic security of their families, as well as the economic vitality of their com-munities and the nation. Women-owned firms are not a niche market; they are a major driver to the success and sustenance of the U.S. economy. The passage of the NDAA has made it even more attractive to partner with a women-owned firm or contractor by virtue of specific provisions that it contains.

As I mentioned previously, in recent years the federal government has made great strides towards leveling the playing field for small businesses. The previous 2013 NDAA granted small businesses the right to claim “set asides,” or pieces of sub-contracted work that were part of larger contracts. Because of the comprehensive nature of large government contracts, they are typically awarded to much larger firms or contractors with a wider spread of busi-ness offerings. As small businesses, it is extraordinarily difficult to compete for these large-scale defense contracts. These contracts have often presented a challenge to small businesses who don’t necessar-ily offer the breadth of services that their larger counterparts do. Set-aside contracts allow these small businesses to grab a piece of the pie. However, it is important to note that this provision of the law isn’t a hand-out of any kind: these small businesses are playing a leading role in the success of the country’s economy. More importantly, these companies have not been given a seat at the table to compete for defense industry

contracts—in most cases simply by virtue of their size.

Without the above provisions included in the 2013 NDAA, it would be difficult for small businesses to generate enough rev-enue to stay competitive in their individual space. And we should all be aware of the important statistics about small businesses in America: small businesses employ more than half (51 percent) of all people in the country, and they have generated nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of net new jobs over the past 15 years. Thanks to the changes on this year’s NDAA, small busi-nesses can look towards an even brighter economic future.

By adopting the section 825 provi-sions included in the 2015 NDAA, this country is recognizing that nearly a quar-ter of its businesses are small businesses run and owned by women. Up until this year, women-owned small businesses were lumped together with other small busi-nesses in a broader sense. Though provi-sions for small businesses were a forward step, this broad inclusion left women com-peting head-to-head with all categories of small businesses; many of these non-minority businesses don’t necessarily expe-rience the same obstacles and difficulties as women-owned businesses.

The acknowledgement of women-owned businesses in a minority category now gives those businesses a separate pool of set-aside contracts from which they can draw. Having this smaller pool allows them to compete uniquely and directly with other women-owned small businesses. The 2015 NDAA allows sole-source contracts to be awarded to women-owned small businesses and economically-disadvantaged women-owned small businesses where the contract value is less than or equal to $4 million (or $6.5 mil-lion in the manufacturing space), provid-ing there is only one women-owned small business bidding for the work. This type of provision will put women-owned small businesses in the same category as Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) firms, specifically.

In addition to making women-owned small businesses more competitive in their own right, this legislation has now made it more attractive than ever to partner with one. For a large contract firm, partnering with a women-owned small business can increase a contractor’s competitive PWin rate (probability of win rate). In terms of

winning “set aside” funding, a contractor can increase its chances by eliminating the competition that would be present with a regular small business set-aside. There is a smaller pool of eligible businesses fight-ing for the same set-aside contract, which translates into increased odds of winning the contract.

This is a definite forward step for women-owned businesses across the coun-try, and potentially globally. While there is clearly more work to be done, we can celebrate this step. The 2015 NDAA is an example of societal progress: the clear fact that small women-owned businesses are gaining traction toward making a more meaningful contribution to the defense of our nation. While not every women-owned small business can compete with the giants of the defense contracting indus-try, women-owned small businesses can be a vital subcontractor for large defense industry contractors, providing valuable products and services to help those larger companies meet diversity contracting regulations. This provision ensures that women-owned businesses can compete on equal footing for their share of the defense industry contracts in the future, which is a more equitable foundation for such a large segment of the nation’s economy.

The U.S. Small Business Administra-tion has proposed to amend its regulations to implement section 825 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 and includes language granting con-tracting officers the authority to award sole-source contracts to WOSBs. O

Cheryl W. Snead is the founder, presi-dent and chief executive officer of Ban-neker Industries, a R.I.-based integrated logistics and supply chain services pro-vider that serves many defense contrac-tors. Snead is active in national women’s business issues and was recently inducted into the Women’s Business Enterprise Hall of Fame. Additionally, she is the vice chair of the Women’s Business Enter-prise National Council (WBENC) Women’s Enterprise Forum. Snead also serves on the WBENC Board of Directors.

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories

at www.mlf-kmi.com.

www.MLF-kmi.com4 | MLF 9.6

ContraCtor Support iS key to managing the Brigade loadS and enSuring they are operationally ready.

The Marine Corps Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) and Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway (MCPP-N) have been operationally invaluable in supporting our nation’s interests across the world. These two unique programs provide the essential ele-ments needed to support and execute crisis response, global reach and forward presence. The Marine Corps Prepositioning Programs (MCPP) enable the rapid deployment of MAGTFs and/or augment individual forward-deployed Marine units. These forces are uniquely capable of strengthening alliances, securing strategic access and defeating hostile adversaries.

MPF and MCPP-N are keystones in the Marine Corps capability for setting the conditions for national security. The preposition-ing of equipment and supplies to support Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs) of all sizes, up to and including a Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB) capable of executing missions across the range of military operations (ROMO), enables Marine forces to fulfill their role and responsibility as our nation’s force in readiness in a time of crisis. Our prepositioning programs will continue to enable operations across the joint operational continuum including shaping, deterrence, seizing the initiative, domination, stabilization and enabling of civilian authorities. When combined with the forces and their equipment arriving in the fly or flow-in echelon (FIE), prepositioning programs provide forward-deployed equipment and supplies needed to sustain up to a MEB-sized MAGTF for 30 days of operations, thus reducing total strategic lift requirements.

The MCPP consist of both afloat and ashore capabilities. Both the afloat and ashore programs are managed out of the continental United States (CONUS) at MCSF-BI, Jacksonville, Fla.

Blount Island Command (BIC) is responsible for preparing, main-taining and updating spreadload and embarkation plans in support of the MPF Maintenance Cycle (MMC).

The Marine Corps afloat program is made up of Navy-owned vessels divided into two squadrons: MPSRON-2, located in Diego Garcia, and MPSRON-3, located in Guam and Saipan. The ships cycle through BIC in Jacksonville, Fla., every 36 months to be reset with a modernized load. Each of the squadrons, combined with an FIE, carry equipment and supplies to support a MEB-sized MAGTF for up to 30 days. The equipment includes M1A1 Abrams tanks, Amphibious Assault Vehicles, Light-Armored Vehicles, artillery, both ground and aviation ammunition, rations, medical supplies and fuel.

The Marine Corps ashore prepositioning program, MCPP-N, is located in the Kingdom of Norway. Equipment and supplies are prepositioned and maintained in six caves, three of which are climate-controlled for the storage of all classes of supply (less Class V) and three specifically intended for the storage of ammunition. MCPP-N is equipped to support three types of MAGTF: 1) a crisis-response-capable MAGTF (approximately 5,000 Marines) built around a Marine infantry battalion; 2) three theater-security cooperation (TSC) MAGTFs, each built around a rifle company; and 3) augmenting up to and including a MEB, which also requires closing MPF or amphibious ships. Equip-ment and supplies making up this program support all geographic

combatant commanders (GCCs) around the world, but due to its geographical location, its assets are specifically required to operate in the EUCOM region with NATO forces.

Whether it’s the in-depth analysis of requirements coupled with the disciplined task of assigning the exact location of the placement of each piece of equipment onto the proper spaces and decks aboard each ship or review of forces and equipment making up MCPP-N, BIC, along with its contractor personnel, are key components to accomplishing these tasks.

As mentioned above, the squadron’s ships cycle through Jack-sonville to conduct the MMC. The process required to properly plan for the execution of the MMC is an 18-24 month deliberate effort that begins with guidance produced by Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) Plans, Policies and Operations (PP&O), followed by Planning Parameters and Factors provided by Headquarters Marine Corps Installations and Logistics (I&L), then lastly, operational or tactical guidance from the MARFORs or MEF Commanders. Myriad tailoring, equipment fielding and load planning conferences take place in order to ensure the required information necessary to build the required plans in support of the MMC is known.

The responsibility for development and review of the multitude of plans required to execute the MMC falls under the government’s Plans Management Branch, Operations Division, BIC. The Plans Management Branch is responsible for reviewing the plans and ensuring the accuracy and adequacy of all ship spread loading docu-ments, and plans have been developed in a manner that provides detailed information required to properly mark, configure and load prepositioned assets in order to facilitate force stand up should the need arise.

The Plans Management Branch will provide the required infor-mation and documentation to the Plans and Data Support (P&DS) contractor to facilitate the development of the various ship’s plans. The development of the ship’s planning documents is an iterative and evolving process due to the potential for changes in defense strategies and global situations; therefore, the planning process requires close coordination between the government Plans Manage-ment Branch and the P&DS contractor.

The Norway Prepositioning Management Office (NPMO), also located at Blount Island, is responsible for the accountability and readiness of the ground material and equipment located in the caves in Norway. MCPP-N serves multiple activities and capable of global support to all GCCs, but is regionally focused in support of the EUCOM AOR due to its location. Due to its accessibility, equip-ment and supplies are both tailorable and scalable, which supports selective withdrawal and is ideal in support of lower-spectrum operations. Logistics services conducted in Norway are performed by Norwegian Ministry of Defence personnel. O


at www.mlf-kmi.com.


By peter BuxBaum, mlF CorreSpondent

inCreaSing the numBer oF radioS among the ServiCeS haS Created a tremendouS SuStainment requirement.

When it comes to the sustainment and repair of essential tactical radios, the native capabilities of United States Army depots lead the way, while the contractors—the manufacturers who actually built the radios in the first place—play a decidedly supporting role. That’s because U.S. law requires that the military develop the organic infrastructure necessary to repair and sustain items identified as essential to the national defense, and battlefield radios certainly fall into that category. It also makes logistics sense: the equipment can be repaired closer to the warfighter and without leaving the Army logistics network.

The Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania employs techni-cians with expertise in repairing and sustaining a variety of radio and communications equipment and has invested in the technology that allows those personnel to perform their jobs. The contractors provide training for the workers who need it—often teaching them how the radio operates in the field as well as how to repair it—and keep the depot supplied with the spare parts it requires.

“We have built up our sustainment capabilities for radios,” said James Kachmarsky, who is in charge of non-developmental radios from Harris and Thales at Tobyhanna. Non-developmental refers to radios such as the PRC-117F and PRC-150—both multiband UHF/HF radios—and the PRC-152, a handheld high-frequency radio built by the companies on their own dollar and made available for sale, but not pursuant to a government contract.

“Harris and Thales have regular commercial websites where we can download manuals and order repair parts, Kachmarsky added. “The only involvement we have with the OEMs is when we have questions about parts or cards that may be obsolete, and we need to know what the replacement number would be.”

