TESTIMONY
OF
GENERAL JOHN W. HANDY
UNITES STATES AIR FORCE
COMMANDER
UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND
BEFORE THE
HOUSE
ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SUBCOMMITTEE ON PROJECTION FORCES
REGARDING
STATE OF THE COMMAND
March
17, 2004
INTRODUCING THE UNITED STATES
TRANSPORTATION COMMAND
(USTRANSCOM)
As we enter a new year, our
nation remains globally engaged with
terrorist entities whose stated aims
continue to threaten the freedoms we, as
Americans, all know and cherish. United
States military forces remain deployed
worldwide to combat this menace.
Simultaneously, we are engaged in monumental
nation-building efforts in Southwest Asia,
multiple peacekeeping operations in
locations worldwide, and on guard against a
continued threat on the Korean Peninsula.
The heavy demands on American forces
highlight the dangerous and unstable world
environment existing today.
As a combatant command
uniquely structured to execute a global
mission, USTRANSCOM provides air, land, and
sea transportation for the Department of
Defense (DOD), in peace and war. USTRANSCOM
provides the synchronized transportation and
sustainment which makes possible projecting
and maintaining national power where needed,
with the greatest speed and agility, the
highest efficiency, and the most reliable
level of trust and accuracy. To accomplish
USTRANSCOM's day-to-day joint mission, we
rely upon our component commands: the Air
Force's Air Mobility Command (AMC), the
Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC), and
the Army's (Military) Surface Deployment and
Distribution Command (SDDC) (formerly known
as the Military Traffic Management
Command). The component commands provide
mobility forces and assets in a force
structure supporting a seamless transition
from peace to war. USTRANSCOM functions as
an integrated team, focusing the total
synergy of the entire Defense Transportation
System (DTS), including both military and
commercial transportation assets.
USTRANSCOM's imperative is to
provide consummate support to the warfighter.
Simply put, we have three wartime mission
objectives:
1.
Get the
warfighter to the fight.
2.
Sustain the
warfighter during the fight.
3.
Bring the
warfighter home after the fight.
Today's
regional combatant commanders rely more
heavily than ever on the strenuously tasked
mobility forces as the number of missions
and challenges facing them continues to
increase. It is important to note that
USTRANSCOM is only postured--from a force
structure perspective--as a one major war
force. Regardless, USTRANSCOM supports
not one, but all other combatant commanders
simultaneously, placing a premium on our
lift assets. Additionally, USTRANSCOM's
ability to support multiple competing
demands is constrained by access and force
flow dynamics. Our limited transportation
assets rely on an optimized force flow to
meet demands. In a dynamic
political-military environment, requirements
can quickly exceed capabilities.
USTRANSCOM's approach to
posturing and improving itself to meet DOD's
demanding distribution mission today and the
increasing demands of tomorrow requires
flexibility. Three themes guide our course:
-
Theme One:
Investing in the
care and quality of USTRANSCOM's most
valuable resource--its people.
-
Theme Two:
Continued transformation of key
processes leveraged by Information
Technology to provide seamless, end-to-end
distribution management for defense.
-
Theme Three:
Maintaining readiness and
modernization to perform our global
mobility mission.
USTRANSCOM
in 2003
and 2004
The operational tempo (OPTEMPO)
inherent in the build-up and execution of
Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF), the continued
prosecution of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF),
and the ongoing support to Operation NOBLE
EAGLE (ONE) made 2003 a challenging and
truly rewarding period in USTRANSCOM's
history. The statistics are mind-boggling:
between September 2001 and February 2004,
USTRANSCOM moved 3,072,471 short tons of
cargo, 1.79 billion gallons of fuel, and
1,189,968 troops in support of OEF/OIF.
Here is the big picture - in the largest and
most demanding test of our total lift
capability since Operation DESERT
SHIELD/DESERT STORM, USTRANSCOM delivered
the necessary combat power to Iraq faster
and more efficiently than ever before. The
men and women of USTRANSCOM, in concert with
our Service partners and commercial
teammates, have performed brilliantly.
Our military's freedom to
operate overseas is possible only through
the continued defense of our homeland, and
USTRANSCOM remains an integral part of that
defense, as it has been since the terrorist
attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11). AMC
KC-135 and KC-10 air tanker aircraft,
representing Active Duty, Air Force Reserve,
and Air National Guard assets, have
continuously supported Air Force combat
aircraft patrolling the skies of the
Continental United States (CONUS) in support
of ONE and other routine duties.
AMC tankers flew 1,704
missions refueling 3,684 receivers while
supporting combat air patrols over our major
cities and sporting events, continuing one
of the highest air refueling operational
tempos ever experienced within CONUS. Over
75 percent of these were Air Force Reserve
and Air National Guard missions flown by
volunteer "citizen-airmen." Additionally,
while today's actual number is classified, I
can tell you that the majority of the
airlift on alert to respond to any United
States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)
deployment order belongs to the Air National
Guard and Air Force Reserve. Since the
beginning of FY03, USTRANSCOM aircraft have
carried 1,618 passengers and 461 short tons
of cargo in the course of 29 airlift
missions in support of ONE.
While concurrently providing
global support to all combatant commands, we
focused considerable effort and assets
toward ensuring the successful execution of
OEF/OIF. OEF/OIF now ranks as the largest
passenger airlift in history. Only
the Berlin Airlift (1948-49) exceeds it in
terms of number of missions and tonnage
flown, with OEF/OIF airlift moving 882,609
short tons of cargo to date.
Airlift played an integral
part in expediting critical shipments and
facilitating force maneuver. A spectacular
example of this capability began on the
night of 26 March 2003, when AMC C-17
aircraft successfully airdropped 1,000
paratroopers of the Army's 173rd Airborne
Brigade into Northern Iraq to bolster
anti-Saddam Kurdish forces after Turkey's
refusal to permit the U.S. use of ports and
forward bases. This was the largest air
insertion since 1989's Operation JUST CAUSE
in Panama. Subsequent to the airdrop, C-17s
executed a larger movement over five
evenings, flying 62 missions from Italy into
airfields in Northern Iraq. They deployed
2,000 additional troops, more than 400
vehicles, and 3,000 short tons of supplies
and equipment, solidifying coalition combat
power on the northern front.
AMC air tanker crews were
instrumental in the initial success of OIF
operations, completing 2,000 refueling
missions through 1 May 2003 in support of
strategic airlift and inter-theater
deployments. To date, AMC KC-135 and KC-10
crews had completed 4,768 refueling missions
in support of United States Central Command
(USCENTCOM) operations. Tanker assets under
the operational control of USCENTCOM amassed
over 9,000 sorties with more than 40,000
receiver contacts, offloading over 475
million pounds of fuel through the end of
the fiscal year to sustain critical CENTCOM
warfighting operations. Additionally, OEF
support in the United States Pacific
Command's (USPACOM) area of responsibility (AOR)
accounted for an additional 163 air
refueling missions.
During the build-up for OIF,
USTRANSCOM planners focused on maximizing
the utilization of sealift whenever possible
and avoided the reliance on airlift that
characterized the initial phase of OEF in
2001. The total sealift tonnage greatly
surpassed the tonnage airlifted to Southwest
Asia in support of OIF. With the
cooperation of USCENTCOM leadership,
USTRANSCOM achieved a more effective balance
between airlift and sealift in guiding
mobility operations. This collaboration,
combined with the skills of SDDC port
managers and MSC vessel operators, resulted
in the deployment of 910,000 short tons on
155 voyages between December 2002 and 1 May
2003. From 1 May 2003 to date, an
additional 68 voyages brought over 433,000
short tons to Iraq and the surrounding area
for a grand total of over 1.3 million short
tons delivered via sealift. Some 76 voyages
redeployed more than 556,000 short tons
during that same period. By striving to
leverage sealift first in deployment
operations, USCENTCOM and USTRANSCOM took
advantage of a sealift fleet greatly
expanded and modernized since 1991.
