Under the Gun in Iraq

Written by Peter A. Buxbaum

But the scope of LOGCOM’s activities goes far beyond equipment and weapons maintenance. “Our goal, when we were established a few years ago was to become the preferred solution provider across all elements of Marine Corps logistics,” said Colonel Kevin McCutcheon, LOGCOM chief of staff. “This involves being a worldwide logistics, supply chain and distribution manager, and it involves not just parts but people.”

LOGCOM’s mission can be viewed from four perspectives. It runs the depots that maintain and repair vehicles and weapons and that dispatch spare parts to where they are needed. It runs information technology systems that drive efficiencies through the Marine Corps supply chain. It interfaces with other military and national security organizations to provide expertise to a broad spectrum of clients. And it manages the people, which include military, civilian and contractor personnel, who make it all happen.

McCutcheon’s comment suggests that Marines have alternatives when it comes to contracting for logistics support. But the converse also holds true: the other armed services, and other government agencies for that matter, reach out to LOGCOM when they can draw on LOGCOM’s expertise. LOGCOM, in turn, will draw on the acumen of other agencies as well when they provide the best solutions.

“It’s not any different from the private sector,” said McCutcheon. “We establish ourselves as the preferred logistics solution provider because we have boots on the ground in theater. We have deployed units with Marine expeditionary forces so we can see problems arise before they become big ones. We provide Marines and sailors a ready access point for combat equipment and its repair and replacement.”

Some of LOGCOM’s proudest moments in recent years have involved the fulfillment of projects that go beyond traditional depot management. In 2004, for example, the Marine Corps set out to harden some of the vehicles it had deployed to Iraq. “The commandant came to us and said, ‘We have vehicles in country with canvas doors. We need quick replacements. Lives are at stake from roadside blasts,’” McCutcheon recalled. LOGCOM’s response was to develop vehicle hardening armor kits. Maintenance Center Albany was at the hub of that operation.

“We reached out to vendors in a number of states,” said McCutcheon. “We had eight weeks to do the job. The result was to have the armor kitted up and shipped out ahead of schedule, under cost and under budget.”

The Albany facility received the 2005 Mason award in part for its success in that feat. Albany has won the award twice in the three years it has been conferred.

LOGCOM’s impressive performance in connection with the vehicle hardening project earned it a key role in the design and construction of the new MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. “We got this job based on the skill we acquired in the armor project,” said McCutcheon. “Our piece is in building the capsule and it draws on our sophisticated experience in welding.”

LOGCOM has also been called upon to satisfy requirements for new lightweight helmet systems being provided to naval construction battalions that serve with the Marines in Iraq as well as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense equipment being provided jointly to all services. “Sailors, soldiers and airmen are wearing some of the same equipment as Marines,” McCutcheon said.

Outside of the defense community, LOGCOM has supported the FBI by developing a configuration to upgrade vehicles to be used in hostage rescue operations. It has also helped National Guard units upgrade recovery vehicles and earth movers. On the other side of the coin, the Marine Corps Logistics Command will cooperate with other defense agencies and draw on their expertise. “It’s not just a requirement, but it makes good sense economically,” said McCutcheon, referring to the increased jointness of the fighting force. “We look for synergies with other services. They may have an acumen in a certain area so we’ll sit down with them and coordinate. The rice bowl and the stovepipe are long gone. It is in everyone’s best interest to coordinate. It enhances our ability to respond.”

On the day-to-day side of provisioning Marine Corps units, LOGCOM has instituted an increased level of consolidation and centralized management. “We have deployed a consolidated storage program,” McCutcheon said. “This provides a single point of contact for ordering bulk issue items like tents and cots.” A central management office also handles items directed to humanitarian relief as well as specialty clothing such as hot and cold weather gear.

Supporting these management initiatives and LOGCOM’s responsiveness requirements are an array of information technology assets that are being used for decision support. An effort is currently under way to eliminate redundant Marine Corps logistics systems and to migrate the remaining ones to a single, interoperable platform.

“LOGCOM has deployed a suite of decision support tools that are designed to supply commanders with the ability to make smart decisions,” said McCutcheon. “The information that is provided to them with a few clicks of a mouse comes from data that is readily accessible and easily extractable from our master data repository.”

LOGCOM also makes use of Internet technology by hosting applications portals on dot-mil domains. These include scheduling tools that streamline the ordering and supply processes. LOGCOM has also been involved in the DoD-wide effort to employ radio frequency identification technology to track the movement of parts from their point of origin, through their transit, and until delivered to the requesting organization.