“We have been working on SINCGARS radios here at Toby-hanna for 15 or 20 years,” said Dave Baron, who is the depot’s point man for the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio Systems (SINCGARS). “We have been repairing those radios since the earlier versions were around, all the way to current versions we have today. We deal with the program office or with CECOM [the U.S. Army Electronics-Communications Command] in Aberdeen when we have questions about parts obsolescence or contracting concerns; in rare cases, we may go the manufacturer with those concerns.”

Unlike aircraft or vehicles, there is no scheduled maintenance for radios. When they show up at Tobyhanna, they are broken in some form or fashion. “CECOM deals with this,” said Kachmarsky. “They usually have some dialog with the Production Management Director-ate and schedule the workload and set up the statement of work.”

Some SINCGARS radios that come in are obsolete and should no longer be in the field because they have been replaced by later versions, so those get a complete overhaul. “We repair or replace the electronics and then set them up for paint,” said Baron. “After they are painted, they come back to us for final electrical testing and then are shipped out through DLA [the Defense Logistics Agency].”

“We are partnered for sustainment with the Tobyhanna Army Depot on the AN/PRC-148 MBITR [Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio], and the enhanced MBITR,” said Leroy Crouell, director of customer support at Thales Defense & Security, Inc. “That support has been going on since around 2009.”

When radios come in for repair to the Tobyhanna depot, a techni-cian starts the process by performing an electrical test. “If the radio passes the electrical test,” said Kachmarsky, “then we know the problems will be mainly mechanical.” This may include the repair or replacement of chassis, knobs, screws and bolts. The radios are sand-blasted and painted before being sent on for final inspection.

The detection of electrical problems will prompt further diag-nostics testing of circuits, cards and boards until the problem is identified. “If the radio passes, it goes on to the next step,” said Kachmarsky. “We continue to run the radio through testing until we have a system that works.”

Crouell acknowledged that the folks at Tobyhanna do the bulk of the sustainment work and that Thales supports them in that mission. “The first thing they do the moment they receive returned fielded equipment is to check its warranty status on our website,” he said. “If it’s still under warranty they send it to us and we repair it. They repair the non-warranty items.”

Thales also provides some training to Tobyhanna’s personnel. “They get both operator-type training so they know how the product is used in the field,” said Crouell, “and then we dive deeper into the product itself, its theory of operation, assembly, disassembly, trou-bleshooting, testing and certification to go back out to the field.”

6 | MLF 9.6 www.MLF-kmi.com

The depot also provides training to its personnel. “Most of the technicians on the floor have associate’s degrees,” said Kachmarsky. “We provide a lot of internal training classes for radio maintenance and circuit analysis. When we get technicians off the street, if they are lack-ing in formal education, we send them to one of our internal classes.”

“Most of our technicians also go through our soldering training program,” added Baron.

A big part of Thales’s relationship with the depot revolves around the provision of spare parts for the radios being worked on. “For any component inside the radio that could possibly cause a failure, the depot has access to it directly from us or through the Army’s supply system to get a replacement.”

Typically, these are procured on an as-needed basis. “Although,” Crouell added, “they do try to forecast their repair activity. The depot usually prefers to go through the supply system for items catalogued in that system. Otherwise, they come directly to Thales for other items. We required by contract to provide spares for the radios we provide the U.S. military for a period of time.”

Once the original manufacturer is no longer obligated to supply spare parts for a given piece of equipment, parts can become obsolete, meaning that they are no longer available commercially. But that doesn’t mean the depot has no further use for those parts. CECOM generally advises the depot on obsolescence issues, providing infor-mation on alternate vendors for obsolete parts and alternate compo-nents for those that have simply disappeared from the marketplace. “If we discover alternates to obsolete parts, we get approval through the program office or CECOM to use them,” said Baron.

Solving problems of obsolescence will often add time and money to a repair project. “We sometimes have to advise a customer that they may have to delay a milestone because of the lack of availability of obsolete parts,” said Baron. “Sometimes OEMs say they can reproduce the parts, but that tends to be costly. In those cases, we advise the customer about the increased costs and they say yes or no.”

Thales has also provided some testing equipment to Tobyhanna that is used to certify the radio at the end of the repair process and before release. “They prefer to use slightly different equipment from what we use in the factory,” said Crouell. “We worked with a third-party vendor to develop and deliver that test solution to the depot.”

Rockwell Collins works with the Tobyhanna Army Depot on the sustainment of the Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS). CAAS was originally developed for special operations MH-47G Chinook and MH-60L/M Black Hawk aircraft. It has since evolved as the common digital architecture for rotary wing aircraft for the U.S. Army. CAAS is an integrated flight and mission management capability and one of the first fully open, non-proprietary systems that embraces existing commercial standards on large platforms. The modularity of the open system reduces the costs of technology inser-tions and capability upgrades. CAAS incorporates cockpit flight and mission management, and integrates communications, navigation, weapons and mission sensor subsystems.

“CAAS has the advantage of being more easily upgradable, which reduces its life cycle costs,” said Bob Haag, senior director for global services business development at Rockwell Collins. “New technology can be inserted in the architecture on a plug-and-play basis.”

Rockwell Collins manages the equipment flow from the field to Tobyhanna on behalf of the depot. As part of that process, Rockwell

Collins also manages the flow of repair parts to the depot, as part of what Haag describes as a public-private partnership.

The company will also act as a backup to the depot in the event of a work backlog. “That is where the partnership comes in,” said Haag. “If Tobyhanna gets in higher-priority work, we will redirect work to Rockwell Collins for repair. We act as a backup to each other. In general, we work on different components, but we can also work on each other’s components. Tobyhanna is set up to repair all of the components in the CAAS cockpit. We support the depot with training and testing equipment. We supply any proprietary pieces that may be necessary, but the depot plays the role as the primary maintainer of the CAAS cockpit. We also help with obsolescence issues, but in the case of open systems like CAAS, obsolescence tends to be less of a problem.”

Rockwell Collins has an ongoing public-private partnership with Tobyhanna on CAAS for about the last two years. The company has participated in similar arrangements with other military depots for the past 15 years.

Thales Security & Defense is currently negotiating a public-private partnership with the Army for the sustainment of the Rifle-man radio, a software-defined radio that will provide networking connectivity to frontline soldiers. Crouell expects that, under that agreement, the depot will be responsible for the repair of both non-warranty and warranty items.

“Having the depot handle the warranty work is not that unusual,” said Crouell. “The Rifleman radios will be essential items for national defense. Under the law, the government must maintain a core capa-bility to maintain those products. We are implementing all of the logistics required to implement that arrangement.”

Thales had five maintenance depots in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan until 2013. In addition to Tobyhanna, the company also currently supports Army depots in Fort Dix, Fort Hood, Fort Bragg and Fort Carson. “We sent personnel to those places and established mainte-nance and testing capabilities,” said Haag.

The arrangement and partnerships that Toby-hanna has with its contractors work well, according to Crouell. “It gives us a single point of contact that we are responsible to instead of hundreds or thousands of end-users,” he said. “The Army also has a single point of contact for the repair of these radios. I think these kinds of relationships will continue to succeed, espe-

cially as products become more complex. The depots will continue to rely on the contractors they know well and have a good working relationship with. We have a contractual pipeline in place with Toby-hanna, and it works pretty efficiently.”

Haag sees the Army taking on more of the sustainment role for CAAS as it develops the skill sets required for maintaining its sophis-ticated components. “Tobyhanna has done a good job developing the required skills in its personnel,” he said. “I can see them reaching out and performing similar work for other of the armed services.”

Military radios are becoming more complex, noted Kachmarsky, with more and more functionality loaded into a single box. “We will need greater levels of automation to help us with all of those func-tions,” he said. O


at www.mlf-kmi.com.

Bob Haag


The military wants devices that are small, smart, powerful and rugged. It may seem like a tough order, but with technology firms gravitating toward tiny tech, a host of compa-nies are up to the task and meeting the need.

FaSt Built

One of them is Getac. The company bills its new, second-generation F110 fully rugged tablet as “the fastest rugged tablet the com-pany has ever built.” The reason: it features a very fast (fifth-generation) Intel Core proces-sor, flash storage and responsive graphics.

Among its features is a large 11.6-inch display that incorporates Getac’s exclusive LumiBond 2.0 technology with enhanced touch function (touch/rain, glove or pen mode, plus an optional digitizer mode). “This achieves a display that is readable—even in direct sunlight—to provide better contrast and more crisp colors than any other rug-ged laptop display available today,” remarked John Lamb, Getac’s director of marketing.

According to Lamb, however, one of its best features is also one of its simplest. “Rather than using a single removable bat-tery, Getac built the F110 with two hot swappable battery slots for potentially infi-nite, uninterrupted battery life, which can be essential in the field,” he said.

This feature enables the user to remove one of the two rechargeable batteries and replace it with a fresh battery without ever shutting down apps or the Windows OS. “On-screen notifications alert the user when a battery is low on power,” Lamb said.

Particularly important for the military world: the tablet is designed as a rugged tablet. “The F110 tablet can withstand drops, shocks, spills, vibration, dust, liquid and other abuse that would render other tablets life-less,” Lamb reported. “It has been indepen-dently tested and certified to meet MIL-STD 810G, IP65 and MILSTD-461F standards.”

For updates or service, Getac uses FedEx TechConnect, which combines FedEx ship-ping, expedited turn-around times and a team of expert service technicians.

Strong and rugged

Xplore Technologies offers a line of rug-ged tablets that it deems the strongest in the industry. The company now offers the largest variety of products that are targeted towards specific workflows as a result of its recent acquisition of rugged tablet suppliers Motion Computing.

“We have products that are currently deployed in both military and logistics verticals. Xplore’s strength in rugged is unmatched within the industry,” remarked Xplore Technologies President and COO Mark Holleran. “Xplore and Motion together have unique strengths that give our devices the edge when used in military and logistics workflows. First and foremost are the breadth and the height of our rug-ged capabilities.”

Holleran claimed Xplore’s XC6 tablet “is without equal” in ruggedness and is tested to the highest standards. “It has models targeted towards military usage, specifically the XC6 M2,” he said. “Utilizing the latest technology in CPU, RAM and Storage allows our devices to easily handle and manipulate large files.”

Staying connected is a key priority for rugged tablets, which are often used out-doors or in other areas not covered by WiFi networks. All of the Xplore and Motion devices are equipped with the latest 4G/LTE connectivity options to keep the work going with fresh data.

“We work closely with the independent software vendor community to ensure our customers’ applications are compatible and optimized for the products and workflows,” Holleran said.

Among other unique factors are: conve-nient options that can be integrated into the devices, like: barcode scanners, NFC/RFID readers and smartcard/CAC solutions; unique certifications like intrinsic safety for hazard-ous locations; low-radio emission standards; and ingress protection from dust and water.

