Theater Logistician Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Dowd - KMI Media Group

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Asset status and availability
Warranty tracking and management
Ownership and transfer of assets
Escalation of requests
Approvals and funds checking
Proactive and reactive maintenance
Maintenance history
Effective management of resources
Replenishment of supplies through
automatic triggers
Mobile field service enhanced, the ability
work in connected or disconnected
modes
Subsequent GCSS-MC blocks will build
on previous ones, adding new capabilities
over time. When the program is mature
and all requirements are fully implemented,
it will consolidate more than 200 legacy
logistics information systems into an integrated
infrastructure that provides seamless
end-to-end logistics chain management,
advanced enterprisewide planning and joint
interoperability.
Q
Q: What are the priorities for the
next phase of the program and
future enhancements?
GCSS-MC capabilities will be delivered
incrementally. To realize the benefits of integrated,
state-of-the-art systems and common
business processes as soon as possible, Block
1, the first phase, has been divided into
two releases. The initial release, Capability
Release 1.1, focuses on providing capability
www.MLF-kmi.com
LIEUTENANT COLONEL
JIM STONE
(MARINE CORPS)
to the MAGTF and the enterprise in three
major functional areas: supply, maintenance
and request management. This release is
scheduled to begin field user evaluation
at III Marine Expeditionary Force early in
2010. The second release, Capability Release
1.2, consists of the sophisticated technical
solution that will enhance the MAGTF’s ability
to access logistics data in any location or
environment. Capability Release 1.2 allows
for the secure transfer of data between the
Nonsecure Internet Protocol Router Network
[NIPRNET] and the Secure Internet
Protocol Router Network [SIPRNET] and
the ability to synchronize data between a
continental United States GCSS-MC server
[Enterprise Instance] and the scalable, tailored,
deployed MAGTF instances that are
cloned from the enterprise.
While future blocks of capabilities are
still in the planning stage, it is anticipated
that they will focus on such areas as transportation/distribution,
engineering, health
services, life cycle management, advanced
planning and base/garrison functions.
PHILLIP WAUGH
(AIR FORCE)
From a logistics or supply chain perspective,
the next big event for the Air Force is
the integration of the Enterprise Resource
Planning Solution—the Expeditionary
Combat Support System [ECSS]. ECSS will
replace most of the legacy logistics systems
in use today, which is a huge undertaking.
This phase of modernization will take
several years with incremental deliveries of
capability.
As you might imagine, it’s important
to maintain a stable baseline for the legacy
systems being subsumed over the course
of ECSS development. However, real-world
events, such as securing the nuclear enterprise,
will almost certainly drive some legacy
system modifications. In addition, there
are a small number of systems that will
not be subsumed by ECSS. These systems,
and the aforementioned modifications, will
continue to target enterprise hosting and
the shared services offered by GCSS.
COLONEL
JEFFREY K. WILSON
(ARMY)
The GCSS-Army project office is capturing
lessons learned in the 2007 release
at the National Training Center and is
applying them to future implementations.
The next release, scheduled for 2010, will
include unit-level supply, property book,
ground maintenance, and tactical finance
support capabilities at the National Training
Center. A future release planned for
2011 will address aviation maintenance,
ammunition, environmental health and
safety, and cost management functions. It
is estimated that more than 170,000 soldiers
will use GCSS-Army when it is fully
deployed. ✯
Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jim
Stone is the senior Marine/director for
global implementation. Phillip Waugh is
with Air Force Headquarters 754th ELSG/
ILSS. Army Colonel Jeffrey K. Wilson is the
project manager Global Combat Support
System-Army (GCSS-Army).
MLF 3.7 | 17