In striking contrast to past
practice, we successfully implemented a
"force packaging" strategy during OIF that
synchronized the movement of combat-ready
modules of unit equipment ("force
packages"). This strategy allowed units
like the Army's 101st Airborne
Division to quickly and coherently assemble
upon debarkation overseas. SDDC loaded the
entire division, nearly 4,000 vehicles and
250 helicopters, on only five vessels that
offloaded overseas in just a 12-day period,
adding striking power to the combatant
commander's arsenal in a fraction of the
time required during Operation DESERT
SHIELD/DESERT STORM. It ensured the
integrity and rapid availability of a
combat-effective fighting force far faster
than the prior piecemeal movement of unit
equipment.
USTRANSCOM relies on its
commercial transportation industry partners
and associated labor organizations to
provide significant transportation
capability during contingencies. OEF and
OIF are no exception. Participation by
commercial passenger airline and maritime
companies gave AMC, MSC, and SDDC a vital
extra edge in moving forces and equipment to
support operations in Iraq. Chartered
aircraft moved 78 percent of deploying
troops during the build-up and 85 percent of
deploying troops during the major combat
operations. On 8 February 2003, 51
passenger aircraft from 11 commercial
companies activated under Stage I of the
Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). CRAF
aircraft deployed 254,000 troops on 1,625
missions through 18 June 2003 when the
aircraft were deactivated. Similarly, the
number of ships under MSC's operational
control supporting sealift operations jumped
from a "normal" of approximately 22 ships to
a peak of 127, including 40 government-owned
ships from the Maritime Administration's (MARAD's)
Ready Reserve Force (RRF). This transition
from a peacetime environment to a
contingency footing enabled USTRANSCOM to
deploy the military equipment and supplies
needed to support OEF/OIF operations. In
fact of the total 1,189,968 passengers moved
during OEF/OIF, 75 percent were moved by
commercial means, and 25 percent by organic
airlift.
The Large Medium Speed
Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR) vessel emerged as
USTRANSCOM's strategic sealift success
story. Procured based upon the lessons of
Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, 18
LMSRs completed 38 total voyages during
initial OIF deployment operations, lifting
more than 5.3 million square feet of cargo.
This was approximately 26 percent of the
total requirement. By comparison, one LMSR
in OIF carried the equivalent of six
commercial charter ships during Operation
DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. From another
perspective, it requires 300 C-17s to
deliver the amount of cargo carried by one
LMSR. Of the 3.1M short tons moved during
OIF/OEF, 74 percent was moved by surface, 26
percent by air (past 6 months, 85 percent
moved by surface, 15 percent by air). Of
that 74 percent moved by surface, 37 percent
was moved by commercial charter and liner
service.
The intensive combat
operations experienced during OIF
significantly increased the patient movement
OPTEMPO in the USCENTCOM AOR. USTRANSCOM's
Joint Patient Movement Requirements Center (JPMRC)
originally deployed to the theater
supporting OEF. There they performed as a
patient movement management cell
coordinating the movement, aeromedical and
otherwise, of sick and wounded personnel
from the AOR to higher levels of care in
Europe and the United States. The JPMRC
maintained 100 percent in-transit visibility
(ITV) of patients entering the patient
movement system via the TRANSCOM Regulating
& Command and Control Evacuation System
(TRAC2ES). Coupled with the ability to
utilize aircraft within the theater of
operations or in-system to quickly respond
to casualty movement requirements,
aeromedical evacuation (AE) forces have
successfully moved over 17,000 patients from
the USCENTCOM area of operations to date.
The JPMRC ensured the most seriously ill or
injured individuals quickly reached
higher-level medical care. More than 9,800
of those movements occurred between 19 March
and 30 September 2003,
with a total of 1,993 patient movements
during the 42 days of major OIF combat
operations, 19 March through
1 May 2003. Not a single
patient died while in the capable hands of
USTRANSCOM's AE professionals during that
period.
Additionally, TRAC2ES has
become the centerpiece of homeland defense
patient movement planning. With "lift-bed
planning" capability, TRAC2ES is key to
managing large numbers of casualties that
might occur during natural disasters or
terrorist attacks. Further development is
planned to integrate TRAC2ES fully within
the National Disaster Medical System.
USTRANSCOM continued its
contributions to the OEF-related detention
of large numbers of al-Qaeda, Taliban, and
other detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
detention facility in support of the United
States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM).
USTRANSCOM airlift missions sustained
detention operations through the movement of
over 7,000 passengers (U.S. military
personnel as well as over 100 detainees) and
133 short tons of supplies throughout the
fiscal year. Detainee missions required
intense security methods and the support of
45 air refueling missions to move to and
from Guantanamo Bay. In a twist from the
previous year, these missions included the
repatriation of detainees released from the
facility once it was determined they no
longer posed a threat to U.S. interests.
With the significant numbers of detainees
remaining at Guantanamo Bay, we continue to
transport necessary supplies and equipment
via barge from Jacksonville, Florida,
averaging 440 short tons per week.
Despite the extraordinary
focus required to conduct support operations
for ONE/OEF/OIF and other contingencies,
USTRANSCOM continued to support the rotation
of U.S. forces participating in other
contingency and peacekeeping operations
around the globe. Prior to the completion
of Operations NORTHERN and SOUTHERN WATCH at
the initiation of OIF combat operations,
USTRANSCOM delivered over 13,400 passengers
and 3,300 short tons of cargo via airlift to
locations in Turkey and Kuwait. In Kosovo (KFOR)
and Bosnia (SFOR), a combination of
commercial and organic airlift transported
more than 18,000 passengers and 1,080 short
tons of cargo to and from the area.
Meanwhile, surface and sealift components
loaded and transported another 5,040 short
tons in support of these long-standing
operations. Additionally, from July to
September 2003, USTRANSCOM airlift elements
delivered 764 passengers and 798 short tons
of cargo to Senegal in support of Liberian
peacekeeping operations.
USTRANSCOM continued support
to over 130 Combatant Command and Joint
Staff-sponsored exercises during FY03.
These are some of the more notable ones.
From February through April of 2003,
USTRANSCOM supported the Reception, Staging,
Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI)
Exercise in the Republic of Korea via the
airlift of 5,805 passengers and 597 short
tons of cargo, and the sealift of an
additional 715 short tons. From February
through July of 2003, USTRANSCOM supported
Exercise COBRA GOLD in Thailand through the
airlift of 11,166 passengers and 784 short
tons of cargo, and the sealift of 21,142
short tons of supplies and equipment. From
June through September 2003, USTRANSCOM
assets once again supported deterrence on
the Korean Peninsula, this time delivering
6,922 passengers and 615 short tons of cargo
via airlift, and an additional 3,614 short
tons of equipment via sealift for Exercise
ULCHI-FOCUS LENS (UFL).
The Command also actively
participated in the planning and execution
of several other key exercises instrumental
to improving DOD's ability to deploy and
sustain forces.
Exercise
TURBO INTERMODAL SURGE (TIS) exercised
deployment of unit equipment from home
station to deployed locations using
commercial intermodal container systems and
container ships. Exercise TURBO
CONTAINERIZED AMMUNITION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
(CADS) exercised the movement of
containerized munitions from CONUS depots to
installations overseas using commercial and
DOD intermodal systems. Finally, Exercise
JOINT LOGISTICS OVER-THE-SHORE (JLOTS)
demonstrated the capability to offload/onload
vessels off-shore for deployment/sustainment
operations in a port-restricted
environment. JLOTS techniques and equipment
utilized in
Kuwait in support of OIF were
key to the successful deployment of
munitions and sustainment cargo, providing a
ready solution to the restricted port
environment encountered there.
Not all operations were
contingency or exercise-focused. AMC
aircraft flying in support of Operation DEEP
FREEZE, the ongoing National Science
Foundation (NSF) research program in
Antarctica, delivered a total of 7,802
passengers and 2,310 short tons of cargo.
Four MSC-chartered vessels delivered an
additional 12,745 short tons of dry cargo
and 14 million gallons of fuel for the NSF
community. As a side note, USTRANSCOM fully
supports the United States Coast Guard's (USCG's)
efforts to enhance its ability to maintain
the sea ice channel to McMurdo Station
through reliability improvement and service
life extension projects for its aging Polar
Class icebreaker fleet. These two vessels,
the United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC)
Polar Star and USCGC Polar Sea, are critical
to keeping the vital sea lines of
communication for sustainment open to
Antarctica.
