Photo By Al Betancourt | Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek addresses senior...... read more read more
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ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. - Military logisticians are going to have to figure out how to accomplish their missions with fewer resources, Defense Logistics Agency Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek told students attending the Logistics Executive Development Seminar at Joint Base Andrews, Md., March 28.
The three-and-a-half-day seminar, also known as LOG 499, is designed for senior Air Force logistics, maintenance and supply-chain managers in the rank of 0-6 or GM/GS-15. Attendees enhance their professional development through understanding the relationships of Air Force goals with supply chain, logistics and maintenance processes and information systems.
The highlight of the course is the open dialogue attendees get with guest senior leaders who speak for about 90 minutes, said George Bailey, LOG 499 course director.
“The seminar affords the students the opportunity to speak with senior leaders who establish the policies and procedures they have to implement,” Bailey said. “This forum affords them the opportunity to ask direct questions. They don’t have to read about a new policy through a letter. They can hear it direct from the person who is responsible [for] creating it.”
Besides sharing a snapshot of the DLA mission, Harnitchek emphasized that the future demands a judicious mentality in conducting business. He said the federal debt topped $15 trillion in November, and that the Budget Reduction Act will require the Defense Department to figure out how to do with $500 billion less over the next 10 years.
“About half of that is in the first five years,” he said.
There’ll be cuts of about $130 billion in modernization, about $60 billion in personnel-related costs, and another $60 billion in efficiencies, Harnitchek said. “So we’re all going to have to push the throttles forward on how we think about spending money,” he added. Harnitchek also addressed key DLA matters: figuring out how to have things cost 10 percent less on the material side and reducing operating costs such as streamlining the distribution footprint. He also said he wants DLA to buy fewer inventories and primarily buy inventory when there are not readily available commercial sources.
“We just have too much inventory,” he said. “We keep it around too long. We need to clean the attic [and] change the way we buy inventory so we just don’t fill the attic back [up] again.”
Air Force Col. Rhonda Soto, Air Force national account manager in DLA Logistics Operations, was a student in the course. She said it was fast-paced and intense but was a great forum for open discussion among peers relating to issues that affect them now and will affect them in the future.
“This seminar addressees the entire logistics spectrum,” she said. “It’s a great venue for us as senior logisticians to discuss matters among ourselves that concern us, but also with the senior leaders who are guiding the courses of action to help us deal with the challenges.”
Harnitchek and the students carried on an open dialogue throughout the presentation. He answered their questions, and they shared their concerns. In the end, he emphasized what they can do to maintain support for the future.
“Hold warfighting effectiveness as a constant,” he said. “Optimize everything else around that. That’s what the president and secretary expect from us.”
| Date Taken: | 03.28.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2012 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 86129 |
| Location: | ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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