Skibicki: In ARI, every year we review the list of equipment and have a big conference with AMC, the lead mate- riel integrator for the Army Forces Command [FORSCOM], which is the readiness enterprise, and then the Head- quarters, Department of the Army staff. All of the life-cycle management com- mands [LCMCs] are there, and most of the program managers and program executive officers are there. We review what the readiness drivers are across the Army over time, and then look at pieces of equipment that have been impacted by wear and tear, prioritizing what needs to go into sustainment-level repair first, and in what quantities.
Tison: Or what equipment [regularly] comes back and needs to be fixed. [For example,] generators—a generator goes over, and you know it’s being used, and you know it’s going to be automatically inducted to get maintenance. We review the status every year, because we found that some of the generators were going over and were never taken out of the box, so there was no need to bring them back through the depot to a reset line.
Skibicki: As we’re looking at the equipment coming out of theater, we actually have three different paths of equipment return. First, we review the equipment in the ARI program to make sure we have the right equipment that must go to the depots for reset based on the extended wear and tear due to desert conditions; the overall operational readiness impacts of the equipment over time, the amount of stress on the equipment; and the overall readiness in the force. Predominantly, everyone thinks of tactical wheeled vehicles first. Tey are the biggest pieces of equipment going into the depots for reset. But, we also have a lot of communications equipment—radars and such—that are in the ARI program.
BAGGAGE CHECK
As some Soldiers leave theater and others come in, G-8 plays a role in ensuring that the right equipment is left behind and redistributed where needed, and the right equipment stays with the unit. Here, Soldiers with 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division lay out their personal bags before redeployment at FOB Sharana, Paktika province, Jan. 15. (U.S. Army photo by SPC Raymond Schaeffer, 55th Combat Camera)
Second, we have TPE that is returning to units, and those units are allowed to bring that set of equipment home. Tat equipment is field-level reset versus a sustainment (depot-level) program. We want to get most of the equipment out of theater that is not being used, when a unit is not backfilled or when equipment becomes excess based on changed mission requirements. We are transferring that equipment onto unit property books so the units can bring it back to home station for proper redistribution.
Tison: Te beauty of the LMI approach is that as a unit brings equipment back onto their property books, the Army can get it into the correct unit through redis- tribution using the LMI DST. Te LMIs, as they look at the equipment after it has been through the field-level reset, can redistribute it directly to units with the most need or to the next deployers, based on DST. We have seen that most of this equipment may be able to be used at a
specific installation. Alternately, it may be redistributed within that geographical region. Te unit can then act as the vehicle to bring it back from the area of operations.
Skibicki: Te third way for the equip- ment to flow back is through the RPAT process and then be redistributed after sustainment-level reset. If the equipment is non-standard, it goes to the original equipment manufacturer for repair. Again, the LMI DST will redistribute the equip- ment based on the needs of the force.
Army AL&T: How does the Army balance the need for next-generation capabili- ties with the disposition of older materiel when resources for both are limited?
Tison: It’s typically less expensive to fix something than to buy something new. What we were able to do with reset and recapitalization—and you can use your fighting vehicles or your tanks as an exam- ple—was to bring them back and upgrade
ASC.ARMY.MIL 65
LOGISTICS
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