Humanitarian relief
operations on Guam after Super Typhoon
Pongsona in December 2002 required a mixture
of 24 military and commercial airlift
missions to deliver 108 passengers and 1,165
short tons of humanitarian relief supplies.
In February 2003, USTRANSCOM supported
recovery efforts after the tragic Space
Shuttle Columbia mishap via six total
airlift missions. Finally, in October 2003,
AMC C-130s configured with the Modular
Airborne Fire Fighting System performed 60
drops (over 16,000 gallons of retardant) to
help extinguish the California forest fires,
preventing further loss of lives and
property in the region.
USTRANSCOM also continued high priority and
time sensitive airlift support for the
President of the United States. AMC
aircraft completed a total of 234 airlift
missions in support of the President, flying
the Commander in Chief to Mexico, the
Azores, Northern Ireland, Europe, Southwest
Asia, Africa, the Western Pacific, the
United Kingdom, and Iraq.
People: USTRANSCOM's
Greatest Asset
To meet America's
transportation challenges, USTRANSCOM must
first continue to develop and retain a
talented and motivated mobility team.
USTRANSCOM's strength, readiness, and
warfighting capability depends upon these
exceptional people and their extraordinary
efforts to execute USTRANSCOM's global
mission every day. Throughout DOD, we must
remain sensitive to pay and quality of life
issues and their associated effects on our
service members. Meeting the needs of our
people leads to increased readiness and
higher retention and is absolutely the right
thing to do.
In
addition to compensation considerations,
OPTEMPO, personnel tempo, and increased home
station workload are other factors that
negatively impact our retention efforts.
Our personnel spend a great deal of time
away from home. Those not deployed must
work harder to compensate for deployed
personnel and training time lost to previous
deployments. Our peacetime workload is
often as heavy for active duty personnel as
wartime, and is even more arduous for our
guardsmen and reservists. They must balance
high OPTEMPO demands with the stresses of
civilian careers. USTRANSCOM and our
components have taken steps, such as using
Army National Guard security forces to
augment base security, to mitigate the
effects of the unprecedented peacetime
OPTEMPO. We are taking additional measures,
such as increasing support manning and
aircrew-to-aircraft ratios to the new levels
required. Nevertheless, many members are
leaving for more stable and predictable
civilian careers. Now is the time to
correct the people-to-mission mismatch.
Another
USTRANSCOM area of concern is the
availability of a sufficient number of
qualified civilian mariners willing and
available to fulfill the additional
requirements created by the activation and
long-term operation of MSC and MARAD surge
sealift vessels. Volunteer commercial
mariners crew the surge vessels. The
decline in U.S. flagged fleet size,
increased training requirements, and more
attractive shore-side employment have led to
a decrease in the number of fully qualified
mariners. Fortunately, mariner availability
was sufficient to consistently ensure
on-time vessel activation of the 50-plus
ships supporting OEF/OIF, to include Fast
Sealift Ships (FSS), LMSRs, a hospital ship,
and numerous MARAD RRF ships. Since
the entire surge fleet was not activated and
because no wholesale crew rotations were
required for OEF/OIF, there remains
uncertainty regarding the ability of the
maritime industry and maritime labor unions
to produce an adequate number of fully
trained and qualified mariners to fulfill
the additional requirements created by the
full activation of all MSC and MARAD surge
vessels for a prolonged period. However, in
the future, there are no guarantees that
sufficient mariners will be available when
needed.
USTRANSCOM, MSC, SDDC, and MARAD support the
maintenance of a viable U.S. mariner pool
through enforcement of cargo preference
requirements, support for the Maritime
Security Program (MSP), and vigorous
maritime training and education. MSC has
initiated a collaborative effort with
USTRANSCOM and MARAD, in concert with the
maritime industry, to revalidate and compare
the peacetime/wartime requirements of
mariner qualifications and availability in
order to specifically identify potential
shortfalls. Initial comparison of
requirements against qualified mariners
indicated potential shortfalls of certain
unlicensed mariners during a worst-case
scenario if all surge assets are activated
for the long term (i.e., greater than six
months), requiring a full rotation of all
crew billets. Further, MARAD's 2002 Mariner
Survey regarding mariner "willingness and
availability" to sail when requested also
predicts potential shortfalls in both
licensed and unlicensed mariners during a
worst-case scenario. As a result, we
continue to urge the Administration and
Congress to support programs to promote the
expansion of the U.S. merchant mariner pool.
Support for our people is required in other
areas as well. The increase in the Basic
Allowance for Housing (BAH) in the past few
years, brought about through DOD's Housing
Requirements and Market Analysis Program and
BAH Initiative, has had an extremely
positive impact on the quality of life of
our military members and their families.
With these recent BAH increases, more
service members are finding it easier to
locate affordable housing within their local
areas. Continued Congressional support to
ensure out-of-pocket expenses are eliminated
will help more service members locate
affordable and suitable housing within their
communities.
The movement of service members' personal
property in conjunction with their
reassignment is a major quality of life
issue. SDDC is currently developing the
Families First Program, a comprehensive plan
to significantly revamp DOD household goods
movements beginning in October 2005. A
significant change for service members under
Families First is their empowerment to
determine which quality carrier will
accomplish their particular move. SDDC's
method of distributing household goods
traffic to carriers will be based 70 percent
on customer satisfaction and 30 percent on
cost, rightly placing the needs of the
service member first. Another advantage
under the program is the inclusion of Full
Replacement Value (FRV) for loss or damage
to personal property transported at
Government expense, a significant quality of
life enhancement. Section 634 of the FY04
Defense Authorization Act provides DOD with
the authority to contract with industry for
FRV. Currently, agencies do not pay their
employees or military members for loss and
damage beyond a depreciated amount
established by claims service regulations.
As a result, personnel who are frequently
required to relocate their families suffer
from aggregate effects of uncompensated
losses to their families' possessions during
the period of their government or military
service. SDDC will continue partnering with
industry and the Services to ensure further
progress on this significant issue.
Recent command headquarters restructuring
efforts, both at USTRANSCOM and within our
component commands, have led to numerous
personnel placement actions and other
transition requirements. Mindful of the
turmoil such events can have on individuals'
lives, both military and civilian,
USTRANSCOM is working to ensure all affected
employees receive the level of transition
assistance, training, and placement options
they require to continue their government
careers successfully or transition to the
private sector. We must be particularly
mindful of the value of our civilian
employees. Increasingly, we rely on
civilian employees to make informed
decisions and take decisive actions in
regard to evolving missions in the War on
Terror (WOT). Motivated and talented people are key to our success,
and thus we must attract and retain the best
civilian personnel, whether they ultimately
remain within the USTRANSCOM family, or
contribute elsewhere within the government
at large.
Together, Congress and DOD have made great
strides in our people programs. This year's
legislation must continue to reaffirm a
commitment to take care of our civilian
employees, service members, and their
families as they, in like manner, commit to
a career of service to our country. As
leaders, we must remain mindful of how
important it is that we win the battle for
the hearts and minds of these talented men
and women and their families.
Transformation and Process Improvement
Information Technology:
Our Key Enabler
USTRANSCOM is an information-intensive
command. Despite technology advances,
planes, trucks, trains, and ships only move
so fast. Similarly, geographic hurdles
remain relatively fixed for our physical
assets. Hence, Information Technology (IT)
is the enabler for collaborative, dynamic
decision-making and global command and
control to deliver the speed, effectiveness,
and efficiency of USTRANSCOM's operations;
and, it is not IT alone, but the combination
of IT with supportive processes and
organizational facilitators, that gives us a
real advantage.
USTRANSCOM is committed to information
dominance. Actionable, decision-quality
information superhighways are the way
ahead. Already, the Command uses its IT to
direct execution, track delivery, pay
providers, and make the most effective use
of transportation assets, while routinely
operating in austere environments half a
world away. Simply put, USTRANSCOM cannot
execute its mission without robust IT.
