A


nyone who depends on a car to get to work each day knows that the older the car gets, the more it costs to maintain.


Finally, there comes a day of reckoning when the commuter has to weigh the costs and benefits of putting another few thou- sand dollars into the old beater to keep it running, against putting that cash toward a down payment on a shiny new car that promises to be vastly more reliable.


But maintenance is only one piece of sustainment, which involves nearly every phase of storing, maintaining, fueling, upgrading and modernizing, repairing and a host of other logistical concerns. And the Army procures military vehicles and aircraft with the intention that they last significantly longer than the average commuter car—generally about 20 years, but in reality often longer.


Prudent sustainment is a must, as there are no shiny new aircraft or vehicles in the Army’s


immediate future. But the


cost of sustainment is massive. Accord- ing to a panel discussion, “Enterprise Approach to Sustainment,” at the Associ- ation of the United States Army (AUSA) Aviation Symposium Jan. 14, sustain- ment costs are supposed to be about 70 percent of a program’s budget, with the other 30 percent going toward procure- ment. But, as panel chair MG Lynn A. Collyar pointed out, sustainment costs are creeping toward 90 percent of bud- get and are going to eat Army aviation alive unless it streamlines its sustain- ment practices. Collyar is commanding general (CG) of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal, AL.


“About 21 percent of the [helicopter] engines we receive at Corpus Christi [Army Depot, TX] had no failure prob- lem, and another 19 percent should have


THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT


U.S. Army MG Lynn A. Collyar, right, and MG Kevin W. Mangum, center, CG of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, walk with COL Allan M. Pepin, commander of Task Force Falcon, during a visit at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, May 7, 2013. Collyar chaired a panel on sustaining aviation at the AUSA Aviation Symposium in January in which he pointed out that the current spending trend on aviation sustainment cannot continue. (U.S. Army photo by SGT Luke Rollins)


been fixed at the unit level,” where pre- shop analysis could have been performed, he said. “We can no longer afford that 40 percent.”


AN ENTERPRISE APPROACH An enterprise approach to sustainment has three legs: force structure, modern- ization and readiness. In terms of force structure, Collyar said, the Army needs to leverage the full mix of DA civil- ian, Soldier and contractor personnel


to ensure that all are aligned and that each piece of the sustainment puzzle is addressed at the appropriate level, by the appropriate personnel.


While civilians and contractors will continue to play an important role in sustaining Army aircraft, Soldiers need to roll up their sleeves at train- ing bases and depots, learn from their non-uniformed colleagues and get back up to speed, he said. “Tis is critically


ASC.ARMY.MIL 83


LOGISTICS


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