Holleran stressed that Xplore has a his-tory of developing custom solutions, and

claims the company has the best docking solutions in the industry, including unique docks for forklift applications that provide a better ROI than fixed-mount solutions.

“Additionally, we supply the XC6 Tablet, which is used in the U.S. military and other drone programs,” he added.

long-time provider

VT Miltope is a long-time provider and industry leader in providing rugged mili-tary products. They currently provides the Army’s Integrated Family of Test Equip-ment (IFTE) Maintenance Support Device (MSD-V3) based on the on the Miltope Rug-ged Convertible Laptop Computer (RCLC). The RCLC is available in two screen sizes: 10-inch and 14-inch. These can convert into a tablet.

“It is fully qualified to the required MIL-STD-810F, 461E, 464A, 2169B standards with documented test results witnessed/approved by the U.S. Army,” reported Julie Briggs, VT Miltope executive vice president of business development. In addition, the MSD-V3 has a standard five-year warranty.

MSD-V3 is the third-generation Miltope laptop used for servicing all Army systems, including ground combat and tactical vehi-cles and rotary, unmanned, and fixed-wing aircraft. In addition to maintenance require-ments, the MSD is used as the Aircraft Notebook Computer for aviation logistics requirements such as logbook.

“The Maintenance Support Device pro-vides test and diagnostic capability used at all levels of maintenance to automatically diagnose electronic and automotive sub-systems of the Army’s ground and aviation weapon systems,” Briggs added. “The MSD systems provide test and diagnostic support and maintenance automation capabilities that are critical to the readiness of Army units and their equipment.”

MSD hosts interactive electronic tech-nical manuals and expert diagnostics sys-tems, conducts intrusive testing in support of Army weapons and electronic systems,

By karen e. thuermerthe military FindS a hoSt oF Small, poWerFul rugged deviCeS availaBle.


and provides a means to upload/download mission-critical software into weapon sys-tem’s on-board computer electronics.

The MSDs are being fielded to support approved Army force structure require-ments. “They host the Digital Logbook and Global Combat Support System-Army soft-ware, provide Army maintainers the capa-bility to connect to the logistics enterprise, and perform maintenance management in an information-enabled environment,” Briggs said. “The MSDs are the Army’s stan-dard at-system test and diagnostic equip-ment, are an essential maintenance tool in the support plans for the Army’s ground vehicle and aviation fleets, and are in wide-spread use, including deployed units.”

Miltope also offers a variety of other tab-lets and handhelds with wide ranges of per-formance and ruggedness. They include the RTHD2 handheld, a fully rugged handheld computer with a 5-inch display that is pri-marily used by the dismounted warfighter; the MACH-1 tablet, a thin tablet with a 9.7-inch display, which hosts a quad core, low-power Atom processor; and the RTCU tablet, used when mobile performance matters.

The RTHD2 operates with standard com-mercial-off-the-shelf wireless interfaces such as 802.11, WAN and Bluetooth. This means the RTHD can add on technology without completely redesigning the product.

“The ‘expansion packs’ enable us to quickly customize the product to meet spe-cific needs of multiple military customers, such as the ability to add a GPS selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM), Taclink modem, radio interfaces, video receivers or 1553 interfaces, CAN inter-faces and barcode scanners, as would be the case for maintenance and inventory users,” Briggs said.

The RTHD also is capable of running Windows Mobile or Android OS’s such as a cellphone. “However, since the RTHD is inherently rugged in design, it does not require additional case protection,” she added. “The ability to embed ‘add on’ tech-nology means fewer individual devices and less cabling on the warfighter’s body, as well as an overall cheaper system cost.”

RTHD is used on several programs of record in both the Army and Marines. “In particular, the RTHD is used in the Pocket Forward Entry Device, where it hosts a military SAASM GPS, Taclink Modem for radio communications and an interface for a laser range finder for obtaining positions on targets,” Briggs said.

The RTCU Table is a fully ruggedized, 10-inch tablet which hosts an i7 processor with 2GB (up to 8GB) of RAM and a remov-able, upgradeable hard drive. The RTCU runs a nominal four hours on a single charge. The RTCU features I/O interfaces on the top and left for add-on modules to host an array of technology such as GPS SAASM, UAV video surveillance, radios and other similar com-munications technology. In addition, there is a docking station interface for attaching to a vehicle-mounted or desktop-docking station.

What makes the MACH-1 tablet unique is its ability to customize the I/O side panels for particular connector configurations as well as the ability to configure custom expansion packs, which interface to the back of the tablet and are used to support add-on tech-nology requested by the customer.

The MACH-1 also supports WiFi, WAN, LTE and other similar technologies which can be enabled or permanently disabled as requested. The MACH-1 can be mounted to a desktop or a vehicle docking station.

Briggs added: “VT Miltope provides fully rugged, MIL-STD-810/461/464/2169 quali-fied computers for the most demanding oper-ational environments. More than 120,000 units of these rugged computers, configured for missions from vehicle and aircraft main-tenance, to blue force tracking-aviation, to forward-area air defense command and con-trol, to aviation mission planning, to mortar ballistic fire control, have been delivered.”

A large number of these systems were deployed with U.S. troops in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. “These computers are designed to withstand the harshest tactical environments for com-puter systems and are used in forward areas under extreme weather and handling condi-tions,” she said.

Small With variety

Amrel offers a variety of tablets and handhelds for helping the military logisti-cian. One example is its Rocky DK10 rugged tablet, which Robert William Culver, director of Amrel’s business development, described as a fully rugged device.

“It’s tested for MIL-STD 810 for environ-mental challenges such as vibration, shock, temperature, immersion, etc., as well as being available as MIL Std 461 compliant for electromagnetic compatibility,” Culver said.

The 12-inch touchscreen tablet is pow-ered with the Intel Core i7-2610UE 1.5GHz Processor (up to 2.40 GHz), 4M Cache and

Intel HD Graphics 3000. “Add 8 GB of indus-trial grade RAM and a 500GB hard drive, and there is not much you cannot power in the way of resource-intensive software programs and databases,” he said.

The standard two USB2.0 and a USB3.0 port can handle fast large file transfers. The standard Gigabit LAN port lets mili-tary logisticians hook up to their local net-work or Internet. “The WiFi/Bluetooth (Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235, Dual band) and mobile broadband (HSPA) Gobi 3000 takes of your wireless communications,” Culver continued. “Moreover, you can add a MIL-STD 3009 SafeNight DC2.5 night vision filter and Mil Spec connectors.”

Culver recommends that the DK10 or similar rugged tablet would be a great device to use with the Army’s Standard Army Main-tenance System-Enhanced system, or the Navy’s Portable Electronic Maintenance Aid.

In the handheld arena, Amrel offers the DB6, which runs a full Windows OS as opposed to simply a mobile OS. “This means you can still run your resource-hungry pro-grams and databases,” Culver explained. “It still uses standard windows desktop appli-cations, but in a device that fits in a cargo pocket. It also offers the same rugged stan-dards as the DK10 above.”

In addition, Amrel offers the DF6/DF7, which allows one to run Windows CE or Android, respectively on a fully rugged device weighing less than a pound. Culver explained that devices like this could be used in the Army’s Nett Warrior program. Currently, the Army is using the Samsung Galaxy Note in a protective case. While the protective case might protect the screen or case of the Galaxy Note, it really can’t do anything to protect the internals for vibration or exces-sive temperatures commonly encountered by soldiers.

“Part of what makes Amrel unique from our some competitors is that these are truly rugged devices, as opposed to standard com-puting hardware repackaged in a rugged-looking case,” Culver added. “The other part is the amount of customization we are will-ing to do.

Another difference is Amrel’s customer service. “A customer once told me the reason he chose us was simply because we returned his phone calls,” Culver said. O


at www.mlf-kmi.com.


Compiled by KMI Media Group staffSUPPLY CHAIN

Army Reserve Soldiers from 18 states participated in the Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise (QLLEX) June 7-20 at Fort Bragg, N.C. About 1,100 soldiers came from as far away as Michigan and Puerto Rico and as near as North Carolina to haul fuel for the Defense Logistics Agency.

In addition to Bragg, QLLEX was conducted at five other states across the country: Arizona, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

During QLLEX, Army Reserve quartermaster units spend their annual training delivering fuel from a defense fuel supply point to DLA customers. The North Carolina DFSP is in Selma. The team provided fuel to three Marine Corps, two Army and two Air Force instal-lations, traveling as far as 123 miles or as close as FOB Patriot.

According to Briand, the personnel at Fort Bragg delivered 60 percent of the total fuel moved across the nationwide exercise.

“The Army Reserve has done outstanding this year,” said Army Sergeant 1st Class Nicholas Braddock, the DLA Energy military liaison. “They’re actually breaking records at DFSP Selma. They pushed more than 1.3 million gallons in four days.” The 334th moved a total of 1.97 million gallons of fuel during QLLEX.

“Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base has a lot of flights,” Braddock said. “If they couldn’t have moved that fuel, the planes wouldn’t have been able to fly. And if they can’t fly, they can’t really defend our nation.”

QLLEX is part of a larger exercise, Global Lightning, which runs through June 26. About 12,000 servicemem-bers from the Army Reserve, Air Force and Navy, along with British and Canadian forces, are involved in one of the largest support training exercises in the Army Reserve’s history.

“We’ve organized an opportunity of this scale to mirror the realities of real-world operational environ-ments,” said Army Brigadier General Bruce Hackett, commander of the 78th Training Division. “We’re looking forward to enhancing our readiness by sharing knowledge with our sister services and international partners.”

“It’s been a pleasure and an honor to work with and leverage so many [military occupational specialties],” Briand said. “This is my first opportunity as a battalion commander. Being able to touch every single piece of it has been extremely rewarding. This has been one of the best exercises in my 20-year career; [I am] proud to serve with these guys.”

By Army Master Sgt. D. Keith Johnson, 316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

General Dynamics NASSCO, a busi-ness unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a $36.4 million contract for maintenance, modernization and repair of the USS Mitscher (DDG 57).

“This award is a testament of the hard work by the General Dynamics NASSCO team and the collective effort to reduce costs and improve

our competitiveness through contin-uous process improvements,” said Jeff Brooks, senior general manager at General Dynamics NASSCO-Norfolk.

The work will be performed in Norfolk, Va., and is expected to be completed by March 2016. The contract has a total potential value of $40 million if all options are exercised.

The first standardized Light-Armored Vehicle, 25 MM (LAV-25) A2 was completed at Marine Depot Maintenance Depot Production Plant Albany (PPA). This vehicle inspect, repair only as necessary process was the first to be developed from a collab-oration of input from both PPA and Production Plant Barstow (PPB).

Subject-matter experts from trades, program management, quality and material management at both plants came together to standardize the processing and building of the LAV-25. This ongoing team effort began in May 2014 with a review of the requirements from the customer.