One of
USTRANSCOM's key responsibilities to the
warfighter is to ensure ITV of personnel,
supplies, and equipment. USTRANSCOM uses
the Global Transportation Network (GTN) as
the IT tool to provide ITV. GTN provides
the near-real time worldwide visibility of
passengers and material moving from origin
to destination through the DTS, regardless
of the mode of transportation used. GTN
uses information provided by 23 DOD source
systems and more than 125 commercial carrier
IT systems. During OEF and OIF, the Command
extended that capability in support of two
major combat operations to include movement
of passengers and cargo within both theaters
of operations. At the peak of OIF, GTN
processed over 5 million transactions per
day, with over 14,000 daily customer
requests for information on strategic and
tactical lift. Development of the next
generation of GTN, called GTN 21, is well
underway towards an early FY05 initial
operating capability. GTN 21 will integrate
transportation information that supports our
command and control mission requirement to
direct, control, and execute operations of
assigned forces pursuant to global
transportation management.
We
will advance the current USTRANSCOM
collaborative capability through Agile
Transportation for the 21st Century (AT21)
initiatives designed to introduce
collaborative analysis and decision-making
capabilities in distributed,
information-intensive environments. Those
environments will enable interactive
visualizations to exchange information;
evaluate courses of action; and make more
informed, effective, and timely modal
decisions.
In
addition to implementing major improvements
to our transportation and command and
control (C2) data systems, USTRANSCOM
recognizes and maintains a significant
reliance on global communications networks.
Indeed, our success in developing
world-class information technology systems
creates a need for more robust bandwidth
resources and end-to-end connectivity with
transportation elements and supported forces
deployed throughout the world. Accordingly,
USTRANSCOM and its component commands
continue to invest in major upgrades to
servicing communications and network
infrastructures. These modernization and
transformation efforts address a range of
fixed terrestrial and space-based networks
to include the "last tactical mile." We
continue to implement Radio-Frequency
Automatic Identification Technologies to
support our goal of providing combatant
commanders detailed tracking information on
the movement of cargo throughout the
transportation system. Further, we are
making major strides in expanding the
bandwidth capabilities of our terrestrial
campus networks and achieving a level of
redundancy to ensure full continuity of
operations.
On the
contingency operations side, the command is
also making significant progress in
addressing "last tactical mile" requirements
using innovative deployable satellite
communications techniques and systems. Our
progress is clearly demonstrated as we enjoy
unprecedented success rates in capturing and
disseminating cargo and passenger movement
information from our unimproved tactical air
and seaports supporting OEF and OIF.
However, these successes do not come without
challenges and costs. Towards that end,
USTRANSCOM fully supports ongoing DOD
programmatic efforts to expand terrestrial
Global Information Grid enterprise bandwidth
and launch robust communications and
blue-force asset tracking satellite
constellations.
In
accordance with current mandates, USTRANSCOM
developed and implemented an enforceable
enterprise-level architecture (EA) for the
DTS. The DTS EA is the principal
tool for managing the Command's current
operational processes, capabilities, and
technology investments as well as the
required operational and technological
initiatives for the future. The latter is
especially important as USTRANSCOM works
hard to move the DTS forward as the premier
global distribution organization in the
world. We have had tremendous success,
garnering several prestigious IT awards in
2003 to include the Computerworld Honors
Program Laureates Medal for Outstanding
Achievement in IT by a Government
Organization, E-Gov Digest/Federal
Computer Week magazine's Enterprise
Architecture Excellence Award, and a
nomination for the DOD Chief Information
Officer (CIO) Award. It is no longer solely
a matter of who has the best or most people
and equipment, but rather who can best
gather, understand, and manage information.
Because National interests rely so heavily
on force projection, timely and free-flowing
transportation information is vital. Thus,
it is important that USTRANSCOM continuously
evolve and manage an integrated,
forward-looking, interoperable information
systems capability for the entire DTS and
those who depend upon or interact within it.
Distribution Process Owner
(DPO)
On September 16, 2003, the
Secretary of Defense designated Commander,
USTRANSCOM, as DOD's Distribution Process
Owner, charged with improving the overall
efficiency and interoperability of
distribution-related activities: deployment,
sustainment, and redeployment support during
peace and war. In addition, the DPO
serves as the single entity to direct and
supervise execution of the strategic
distribution system.
Prior to this designation,
end-to-end distribution support to the
warfighter was marked by a multitude of
process and information technology
challenges. Essentially, DOD distribution
was a series of stove-piped processes and
information systems managed by many discrete
owners. Such segmentation caused
inefficiencies and drove DPO designation to
promote enterprise solutions.
As a Department, we will
bring our collective talents and ongoing
initiatives together to forecast
requirements, synchronize the movement of
cargo and personnel from a source of supply
to a designated customer, and expeditiously
respond to warfighter requirements. The
intention is to provide a "factory to
foxhole" distribution system, linking the
entire global DOD supply chain.
The DPO's focus area extends
from a point of sale to the first retail
activity in theater, as designated by the
theater commander. In addition, we plan to
designate one IT backbone, establishing
business rules to link sustainment and
distribution systems into a data warehouse,
where supply requisitions and movement
requirements are visible to distribution
system customers.
In conjunction with our
partners, we have already started the
process of transforming the distribution
system. We have solicited the ideas and
active support of OSD, the Joint Staff,
Combatant Commanders, Services, and DLA in
determining the road ahead. With those
partners, we have collaboratively determined
the key issues, identified appropriate lead,
and have begun work through a series of
joint service teams to drive distribution
process improvements.
For instance, we are
effectively shattering the barrier between
strategic and theater distribution as one of
our first "quick wins." We deployed a
first-ever CENTCOM Deployment and
Distribution Operations Center (C-DDOC) to
the USCENTCOM AOR within 90 days of
determining there was a need. We will use
the lessons learned from this pilot to form
the basis for an enterprise approach to
manage strategic and theater distribution
requirements and assets.
To drive consistent change,
we have established a supporting
organizational structure to transform DOD
distribution. The Distribution
Transformation Task Force, as the name
implies, crosses Service, combatant command,
and agency borders, and extends from flag
officer to action officer level.
Ultimately, this organization will develop
process and technology solutions that will
transform DOD's end-to-end distribution
system.
We have a unique opportunity
to use the capabilities and peer influence
that a combatant commander brings to the
table to transform our strategic
distribution system into a single-faced,
reliable, visible, and simplified strategic
distribution system. The warfighters
deserve no less.
Organizational Change
In
2003, USTRANSCOM optimized its headquarters
organization to better serve its customers
while conserving precious time and
resources. Originally initiated as part of
a DOD-mandated 15 percent headquarters
reduction effort, the Command made the most
of the opportunity through prudent
elimination of redundancy, divesting of
functions better accomplished elsewhere, and
realigning functionally within the
headquarters along core business processes.
USTRANSCOM created a light, lean,
execution-focused Operations Directorate
(J3) by redistributing non-execution related
functions, processes, and personnel to other
command directorates and centers of
gravity. This reshaped organization allows
us to better support the ongoing WOT while
posturing ourselves to accept
transformational responsibilities. The
restructured J3 includes a Surface Cell
leveraging subject matter experts from SDDC,
MSC, and USTRANSCOM in order to improve the
timeliness and effectiveness of surface
modal decisions made by the Command. Our
exceptional responsiveness in the recent
build-up to and prosecution of OIF is solid
testimony to the success of our
reorganization efforts.
Over
the past several years, USTRANSCOM's
components have actively transformed their
own structures as well. SDDC's recent name
change reflects its new emphasis on joint
distribution. The SDDC Operations Center,
with its enhanced ability to focus on
directing terminal operations at its 24
military ports around the globe, has made
end-to-end distributions a priority, thus
supporting USTRANSCOM's overarching task of
improving the DOD distribution system.
Reorganization within AMC in
2003 returned the command to its historical
roots of executing global mobility
operations and eliminated functions
redundant to the AMC staff. Highlighting
the importance of forward operations, AMC's
two numbered air forces were redesignated as
Expeditionary Mobility Task Forces,
providing direct, forward leadership of
critical mobility assets. Simultaneously,
AMC reactivated the 18th Air
Force at Scott AFB to create a single
commander charged with the tasking and
execution of all air mobility missions. The
18th Air Force Commander
maintains operational control of AMC's
Tanker Airlift Control Center and all AMC
airlift wings and groups within CONUS,
Europe, and the Pacific, freeing the AMC
Headquarters staff to focus on training,
organizing, and equipping the air mobility
force. Similar to the USTRANSCOM and SDDC
changes, AMC's restructuring optimizes the
organization to support worldwide deployment
and distribution operations.
