REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — To better provide Army leaders with the data they need to make informed decisions, one of Army Materiel Command’s separate reporting activities is taking on a new name and refocused mission.
As of Feb. 1, the Department of the Army approved the re-designation of the Logistics Support Activity, LOGSA, to the Logistics Data Analysis Center, LDAC. Along with the name change, LDAC has refocused its mission to synchronize, integrate and conduct analysis of sustainment data to provide materiel solutions that improve Army readiness.
“We are shifting our focus from logistics execution to data analytics and decision support,” said LDAC Director Col. Q. Noreiga. “As LDAC, we will continue to provide the first-rate support that LOGSA has been known to offer.”
Aligning with its new mission, LDAC reorganized into five functional divisions: data management; strategic decision support; operational decision support; program management; and life cycle support.
“What we’re doing is growing a descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis capability,” said Noreiga.
For 26 years, LOGSA has provided tools and solutions to meet the materiel needs of the Army. Under Army Materiel Command’s Shape the Fight initiative, the command is aligning resources to meet new mission requirements. As a result, LDAC's mission refocused towards data analytics, to include decision support analysis, tools, data and acquisition support.
“Refocusing LDAC’s mission capitalizes on the logistics, sustainment and services expertise already inherent within the organization,” said Noreiga. “The work we do quantitatively aids senior leader decision making.”
LDAC will bring the Operations Research/Systems Analysis, ORSA, capability to AMC. Nate Godwin, AMC’s deputy chief of staff G-3, said the organization will hire ORSA personnel to work the data analysis mission.
“Army Materiel Command is the keeper of logistics data, and it is LDAC that manages and analyzes it for the Army,” said Godwin.
The Shape the Fight initiative also led to the transfer of some of LDAC’s tactical and operational functions to Army Sustainment Command. The Expert Authorized Stockage List, Army Oil Analysis Program, Training and Training Development, Army Airlift Clearance Authority, Packaging, Storage and Containerization Center, and PS Magazine moved to ASC as of Oct. 1, 2018. Godwin said AMC’s consolidation of execution in ASC further strengthens ASC as the materiel enterprise’s face to the field.
“When it comes to operating and executing in the field, ASC plays an essential role in that mission,” he said. “LDAC is providing options to Army leaders based on predictive actions to solve problems like effectiveness and efficiency to improve Army readiness.”
Godwin said AMC’s Shape the Fight effort is refining roles and responsibilities across AMC. The AMC focus is on doing what is best for the Army in the sustainment realm.
“Sustainment is a complex business, and sustainment of the warfighter becomes complex and dynamic because circumstances change,” he said. “We need a predictive capability to keep viable choices of action in front of leaders, to make sure the warfighter is properly sustained to execute the national military strategy.”