Courtesy Photo | Gen. Gus Perna, Army Materiel Command commander, thanks Maj. Gen. Elizabeth Austin,...... read more read more
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DES MOINES, Iowa – The Army’s senior logistician placed the burden of readiness on commanders as he addressed nearly 300 National Guard Soldiers tied to Army sustainment efforts.
“You have a choice. Be ready, or react. History tells us the difference is lives lost,” Army Materiel Command’s top leader Gen. Gus Perna said Saturday at the inaugural National Guard Sustainment Commander’s Conference.
Perna encouraged the sustainment leaders to become multifunctional logisticians who understand their place in the fight.
“We exist for the maneuver commander. We are always ‘I-N-G,’” Perna said, explaining the sustainers’ role on the battlefield is to be supporting, not supported.
Forward operating bases like those in Afghanistan won’t exist in future wars, Perna predicted, as he laid out potential scenarios for the next battlefield.
After painting a clear and sobering picture, Perna challenged commanders to ask themselves if they were capable of planning, synchronizing, integrating and echeloning transportation and commodities in support of the maneuver commander – all while the enemy is firing back.
“That is what I mean when I say, ‘be ready,’” Perna said.
With more than 70 percent of the Army’s sustainment community residing in the Reserve Component, Perna said the next fight will take the total force.
Bringing the National Guard’s sustainment community together for the first time was an effort borne of the National Guard’s Sustainment Advisory Council, co-chaired by Army Materiel Command’s Assistant Deputy Commanding General Maj. Gen. Elizabeth Austin.
The advisory council is charged with finding solutions for sustainment challenges and the conference is one of several initiatives toward that end.
“We’re not where we need to be,” Austin said, noting the National Guard’s performance at training sites has come up short. “We must have the ability to perform logistical functions for tomorrow’s fight.”
The conference, she said, was a platform for candid discussion and idea-sharing that would let the leaders see themselves and help them prepare to meet the Army’s missions.
Combined Arms Support Command’s deputy commanding general, Maj. Gen. Paul Hurley, urged candor and honesty throughout the two-day event, with a focus on returning to the basics.
“The challenge across all components is that many of our young leaders can’t visualize the battlefield,” Hurley said. “They can’t visualize the point of the spear back to Army Materiel Command. They can’t visualize the battlefield back to the sustainment force.”
From the doctrinal perspective, Hurley said some flexibility exists, which can be both enabling and challenging. Improving the way business practices are viewed, and agreeing on common definitions will improve sustainment doctrine. Finding the right intersection between budget, logistical processes, the business of logistics and tactical operations is key.
“There’s a thirst out there for the precision we used to provide maneuver commanders,” Hurley said. “They see the gap.”
Iowa National Guard’s Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Timothy Orr is a combat arms officer who champions the sustainment force.
“Nothing gets done without some form of sustainment,” Orr said, pledging the weekend would produce a clear strategy for moving forward. “This is the beginning, not the end.”
Lt. Col. Anthony Dennis was among the conference participants. As the operations officer with the Michigan National Guard’s 272nd Regional Support Group, he said the challenges presented among the sustainment community did not come as a surprise.
"We kind of live it every day," Dennis said. "Everyone is in agreement. They are all basically shaking their heads yes." Dennis said he is hopeful the weekend will have an impact on readiness.
"They've got the right people in the right spot and are ready to have the hard conversations about manning and equipping on the sustainment side to support the maneuver piece."
| Date Taken: | 09.25.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.25.2017 12:02 |
| Story ID: | 249528 |
| Location: | DES MOINES, IA, US |
| Web Views: | 608 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Logistics leaders examine National Guard sustainment challenges, by Lisa Simunaci, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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