Financial Transformation
USTRANSCOM, in partnership
with the Air Force and Defense Finance and
Accounting Service, is committed to
transforming its business and financial
processes and systems enabling improved
support to the warfighter. As a part of
DOD's Business Management Modernization
Program, USTRANSCOM submitted and the Under
Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) approved
an initiative to improve outdated and
unreliable processes and systems for working
capital and general fund financial
transactions. The objective is to provide a
single financial system for USTRANSCOM that
is integrated, reliable, accurate, and
timely. In addition, Air Force general
funds processes will be reengineered
allowing USTRANSCOM and AMC to effectively
manage general and working capital funds
within the same system, further reducing
redundancy and promoting efficiency within
the financial management system.
Readiness and Modernization:
Building for the Present and Future
Readiness: One Team - One Fight
USTRANSCOM readiness relies
heavily on our mobility team partners in the
National Guard and Reserve. More than any
other combatant command, USTRANSCOM relies
on its Reserve Components (RCs) for
peacetime responsiveness and wartime
capability. In every operational arena -
air, land, and sea - USTRANSCOM RCs provide
most of the Command's military wartime
capability. Since USTRANSCOM cannot meet
requirements without RC support, it is
imperative that the Command and its
components maintain RC mobilization ability
and flexibility.
The Guard and Reserve provide
approximately 56 percent of USTRANSCOM's
personnel. They also comprise 61 percent of
CONUS land and 57 percent of airlift
transportation capacity. In fact, the Air
Reserve Component (ARC) owns 53 percent of
outsize/oversize airlift capability (C-5s,
C-141s, and C-17s), more than 62 percent
of the KC-135 force, and over 77 percent of
the C-130 fleet.
RC support has been key to
USTRANSCOM's peacetime responsiveness and
the Command's ability to meet its mission in
the WOT. The President's Executive Order
authorizing partial mobilization (up to one
million reservists for up to two years) has
proven crucial during OEF, ONE, and OIF.
Although thousands of our Guard and
Reserve forces volunteered to support these
contingencies, USTRANSCOM and its components
were required to mobilize thousands more,
most of whom deployed in support of air
refueling, airlift, and force protection
missions.
To put this in perspective,
in a typical year, AMC utilizes the services
of approximately 1,400 ARC volunteers over
the course of approximately 450,000 man-days
to conduct normal operations. In FY03, AMC
mobilized 27,532 ARC personnel to support
contingency operations, providing a total of
1,158,034 man-days over and above its
contingency volunteers. The importance of
RC personnel is just as pronounced in MSC
and SDDC. MSC mobilized 111 RC personnel, a
total of 16,498 man-days, in support of
sealift operations in FY03. SDDC relies on
its Reserve forces for approximately 26,500
man-days in a normal year, but used 326,310
man-days for 894 mobilized personnel
throughout FY03 in response to
contingencies. Even USTRANSCOM
Headquarters, in the midst of unprecedented
OPTEMPO, benefited from expertise provided
by 144 reservists and guardsmen,
contributing 40,725 man-days of experience
in the effort.
Antiterrorism and Force
Protection (AT/FP) Readiness
USTRANSCOM aggressively
advanced DOD's efforts in combating
terrorism and supporting homeland security.
The Command and its components implemented
key programs and collaborated on interagency
initiatives contributing to success in the
WOT.
USTRANSCOM led the first-ever
development of embarked security teams on
MSC common-user sealift vessels deploying in
support of OIF titled Operation GUARDIAN
MARINER (OGM). Supported heavily by Army
and Marine Corps forces and expertise, OGM
ultimately mobilized 110 twelve-man teams
plus a command and control element to secure
vessels transiting chokepoints and ports
within the CENTCOM AOR deemed at risk for
terrorist activities. USTRANSCOM
subsequently expanded the scope of OGM to
provide security to common-user MSC ships
globally. Recognizing the success of OGM,
the Secretary of Defense acted to further
institutionalize and perpetuate the program
by designating the Navy as Executive Agent
for military sealift force protection
beginning in June 2004, and USTRANSCOM is
currently coordinating program transition
details with that service.
Man Portable Air Defense
Systems (MANPADS), or shoulder-fired
surface-to-air missiles, remain the most
serious threat to our air mobility
aircraft. In cooperation with the National
Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency, we have
developed computer-generated MANPADS
footprint graphics that display risks to
airlift as they cycle through airfields in
high-risk locations. USTRANSCOM and AMC
also have partnered with outside agencies to
mature and expand cargo-screening
technologies and develop powerful new tools
that will ultimately detect small amounts of
explosives in packed cargo pallets without
the use of labor-intensive individual
inspections.
Homeland seaport security
continues to be one of the nation's most
challenging force protection issues. In
order to strengthen security within our
seaports and ensure our ability to deploy
and sustain forces, we have engaged on
several fronts with MARAD and other National
Port Readiness Network (NPRN) partners. The
result is an NPRN Memorandum of
Understanding which lays out specific
procedures for USTRANSCOM, MSC, SDDC, and
USCG in coordinating and executing port and
waterside protection of strategic sealift
out-load operations. The addition this past
year of USNORTHCOM and the Transportation
Security Agency to the NPRN lends
significant expertise in this critical
area. Additionally, our bilateral work with
the USCG was, in part, the impetus for their
creation of new and extremely valuable
Mobile Safety and Security Teams (MSST) that
provide increased capability to protect the
nation's strategic ports from seaward
threats. Furthermore, these teams provide
waterside security for MSC vessels.
USTRANSCOM has launched
information and intelligence-sharing
initiatives with all four commercial
transportation sectors, air, road, rail, and
sealift, as well as with the Transportation
Security Administration, to leverage the
unique capabilities within both the
commercial and defense sectors of the DTS
and to collectively close seams within the
transportation system's security posture
nationwide. Antiterrorism legislation is a
step in the right direction, but
coordination of the many users of our
commercial ports is an enormous undertaking.
Concerning our military
ports, USTRANSCOM and SDDC worked to secure
emergency funding to further improve
security at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny
Point (MOTSU), North Carolina and Military
Ocean Terminal Concord (MOTCO), California.
These funds will build innovative waterside
protective barriers to help prevent a
seaborne terrorist attack against these
valuable facilities. Contracts were awarded
in August 2003, and construction began in
November 2003 for these important security
enhancements.
The Command's Critical
Infrastructure Protection (CIP) program made
excellent progress during the past year.
USTRANSCOM conducted vulnerability
assessments of 19 identified critical nodes
in FY03, partially paid for through WOT
funding. With continued funding, now
managed by the CIP Director in the Office of
the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Homeland Security, we can continue this
vital work throughout FY04.
The
potential threat of Chemical, Biological,
Radiological, Nuclear, and High Yield
Explosive (CBRNE) attack at home and abroad
further exacerbates USTRANSCOM's mission
planning and execution. USTRANSCOM is
diligently working to enhance its capability
to protect personnel and facilities from
CBRNE attack and, should such an attack
occur, to detect contamination and
decontaminate facilities, equipment, and
personnel in order to facilitate mission
success. AMC recently participated in a
Large Frame Aircraft Decontamination
Demonstration at Eglin AFB, Florida, the
results of which are due for release later
this year. SDDC and MSC coordinated the
procurement, distribution, and training of
the necessary CBRNE equipment to protect
merchant mariners on both government-owned
and commercial cargo vessels transiting
ports within the USCENTCOM AOR during OIF
major combat operations. Both organizations
continue to train and exercise CBRNE
protection and response at port facilities
via their units stationed worldwide. With
the global proliferation of such weapons,
CBRNE defense planning will continue to
require our attention and requisite funding
for the foreseeable future.
Mobility Capability Study
(MCS)
Our current transportation
force structure was programmed to meet the
requirements established by the Mobility
Requirements Study 2005 (MRS-05), based on
the 1997 National Military Strategy (NMS).
This study was completed in 2000. As a
result of the events of 9/11, the national
military objectives have changed.