A top-to-bottom review of the existing make-to-order routes and bill of materials was conducted. Vehicle and component routes were baselined to meet the customer’s requirements. Process parts and purchase parts were identified. These parts are organized into station kits for pre-staging prior to being needed by the artisans at assembly.

Once the LAV-25 standardization process is completed, the other vari-ants of the LAV family of vehicles will be standardized, and the oper-ating forces will receive a quality vehicle that is the same whether it was produced at PPA or PPB.

Nationwide Liquid Logistics Exercise

USS Mitscher Due for Work

Marine Production Plant Albany Delivers Standardized LAV


U.S. Army CommUniCAtionS-ElECtroniCS CommAnd

2015

C4iSr Supporter

lane Colliedirectorlogistics readiness CenterU.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command

As the director of the CECOM LRC, Lane Collie serves as the command’s senior leader in developing a vision, strategy and implementation plans necessary to achieve an integrated enter-prise approach to logistics for command, control, communica-tions, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance weapon systems. Collie provides leadership and overall senior management guidance to a global organization comprised of 2,440 Department of the Army civilians, 2,947 contractors and 50 soldiers in direct support of five program executive officer programs. CECOM has a global footprint that encompasses more than 20 countries and 100 plus sites. Collie leads the seven direc-torates that form the LRC in core competencies of the national inventory control point, national maintenance point, security assistance to allied nations, production and industrial base man-agement and planning, integrated logistics planning and field technical assistance.

Collie was selected to the Senior Executive Service in Novem-ber 2007. In this assignment, he served as the principal deputy G 3/5 for Operations/Executive Deputy for Supply Chain and Indus-trial Base Operations with the U.S. Army Materiel Command, Fort Belvoir, Va., and as the Headquarters Army Materiel Command forward senior representative and principal deputy G 3/5, Red-stone Arsenal, Ala. In these positions, he exercised leadership and policy responsibility for integrated logistics.

Collie earned a Bachelor of Arts in both math and physics, from Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., in 1989, a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University, Long Branch, N.J., in 1994, and a Master of Science in national secu-rity strategy from National War College, Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C., in 2006.

Q: With tightening budgets, how has that affected maintenance and sustainment programs? How are those funding issues being addressed? Are you stretching out programs or having to consider cancelling some work altogether?

A: We got our first taste of tightening budgets when sequestra-tion was enacted in 2013. Our depot maintenance resources were cut and we were faced with making critical repair decisions that haven’t been part of the fiscal environment in the past 10 years. For example, we made the decision to cease our Communication

Electronics Evaluation Repair Team mission (mobile repair team for radios and night vision devices) and we returned to having those assets repaired by soldiers—a decision that saved approxi-mately $125 million annually. We also reviewed and changed our policy on automatic reset items (the automatic return of certain systems from contingency operations in Southwest Asia direct to the source of repair) and shifted equipment to return to home sta-tion. This change further decreased our depot-level sustainment requirements and has carried over into current programming and budgeting mindset. As a result of these sequestration-related strategic decisions, we have focused on building the requirements in our out-year budget to be as lean as possible while maintaining our industrial base core capabilities and equipment readiness.

We have also invested much time and resources into devel-oping accurate and realistic core requirements for our organic industrial base. Having the requirements fully identified and properly planned ensures we have the right mix of people, capac-ity, skills and parts readily available—thus creating synergy and efficient operations at our organic facilities.

Since 2013, I have held all-hands meetings with the Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) directors and support staff to review our sustainment requirements to ensure they are in alignment with the current Department of Army/Logistics (G4) priorities and to identify resource risks. As we go through additional budget cuts

Lane CollieDirector

Logistics Readiness CenterU.S. Army Communications-

Electronics Command

C4ISR SupporterProviding C4ISR Technical and Innovative Support to the Warfighter

Q&AQ&A

www.MLF-kmi.com

U.S. ARmy CommUnICATIonS-ElECTRonICS CommAnd

C2 | MLF 9.6 | U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command

and fiscal uncertainty, these sessions help ensure all parties are involved and informed of the budgetary constraints we are faced with. These meetings have proven to be a great success, and I will continue these meetings to help us get through these lean years and focus on meeting the critical needs and requirements of the Army for command, control, communications, computers, intel-ligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.

Q: How will the recently announced manpower reductions impact CECOM, and, specifically, the LRC? Will it affect civilian contract employees as well?

A: From the beginning of my tenure, I anticipated a significant decrease to the workforce. Since 2011, we have reduced our work-force by more than 600 authorizations without a negative impact to the mission or the people. We will continue to offer retirement incentives and restrict hiring actions to get to our mandated end strength. At the end of the day, it is all about people and their expertise. It has and will continue to be a challenge to maintain mission continuity with the losses. I have made a significant investment in capturing knowledge regarding the required skills and experience of my workforce. I have a strategic plan that will allow me to optimize the workload and workforce across the orga-nization. My plan will allow me to align the right resources at the right place at the right time.

I will continue to make reassignments as necessary to ensure critical missions are performed. I believe we have mitigated a large portion of the risk to our operations associated with our initial manpower cuts, and I will do whatever it takes to complete mis-sion and maintain knowledge continuity. In addition, my plan will also consider the needs of my customers and the continued growth and development of my workforce.

In regards to contract employees, I anticipate reductions in all appropriations, but it is unknown to me what the extent of the reductions will be. I will initiate measures that will allow me to continue to support the mission and minimize disruption to my customers.

Q: Is consolidation of the industrial base—Harris’ recent acquisition of Exelis comes to mind—a concern? How are you working to strengthen partnerships with industry?

A: The consolidation of the defense industrial base is always a concern for CECOM. The CECOM Industrial Base Office within the LRC is constantly monitoring the health of the Army C4ISR industrial base and assessing risk to Army C4ISR programs. Army C4ISR systems generally fall within five industrial sectors: sen-sors; transmission and communications systems; electro-optics and infrared/thermal imaging; power systems and products; and information technology.

Whether helping our government use real-time intelligence or keeping our troops well equipped and safe, we have one focus–protecting our national security for future generations.

Our customers have a critical mission and they rely on us for solutions they can trust.

www.mantech.com

www.MLF-kmi.com U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command | MLF 9.6 | 1



2015

Maj. Gen. Bruce T. Crawford

Commanding General

Maria Esparraguera(Acting) Deputy to the Commanding General

CECOM Leadership

Charles J. Glaser, G1Director for Personnel

and Training

Ronald J. Gevry, G2Director for Intelligence

and Security

Lane D. CollieDirector

Logistics and Readiness Center

Col. Federica KingDirector

Central Technical Support Facility

CECOM Staff

CECOM Centers and Commands

CECOM Special Staff

Col. O. Wayne BoydChaplain

Steve HartDirector

Directorate for Safety

VacantPublic Affairs Officer

Robert R. Fleck(Acting) Chief

Counsel

Sgt. Major William G. Bruns

Command Sergeant Major

Col. Charles E. Harris III

Chief of Staff

Kent Woods, G5Director for Strategic Plans and Programs

Col. Wendy L. Rivers Commander

U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering

Command

Col. Kim Bivin, G3Director for Operations

Patricia L. O’Connor, G6

Chief Information Officer

Michael Vetter, G4Director for Logistics

and Engineering

Larry M. MuzzeloDirector

Software Engineering Center

Col. Gregory PetersonCommander

Tobyhanna Army Depot

Dominic D’OrazioDirector

Internal Review Office

Phillip PiersonInspector General

Neslie EtheridgeDirector

Equal Employment Opportunity

Alice M. WilliamsDirector

Office of Small Business Programs

Gene CatenaSecretary to the

General Staff

Liz Miranda, G8Director for Resource

Management

Industrial sector assessments are per-formed on a recurring basis for each of these sectors. We also perform other industrial base studies such as industrial capabili-ties assessments and fragility and criticality assessments. Specifically, the recent Har-ris acquisition of Exelis is a consolidation that could potentially impact several Army C4ISR sectors. The CECOM Industrial Base Office is planning an FY16 industrial base assessment on this merger. This merger assessment will look at any potential indus-trial base risk to current or future Army C4ISR programs/contracts. In regards to foreign companies acquiring U.S. defense contractors, the CECOM Industrial Base Office coordinates Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. cases within Army C4ISR in an effort to identify any potential risks to the industrial base.

The CECOM LRC welcomes partnering with industry.

We house the Value Concepts Office, which coordinates CECOM’s Value Engineering efforts. After a contract is awarded to industry, an excellent way that CECOM and industry can partner is through the contractor’s voluntary use of the value engineer-ing change proposal (VECP) process. We highly encourage our business partners to utilize this program. Basically, the VECP is a change in a contract which incentivizes the contractor and benefits the government and contractor. A VECP is submitted to the government by current DoD contractors using the VE clause in a DoD contract inserted in most solicitations and contracts that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. A VECP proposes a change to the contract that if accepted/implemented reduces the overall costs to the government, allowing the government and the contractor to share the net acquisition savings from the VECP effort. As with all government programs, there are specif-ics on cost calculations and exclusions. The Federal Acquisition Regulation, Parts 48 and 52.248-1, prescribes policies and proce-dures for using and administering value engineering techniques in contracts.

We strive to clearly indicate our intentions through advance planning briefs for industry days and communicating our poten-tial needs through market research. One of the functions that the LRC performs is posting market surveys for potential LRC requirements. The surveys serve as a way to alert industry about which equipment or services the LRC may need potential sources for in the future. Market surveys are posted and available for viewing on the Federal Business Opportunities website to anyone within industry or government. The surveys posted explicitly state they are sources sought only. The purpose of these sources sought is to determine the range of companies that can possibly provide the services or products to support LRC programs.

In addition, the LRC assists the private sector with Technical Data Packages for Technology Transfer programs (demilitarized equipment), source approval requests to qualify new vendors for source-controlled procurements, and the U.S./Canada Joint Cer-tification Program to provide eligible contractors with valuable

engineering data support. Collectively, through these programs, the tremendous value of U.S. government-owned intellectual property is available to help expand and develop the population of certified DoD contractors.

Q: How do the Better Buying Power initiatives fit in with CECOM and the LRC?

A: The LRC has been employing the principles of Better Buying Power in two primary ways. First, we seek every opportunity to consolidate similar requirements across the Center in order to achieve efficiencies in reducing the number of contracting action and economies of scale. A good example is in our field support operations. Over the past six years, we have reduced the number of task orders by over 50 percent, covering the same number of supported systems. This consolidation has also resulted in the reduction of contractor personnel needed to perform these functions, as we have worked with our contractors to institute a multi-functional approach.

Secondly, we have made a concerted effort to optimize our internal business processes related to contracting. We recently completed a lean six sigma project that identified bottlenecks in our processes that caused significant increase in procure-ment lead time. Through implementation of the project, we will reduce the cycle time for documenting and validating acquisition requirements by over 65 percent.

