Military operations are more than conducting missions to achieve military objectives. Different levels of war require participation at all levels of the military. For instance, ground troop in enemy territory need a logistics network that enables the sustainment of their mission objectives and achievement of tactical and strategic goals. This paper is a brief overview of the different aspects of Army sustainment operations with a special focus on the role of the Sergeant Major.
Explain Efficiency and Effectiveness in Terms of Sustainment
The primary goal of sustainment is to maintain military operations until the successful completion of missions. Therefore, efficiency and effectiveness help with sustainment at the tactical level by focusing on the individual and units and their impact on the mission. Efficiency relates to how much energy and effort goes into waste when performing a mission. Effectiveness, on the other hand, relates to how well the satisfactory achievement mission objectives. At the operational level, on the other hand, efficiency and effectiveness are about planning and execution. Lastly, the strategic level focuses on uniting military reasoning and the political aspects of the mission.
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The Three Major Elements of the Sustainment Warfighting Function
According to the Department of the Army (2015), the warfighting function's sustainment has three main elements: logistics, personnel services, and health service support. For instance, logistics involves the actions that support the movement of forces, such as distribution, transportation, maintenance, and general engineering support. Through logistics, Army operations can be conducted anywhere and at any time, thus providing freedom of action and operational reach. On the other hand, functions like personnel services ensure capable Soldiers who are always ready to promote the moral and ethical values for the country at the Army's desirable fighting qualities (Department of the Army, 2014). Besides, without Health Service Support, endurance (the principal goal of sustainment) is not achievable. According to the Department of the Army (2015), health service support is essential because it is "arranged by the Army Medical Department to promote, improve, conserve, or restore the mental and physical well-being of personnel in the Army" (p.9-3). Therefore, without health service support, the Army would not have the desirable endurance to perform its missions satisfactorily.
Why is it Important for CSM/SGM to Understand sustainment at the Tactical Level?
The Command Sergeant Major (CSM) is the senior Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) in a military unit. Therefore, the CSM needs to understand sustainment about their job in evaluating the force's confidence and emergencies. The CSM is also a vital link between the commanders and the units. Their responsibility is to assist the commanders, especially when interpreting the commander's intent if mission objectives change or the operational environment becomes unpredictable.
The conflict between an Efficient and Effective Sustainment System
Efficiency enables the accomplishment of military objectives across all organizational levels, both operational and non-operational settings. Therefore, it requires that the military builds and sustains the capacity through human resources, maintenance, and research and development to meet its objectives. The conflict comes in when being efficient is necessarily not being effective. There are some military operations and objectives that value effectiveness above efficiency and vice versa. In most cases, there must be a balance between the two, as both are not satisfiable at the same time.
Concepts in Military Logistics
Joint principles of logistics are the guidelines that direct planning, execution, and assessment of joint operations, especially when cooperating between different military departments. Everyday user logistics, on the other hand, are the material or service support shared between at least two military departments, the agencies operating under the Department of Defence (DOD), and other operating partners necessarily not based in the US (Department of the Army, 2013). However, the US Army frequently cooperates with other forces when operating in their territories. Therefore, Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSA) are international agreements that facilitate cooperative logistics to provide alternative acquisition options for logistics support in exercises or exigencies (Department of the Army, 2013). Alternatively, the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) is a US Army program that provides contingency support when there is a need to augment the Army force structure.
What is Joint Logistics?
On the other hand, the industrial base provides the capacity to sustain military operations. This includes the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) that is responsible for providing land, sea, and air transportation services and aerial refuelling that facilitates global deployment and the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) that ensures combat commanders have campaign-capable, regionally engaged land forces (Department of the Army, 2013). These stakeholders have the strategic function of ensuring that the Army is always prepared to deploy its forces anywhere worldwide as needed to defend the country's interests and values. These entities work together to provide logistical support across the board.
Joint logistics is the means through which these stakeholders plan, use, and synchronize the sharing of logistics assets to support military operations. Without joint logistics, different military departments and their industrial complex would operate out of phase without each other (Christianson, 2006). There would be inefficiencies at all levels of the military, and the forces' effectiveness reduces by a significant amount.
Principles of Logistics
According to the Department of the Army (2015), the principles of logistics are anticipation, responsiveness, simplicity, economy, survivability, continuity, and improvisation. For instance, anticipation is the ability to predict future operational requirements and take the necessary steps to respond (Department of the Army, 2012). Furthermore, the principle of anticipation implies that the Army logistician has the freedom to act and anticipate future needs without waiting for orders (operational or fragmentary). On the other hand, the principle of economy is a balancing act between efficiency and effectiveness. In other words, logistical resources require efficient provision, such that the commander can use all the assets to maximize the effectiveness of their actions when performing a mission. According to the Department of the Army (2012), logistics and sustainment principles are similar. In other words, there are virtually no differences between military activities that ensure sustainment and those that deploy logistical resources. For instance, the principle of improvisation implies the ability to sustain logistic support in the event of an unexpected situation or when the mission's operational requirements change.
Purpose of a Logistic Estimate
A logistic estimate aims to predict the logistic requirements of a mission. Brigade combat teams are likely to overlook it during mission planning. The first step when developing a logistic estimate is defining the mission of the command. The second step is accounting for the situation, such as the area of operations, intelligence on enemy friendly forces, existing logistics support systems, and even reasonable assumptions. The next step is a logistic analysis of own courses of action followed by a comparison (listing the pros and cons from the J-4's POV).
Logistical and Sustainment Organizations
According to the Department of the Army (2012), logistical and sustainment organizations range from USTRANSCOM to AMC, SDDC, ASAMC, CLA, Service Component Commands, and Army Generating forces. These organizations operate across all three levels of war: strategic, operational, and tactical. USTRANSCOM, for instance, is both a strategic and operational organization in that it provides logistical support and aerial refuelling for all missions anywhere in the world and at any time. On the other hand, the industrial complex is a strategic organization in that it is responsible for sustaining the Army's superiority across all levels.
Logistics Planning Considerations
The first consideration is the mission. Mission analysis enables the identification of complex operational requirements that are most likely to occur during execution. Secondly, the most capable service component needs consideration, as it aligns with the operational area's service capabilities. Thirdly, logistics planning needs to consider the geography and physical infrastructure of the operational area. This enables an efficient selection of the most capable service component. Lastly, logistics planning needs to consider GCC option selection and design.
Conclusion
In summary, logistical planning and implementation results in Army sustainment. In other words, the principles of logistics (anticipation, responsiveness, simplicity, economy, survivability, continuity, and improvisation) are similar to the principles of sustainment. The Command Sergeant Major (CSM) is the senior Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) in a military unit. Therefore, the CSM needs to understand sustainment about their job in evaluating the force's confidence and emergencies. The CSM is also a vital link between the commanders and the units. Without the CSM, it is difficult to balance efficiency and effectiveness of operations across the three levels of war.
References
Christianson, C. V. (2006). A Personal Perspective: JOINT LOGISTICS SHAPING OUR FUTURE. Defense Transportation Journal , 62 (2), 14-18.
Department of the Army. (2012). Sustainment (ADRP 4-0). Retrieved from https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN18450_ADP%204-0%20FINAL%20WEB.pdf
Department of the Army. (2013). Joint Logistics (JP 4-0). Retrieved from https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp4_0ch1.pdf?ver=2019-05-10-120259-860
Department of the Army. (2014). Brigade Support Battalion (ATP 4-90). Retrieved from https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN22536_ATP_4-90_FINAL_WEB.pdf
Department of the Army. (2015). Brigade Combat Team (FM 3-96). Retrieved from https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/fm3_96.pdf
