Photo By Kari Hawkins | Panelists, from left, Warren O’Donell, deputy to the Program Executive Officer for...... read more read more
Subscribe
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The process behind the Army’s mission to support allies and partners in Europe by supplying and sustaining equipment ranging from M1A1 tanks to camouflage net systems was center stage during a panel discussion at the Chamber’s Redstone Update in Huntsville Dec. 8.
Its leading organization was Army Materiel Command. Its setting was Ukraine.
Speaking to more than 300 business leaders, AMC’s Director of Operations and Readiness Renee Mosher; and AMC major subordinate command’s Dr. Myra Gray, deputy to the commanding general of the Security Assistance Command, and Col. Richard Pfeiffer, chief of staff of Army Contracting Command, were joined by Warren O’Donell, deputy to the Program Executive Officer for Missiles and Space, to provide a glimpse of the support the U.S. is providing Ukraine through both presidential drawdowns and foreign military sales of military equipment. The panel discussion focused on The Materiel Enterprise and Redstone’s Support to the Ukraine.
“We are managing, supporting and executing logistics and sustainment,” Mosher said. “If you talk about logistics, maintenance and sustainment, then AMC is the one organization that provides that for the U.S. Army.”
With AMC’s worldwide footprint, support to Ukraine involves all seven of AMC’s lines of effort – Soldier, Civilian and Family Readiness; Installation Readiness and Training Support; Industrial Base Readiness; Munitions Readiness; Strategic Power Projection; Supply Availability and Equipment Readiness; and Data Analytics and Logistics Information Readiness.
“The organic industrial base is critical to sustaining, to replenishing our readiness as we go forward. AMC major subordinate command Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command is responsible for moving every piece of equipment, every item we are pushing to Ukraine,” Mosher said.
To date, 26 Presidential Drawdowns have authorized $6.8 billion in equipment and supply support to Ukraine. Equipment that has been delivered by AMC’s SDDC includes 50 vessels, 129 tanks, more than 4,500 trucks, 28 M1A1 tanks, 433 HMMWVs, 24 HIMARS, 10 armored vehicle launch bridges, 6,000 camouflage net systems and 16 M1167 TOW/Armament Carriers, plus much more.
“We are managing the magnitude and scope of what we are pushing into Ukraine while at the same time balancing the readiness of our U.S. Army and making sure we maintain the equipment we need to sustain U.S. Army readiness,” Mosher said. “As we continue to evolve, we are not only working in support of Ukraine but also our allied partners in that same footprint.”
While presidential drawdowns get most of spotlight, Ukraine and European allies are also engaged in the foreign military sales process, especially with the Javelin missile system, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System.
“We have supported Ukraine through the FMS process long before February 2022 (when the war with Russia began), and we have used with them the same process as we do with every other partner nation,” Security Assistance Command’s Gray said.
Ukraine’s annual foreign military sales jumped from $221 million in fiscal year 2021 to $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2022 and is projected to be at 1.04 billion in fiscal year 2023. USASAC is currently managing 187 FMS cases valued at $3.9 billion and involving 130 partners and allies worldwide.
“Before the war in Ukraine, FMS sales were used to help build and strengthen the nation,” Gray said. “FMS cases are all about providing capability to our partners and allies to make the U.S. stronger and to make them stronger … With Ukraine, this is a matter of meeting an urgent need because they are fighting a war. This has become a critical push.”
The war has also led to other European nations requesting new capabilities to secure their borders, she said. In every case, USASAC works with partner nations to determine needed capability, and then to fill that need in a total package approach that includes system equipment, training and maintenance.
“Building capability goes to the very root of why we are doing this – promoting freedom, promoting safety, promoting capabilities. If our allies can successfully push back on a threat then we don’t have to send our Soldiers into battle,” Gray said. “That’s how FMS plays into our national security. We can use capability to promote national security for both ourselves and for our allies.”
In terms of Presidential Drawdowns, more than $4.4 billion in missile equipment from the Program Executive Office-Missiles and Space has been committed in support of Ukraine, the PEO’s O’Donell said. The weapon systems most in demand have been the Stinger, HIMARS/GMLRS, Javelin, TOW, Q64 Sentinel/Q36 Radar and Switchblade 300, he said.
“The Stinger is extremely effective and its beauty is in its simplicity. The capability it brings is absolutely critical,” he said, adding that all systems have performed extremely well in defense of Ukraine, and the unprecedented cooperation with the Marine Corps, Air Force, Department of Defense and throughout the materiel enterprise has made the difference in providing weapon systems.
“At the same time, we are working investment in new production of critical equipment,” O’Donell said. “What do we want to invest in now for the future? Foreign partner needs are considered in investment decisions. We want to sustain the systems we have and work on future systems while also making sure we are not looking down a dark production line.”
AMC’s Army Contracting Command connects government requirements with public sector suppliers through contracting. “We connect the government to civil capability,” ACC’s Pfeiffer said. “We are enabling equipment to go from the factory to the foxhole.”
Between February and August 2022, ACC has assisted with 26 presidential drawdowns totally $10.6 billion in support Ukraine. ACC is currently managing 109 contracting actions obligating $2.1 billion in support of Ukraine. Of those, 11 are being managed at Redstone Arsenal with a total obligation of $1.3 billion.
As part of those drawdowns, the 409th Contracting Support Brigade has contracted to provide life support for tactical assembly areas, establish temporary safe havens for anticipated U.S. evacuees from Ukraine, prepare for support to border crossing points and prepare for possible humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees; ACC-Rhode Island has contracted to provide the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program in support of U.S troops deployed to Germany, Poland and Romania and support the forward issue of Army Prepositioned Stocks; and ACC-Detroit Arsenal has contracted to provide linguists support in eight languages in nine countries.
| Date Taken: | 12.09.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2022 16:08 |
| Story ID: | 434875 |
| Location: | HUNTSVILLE, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, AMC support to Ukraine outlined at Redstone Update, by Kari Hawkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT