FORT BELVOIR, Va.—The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) hosted U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) commander Gen. Stephen R. Lyons at DTRA’s Ft. Belvoir headquarters, December 7 for a series of briefs and discussions in an effort to increase collaboration between the commands.
USTRANSCOM is a global Combatant Command (CCMD) and the transportation provider for the Department of Defense (DoD) with the mission to move the Joint Force, sustain it, operate the Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise, and set the globe for logistics in support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As a combat support agency, DTRA supports all CCMDs across the spectrum of the complex and volatile global security environment. USTRANSCOM, with its global joint deployment and distribution mission, requires a wide array of capabilities to meet its requirements to support the other CCMDs, the military Services, and other customers. DTRA supports a number of those key capabilities.
To help USTRANSCOM successfully monitor, filter, and leverage its worldwide data in real time, DTRA is working with USTRANSCOM intelligence and operations functions to explore the employment of some of DTRA’s analytical tools. While USTRANSCOM’s global network of transportation nodes is resilient, DTRA’s mission assurance team is working to identify and address the physical and cyber vulnerabilities in that network.
To meet USTRANSCOM’s responsibility for moving WMD-contaminated personnel or equipment, DTRA has fielded and continues to develop and test secure transportation modules to enable these sensitive missions.
As part of the in-depth discussion, DTRA subject matter experts from its information technology, nuclear enterprise, research and development, and cooperative threat reduction functions briefed Lyons on the many successful efforts that have resulted while supporting USTRANSCOM. Further discussions were held on the opportunities that exist to provide additional capabilities to better support the warfighter.
“We want more participation from all players on this team,” Oxford said to the group. “We use the National Defense Strategy as our backdrop. We know the threat of Great Power Competition is in the forefront, but at the same time, we can’t lose sight of Violent Extremist Organizations.”
Lyons was particularly interested in hearing how DTRA fits in the artificial intelligence and data analytics field, which are top priorities for USTRANSCOM.
“This Agency is doing exactly what we want to do with data analytics and how it ingests and analyzes big data sets,” said Lyons. “DTRA is in a place I haven’t seen anyone else progress to yet.”
Lyons noted throughout the discussion that he sees more opportunities across multiple mission areas where DTRA and USTRANSCOM can collaborate.
“This is has been more enlightening then I ever thought before I came into the building. I can see a lot of creative harmony amongst all of the leaders here in what you are bring to the department. I want to continue to work with the DTRA liaison officers to keep our partnership strong.”