Photo By Gregory Pici | Gen. Gus Perna, commanding general of U.S. Army Materiel Command, addresses item...... read more read more
Gen. Gus Perna, commanding general of U.S. Army Materiel Command, visited TACOM Life Cycle Management Command March 7-8 for a series of briefings and updates with TACOM units and partners. He also held a town hall meeting with item managers from TACOM’s Integrated Logistics Support Center to stress the importance of providing Soldiers in the field what they need, and to offer solutions to challenges the managers are facing.
The ILSC item managers control inventory for their specific items of materiel. Some of their responsibilities include making sure items are coded correctly; monitoring requisitions; initiating procurements; filling customer orders; setting up repair programs with contractors, depots and the National Guard; and ensuring funding is available.
Perna told the standing-room-only crowd that he does not anticipate an end to world hostilities anytime soon. What he does anticipate is a “near-peer competitor,” a country that is capable of forming an army similar to the U.S. Army. “They’ll have tanks, some Bradleys, some type of aviation, artillery … and they can pit it against our Army with equal capability both in equipment and personnel,” he predicted.
What does all that mean to Army Materiel Command?
“As the Army Materiel Command, we are responsible for making sure that we have an integrated and synchronized plan to provide our Army the best materiel required on the battlefield. It is our job to ensure the tanks are where they are supposed to be; the Bradleys are where they are supposed to be; the weapons, the communications, the aircraft, the ammunition is where it is supposed to be,” he explained.
That is important, he said, because the Army goes to a battlefield to fight and defeat an enemy.
“You have to have the best, most modernized equipment on the battlefield and you have to have the best-trained Soldiers to do that,” he said.
To help item managers see how they affect the battlefield, he asked them to visualize a scenario where a second lieutenant in charge of a platoon with four tanks loses two due to maintenance issues. Without the necessary repair parts on hand in the tank, the other two go into battle overmatched by the enemy, putting Soldiers’ lives at risk.
To ensure that never happens, Perna said, “We have to make sure that the supply chain available to that piece of equipment is so full that our Soldiers never want for a repair part. If they are getting ready to cross the line of departure and two tanks break, they know right behind them is the repair parts they need.”
That, Perna said, is how item managers affect the battlefield.
“Your proximity to the war is not a direct correlation to your contribution,” he said. “If all the spare parts are there, I’m telling you, you are contributing to victory. That is how we impact the battlefield. That is how we can look a Soldier in the face and say we have done everything we can to make sure you have everything that you need to go face the enemy. So my question is, are we doing everything we can to make sure that they have everything they need?”
The general cited the lack of supply availability and funding, and too many backorders among the problems facing item managers in getting Soldiers the equipment and parts they need. His goal is zero backorders and 100 percent supply availability.
“Nobody else in the Army Materiel Command can make that happen except for you,” he said.
Perna challenged the group to develop new ideas and ways of doing business, and take responsibility and accountability to the output.
“If the equipment is not ready to go, it is our responsibility; nobody else’s,” Perna said.
Perna offered three areas of focus for item managers.
First, he said, the Army is focusing on repair parts during deployments and training. Here, he noted that the item managers “are crushing it. If you’re involved in that, thank you, you’re doing magnificent … fantastic work. The equipment is good to go.”
Second, he is directing use of certain repair parts at every brigade through standardized authorized stockage lists. “This is going to be a big deal,” he said. “When we field this in the next year, we believe that 80 percent of all requests will be fielded out of the ASL. That will help us through steady demand planning and procurement.”
Third, which managers are already working on, is focusing on combat fleets, identifying how many parts each manager is responsible for, figuring out which parts don’t have contracts, and holding themselves accountable, he said.
“We have to do all three of those things to get things right,” Perna told the audience. “No one thing will solve the problem. It’s a collective approach to this that will make the Army better. You are the center of that gravity. You are going to fix this problem.”
Perna accepted questions from the audience and took the opportunity to expand on his thoughts, doubling the time allotted for the town hall.
“I think what you do is so important to the readiness of the United States Army that it was well worth my time to come tell you what I think, and then more importantly, listen to what you think,” Perna said concluding the event. “This is a powerful organization. Your impact to the battlefield is significant. When you go into battle, you want everything you are supposed to have. You want the repair parts for your weapon. You want your trucks to work. You want your tanks to work, and I just need your help to get us there.”
| Date Taken: | 03.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 03.09.2017 09:43 |
| Story ID: | 226286 |
| Location: | WARREN, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 115 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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