WORKFORCE It Takes a Team
Forward-deployed Army materiel enterprise pools diverse skills to execute multifaceted mission in Afghanistan
by COL William E. Cole T
oday approximately 68,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are deployed in Afghanistan as the U.S. element of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). Tey are equipped with the best vehicles, weapons and elec-
tronics in the world, systems supported by a confederation of military personnel, DOD civilians and contractors who make up the materiel enterprise team. Te members of that team issue new equipment to Soldiers, train them to use it, maintain non- standard equipment, provide technical advice, and even help retrograde vehicles and other systems out of Afghanistan.
Te majority of the personnel making up the materiel enterprise team in Afghanistan come from the U.S. Army Materiel Com- mand (AMC) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)). Just as AMC and ASA(ALT) organizations are teamed in the United States to form life-cycle management commands (LCMCs), in Afghanistan the deployed AMC and ASA(ALT) organizations partner to provide better support to the Soldier. Other partners in the materiel enterprise team include the Rapid Equipping Force, and members of the U.S. Army Test and Eval- uation Command conducting forward operational assessments of new equipment.
Te mission for most of the deployed ASA(ALT) personnel
in Afghanistan is to field, upgrade or maintain non-standard equipment. Tis includes
Army maintenance and supply systems, perhaps because the items not supported by existing
equipment is too new to have school-trained Soldiers support- ing it, or because the equipment is so unique to the mission in Afghanistan that it may never become part of the Army’s stan- dard inventory. In either case, ASA(ALT) contractors provide and support the equipment in the field to keep it operational for Soldiers in the fight.
A DIVERSE ROSTER Te largest AMC organization in the materiel enterprise team is the 401st Army Field Support Brigade (AFSB), headquartered in Bagram. Te 401st AFSB provides field- and sustainment- level logistics for U.S. forces and selected coalition partners across Afghanistan. One element of the 401st AFSB, the Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Directorate (ALT-D), focuses on providing life support to deployed ASA(ALT) and AMC personnel who are fielding, upgrading or sustaining non-standard equipment.
Most deployed ASA(ALT) personnel fall under the 401st AFSB for administrative control, and they rely on the officers and civilians of the ALT-D to provide the living areas, workspace, vehicles and other support equipment necessary to perform their mission.
Some of those deployed ASA(ALT) Soldiers, DA civilians and contractors are upgrading vehicles with improved armor or fielding improved communication systems, including Capability Set 13. Others are fielding new targeting systems
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Army AL&T Magazine
July–September 2013
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