Objectives delineated in the draft NMS
increase our overall air refueling, airlift,
and sealift requirements considerably. A
proposed plan is for the MCS and OA-05 to
begin in June 2004, after the completion of
OA-04, and conclude not later than March
2005. The goal to complete this full
end-to-end mobility analysis within ten
months presents an ambitious challenge. The
scenarios proposed to support the MCS are
centered in different regions of the world
that will highlight our global mission.
Both the "Win Decisively" and "Swiftly
Defeat" scenarios will be developed in the
Multi-Service Force Deployment process and
vetted in the OA process.
Readiness and
Modernization
Air
Mobility
USTRANSCOM's number one shortfall is its
aging and numerically inadequate strategic
airlift fleet. We have a significant gap in
our ability to meet the needs of DOD
agencies, specifically the needs of the
regional combatant commanders. Our current
strategic airlift shortfall of 9.8 Million
Ton-Miles per Day (MTM/D) from the MRS-05
goal of 54.5 MTM/D is due to a shortage in
the number of aircraft available and
significant maintenance challenges
specifically associated with our fleet of
C-5 aircraft. Consequently, a key
USTRANSCOM modernization goal is to retire
the oldest and poorest performing C-5s,
modernize the remainder, and evaluate the
continued procurement of C-17s.
The
C-5 continues to be a critical component of
AMC's airlift fleet and is integral to
meeting airlift mandates. However, the
aircraft's enormous capacity is hampered by
unacceptably low reliability and
maintainability. Current Mission Capable
(MC) rates for C5-A and C5-B aircraft are
63.5 percent and 73.8 percent,
respectively. In fact, during the last four
years, because of low C-5 MC rates, AMC has
had to assign two C-5s against many
higher-priority missions to better ensure
reliability and/or on-time mission
accomplishment. The net result is fewer
aircraft available for tasking and less
operational flexibility.
AMC is
addressing this critical capability
shortfall with two major C-5 modernization
efforts: the Avionics Modernization Program
(AMP), and the Reliability Enhancement and
Re-engining Program (RERP). AMP replaces
all high-failure and unsupportable avionics
and flight instrument systems on the C-5
fleet. This replacement makes the C-5
compatible with international standards
required for flight today, as well as in
tomorrow's increasingly restrictive Global
Air Traffic Management (GATM) airspace. AMP
installs an all-weather flight control
system and Secretary of Defense‑mandated
navigational safety equipment, including a
Terrain Avoidance Warning System (TAWS).
RERP will replace engines and pylons and
upgrade the aircraft's landing gear,
environmental control system, and auxiliary
power units--the C-5's most unreliable
systems. A number of independent studies
have projected that C-5 modernization
efforts could increase the C-5 MC rate as
much as 13.5 percent, while simultaneously
reducing our cost of ownership.
Several studies have recommended an
operationally effective mix of RERPed C-5s
and purchase of additional C-17 aircraft.
America cannot afford to lose the niche
filled by the C-5 fleet's organic capability
or allow it to continue to atrophy.
USTRANSCOM's documented
inability to meet the warfighter's
military-unique airlift cargo requirements
led to the acquisition of C-17s. To date,
the C-17 program has delivered 113 of 180
authorized aircraft. While the approved 180
C-17 multi-year procurement plan is a big
step in the right direction toward achieving
needed capability, a more capable,
versatile, and reliable strategic airlift
mix should include C-17s and a correct
number of fully modernized C-5s. This
combination of aircraft provides a
much-reduced average fleet age at the
earliest date, while affording the needed
flexibility to move outsize and oversize
cargo over long distances and into short,
unimproved runways. The C-17 has already
proven exceptionally capable and reliable in
airlifting our forces to the fight, no
matter where that fight may be. It is the
only aircraft capable of performing all
missions: strategic airlift, tactical
airlift, airdrop (key to strategic brigade
airdrop), aeromedical evacuation, austere
airfield operations, denied access, and
special operations. In a "come as you are"
world, we must continue C-17 investment.
This versatile and reliable platform is the
"sure bet" for our future force.
AMC's
venerable air refueling force is performing
superbly in ONE, OEF, and OIF. Operations
today are increasingly air-refueling
dependent, and the force is delivering, but
the strain is evident. Our concerns grow
daily. The Tanker Requirements Study 2005
(TRS-05) supported our long-held position
that AMC has a significant KC-135
crew-to-aircraft ratio shortfall. The
current active duty and reserve component
crew ratios of 1.36:1 and 1.27:1,
respectively--inherited from the KC-135's
Cold War days--are simply inadequate to meet
our current contingency requirements.
TRS-05 indicated a need for a 1.66:1 crew
ratio averaged across all scenarios, with
1.92:1 needed to meet the most demanding
scenario. USTRANSCOM and the Air Force are
working in concert to resolve this issue
through funding and force structure
initiatives. One proposal is to retire 68
of the oldest and most unreliable
KC-135E-model aircraft from the ARC and
replace them with 48 of the more reliable
KC-135R models from the active force, while
retaining the current crews. The resulting
offset would be reinvested in the remaining
KC-135 fleet for improved crew ratios and
maintenance.
A review of TRS-05, as well
as the KC-135 Economic Service Life Study (ESLS),
further quantifies the future requirements
on our 44 year-old KC-135 force. TRS-05
reinforced the importance of our tanker
fleet and the ESLS identified the steady (1
percent per year) cost growth and changing
availability expected as we continue to
operate our 1950s vintage KC-135s into the
future.
To
keep the KC-135 viable until a replacement
tanker is brought into service, AMC is
modernizing the aircraft with the GATM
program. GATM, programmed for fielding
between 2003 and 2016, adds increased
communications, navigation, and surveillance
capability, ensuring that our air refueling
tanker aircraft have global access to
ever-increasing restricted airspace.
Without GATM, tanker aircraft may be faced
with longer routes in non-optimum airspace
resulting in longer flying times and less
fuel available for offload.
Additionally, 40 KC-135 aircraft will be
modified to carry the Roll-On
Beyond-Line-of-Sight Enhancement (ROBE)
package. This small, removable payload,
when installed, enables the KC-135 aircraft
to act as an airborne data link between
battle directors and the warfighters in
theater or en route. This link gives all
participants the ability to deliver the
required information to the right location,
at the precise time, and in an actionable
format. The KC-135 ROBE-equipped tanker is
the first in a family of Scalable,
Multifunction, Automated Relay Terminals
(SMART) aircraft, a capability to be further
developed and integrated into the proposed
KC-767 tanker.
There
are several challenges facing the C-130
fleet. It consists of approximately 700
aircraft composed of 20 different models.
USTRANSCOM operates 410 of 514 basic combat
delivery C-130s through AMC. The average
active duty aircraft is 28 years old, the
number of C-130s is declining as individual
aircraft reach the end of their service
life, and older onboard equipment across the
remainder of the fleet is rapidly becoming
obsolete and cost prohibitive to maintain.
To remedy these problems, AMC proposes
acquiring 150 new combat delivery C-130Js,
retiring an equivalent number of the least
maintainable C-130s, and modifying those
with the longest remaining service lives to
a common C-130 AMP configuration. The core
of the new common configuration is a total
cockpit avionics modernization incorporating
GATM-required upgrades to communications,
navigation, and surveillance systems.
Sealift Readiness and Modernization
Thanks to $6 billion in
Congressional funding for LMSRs, as well as
increased funding for RRF readiness and
significant enhancements to prepositioned
ships during the past decade, our sealift
force is vastly more capable than ever
before. Strategic sealift is critical to
our nation's power projection strategy.
The 20th
LMSR was delivered last year, completing one
of the largest strategic sealift acquisition
programs in history, a program clearly
validated by superb LMSR performance in the
OIF deployment/redeployment process.
Additionally, the increased readiness
standards and maintenance of our RRF have
made it more efficient and better able to
meet lift requirements than ever before.
The RRF today is a well-maintained, ready
force of 31 surge roll-on roll-off ships and
37 special-purpose sealift ships. MSC's
surge sealift fleet, comprised of eight FSS
and eleven LMSRs, regularly supports joint
exercises, while its prepositioning ships
provide forward-deployed combat equipment
and sustainment supplies to the regional
combatant commanders. Although our sealift
force is more capable and ready today, we
must address the challenge of rapid force
closure.
