SEEKING SYNCHRONIZATION


Army Sustainment Command’s Distribution Management Center marks major gain in evolution of materiel management


by COL William Krahling and Mr. Matthew Meenan A 34


s the Army transitions from a force focused on two simultaneous theaters of operation, it is experiencing the institutional effects of the fielding and equip- ping measures required for an Army at war. From


accounting for rapidly fielded equipment from multiple pools managed by multiple agencies, to readjusting authorizations to reflect a changing operations tempo (OPTEMPO), the Army is a force out of balance. A culture change is required to effectively balance new production, reset and modernization of systems to enhance unit readiness.


To this end, the Army is executing several concurrent operations: divesting equipment that will be in excess of requirements for supporting the future force, reorganizing brigade combat teams, and modernizing the force to regain balance and drive readi- ness to support its missions. Enter the U.S. Army Sustainment Command (ASC) Distribution Management Center (DMC), a brigade that serves as the single materiel integrator and exe- cuting agent for the enterprise. Te DMC provides materiel readiness and management to ensure that the Army maintains the appropriate equipment in accordance with unit authori- zations. Greater modularity—in that units can accept release equipment in response to changes in OPTEMPO—and a better


Army AL&T Magazine July–September 2014


balance of equipment on hand mean that units can spend less energy tracking unneeded equipment and return more rapidly to “Train/Ready” status as they return from deployments.


As the operational arm of U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), ASC provides materiel readiness capabilities to the force at home and abroad. DMC, working with ASC’s field support brigades and logistics readiness centers, provides an end-to-end capability to deliver equipment from the national sustainment base to tactical units throughout the world.


Te Army could no longer continue operating with multiple organizations managing materiel, using various independent information systems and stovepiped supply chains. Te previous system, in which the processes and points of contact depended on what you needed and when, had to change. So the Army tapped ASC to leverage and synchronize materiel managers across the service, allowing the DMC to take the lead in reshap- ing and modernizing the force in terms of materiel readiness.


LEAD MATERIEL INTEGRATOR To effect the necessary changes, the secretary of the Army des- ignated AMC as the lead materiel integrator (LMI) in March


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176