Q: Does the LRC have a forward-deployed element to support CECOM needs in deployed locations?

A: Yes, the LRC does contribute to CECOM forward elements (CFE) to support the warfighters’ needs in every region. The CFEs provide integrated, full-spectrum C4ISR support to meet customer requirements anywhere they are required. The CFE mission is to ensure the command functions as a cohesive organization; to provide a true single face to operational force units; to better

Army C4ISR systems generally fall within five industrial sectors: sensors; transmission and communications systems; electro-optics and infrared/thermal imaging; power systems and products; and information technology. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army]

www.MLF-kmi.com4 | MLF 9.6 | U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command


integrate and synchronize our fielding, training, technical assistance, engineering and sustainment efforts; and to optimize the use of resources.

In all deployed locations, CECOM sup-ports the local Army field support brigade commander with a team of Department of the Army civilians and contractors to meet the specific needs of the units. A typical team consists of a senior command repre-sentative to support the theater of opera-tions and up to seven logistics assistance representatives (LARs) of individual subject matter experts in the areas of avionics, IT-radio, IT-switch, power and environmental, long-haul transmission, sensors, and LOG-IT. In addition to the LARs, a team of con-tractor field service representatives (FSRs) can be sent to assist specific systems.

The LRC can provide Communications Security Logistics Activity (CSLA) INFO-SEC representatives (CIRs) to deployed locations. The CIRs provide on-site technical, logistical assistance and training for CSLA managed Information Assurance products including communications security (COMSEC) key/equipment, and Information Security systems and materiel. Additionally, the CIRs provide technical assistance to the depot forward repair activities.

The LRC has the capability to leverage the full resources of Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD). Tobyhanna has a team of deploy-able FSRs in various areas. These FSRs are the subject-matter experts in their fields. They bring the skills and knowledge of the depot to the deployed locations. They troubleshoot and repair the systems at the unit’s location. Many of the FSRs support the depot’s forward repair activity centers to the deployed locations.

Q: In the past, the LRC has been named as the Product Support Integrator (PSI) for select programs. How many programs are you the lead on? How do you approach that type of a mission to be the PSI?

A: The LRC actively supports more than 300 weapon systems. It’s important to understand that even in those cases where a PSI has not been named, in most cases the LRC still performs many of the tasks typically associated with the PSI, coordinating supply chain operations and national maintenance management. The best example of how we approach the designated PSI role is Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 1 (WIN-T Increment 1). The LRC was originally designated as the PSI for WIN-T Increment 1 in 2010. The cornerstone of the Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) Product Support Strategy was using a component-level, Class IX PBL supply support contract.

In order to initiate this contract, a U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) break even analysis (BEA) was required. The data were not available to support the BEA process, largely due to the fact that the BEA compares the cost of PBL against traditional Standard Army Supply System support. Since WIN-T Increment 1 was never in the Standard Army Supply System, most of the data were not available.

The LRC then changed acquisition strategies and pursued a traditional indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for class IX procurement and repairs, which was awarded in April 2015. This will enable the LRC to capture an accurate demand history in the traditional supply system. While the term PSI is traditionally associated with PBL, the LRC still acts as a PSI on the program, much like any another program in the LRC. The LRC budgets for and executes wholesale spares requirements to support field requisitions. The first requisition was subsequently filled via the Standard Army Supply System in July 2015. The LRC POMs for and executes Class VII reset/overhaul requirements. The LRC and PM WIN-T have initiated a pilot program for an overhaul of the satellite transportable terminals at TYAD, which have the largest density in the Increment 1 fleet. The LRC is the lead for executing this program. Through our LRC-matrix support, the LRC has built 25 provisioning bills of materials and drafted 28 technical manuals for the Increment 1 program. Additionally, the logistics management specialist, item managers and other team members worked with the program manager’s office to develop a business case analysis, component-level core depot assessment, a transition plan and the life cycle sustainment plan.

Q: Tell me about your efforts at inventory reduction, management and tracking.

A: The sales and operations planning process implemented in January 2013 has been a revelation of integration for CECOM inventory planning. The ongoing monthly process aggregates 24-month demand, supply and financial plans from across the command, along with an assessment of coordinated key perfor-mance indicators, and culminates in the management business review, where the LRC weapon system directors report those verified plans to the center director. Balancing and integrating these plans is the critical step that allows CECOM to make more prudent, confident and precise decisions regarding stockage levels for the secondary items we manage. It allows managers

CECOM supports deployed brigades with a team designed to meet the specific needs of that unit. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army]

www.MLF-kmi.com U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command | MLF 9.6 | 5


to balance the risks inherent in managing budget shortfalls by providing a venue for trade-off analysis and risk assessment at the aggregate level, thereby helping to minimize the acute impact of those potential shortages to unit readiness. In short, it helps to ensure that decisions to repair, procure or divest inventory are made with the confidence and consideration of the command at large.

Beyond this diligent attention to the 24-month forecasted plans, there are a number of other effective means CECOM has been employing to address the Department of Army’s direction to reduce the standing inventory. On a monthly basis, there are reviews of the supply support activities’ inventory and require-ments levels both in the continental United States and as associ-ated with the Southwest Asia drawdown. Quarterly, the command has seen results by identifying excess inventory through the budget strategy and long supply reviews.

Through the mechanisms of sales and operations planning, CECOM and AMC have seen the focus of inventory reduction shift from the identification of excess to the identification of requirements. Today, the command strives to identify its stock segmented into bucketed “Years of Supply,” which allows greater flexibility to manage the inventory in light of the Army’s planning assumptions and mission. Currently, CECOM is focused on reduc-ing inventory held above five years of stock on hand, as well as divesting assets or making necessary data quality improvements for those items which have no forecasted demand.

The bottom line: Since the inception of sales and operation planning at CECOM in early 2013, the command has been com-mitted to its principles and application. The results have been informed decisions guiding the reduction of on-hand inventory by 25 percent, or $1.1 billion, while maintaining readiness with supply availability that exceeds the Army’s goals.

Q: Are you involved in work for the other services?

A: We have a great deal of experience working jointly with other services and organizations to provide sustainment support for a variety of systems and equipment. For some systems, such as the Single Channel Ground to Air Radio System, Firefinder radars, the defense satellite communications system, the enhanced posi-tion location and reporting system and night vision devices, the Army has been designated as the primary inventory control activ-ity (PICA) as defined under the Joint DoD Materiel Supply Chain Management Regulation.

As the PICA, the LRC has the responsibility to procure, stock, store and issue spares to support non-Army user sustainment requirements.

The CSLA is a directorate within the LRC that is located at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and provides life cycle support for the COMSEC commodity. Besides the typical equipment responsibilities that any warfare systems directorate would incur, CSLA is also respon-sible for the distribution and accountability of cryptographic key used in conjunction with COMSEC equipment. In providing that support, CSLA operates one of two Tier 1 Electronic Key Manage-ment Facilities within DoD, with the other being operated by the U.S. Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Through the Tier 1 facility, CSLA provides cryptographic keys not only to Army accounts but those of the three other services. Additionally, CSLA

supports other elements within the Executive Branch of the gov-ernment, such as Homeland Security, the FAA and various Drug Enforcement Agencies, to name a few. Ensuring secure communi-cations on the battlefield and to our key leaders requires that we work the COMSEC issues in a joint environment; CSLA does that on a daily basis.

The lightweight counter mortar radar (LCMR) is also utilized by other services. The unique capabilities of the LCMR have been in high demand from customers external to the U.S. Army. This demand has been met by fielding LCMRs to the United States Marine Corps and other coalition partners.

These examples show a small picture of how the LRC works with services other than the Army in order to ensure the success of the United States Armed Forces as well as the success of our joint partners.

Q: What is the relationship between the LRC and Tobyhanna?

A: TYAD is an important component of the defense industrial base, and is organized under the CECOM umbrella as the depot-level maintenance and repair provider for C4ISR equipment. In addition to maintenance and repair actions, TYAD performs fabrication of parts, testing and asset reclamation. Each year, CECOM’s LRC funds TYAD for these types of maintenance sus-tainment activities.

The LRC has several collaborative efforts with TYAD that work towards program accuracy and schedule conformance. The maintenance analysis review (MAR) and depot workload in pro-cess review (DW-IPR) were created as tools to assist customers in managing programs to ensure funding is provided, schedules are aligned and any issues are resolved in a timely manner. The DW-IPR is held quarterly and encompasses all open workload at TYAD for our customers. This promotes open communication that effectively assists in not losing visibility of older require-ments. MAR examines depot workload for current year programs only and is an in-depth review of open other managed appropria-tions and Army Working Capital Fund workload that held on a monthly basis. TYAD has a key role in these reviews providing program updates and participating in open discussions to address and resolve problems collaboratively.

Initiated in October 2006, the quarterly TYAD integration partnership identifies issues, evaluates options, develops recom-mendations, assigns task responsibility, determines the path ahead, facilitates communication to stakeholders and maintains a close and open relationship between the LRC and TYAD.

In addition, it establishes a clear process for filtering and elevating issues with a focus on the depot work loading environ-ment. The partnership meetings have nurtured a close relation-ship between the LRC and TYAD, resulting in collaborative efforts to addressing 65 significant systemic issues/actions, of which 56 have been resolved/closed.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

A: At the end of the day it comes down to one thing—our people. The people of the LRC never falter in support to our soldiers, sail-ors, airmen and Marines. They are the best at what they do and I am truly honored to be a part of this great team. O

www.MLF-kmi.com6 | MLF 9.6 | U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command


Compiled by KMI Media Group staffSUPPLY CHAIN

The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) awarded the Combined Orbital Operations Logistics Sustainment (COOLS) contract to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif. The contract is a service contract for opera-tions and sustainment (O&S) of three disparate satellite constellations. SMC’s Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate will manage the contract. The COOLS contract will provide O&S support for the Advanced Extremely High-Frequency (AEHF), Milstar Block I/II and Defense Satellite Communications System III (DSCS III) constellations.

The preponderance of O&S work for this contract will be performed in four geographic locations: Sunnyvale, Calif.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Valley Forge, Pa.; and Redondo Beach, Calif.

“The application of Better Buying Power principles garnered $425 million of savings over the total contract period by combining the sustainment of the three systems into one,” said Lieutenant General Sam Greaves, commander of SMC and Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space. “This is $425 million that can be used for other high-priority Air Force missions.”

Engility Holdings, Inc. has been awarded a $10.5 million contract to provide management, administrative, financial, technical and business transformation support to the U.S. Army’s Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) Product Management Office.

LMP provides the Army with real-time situational aware-ness and highly improved decision-making capabilities while significantly reducing logistics operational costs.