The latest assessment of
mobility requirements as defined in MRS-05
indicates that the total sealift cargo
requirement is 9.62 million square feet,
which has been the target capability for our
organic sealift program. Recent operations,
however, have shown that our current surge
capability is only 6.81 million square
feet. Lessons learned from OIF have
confirmed two major changes that contribute
to this reduced capability: (1) the actual
mean stow factor on surge ships is closer to
65 percent when deploying force packages
rather than the standard planning factor of
75 percent (reducing the lift capacity by
1.31 million square feet), and (2) the
entire lift capacity of the RRF was not used
to transport surge unit equipment because of
the cumbersome and lengthy loading/unloading
process for some of the ships (further
reducing capacity by 1.16 million square
feet). Furthermore, OIF confirmed that the
capability to load, sail and unload our
military's "surge" unit equipment in time
for it to be effective for the combatant
commander is critical. Fast roll-on
roll-off ships (ROROs) are the most
effective means of meeting this surge
requirement.
The importance that the
evolving NMS places on the requirement for
rapid force closure presents a new challenge
to strategic sealift mobility. With this in
mind, the speed of half the fleet (by
capacity) is not capable of providing the
global response from CONUS in the timeframes
that are being projected for 2010
requirements. To meet future obligations,
we must fund the fleet at appropriate levels
commensurate with the requirement, maintain
program vigilance, and establish a
futuristic vision to sustain and
recapitalize the required levels of sealift
readiness and capability for the long term.
The capability of today's surge fleet is
well understood, and we look to the MCS to
establish the correct vision for required
future sealift mobility capabilities.
Additionally, fiscal commitments toward the
research and development of high-speed
strategic sealift are required to help meet
future sealift needs.
Infrastructure Readiness and Modernization
Another vital component of
USTRANSCOM readiness is the ability to
project and sustain forward presence. Each
transportation component command has
forward-based units and deployed forces
around the globe. SDDC operates at seaports
worldwide, interacting with allied
governments, militaries, and local
authorities. These forward-based activities
enable instant access to seaports, as well
as to the lines of communication radiating
from them. The MSC forward deployed staffs
serve as focal points for MSC customers in
their respective operating areas and provide
direct links to MSC ships for maintenance,
logistics, and other services. AMC
maintains en route infrastructure worldwide
to facilitate establishment of vital air
bridges for the airlift of critical
personnel and cargo in times of crisis.
Modern infrastructure, in CONUS and
overseas, is critical to effective and
efficient strategic deployment.
As a
predominantly CONUS-based force,
infrastructure means more to us today than
ever before. Yet, we have fewer overseas
bases through which we can operate, and
access to those bases is never guaranteed,
as experienced in Turkey's refusal last year
to permit U.S. use of bases to facilitate
the OIF deployment. Similarly, the
increasing OPTEMPO is stressing this
diminished base structure more than ever.
Along with the Services and regional
combatant commanders, USTRANSCOM must
continue to monitor our global mobility
infrastructure, keep up with needed repairs
and improvements, and remain prepared to
operate in new or bare base environments
when required.
In
CONUS, the Army has made substantial
investments in its combat equipment loading
facilities at power projection platforms and
its containerization facilities at
ammunition depots. These improvements have
significantly streamlined the loading of
41,404 railcars and export of 7,447
ammunition containers throughout FY 03.
Overseas, the United States European Command
(USEUCOM), USCENTCOM, USTRANSCOM, and the
Joint Staff, through the European En Route
Infrastructure Steering Committee (EERISC),
oversee infrastructure requirements for the
primary en route air mobility bases in
USEUCOM to support USCENTCOM operations in
Southwest Asia and staging operations for
Africa. Partnering with the Defense
Logistics Agency (DLA), the EERISC has
developed a comprehensive plan to improve
the infrastructure at those bases. The
EERISC has identified, validated, and
collaboratively championed the need for more
than $700 million in fuel hydrant, ramp, and
runway projects throughout the European
theater to support mobility requirements.
Likewise, we are working with USPACOM and
DLA to identify and fix en route base
shortfalls in the Pacific region in support
of Northeast Asia contingencies and staging
for operations in Southeast Asia. The
USPACOM En Route Infrastructure Steering
Committee (PERISC) has identified and
validated the need for over $500 million in
improvements throughout the region. DLA and
Air Force budgets now support all identified
en route fuels projects. Significant
construction began several years ago and
continues in FY04, but the infrastructure
will not get well (i.e., fully meet the
requirements laid out in our war plans)
until the end of FY07, and then only if all
funding and construction remains on track.
These
European and Pacific en route projects are
being implemented primarily to support the
MRS-05 established passenger and cargo
throughput requirements. However,
additional infrastructure to support the WOT
is required and being studied by both the
EERISC and PERISC. Moreover, today's
current operations, combined with existing
studies, further demonstrate the need for
expanded hazardous cargo capabilities at en
route and theater airfields around the
globe. To this end, USTRANSCOM is working
with combatant commanders, Joint Staff, and
DLA to implement a truly global en route
infrastructure system.
Efficient cargo movement through aerial
ports requires appropriate materiel handling
equipment (MHE). The Air Force's current
fleet of 40K loaders, wide body elevator
loaders (WBELs), and 25K loaders is old,
deteriorating, and suffering from poor
reliability and maintainability.
Fortunately, we are fielding 318 new Tunner
60K loaders to replace all 376 40K loaders
and 147 of the 206 WBELs. To date, AMC has
fielded 264 of these capable new loaders.
They have a much-improved mean time between
maintenance, are compatible with all
military and commercial cargo aircraft, and
can load six standard Air Force 463L pallets
at a time. The new Halvorsen (25K) loader
is smaller in size and weight than the old
25K loader, is transportable on C-130s,
C-17s, and C-5s, and is more reliable than
its predecessor. USTRANSCOM has a
requirement for 618 Halvorsen loaders, which
supports unfilled authorizations, and
replaces the 1960's vintage 25K loaders and
remaining 59 WBELs. Currently 312 Halvorsen
loaders are funded, leaving 306 unfunded for
subsequent Program Objective Memorandum (POM)
submission. Halverson deliveries began in
FY01 with 236 delivered to date.
Readiness: Commercial Industry and Labor
Teammates
Our readiness also depends on
timely access to militarily useful
commercial transportation. USTRANSCOM's
superb relationship with the U.S. commercial
transportation industry and supporting labor
organizations allows DOD to leverage
significant capacity in wartime without the
added peacetime cost of sustaining
comparable levels of organic capability.
For example, under full activation, CRAF
provides 93 percent of our international
passenger capacity, 98 percent of our AE
capability to CONUS, and 41 percent of our
international long-range air cargo
capacity. The CRAF program affords
peacetime business to participating airlines
in exchange for their pledge to provide
specified capacities in wartime. CRAF's
ability to dramatically influence operations
literally overnight was never more apparent
than immediately following the terrorist
attacks of 9/11. On 10 September 2001,
USTRANSCOM had 27 organic military aircraft
in service on key express and channel
movements. On 13 September 2001, after the
historic shutdown of the airways, we again
had 27 aircraft in service on those same
routes. But this time, there were only 3
military aircraft augmented by 24 commercial
aircraft. Having unencumbered 24 military
aircraft via the voluntary commitment and
patriotism of our CRAF partners, USTRANSCOM
could immediately answer the call for ONE.
Our CRAF partners, both
voluntarily and under activation, continue
to support critical wartime requirements
and, in exchange, deserve as predictable a
safeguard of their capital investments as
possible. In this respect, the Federal
Aviation Administration's Aviation War Risk
Insurance is vital to assure our CRAF
carriers that they can recover from
significant loss or damage incurred in
support of DOD. The CRAF program
demonstrates that all U.S. air carriers,
large and small, are key to a robust civil
air industry. Therefore, we support the Fly
America statute (49 USC 40118) and what we
refer to as the Fly CRAF statute (49 USC
41106) as they serve to support and sustain
this critical national asset.
