ARMY SUSTAINMENT TAKES CENTER STAGE AT AUSA
By MEGAN GULLY Army Materiel Command Public Affairs Oct 6, 2021
Experts from around the Army and industry will come together to address the current state and future plans for the force during the annual Association of the U.S. Army meeting and exposition Oct. 11-13 in Washington, D.C.
During the three-day forum, Army and industry leaders will highlight how the force is taking care of its people and investing in the future, and how the Army remains ready to fight and win.
Kicking off a Contemporary Military Forum on “Sustainment Transformation in Support of the Multi-Domain Operations Force,” Gen. Ed Daly, commander of Army Materiel Command and the Army’s senior sustainer, will highlight the importance of balancing strategic readiness and modernization. The panel will take place Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. EDT.
“Sustainment transformation will provide the joint force the speed, range and convergence required to win in competition, crisis and conflict – in any theater across the globe,” Daly said. “It is time for bold transformation. We must create survivable and capable sustainment nodes to rapidly move logistics while simultaneously arming decision makers with real-time integrated, data-informed options coupled with anticipatory intuition of sustainment requirements.”
The forum will be moderated by retired Maj. Gen. Clark LeMasters and led by Lt. Gen. Donnie Walker, AMC deputy commander. Other panelists include Lt. Gen. James Rainey, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training (G-3/5/7); Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble, deputy chief of staff for logistics (G-4); retired Lt. Gen. John Morgan with IBM; and John Baxter with The Concourse Group.
“This panel will explore Army sustainment transformation at the strategic, operational and tactical levels to meet capability requirements outlined in the Joint Concept for Contested Logistics,” Walker said. “The sustainment of an MDO-ready force begins in the Strategic Support Area, which includes the homeland and extends into the operational support and tactical areas.”
To ensure Army readiness, the materiel enterprise is investing in power projection platforms and mobilization force generation installations, as well as extending the Army’s global reach through moving millions of pieces of equipment to the right units and strategically locating Army Prepositioned Stocks around the world, Walker said.
“Army Prepositioned Stocks increase the velocity of Army force projection by reducing the initial amount of strategic lift,” he said. “It is a critical component of the strategic mobility triad, along with sealift and airlift.”
Another area Walker plans to highlight is modernization of the Army’s Organic Industrial Base, 23 manufacturing arsenals, maintenance depots and ammunition plants which manufacture and reset Army equipment, generating readiness and operational capability throughout Army formations.
“We must modernize and retool our industrial facilities to support and sustain the next generation of Army equipment,” Walker said. “The Army is proposing investments of $16 billion over the next several years to improve the OIB and equip it with state-of-the-art technologies and clean energy.”
To view the sustainment panel and other AUSA events, visit www.dvidshub.net/feature/AUSA2021.