“Logistics modernization is a cornerstone of the Army’s transformation to an agile expeditionary force, and we are extremely proud to be their partner on this program,” said Engility’s president and CEO Tony Smeraglinolo. “We appreciate the Army’s confidence in our previous performance on LMP and look forward to continuing our work with members of the Army team.”

Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) installed the command, control, communications, computers and intelli-gence (C4I) suite aboard the afloat forward staging base (AFSB) variant of the mobile landing platform (MLP) USNS Lewis B. Puller (MLP 3/AFSB) following recently completed acceptance trials.

Project Engineer Richard Childress said the C4I installation efforts were successfully completed to support this first-purpose built AFSB on the MLP. It is the third of five total MLPs planned to augment amphibious assault ships.

“We integrated expeditionary C4I on this variant to provide the U.S. Navy with a mobile sea base with added command and control (C2) capability,” said Childress.

The AFSB variant of the MLP, managed by the Strategic Sealift Program Office in Program Executive Office, Ships, is based on the design of the Alaska-class oil tanker and includes a flight deck for maritime air operations. It is slated to replace the USS Ponce (AFSB 1), the U.S. Navy’s interim AFSB in the Arabian Gulf.

“The versatile MLP ships support military sea-basing and transport missions,” said Brad Babinski, NSWC PCD tactical systems branch head. “Now, with robust C2 networks on the AFSB variant, the warfighter has effective decision-making tools to support mine countermeasures and special operations force missions.”

COOLS Contract

Logistics Modernization Program Support

V-22 Joint Performance-Based Logistics

MLP Receives C4I Suite

The V-22 is a globally deployed long-range tiltrotor aircraft. The program of record includes 360 MV-22, 50 CV-22 and 48 Navy CMV-22 variants. The CV-22 retains 88 percent airframe, 100 percent propulsion and 23 percent avionics commonality with the MV-22.

The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in support of the V-22 Joint Program Office (PMA-275) is seeking sources to provide joint performance-based logistics ( JPBL) support for the V-22 major weapon system.

The objective of the JPBL contract is to procure a sustain-ment support structure that provides optimal support while balancing operational capability and affordability. The JPBL contract shall provide the preponderance of the V-22 logis-tics support requirements, including, but not limited to: supply chain management; obsolescence and configu-ration management; maintenance planning and supportability analysis; development and support of technical data; site activation and facili-ties planning; in-service engineering and logistics support; training and trainer support; and logistics sustainment support of peculiar support equipment.


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Major General Craig C. CrenshawCommander

Marine Corps Logistics Command

Readiness Providerlinking tactical and Strategic resources and requirements

In May 2015, Major General Craig C. Crenshaw assumed his current position as the commanding general, Marine Corps Logistics Command, Albany, Ga.

A native of Pensacola, Fla., he was commissioned a second lieu-tenant in the United States Marine Corps in August 1984 through the NROTC Scholarship Program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Southern University, Baton Rouge, La.; a Master of Arts in Procurement and Acquisitions Management from Webster University, St. Louis, Mo.; a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.; and is a graduate of the Senior Acquisition Course and the Program Manager Course from the Defense Acquisition University. He served as a congressional intern to the Honorable Earl Hutto (D-Fla., Ret.)

Crenshaw began his career as a logistics officer with 3d Force Service Support Group, Okinawa, Japan, from June 1985 to July 1986. He subsequently served in logistics and maintenance officer positions and deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Opera-tion Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Other assignments included with the Program Executive Office for Cruise Missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Joint Logistics Directorate, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 2d Force Service Support Group in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Headquarters Marine Corps Installations and Logistics, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 3d Marine Logistics Group III MEF, and vice director J4 with the Joint Staff. In 2013, he returned to Headquarters Marine Corps Installations and Logistics as the assistant deputy commandant.

His personal awards and decorations include the Defense Supe-rior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster in lieu of second award, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and numerous unit awards and citations.

Q: From your perspective, what are Marine Corps Logistics Command’s responsibilities and role within the Marine Corps?

A: Marine Corps Logistics Command serves in a unique and vital capacity within the Marine Corps’ sustainment network. On the one hand, we are the operational-level logistics integrator for the Marine Corps, the critical link between the tactical logistics requirements of the operating forces and the strategic logistics resources that fulfill those requirements. We manage supply, maintenance, distribution and prepositioning capabilities to maximize combat readiness, sustain our expeditionary forces through mission accomplishment, support the redeployment or retrograde of those forces and enable the reset and reconstitution of equipment. For us, it’s about combat readiness before, during and after the fight.

Marine Corps Logistics Command also supports the Marine Corps’ acquisition and program management community as they equip the operating forces. We plan and execute ground weapon systems logis-tics and sustainment support strategies that enable the long-term life cycle management of our equipment. As an important part of this role, we plan, coordinate and execute the Marine Corps’ depot-level maintenance program by determining maintenance requirements, budgeting for resources and rebuilding or overhauling a wide array of our ground weapon systems and associated components. This effort is all about combat readiness.

These two roles—one positioned at the intersection of tactical and strategic logistics and the other as an enterprise-level resource itself—are integrated and synchronized to achieve a clear end state: high-combat readiness of the operating forces and sustained expedi-tionary capability throughout the Marine Corps.

Q: What are your priorities for Marine Corps Logistics Command?

A: Marine Corps Logistics Command has a wide mission set and a multitude of essential tasks, but I think its purpose is very succinct. We exist to sustain the combat readiness of the Marine Corps’ operat-ing forces so they can deploy, fight and win. So my priorities for the command revolve around that end state. We will focus on bringing

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our core competencies of supply, maintenance, distribution and prep-ositioning to bear on the logistics requirements of our expeditionary forces, whether deployed or at home station. We will ensure that Marine Corps Logistics Command’s organic resources—our depot-level production plants, our prepositioning capabilities, our inventory and distribution management expertise—are applied economically and judiciously to meet the near and long-term sustainment needs of the Corps’ combat formations. We will obtain, manage and inte-grate external strategic resources on behalf of those combat forces to ensure that they are tactically prepared to conduct operations anywhere across the globe on a moment’s notice.

The commandant of the Marine Corps has been quite clear in his guidance: to meet the expectations of the American people, every-thing we do must contribute to our combat readiness and combat effectiveness. My priorities for Marine Corps Logistics Command are no different.

Q: What specific capabilities do you believe are necessary to sustain an expeditionary force such as the Marine Corps?

A: The Marine Corps is America’s expeditionary force in readiness and we optimized for crisis response across the full range of mili-tary operations. To this end, the Corps as a whole demonstrates five critical characteristics: We are ready to deploy immediately and reinforce quickly. We function comfortably in the chaos and uncer-tainty of crisis. We are able to adapt rapidly to changing conditions.

We operate effectively in any clime and place, and we exploit the advantages of being fast, austere and lethal.

Sustaining a force with such attributes requires a similar mindset. Within the Marine Corps, we recognize that durable, effective supply chains must embody the same characteristics as the expeditionary formations they are intended to support. These supply chains must sustain a global laydown of forward-deployed forces; enhance scalable, task-organized, multi-purpose logistic organizations; and maintain equipment readiness of dispersed, disaggregated and afloat forces. Supply chains must be dynamic enough to allow commanders to minimize their logistics footprint ashore while retaining the ability to quickly exploit opportunities in a fluid environment. They must fully integrate with naval supply chains to maximize sustainment from the sea base, and they must improve our interoperability with joint and allied capabilities.

We firmly believe that our maritime and land-based preposi-tioning programs will play a larger role in future operations. The maritime prepositioning force, whose two squadrons each support a Marine expeditionary brigade for up to 30 days of combat operations, is being further developed to provide crisis response force packages to support operations across the range of military operations, not just major combat. We are continuously looking for opportunities to use our prepositioned equipment sets and supplies to provide cost-effective support to forces operating ashore during training or theater security cooperation events. Ultimately, we must ensure that our prepositioned capabilities increase options to rapidly employ Marine


RAPIDGate-Logisitcs-02192015.indd 1 2/27/15 9:31 AM

forces with scalable capabilities that enable expeditionary opera-tions from a sea base, a maritime prepositioned force or land-based prepositioning sites. This is a critical link within our supply chain, a capability absolutely necessary to close rapidly and execute decisively, hallmarks of an expeditionary operation.

We are also continuing to strengthen another critical link in our supply chain, our organic depot maintenance capability. Marine Depot Maintenance Command, through its two maintenance produc-tion plants in Georgia and California, is the Marine Corps’ sole source to generate readiness organically, the foundry of ground combat power. We have learned that when wartime demands surge and industry is caught off guard, our depots are the only means by which to answer the pressing readiness requirements. We are benchmarking our processes and implementing best practices to increase efficien-cies, reduce overhead costs and lower working capital fund rates to give “buying power” back to the Marine Corps to maintain equipment and increase readiness.

These capabilities, and others like them, are being aggressively pursued here at Marine Corps Logistics Command.

Q: Marine Corps Logistics Command is the operational-level logistics integrator for the Marine Corps. What does this mean to you?

A: To us, operational-level logistics integrates strategic-level logis-tics capabilities to satisfy tactical-level logistics requirements beyond the Marine air-ground task force’s (MAGTF) capability or capacity.

Marine component commanders plan and execute operational-level logistics, while Marine Corps Logistics Command supports that effort by providing several important enabling capabilities.

First, we serve as the Marine Corps’ end-to-end logistics chain manager. In this capacity, we manage customer relationships, identify operational-level logistics challenges, develop and implement support agreements and contracts to integrate suppliers and support providers, and assess performance to ensure effective and efficient support.

In many cases, we provide an organic capability to answer logistics challenges among the operating forces. Our support cells and teams embedded within the Marine Corps’ expeditionary forces understand geographical logistics challenges and assist them in attaining tactical- and operational-level logistics objectives. We maximize sustainability of expeditionary operations through the integration of our supply, maintenance, distribution and prepositioning products and services with strategic-level logistics capabilities from military service, DoD, joint, theater, industrial base and host nations.

We also serve as the Marine Corps’ distribution process owner, synchronizing storage activities, distribution nodes and transporta-tion modes in the logistics chain, integrating military and commer-cial transportation providers systems, maximizing in-transit visibility capabilities to track, trace and expedite equipment and supplies, and placing advocates to support force deployment, sustainment and retrograde operations.

All these activities are designed to support the operating forces as they address the tactical-logistics requirements unique to their regions.


Q: How does depot-level maintenance fit into this expeditionary sustainment network?

A: Our depot-level maintenance capability is a critical force multiplier within the Marine Corps, and Marine Depot Maintenance Command is a vital organization within Marine Corps Logistics Command.

