THINK READY, BE READY
FIGURE 2 1
Leverage proven RFI fielding operations to supply deploying Soldiers.
2
Using Army prepositioned stocks, approve an Armywide requirement to store sets of FR uniforms as contingency stocks.
3
Consider changing the Soldier’s initial issue and subsequent clothing bag authorization from non-FR uniforms to FR uniforms.
THREE WAYS TO GO
The author says the Army has three options for buying time for the industrial base to ramp up production of flame-resistant uniforms to meet requirements for a possible 0leaving Soldiers unprepared for combat is unacceptable. (Graphic by USAASC)
Tat would take the Army to a lower state of readiness and force protection. However, that is exactly what could happen this year if the Army does nothing to anticipate the surge requirement for flame-resistant uniforms for Soldiers deploying in support of a major conflict.
ACTION NOW = READINESS LATER Are there better acquisition approaches for the Army to consider? Yes, and now is the time to act—before there is an actual need for hundreds of thousands of deploying Soldiers. Current RFI oper- ations efficiently support deploying Soldiers with flame-resistant uniforms. At the same time, current central issue facilities and military clothing and sales stores across Army installations sup- port Soldiers with non-flame-resistant uniforms. Tis period of sustained excellence is the time to plan and prepare the industrial base to support a surge requirement for flame-resistant uniforms. Each of the following three options has advantages and disad- vantages, but with overall benefits far exceeding the costs of the unacceptable status quo. Te Army must be able to buy time for the industrial base to ramp up production and meet surge requirements for flame-resistant uniforms. (See Figure 2.)
Option 1—Leverage the efficiency and excellence of current Rapid Fielding Initiative operations. Over the last decade, RFI has successfully fielded millions of items to deploying Soldiers. Te current operation can simultaneously support the fielding of flame-resistant uniforms and combat gear for up to three brigade combat teams per month. Te RFI could seamlessly absorb a mission supporting 15 BCTs’ worth of uni- forms by simply adding that much buffer-stock inventory of flame-resistant uniforms to the central warehouse in Lansing, Michigan. Te storage, distribution, transportation and fielding operations for these uniforms would operate similarly to current RFI operations.
Te barrier to implementation is not affordability but a change- resistant Army culture. Current RFI operations are 100 percent OCO-funded, and this option would require the Army to acknowledge the long-term benefit of RFI operations and make the RFI an enduring requirement with a commitment to fund at least part of the program’s operations from the base bud- get—essentially institutionalizing that portion of the RFI. As a possible model, the Army successfully institutionalized the
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Army AL&T Magazine
October-December 2017
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