“These have been valuable tools to inject more predictability into the delivery processes, which is important to commanders in the field to make better ordering decisions,” said McCutcheon. “If we are able to get the parts out to the field, there is no need to send a bulky, cumbersome vehicle the long distance back to the depot to be prepared. It could take 30 to 50 days to get that vehicle back to the states.”

LOGCOM is now in the process of merging its various stovepipe IT systems onto a common Oracle E-Business platform called the Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps (GCSSMC). This will yield, the Corps contends, “the logistics of the 21st Century.”

At their height, the Marine Corps had over 200 logisticsrelated systems deployed. Some of these have already been eliminated and the portfolio will eventually be pared down to 68. All of these will be integrated within GCSS-MC along with other commercial applications that the Marine Corps may acquire in the future.

“This will bring together a number of data repositories into one functioning system and allow us to extract data from a number of sources,” said McCutcheon. “Users will be able to extract information without going to four or five different systems.”

GCSS-MC passed a preliminary design review a year ago that allowed it to start rolling out the system in three blocks. The first block is focused on tactical supply and maintenance systems being used by 300 principle Marine Corps units. Block two will emphasize logistics command and control and will enable planning and task organizing. Block three will see the competition of a deployed, integrated e-business system.

Key to the accomplishment of LOGCOM missions is, of course, its people. The command employs 350 active duty Marines and sailors and 290 civilian employees at its headquarters in Albany, Ga., as well as at its maintenance centers in Albany, Barstow, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla.

“Civilians represent continuity in the work force,” said McCutcheon, noting that the average age of the civilians is 50. “We have people who have worked for us well beyond 20 years. The contractor force provides flexibility. We call on them for their specific capabilities, usually for shorter durations of time.” One of those contractors, EDO Corp. has provided logistics support and services to LOGCOM for over seven years. The company’s personnel are located at four locations in the continental United States—Albany, Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, and Charleston, S.C.—as well as at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; Okinawa, Japan; and Al Habbaniyah, Iraq.

“We provide project management, supply chain management, supply systems analysis, reparable issue point functionality, critical low density material management and material returns program management,” said Wayne Ryther, project manager for the Albany Office of EDO. “All of these functions are relevant to sustainment of fielded systems in the supply and maintenance areas.”

EDO personnel located at Charleston Air Force Base, in Charleston, S.C., are responsible for ensuring all Marine Corps equipment and parts packages being shipped by military air freight to and from Iraq are identified, inspected, configured and documented. “We also provide product integration services for MRAP vehicles and material packages being shipped through Charleston,” Ryther noted.

These integration services include coordination of shipments to the point of integration, cataloging, tracking and management of parts and components, implementing ordering procedures, providing asset visibility tracking and reporting, and analyzing the costs associated with the MRAP movements.

EDO’s presence at TQ Air Base in Habbaniyah, Iraq serves as the focal point for secondary reparable (SecRep) materiel management and for issues related to materiel returns for secondary reparables in Iraq. “We use our experience and knowledge of SecRep to solve system issues and receipt challenges and make recommendations for resolution,” said Ryther. “We provide LOGCOM with monthly assessment of materiel availability, trends, host nation support, local repair efforts, transportation problems, and customer feedback. We also assist with the material returns program and other financial management functions.”

EDO also serves as liaison between the Marine forces in Iraq and LOGCOM in resolving problems with SecRep that relate to configuration, sourcing, maintenance and initial fielding. In that capacity, the company analyzes supply support requirements and makes recommendations for resupply. EDO is also involved in planning Marine Corps supply and maintenance operations.

The current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have put the Marine Corps Logistics Command under the gun. “That is our biggest challenge: not knowing what is coming our way,” said McCutcheon. “We can’t respond fast enough, and we are constantly being scrutinized for our performance. Sometimes it is right to send an 80-percent solution, but it still has to work.”

LOGCOM attempts to deal with these challenges, in part, with its new and improved technology. “These new systems make more data available and support better decision making,” said McCutcheon. “Distribution becomes faster when we know where things are, and we’re always trying to move faster because we know that lives are at stake.”

More importantly, however, LOGCOM leadership and personnel are committed to continuing education and to process improvement.

“We scrutinize policies and strip them of all wasteful steps without compromising quality,” said McCutcheon. “We are able to do this through a process of constant self evaluation and Lean Six Sigma processes.” The methodology, which emphasizes constant performance improvement, allows LOGCOM to accomplish its goals, McCutcheon said, “rapidly, and with cost, schedule and quality in mind.” ♦