Theater Logistician Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Dowd - KMI Media Group
Theater Logistician Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Dowd - KMI Media Group
Theater Logistician Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Dowd - KMI Media Group
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
By Keith Lippert<br />
Vice Admiral<br />
Keith Lippert (Ret.)<br />
www.MLF-kmi.com<br />
During my almost 38 years of active Navy duty, I<br />
experienced logistics support from my early days of<br />
serving on a nuclear submarine to much later when I<br />
became director of the Defense Logistics Agency. Military<br />
logistics changed dramatically during my active duty<br />
time, and will continue to evolve. What remains constant<br />
is that the people providing the logistics support to our<br />
warfighters worldwide 24 hours a day work very hard<br />
for its success.<br />
In terms of the military logistics system becoming<br />
more effective and efficient, I will address three areas:<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
Vice Admiral Keith Lippert (Ret.) started working as chief strategy officer for the Accenture Defense group<br />
in October 2006. His last tour on active duty was as the 14th director of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).<br />
The longest-serving director in DLA’s history, Lippert served in this capacity from July 2001 to July 2006. Prior<br />
to DLA, he was the commander, Naval Supply Systems Command, and 41st chief of Supply Corps from August<br />
1999 to July 2001. He also served as vice commander, Naval Supply Systems Command from August 1999 to<br />
July 2001.<br />
Lippert earned his commission through the regular U.S. Navy ROTC program, graduating from Miami<br />
University, Oxford, Ohio, with a B.A. in mathematics in 1968. Additionally, he holds master’s degrees from the<br />
Naval Postgraduate School in management and in operations research.<br />
Improving the Effectiveness and Effi ciency<br />
of Military Logistics<br />
civilian management and leadership expertise;<br />
knowledge of commercial off-the-shelf information<br />
technology systems; and<br />
joint logistics solutions.<br />
Throughout my career and continuing today, I have<br />
observed a lack of emphasis on the proper education<br />
and training of the Department of Defense’s civilian<br />
logistics work force. While some of the education and<br />
training is well thought out, structured and effective,<br />
most is not. This problem is not unique to DoD,<br />
but prevalent throughout the federal government. The<br />
Annenberg Leadership Institute commenced leadership<br />
training for mid-level civilians from many departments<br />
of the federal government to address this issue. I believe<br />
programs like these—either internal to the departments<br />
of the federal government or like the Annenberg<br />
Leadership Institute—will result in a more effective and<br />
efficient federal government. This must be a priority for<br />
DoD logistics organizations.<br />
The military services and the Defense Logistics<br />
Agency are in various stages of implementing Enterprise<br />
Resource Planning (ERP) systems. These systems will<br />
improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the military<br />
logistics system by reducing logistics response time,<br />
requiring data integrity, improving financial accountability<br />
and reducing inventories. The ERP systems<br />
are large and complex, requiring expertise to take<br />
full advantage of their benefits. Military and civilian<br />
logisticians must become very knowledgeable on these<br />
systems and develop new approaches to solving problems.<br />
Change management training also is essential for<br />
these systems to reach full potential. For example, there<br />
are extensive inventory savings as a result of improved<br />
demand forecasting from these ERP systems.<br />
Finally, I have had the opportunity to participate in<br />
a red team effort with the joint staff, which describes the<br />
ideal logistics system in 2016–2028. Obviously, much<br />
needs to be accomplished to achieve this goal. Certainly<br />
a renewed emphasis on “jointness” is required. IT<br />
systems that address total asset visibility, integrated data<br />
environment and an enterprise approach, to name a<br />
few, should be implemented where practical from a joint<br />
perspective, to speed implementation and reduce costs.<br />
The bottom line is that DoD must renew its efforts on<br />
leadership and management skills of the civilian logistics<br />
work force. The organic expertise of the COTS ERP<br />
systems must be improved, and joint IT solutions should<br />
be implemented where practical.<br />
For more information, contact Keith Lippert at<br />
keith.w.lippert@accenture.com.<br />
MLF 3.7 | 5