We have learned that when wartime demands surge and indus-try is caught off guard, our depots are the only means by which to answer the pressing readiness requirements. We remain immedi-ately responsive to demand by employing an integrated yet flex-ible workforce. It is a balanced mix of permanent employees—our reservoir of experience and consistency—and a contracted element for surge and recovery to meet operational requirements and other special circumstances. And we have proven in the past, many times over, that this approach is the best means by which to meet the demands of an expeditionary force fully engaged across the full range of military operations. Our depot-maintenance capability, though housed in our two production plants, is far from static. We have extensive experience providing forward-deployed support, working alongside the operating forces to implement maintenance solutions that answer to developing requirements abroad.

Depot-level maintenance is also a risk mitigator in the face of threats to long-term combat readiness. In the face of declining bud-gets, the Marine Corps is being forced to make difficult choices and reduce investment in modernization to maintain current and near-term readiness. In today’s fiscal environment, the Marine Corps is investing only in essential modernization, focusing on those areas that compose our core competencies. Meanwhile, depot-level main-tenance concentrates on extending the life span of other critical weapon systems when the Marine Corps must defer or delay acqui-sition of replacement systems due to shortages in fiscal resources.

Q: Throughout operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractors provided a significant portion of logistics support. How do you see the Marine Corps’ relationship with contractors evolving in the future?

A: I think the Marine Corps recognizes that contracted capabilities are on the battlefield to stay, and, frankly, we must manage this aspect of our operations more adeptly. Our leadership recognizes this, and they are realigning our contingency contracting force to establish a deliberate operational contract support capability. This will provide contract support planning, integration and contrac-tor management functions at the expeditionary force headquarters and an additional contracting support execution function within the logistics combat element of that force. Training, education and deliberate personnel management of qualified operational contract-ing personnel are essential to develop and retain the Marine Corps’ expeditionary contracting expertise required for future operations. To that end, we are leveraging joint training opportunities for ini-tial enlisted specialty training and sending officers to the Navy Post Graduate School for a Master of Business Administration in contract management, giving the Corps a solid foundation upon which to build operational contract support as a doctrinal function of logis-tics. Operational contract support is a force multiplier that supports operational and tactical logistics missions while enhancing and increasing combat capabilities across all expeditionary functions.

I believe that expeditionary warfare, however, will require our contractors to adapt their business processes and organizations

to its unique requirements. First and foremost, contractors in our supply chains must be able to function effectively in a hostile cyber environment. As we increase the number of partners and transac-tions and surge the volume of exchanged data, we also increase the risk of a successful cyberattack. It is incumbent on industry to prove that it is not the critical vulnerability that could devas-tate our supply chains. And I believe that industry, if it wishes to keep pace within the expeditionary environment, would do well to understand and address the nature of that environment. Austerity, fluidity, remoteness and volatility are all characteristics that must be embraced by all links of the supply chain, including those provided by commercial entities.

Q: What do you anticipate as Marine Corps Logistics Command’s biggest challenges in the near-term?

A: Without question, our biggest challenge will be sustaining a high state of combat readiness in the face of declining budgets. The Marine Corps’ current funding level protects near-term readiness; however, it does so at the expense of long-term modernization and infrastructure, threatening future readiness. Among the critical readiness accounts we are funding—operating forces; intermediate and organizational maintenance; repair and sustainment of training ranges, training and education, exercises and fuel and repair parts—is depot maintenance, an area of critical concern for Marine Corps Logistics Command. Furthermore, to balance these accounts, the Marine Corps is not adequately resourcing our non-deployed units; it will take time and sustained funding to address the deficiencies in personnel, equipment and training. This is a rational choice given the current fiscal situation, but it is not sustainable over time. So I think the challenge, during these fiscally constrained times, is to remain vigilant in the allocation of resources to ensure the readi-ness of the institution and ensure every dollar is going where it is needed most. This applies to Marine Corps Logistics Command as much as it does to every other organization within the Corps.

We have faced similar times in the past, and we will address these circumstances with the same approach that worked before. In the end, we will do what Marines have always done—innovate for the future, adapt to overcome and always win.

Q: Do you have any closing thoughts?

A: I think that Marine Corps Logistics Command faces the same challenges and opportunities that confront the Marine Corps as a whole. We are readjusting from a sustained period of combat opera-tions ashore to the requirements that come with being our nation’s expeditionary force in readiness. And we are making this adjustment amid declining budgets and uncertain resources. So these are inter-esting times, but they are also exciting ones.

Marine Corps Logistics Command is a unique organization within the Corps and we fill a role no other outfit can. We sit astride the tactical and strategic levels of logistics, ensuring the prudent application of resources to meet the combat readiness requirements of our expeditionary forces.

Our workforce is talented and experienced, and they know each and every day the contributions they make to keep our Marines forward, engaged and ready.

Above all, our mission is clear: sustained combat readiness so Marines can fight and win. O


By henry Canaday, mlF CorreSpondentdeSigning For lean maritime SuStainment.

Increasingly, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have been given modest numbers of very good ships, rather than massive flotillas. Budget pressures require these fleets to be operated as economically as possible and stay on the sea, not in dry docks, as much as possible.

That has put two kinds of pressure on the sea services and the private firms that serve them. Existing ships must be sustained as efficiently as is practical, even though sustainment was not necessar-ily a major consideration in their original design, and some vessels are serving much longer than expected.

The second pressure involves new ships. These are already expected to meet extremely demanding targets for mission or combat performance in a high-tech world with many dangers. Now, they must also be designed to minimize sustainment costs, including manpower costs, many decades into the future. This is leading to very ambitious efforts in automation and other technologies.

Take the new ship design challenge. Significant but declining cost overruns on the first two Ford-class aircraft carriers have drawn some attention, but the Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding are constructing extremely advanced, highly capable ships that should save much more money over the long run.

For the Ford-class carriers and other new ships, Ingalls used state-of-the-art reliability software to develop mathematical models and computer simulations. These guide system design and help predict overall performance of deployed systems.

The Navy originally estimated that Ford-class carriers would save $4 billion to $6 billion of 2012 dollars in total ownership cost (TOC) compared to Nimitz-class carriers. Most recently, the Navy has estimated $4 billion in savings. These TOC costs include acquisi-tion cost itself, plus manpower, unit operations, sustaining support, modernization, maintenance and disposal, all over the 50-year life of each ship.

Ford-class carriers will be equipped with two newly designed reac-tors; each carrier has 250 percent more electrical capacity than previ-ous carriers. The improvements will allow the ships to load weapons and launch aircraft faster than ever before.

The flight decks of the new carriers have been completely rede-signed and rearranged. This yields a dramatic 25-percent increase in the volume of launch and recover aircraft missions. If an aircraft car-rier’s final output is aircraft missions, this is a major productivity gain.

To achieve many of the improvements in the Ford class, Newport News Shipbuilding used a full-scale three-dimensional product model to design and plan construction. Substantial investment in this capa-bility enables visual integration in design, engineering, planning and construction. The Ford-class ships are the first aircraft carriers to be designed in a full-scale 3-D product model.

The ships are also the first carriers to achieve a significant increase in electrical power, replacing many legacy steam-powered systems. This shift will prepare the ships for future, better-performing and cost-saving technologies.

The Ford-class’s electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) replaces steam catapults. EMALS should enable smoother launches

for future aircraft. And 4 million feet of highly efficient fiber-optic cable is installed on Ford.

Overall, the new carriers are the most efficient ever built, and this should reduce maintenance expenditures by 30 percent over the life of the ships. The ships’ design also enables the Navy to operate them with substantially less manpower.

In addition, 9,900 tons of air conditioning equipment reduces maintenance work required for humidity damage. The equipment also reduces required manning in hot spaces. About 44,000 high-efficiency fluorescent T-8 light bulbs are on each Ford-class carrier, yielding more light and lasting nearly twice as long as conventional bulbs. Another maintenance saver is software-controlled advanced arresting gear, which recovers smaller aircraft with less wear and tear.

Lockheed Martin used a low-manning concept in designing the littoral combat ship (LCS) because manpower is typically over half of total life cycle costs. To reduce LCS life cycle costs significantly, required manpower had to be reduced. Bradley Jackson, program manager of sustainment and class services for LCS at Lockheed, said this was achieved in several ways.

First, the LCS maximizes use of automation to reduce manpower, training and logistic costs. The machinery control plant and monitor-ing system and voyage management systems are examples, according to Jackson. “They provide a level of automation and control that sup-ports bridge operations with as few as three crew members.”

Use of the combined diesel and gas turbine engine propulsion plant on the LCS allowed Lockheed to use the most efficient propulsion sys-tem that would meet LCS requirements. “For example, we meet the ship’s sprint requirements with use of the gas turbine engines and can support the endurance requirements by operating solely on diesel engines, which also allows for lower fuel costs,” Jackson said.

In designing the LCS, Lockheed allocated reliability goals to its major vendors to ensure all systems are supportable and that these systems in turn are consistent with the top-level operational availabil-ity goal. And modular design of LCS systems allows for easy removals and replacements, which also further the ship’s maintenance concept.

A much younger program is proceeding along a similar sustain-ment path. The Ohio replacement (OR) strategic deterrent is being engineered to provide a capable, supportable nuclear deterrent that is also the most survivable of the nuclear triad, and all this will last until late into the 21st century. Will Lennon, vice president of engineering and design programs at General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) in Groton, Conn., said the OR will replace 14 Ohio-class fleet ballistic missile submarines currently in service and scheduled to be retired starting in 2027.

“Affordability principles are driven into the OR design early, from major arrangement configurations to individual components, and from acquisition through life cycle,” Lennon stressed. The OR is designed to be operated and maintained by a capable crew and sup-porting infrastructure. Design-build-sustain teams are now develop-ing the design and incorporating human factor aspects, including use of a mixed-gender crew as a design requirement.

MLF 9.6 | 17 www.MLF-kmi.com

The OR program office, PMS397, has incentivized the prime contractor, GDEB, with a design for sustainment initiative to reduce operation and support costs. “The design for sustainment process focuses on identifying specific opportunities in the OR design where improvements in life cycle cost and performance can be realized based on legacy submarine-design lessons learned,” Lennon said. “Design trade studies include O&S costs as a specific assessment criterion.”

Underscoring this life cycle approach is an intense focus on operational availability to support the SSBN mission. Lennon said this focus on availability actually aligns with life cycle affordability because it promotes a safe and efficient maintenance philosophy.

The last Ohio-class submarine was delivered a generation ago. The maintainers and operators of these vessels are working with GDEB’s design-build-sustain teams for the OR to help them improve maintenance, support and mission time at sea, all essential parts of the overall effectiveness of the program.

lean SuStainment

Lockheed supports the LCSs already delivered to the Navy. “The LCS program is uniquely focused on sustainment of sea frames and supporting their distinctive concept of operations,” noted Jackson.

One key tenet of the LCS program is low manning. “In order for this concept to be successful, it is imperative that unscheduled maintenance be kept to a minimum, given the minimal manpower on board to facilitate repairs,” Jackson stressed. Lockheed mini-mizes unscheduled maintenance with a number of technologies, processes and procedures.