Because of the increasing
requirements related to the deployment of
forces in preparation for OIF, USTRANSCOM
activated the CRAF Stage I passenger segment
on 8 February 2003. Stage I remained
activated through 18 June 2003, when major
combat operations had ceased and initial
force redeployments had occurred. Under
CRAF activation, each aircraft comes with
four crews comprised of (non-Reservist) U.S.
citizens, and the aircraft are dedicated to
DOD. This combination allows for greater
security, scheduling flexibility, and
responsiveness to changing requirements.
Additionally, activation removes all
questions about war risk insurance coverage
as the non-premium war risk insurance and
DOD indemnification programs cover hulls,
liability, and crew insurance coverage for
all DOD missions. For this activation, a
total of 51 aircraft and associated crews
were activated. Their associated carriers
made the aircraft and crews available for
their first missions within 24 hours of the
tasking, and these forces significantly
contributed to USTRANSCOM's ability to
rapidly flow manpower to the region.
The
Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement
(VISA) is the maritime equivalent of the
CRAF program. Under VISA, DOD has access to
commercial U.S.-flagged sealift capacity and
intermodal infrastructure in return for
peacetime business preferences. Because
pre-negotiated contracts with the carriers
permit early access to additional lift
capacity, the time required to close forces
for the counterattack phase of war
operations can be significantly shortened.
VISA participants move over 80 percent of
wartime sustainment cargo.
Force
deployment requirements in support of OEF/OIF
were met with organic shipping assets and
commercial shipping acquired through MSC
contracting initiatives. Therefore,
activation of VISA was not required.
However, VISA could conceivably be called
upon to meet emerging sustainment
requirements.
MSP, another critical element
of our commercial sealift program, provides
assured access to sealift/intermodal
capacity and a readily available, highly
trained and qualified work force of merchant
mariners employed in U.S.-flagged shipping.
The recent authorization of the Maritime
Security Act of 2003 expands the current MSP
fleet from 47 to 60 vessels. This increase
allows the opportunity to better assure
access to U.S.-flagged "low density-high
demand" assets (e.g., RO/RO and heavy lift
ships). MSP provides an underpinning for
VISA by helping to guarantee the continued
presence of a minimal U.S.-flagged
commercial fleet operating in international
commerce and that fleet's availability to
provide sustainment sealift capability in
time of war or national emergency. This
guarantee is particularly critical should
the U.S. find itself in a position where it
must act alone. Additionally, this increase
in fleet size should play a critical role in
expanding the U.S. mariner base. Currently,
the MSP fleet accounts for more than 900
crew billets that provide jobs to roughly
1800 trained and qualified mariners.
Finally, MSP provides financial assistance
to offset the increased costs associated
with operating a U.S.-flagged vessel. In
return, participating carriers commit vessel
capacity and their intermodal transportation
resources for DOD use in the event of
contingencies.
In
concert with their commercial aviation and
maritime counterparts, our nation's
commercial longshoremen continue to play an
integral role in the DTS, facilitating SDDC
marine terminal operations at strategic
seaports both in CONUS and overseas.
Throughout the massive deployment operations
in preparation for OIF, between 400 and 500
longshoremen supported 24-hour operations at
U.S.
strategic ports alone. Their herculean
efforts made a tremendous difference in our
ability to load and deliver combat
capability quickly and safely to Southwest
Asia.
Along the lines of the CRAF and VISA
programs, USTRANSCOM is currently
investigating Commercial Assured Access to
surface transportation assets, specifically,
commercial chain tie-down rail flatcars.
Chain tie-down rail flatcars are the
preferred and primary method used to support
large movements of military vehicles and
equipment from "fort to port" and vice versa
within CONUS. Currently, there is a
shortfall of approximately 2,000 rail
flatcars (commercial and DOD-owned) to
support MRS-05 surge requirements. The
long-term issue is that, even with a recent
10-year life extension, we will see
large-scale mandatory retirement of the
chain tie-down rail flatcars in the
commercial fleet (slightly over 5,000 cars)
beginning in 2014. There is no current
industry plan to recapitalize, based on the
fact that such flatcars are primarily used
to move military equipment only. USTRANSCOM
and SDDC are working with the railroad
industry to ensure that sufficient rail
transport capability exists, both now and in
the future, to handle the CONUS movement of
equipment, ammunition, and supplies as part
of force deployment and redeployment
operations.
Transportation Systems of
Tomorrow
The need for more responsive
and flexible lift, getting it where it needs
to be, when it needs to be there, cannot be
overemphasized. New mobility platforms as
well as enhanced infrastructure technologies
and process/organizational improvements are
essential to meet the challenge.
In
conjunction with the Joint Staff, Services,
and other combatant commands, USTRANSCOM
participated in a Defense Planning Guidance
(DPG)-directed study of future (2020)
mobility platforms known as the Advanced
Mobility Concept Study. This study provided
the initial identification and
prioritization of the future mobility assets
required to support DOD's transforming
forces and operational concepts for
2015-2020.
The study recommended: 1) OSD include
appropriate direction in POM SPG-06 to
initiate Research Development Testing and
Evaluation on a Shallow Draft High-Speed
Vessel, Theater Support Vessel, Super Short
Take-off and Landing Aircraft, Global Range
Transport, and Joint Rapid Airfield
Construction. OSD and the Services
will continue to address technical
readiness, cost, port analysis, and impacts
on the current programming cycle. 2)
Conduct an excursion to the next Mobility
Capabilities Study that considers
transformed forces and mixes of advanced and
current lift in the 2020 timeframe. 3)
Ultra-Large Airlifter (ULA) continue as a
platform for further related studies
involving advanced lift platforms since
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
is currently funding its research as a
multi-mission platform.
USTRANSCOM, working with industry, is
actively exploring a wide variety of future
technologies and concepts for military and
commercial use. In terms of sealift, we are
studying
militarily useful high-speed vessels (HSVs)
that provide the potential to enhance
intra-theater lift capability. These
shallow draft high-speed platforms allow
access to a greater variety of unimproved
ports, providing enhanced anti-access
mitigation. Currently, HSVs are capable of
transporting over 1,000 passengers and more
than 500 tons of cargo at speeds in excess
of 40 knots.
From an air mobility
perspective, our interest lies in
high-speed, low-observable multimission
strategic mobility aircraft with short
take-off and landing as well as autonomous
approach capabilities.
In the future, it makes sense
to look at a family of transport category
aircraft that could satisfy multiple needs.
Variants of a common airframe could be built
to serve as a tanker, an airlifter, a
penetrating aircraft for the Special
Operations Forces infiltration mission, a
gunship, or an Intelligence Surveillance
Reconnaissance platform. This approach
would have standardized cockpits, engines,
and systems to minimize overall development
expenses and reduce life-cycle costs.
We
need a collaborative effort between the
Joint Staff, Services, and other combatant
commanders to shape our planning, policy,
and procedures as technology moves from test
and evaluation into acquisition. All of the
types of systems that I just mentioned would
be costly to develop, procure and operate.
Much work remains to be done to determine
how much they would add to our overall
military capabilities, determine how costly
it would be to pursue these individual
systems, and decide on the right mix of
systems and capabilities in which to
invest. We must make decisions concerning
future employment of this technology that
are consistent with the best interests of
our overall transportation system and our
warfighters.
FINAL THOUGHTS from
General Handy
All that matters, and what
each of us in USTRANSCOM is pledged to do,
is to provide absolute, complete, and total
support to the warfighter.
On any given day, the
USTRANSCOM team of professionals provides
critical strategic transportation to a host
of U.S. and international agencies. Today,
USTRANSCOM is simultaneously supporting
every single combatant commander performing
real-world operations. No matter what the
mission assigned, the men and women who
operate USTRANSCOM's air, land, and sea
components are first out the door. There
are not many headlines for what they do, but
these dedicated professionals execute their
global military mission every day in defense
of our country.
I am extremely proud of
today's USTRANSCOM and honored to lead the
superb men and women who comprise our
national defense transportation team.
USTRANSCOM will continue to provide the most
effective and responsive mobility capability
the world has ever seen and, in light of
recent developments, will endeavor to create
that same level of efficiency and
interoperability through a transformed DOD
distribution process.
You can rest assured that
USTRANSCOM's crystal clear vision of the way
ahead will provide constantly improving,
seamless, and responsive support to the
warfighters. America's military might moves
with us, and we are stepping out smartly.
