Coker Logistics
Solutions Inc.
11465 Sunset Hills Road
Suite 300
Reston, VA 20190
Phone: (571) 521-1000
Fax: (571) 521-1001
info@logsolutions.com
Steven Butler has just returned from Camp Bastion. His visit was related to a modeling and simulation project using Coker's proprietary simulation tool, The Framework.
August 3, 2009
Coker Logistics Solutions personnel facilitated a one week Limited Objective Experiment (LOE) at DLA Headquarters to support the production of the Joint Supply Joint Integrating Concept (JS JIC) and the Joint Logistics White Paper (JLWP). The LOE, based on scenarios extracted from the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations LOE, assessed the proposed solutions in the still draft versions of the JS JIC and JLWP.
CLS analysts, under contract to DLA and Joint Staff for the management of the JS JIC drafting effort, provided the organizational and analytical effort to support the LOE.
DLA Today reported the results of the LOE in the following article:
By Dianne Ryder
Top military logisticians from throughout the Defense Department and coalition partners met at the Defense Logistics Agency's headquarters earlier this month to look into the future of joint supply operations.
Representatives from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the military services, Joint Staff, and DLA global command offices met July 13-17 to conduct a "limited objective experiment" that planners said will shape future joint logistics operations.
'This is the first time the logistics community has ever come together at this level to analyze a concept across all the services, agencies and combatant commands," said Army Col. Paul Brown, of the Joint Staff's Logistics Capabilities Division. "It's a dramatically new concept of how the joint commander is going to operate."
The conference came about as a result of 2006 and 2008 Combat Support Agency Review Team reports. Team members determined that while DLA did some things very well, the Agency didn't have a strategy for coordinating future logistics needs with other agencies. It was necessary to gather all key players in a central location to test how DLA could effectively deliver construction material, food and other equipment to its customers for years to come. Throughout the weeklong workshop, various vignettes were presented and played out to determine if what worked on paper would work in real-life scenarios.
"All the [combatant commands] , Transportation Command and the services participated, and it drove us to the next step," Brown said. He explained that the next step will be another limited objective experiment.
Most of the Agency's workforce will not notice any immediate changes in DLA's operations as a result of the conference. "I believe what the people in DLA or anywhere in DOD are going to start to see is some research, analysis and programmatic direction to implement some the capabilities we need to have in the future," said Jonathan McMullen, DLA supply chain operations deputy.
Many of the workshop participants traveled great distances, but deemed attendance at the event worthwhile.
"From an army perspective, this [workshop] is clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the [joint forces commanders] and the strategic commanders, so it's been extremely useful," said British army Lt. Col. Paul Marshall, of the Royal Logistics Corps.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Brady, of U.S. Pacific Command, added, "It's interesting to see the capabilities and processes that are being developed to support our operation in the future and to be a part of it to make sure it's what we need."
The results of the experiment will be briefed to DLA director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson, Joint Staff Logistics Director Army Lt. Gen. Kathleen Gainey, and the military services' logistics chiefs.
"This is a tidewater change, and I believe we've established a process that will probably continue on an annual basis to validate that our concepts are still going in the right direction," McMullen said.