These measures include both onboard and remote monitoring and data collection. Lockheed also uses a structured and layered maintenance approach, which allows repairs to be accomplished at the most cost-effective level. And it has established a robust vendor and OEM support network with contract agreements that allow Lockheed to quickly respond with the most cost-effective repair option anywhere in the world.

In addition, Lockheed has a proactive diminishing manufactur-ing sources monitoring system to identify and correct obsolescence issues before they become problems. And a robust metrics-tracking program identifies any systems not meeting operational availability requirements so deficiencies can be addressed.

Lessons learned from past sustainment play a critical part in both designing new ships and new sustainment approaches.

Huntington’s subsidiary AMSEC has worked with the Navy and Coast Guard on a number of sustainment programs, explained Dan Selfridge, program manager in AMSEC’s Logistics, Engineering, Technology and Training Solutions Division.

These programs include evaluating life cycle costs, operation and maintenance practices, manpower training and Environmen-tal, Safety and Occupational Health (ESOH) mandates. Selfridge said AMSEC assesses each system’s failure rate and major drivers of maintenance and sustainment costs and then implements actions to improve operational availability and downtime.

AMSEC analyzes current maintenance procedures and rec-ommends changes where warranted. It recommends equipment upgrades based on reliability, maintainability, and availability, reli-ability centered maintenance and maintenance analysis tools. New technologies are examined for insertion in high-payback areas, Selfridge said.

Also working with the services, AMSEC interviews personnel and observes operations to identify inefficiencies. It uses the latest industry and government manpower standards to spot inefficient manpower and reviews the policies that drive manning require-ments. Finally, AMSEC evaluates legacy equipment for future obso-lescence and evaluates systems for their environmental impacts.

In all cases, Selfridge stressed that AMSEC is looking for ways to reduce sustainment cost and maximize performance over the system life cycle. These goals may be achieved by redesign, modifica-tion or changes in equipment selection, or lower manning.

AMSEC has now had 17 years of experience in identifying main-tenance cost drivers on existing fleets using life cycle cost, total ownership cost and cost as an independent variable techniques. It applies these same tools to estimate life cycle costs on new ships. Estimating methods include analogy, bottoms-up and parametric approaches for cost assessments and design-to-cost studies.

Estimates of total ownership costs are now requirements of many Navy and Coast Guard acquisition programs. They were used to estimate baseline life cycle costs for Nimitz-class carriers and the savings in the new Ford-class carriers. The same techniques have been used to estimate total ownership costs for Los Angeles-class nuclear fast-attack submarines, the carrier air wing, air and missile defense radar (AMDR) and, most recently, the Ohio-class replace-ment submarines that GDEB will construct.

“Our TOC baseline development and analysis processes are scal-able, accepted and reproducible methodologies used by AMSEC to support various NAVSEA [Naval Sea Systems Command] programs in performing design-to-cost and affordability assessments,” Self-ridge summarizes. “These processes have established sufficient con-fidence and credibility for both the Navy and other stakeholders and contractors that CVN [nuclear-powered carrier] programs routinely use them for critical design decisions affecting design of ships.”

AMSEC TOC calculations and baselines use consensus costs, historical maintenance costs and up-to-date pricing and other metrics to help make go and no-go decisions on ship design and life cycle support plans.

loCation, loCation, loCation

Sometimes a fortunate location enables a firm to provide very valuable sustainment to U.S. forces. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is based in Marinette, Wisc., where it builds Lockheed Martin’s LCSs. It works closely with Lockheed to ensure the highly automated LCSs meet ambitious goals in minimizing maintenance costs and operating with very lean crews.

A sister company also does sustainment for Coast Guard cutters. Located in Sturgeon Bay, Wisc., Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding has the only Navy-certified dry dock on the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard is required by law to maintain a heavy ice-breaking capability on the Great Lakes, and its 240-foot Mackinaw performs this duty. The Coast Guard also operates the Hollyhock, a 225-foot sea-going buoy tender responsible for aiding navigation on the lower Great Lakes.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding helps maintain these vessels on the Great Lakes, saving expensive and time-consuming trips to other waters and other facilities, for example in Norfolk. O


at www.mlf-kmi.com.


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MLF RESOURCE CENTER

CalendarSeptember 1-2, 2015Fleet Maintenance & Modernization SymposiumSan Diego, Calif.https://www.navalengineers.org/events

September 10-13, 2015NGAUSNashville, Tenn.www.ngausconference.com

September 14-16, 2015Air & Space ConferenceNational Harbor, Md.www.afa.org

September 22-24, 2015Modern Day MarineQuantico, Va.www.marinecorpsexpos.com

advertisers index

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National Industries for the Blind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3www.nib.org/value

Oshkosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2http://oshkoshdefense.com/ltv

Perkins Technical Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14http://pts-inc.com

SAIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4http://saic.com

September 2015 Vol. 9, Issue 7NEXTISSUE

The Publication of Record for the Military Logistics Community

Gen. Darren W. McDeWCommanderair mobility Command

Cover and In-depth Interview with:

U.S. Air ForcE Air MobiliTy coMMANd

a special pull-out supplement featuring:

• exclusive interviews with Lieutenant General Carlton d. everhart II, commander of amC’s 18th air Force, and major General timothy m. Zadalis, commander of the 618th tanker airlift Control Center

• a two-page pictorial spread of amC’s senior leadership by name and rank• a handy reference guide with a long shelf life

Special Sectionaerial Refueling Systems advisory Groupa global perspective of the tanker community’s common goals and requirements.

FeatuReSair Force contractor logistics Supportthe air Force and industry are looking for the perfect balance of contractor-provided services.

life cycle controlsmanaging life cycle issues when real-world OPtemPO outpaces the planned OPtemPO.

educating the logisticianas the ways and means of global engagement are evolving, so, too, must the ways we train, educate and retrain the logistician.

aircraft engine programsPart of a system of systems, aircraft engines are complex and require the perfect balance of skills and tools to perform optimally.

inventory controlshow is the defense Logistics agency looking to sharpen controls and tracking of inventory?

BonuS DiStRiBution• Logistics Officer association Symposium 2015• air & Space technology expo 2015• ndta Fall meeting

Insertion Order Deadline: August 25, 2015 | Ad Materials Deadline: September 1, 2015

Contact Jane Engel at 301.670.5700 x120 or [email protected]

Mantech International Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1www.mantech.com

Special SUppleMeNT


INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Military Logistics Forum

Hank Perkins is technical director at Perkins Technical Services, Inc. PTS was incorporated in 1996. Hank’s duties at PTS include sales, marketing, product develop-ment, manufacturing and logistics opera-tions for PTS. He is a graduate of Auburn University with more than 33 years of experi-ence in the aerospace and defense industry.

Q: What does your company bring to the logistics table and how does that pass benefits onto the military?

A: Perkins Technical Services, Inc. (PTS) has been supporting our troops by providing Power Supply Docking Stations (PSDS) to the warfighter. In today’s military, the Army has continual requirements to communicate over the tactical network from fixed and semi-fixed sites dismounted from vehicles. The military’s current approach to using tactical radios in a tactical operations cen-ter (TOC)/command post results in a dead-lined vehicle due to the dismantling of the speaker, mounting base, PA mount, cables and vehicle amplifier adapter. PTS listened to the users and created an innovative solution to their problem by developing a lightweight, reliable, ergonomic small-footprint system, which allows tactical R/Ts to be mounted and powered via the alternating current power grid worldwide, becoming an invaluable component of TOC operations. The PSDS provides the ability to use tactical radios in fixed and semi-fixed environments without batteries or dead-lined vehicles using AC or DC power in a continuous, reliable and cost-effective fashion. Our PSDS is opera-tions effective; eliminating radio down time while establishing communications within minutes after deploying the PSDS system.

Q: How have you evolved your business in recent years?

A: PTS has streamlined our manufacturing operations to meet our customer demands by developing an efficient, lightweight small-footprint solution. We continuously perform product improvements and enhancements with existing products and develop new prod-ucts to meet emerging mission requirements.

We proudly boast an annualized repair rate of 0.04 percent of the total fielded inventory, and we stand behind our product warranty and repair these at no charge to the customer. Our products save the users money, require less labor to setup radio operations and are exponentially more reliable than traditional methods.

Q: What are your primary strategic goals?

A: Quality and reliability of our products are our strength. We lean forward based on listening to our customers. They give us invaluable feedback, allowing us to keep our manufacturing lean and inventory carrying costs low and provide scheduling insight to meet our customers’ delivery requirements (often fewer than 10 days).

Q: What are some examples of how you work with the military?

A: We listen to the users, and their feedback is invaluable. PTS is committed to the warf-ighter, and we continuously perform prod-uct improvements and enhancements with existing products and develop new products to meet emerging mission requirements. Our system is designed to meet differing deployment requirements and is extremely easy to install; you simply plug your properly configured radio into the base, lock it down with clamps, attach the cables, plug the unit into the wall and power on.

Another unique feature of the PSDS is the light emitting diodes that indicate the active network. They operate on any voltage inputs from 85v to 260 VAC/47 to 440 Hz (automati-cally) making them deployable anywhere in the world and/or used on generator power with no change in hardware. The PSDS have

operated in nearly every climate imaginable with no issues in performance. The PSDS weighs from 9 to 20 pounds plus the transit case for a total transport weight of 26 to 42 pounds. The PSDS has been used for more than 10 years by National Guard, Marine and Army units for disaster relief and tacti-cal operations, repair facilities, range con-trol, training facilities, hospitals, engineering units and airfield ground vehicle commu-nications. PTS offers 11 different systems supporting Harris, Raytheon and SINCGARS tactical radios.

Q: How would you characterize the company’s performance?

A: We strive to stay current with technologi-cal changes and make improvements to our products based on customer feedback.

Q: How important are industry partner-ships?

A: We have consolidated manufacturing processes to reduce set-up charges in order to keep our product cost-efficient. Our long-term relationships with our suppliers are key to controlling costs and in making product improvements, and we value their input in the design process. We strive to buy local from Alabama companies and take pride that our product is made in Alabama.

Q: From the industry perspective, are there improvements you would like to see made that would streamline the contracting process?

A: PTS is always looking for contract vehicles that allow for a quicker ordering process for our customers. We understand the frustra-tions associated with procuring products, and we recently entered into a long-term agree-ment with DLA and hold a GSA schedule con-tract on our products. To support the soldiers’ needs, we would like to see a better-defined process to have an NSN assigned. If assign-ment of NSN’s were easier, soldiers would have an easier time acquiring the equipment they need to fulfill their mission. O

[email protected]

Hank PerkinsTechnical Director

Perkins Technical Services, Inc.


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