Military Sustainment Operations

Thomas Philpott's article “Military Update: DoD Medical Records Seen as a Hurdle for VA Care” expresses a message that the DoD is so focused on their database and their agenda to the point where they have lost focus on the people who are entitled to their service. The digitized health care system the DoD currently uses is called AHLTA; the IT system has been a “problem for the VA and for veterans because, in fact, it doesn’t allow electronic record transfers outside the military network” (Philpott, 2006). The article is biased in the sense that it places all of the blame of the DoD without any counter-argument as to why the DoD chooses not to expand to a shared system; however, the problem still stems back to the ineffective

“Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It seems to me, that a lot of people when thinking of Sustainment in the way that ADRP 4.0 lays it out see the really big picture of it all. So I’ll go back a couple years back in 2009 for a prime example of a small company based out of a small Combat Outpost on the border of Pakistan/Afghanistan benefitting from the support and services of Army Aviation to continue our warfighting function.

The United States military has never been as weak as it is under Barack Obama. In a time where the world is getting more dangerous every day, whether it is the growing threat of ISIS, Russia or North Korea, the current president insists on continuously making cuts to the military. According to an independent panel appointed by the pentagon and congress, “the shrinking U.S. armed forces, which are being downsized to fit that strategy and budget cuts, is a serious strategic misstep on the part of the United States and is inadequate given the future strategic and operational environment.” This essentially means that these cuts are weakening the military so much, that it will be ineffective to deal with global threats.

Colin Powell suggests, "Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership" The U.S. Military overseas operations may defend and solve certain problems but, the troops overseas could be in more danger there than in the United States. Overseas military for the United States, use resources that could be used with greater importance in the United States, they deal with different conspiracies, and although the military is a defense department it fights wars that will solve the situation not begin problems.

The United States Military has been around since June 14, 1775. Many things have come and many have left. The President of the United States is the commander in chief, who is responsible for all decisions. Each branch of the Military has a unique mission of security and peace. But the United States Marine Corps is known the rapid reaction force because they are normally the first boots on the ground. The U.S. Armed Forces are made up of 5 armed branches, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy.

The United States military is becoming more diverse. This includes its own ranks. Not only is there joint operations within the U.S. military’s own units and branches, but now it is a globalized world. The military must learn to work with other foreign forces and other government agencies. With this leaders must be able to work with all these entities. One way to do this is the use of Mission Command.

Webster defines sustainment as “The act of sustaining; maintenance; support”. ADRP 4.0 states that the endurance of the Army forces is primarily the function of their sustainment. Sustainment determines the depth and duration of Army operations. All over Army doctrine you will see references to sustainment. It is critical to any Army operation no matter how small and simple to large and complex. If leaders do not think about or are afforded the opportunity to plan and coordinate sustainment operations into their task, then the outcome could be devastating. Inadequate sustainment planning not only devastates the mission, but also the soldiers, citizens, equipment and habitat involved. One would think that for sustainment to be successful

So, how do we go about sustaining the force during a high tempo operation? Over the past 10-15 years of war, the military as a whole had everything it needed at its beckon call, for the

According to JP 5-0, a military end state “represents a point in time and/or circumstances beyond which the President does not require the military instrument of national power as the primary means to achieve remaining national objectives.” In the case of Plan GREEN, the military end state is that the Mexican Army has been defeated, US forces have been withdrawn, and a native constabulary is in place to provide security for US citizens and property. According to JP 5-0, an objective is “a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable goal toward which every military operation should be directed” and “describes what must be achieved to reach the end state.” The objectives that contribute to the achievement of the military end state can be found

Imagine you are a detailer and you receive notification that a critical mission will go gapped because a Sailor did not submit their Operational Screening. Senior Enlisted Leaders are should know the importance of completing and reporting the results of Operational Screening in a timely matter. This essay will cover a brief background of the Overseas Contingency Operation Support Assignment (OSA), discuss a problem within the program and give recommendations for decreasing delays in Operation Screening reporting and unexpected mission drops.

I believe you hit the proverbial nail on the head. After the initial invasion it didn’t take long and the sustainment routes were set up. I do believe they were very successful. I would also like to add that I think that they work well most of the time. However, I do fear that the army as a whole has lost a lot of ability to sustain its self wile on the move in an ever-changing battlefield. I fear the Army sustainment operations over the last 10 years have been one of readymade processes that were set up by solders that are no longer in the army.

Army sustainment is based on an integrated process (people, systems, materiel, health services, and other support) indivisibly linking sustainment to operations. The concept focuses on building a combat ready Army, delivering it to the combatant commander (CCDR) as part of the joint force, and sustaining its combat power across the depth of the operational area and with unrelenting endurance (ADRP 4-0, Chap. 1, Intro.) Sustainment maintenance is off-system component repair and/or end item repair and return to the supply system or by exception to the owning unit, performed by national level maintenance providers. National level maintenance providers include the Army

I felt the limitations of depending on the Air Forces for sustainment in Summer of 2014 when my company redeployed from Camp Buehring Kuwait to Bagdad Iraq. The deployment went well, but the we shortly found the limitations of flying heavy with only what we brought with us and were starting to rely on the Air Force to supply us with the sustainment goods. What we found is that the Air Force

One can only “self-sustain” for so long before requiring support from outside of oneself. This is where sustainment comes in. How do you know what you need? How do you get it? How does it get to you? Am I getting paid what I’m entitled? Will I get mail? Will there be hot chow? Am I going to be able to fill my canteen when it’s empty? These questions shouldn’t be the concern of the Soldier taking the fight to the enemy. His (or her) focus should be on their mission; fighting and winning. This is where our sustainers come in. They are our logisticians, maintainers, transporters, support, personnel, administration, finance, mail clerks, medics, and the list goes on.