(please note, this is Part II of General Hagee's testimony)
Better Business Practices
The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy have emphasized, and the Marine Corps is committed to, business transformation in order to optimize resource allocation. The Marine Corps is employing a variety of business transformation initiatives including: competitive sourcing of over 3,500 commercial billets to save $57 million annually; outsourcing garrison food service in our mess halls in the continental United States in to free up 594 Marines for other duties; using public-private ventures to fund new family housing and to increase the quantity of safe, comfortable, and affordable homes; consolidation of equipment maintenance from five to three echelons in order to improve maintenance effectiveness and efficiency; and, regionalizing garrison mobile equipment to realign Marines and dollars with higher priorities. The Marine Corps continues to develop its activity based costing capability in order to support fact based decision making.
In March 2003, the Marine Corps began participation in the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) ? a network outsourcing initiative that will provide a common end-to-end Department of Navy information system capability for voice, video, and data communications. By outsourcing information technology services not considered to be core competencies, the Marine Corps has been able to return 355 supporting establishment personnel structure spaces to the operating forces. As a result of this improved business practice, the NMCI operating environment will promote greater naval interoperability. The Marine Corps will continue to refine our business practices and increase the effectiveness of warfighting potential.
V. OUR MAIN EFFORT – EXCELLENCE IN WARFIGHTING Training
Training at Eglin Air Force Base. In anticipation of the cessation of naval expeditionary forces training in Vieques, Puerto Rico, efforts began in September 2002 to establish a new training capability at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB). Training at Eglin AFB is envisioned to provide a near term pre-deployment training capability for East Coast Navy Amphibious Ready Groups/Expeditionary Strike Groups and Marine Expeditionary Units (Special Operations Capable), with the potential to be part of the long-term solution. The training concept was designed for up to two 10-day training periods per year. The long-term objective is that during each 10-day event, the Expeditionary Strike Groups will be able to conduct the full spectrum of training required. The Marine Corps has invested approximately $4.2 million in environmental assessment/mitigation and infrastructure development required to establish an initial training capability at Eglin AFB.
In December 2003, the Marine Corps completed its first 10-day training period at Eglin AFB, at an additional cost of approximately $1 million. The Marine Corps is assessing the quality the training offered at Eglin AFB while continuing to explore and develop other options, both within the United States and abroad. While Eglin AFB has the potential for enhanced live fire and maneuver training, developing this capability will require a significant investment by the Department of the Navy and Department of Defense to upgrade existing facilities.
Joint National Training Capability. As described by the Deputy Secretary of Defense: “The centerpiece of our Training Transformation effort will be a Joint National Training Capability.” The Joint National Training Capability is one of the three pillars of Training Transformation, and will improve joint interoperability by adding certified ‘joint context’ to existing Service training events. The Joint National Training Capability is a cooperative collection of interoperable training sites, nodes, and events that synthesizes Combatant Commander and Service training requirements with the appropriate level of joint context.
The first in a series of pre-Initial Operational Capability Joint National Training Capability exercises was held in January 2004, linking a Marine Corps Combined Arms Exercise with live Close Air Support sorties, a Navy Stand-off Land Attack Missile Exercise, an Army rotation at the National Training Center, and an Air Force Air Warrior Exercise. The Marine Corps will be actively involved in future Joint National Training Capability exercises including Combined Arms Exercises and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1 evolutions scheduled for Fiscal Year 2005. The Marine Corps is fully engaged in the Joint National Training Capability program development, and is on track to enhance Service core-competency training with the appropriate level of joint context. In concert with the other Services, the Marine Corps is working with Joint Forces Command to refine the phrase “joint context,” certify ranges, and accredit exercises to ensure the force is training properly.
Infrastructure
Blount Island Facility. The acquisition of the Blount Island facility in Jacksonville, Florida, is critical to our Nation and to our Corps’ warfighting capabilities. Blount Island's peacetime mission is to support the Maritime Prepositioning Force. Its wartime capability and capacity to support massive logistics sustainment from the continental United States gives it strategic significance. The Blount Island facility has a vital role in the National Military Strategy as the site for maintenance operations of the Maritime Prepositioning Force. The Marine Corps thanks Congress for your role in supporting this acquisition project. Phase II, funded by the $115.7 million appropriated in the Defense Authorization Act of 2004, gives the Marine Corps ownership of the leased maintenance area and supporting dredge disposal site consisting of 1,089 acres.
Encroachment. We are grateful to Congress for providing a tool to facilitate the management of incompatible developments adjacent to or in close proximity to military lands. We are working with state and local governments and with non-governmental organizations such as the Trust for Public Lands, The Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, and the Endangered Species Coalition to acquire lands buffering or near our bases including Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, and Camp Pendleton. In return for our investment, the Marine Corps is receiving restrictive easements that ensure lands acquired remain undeveloped and serve as buffer zones against future encroachment on our bases.
We are also grateful to Congress for codifying legislation that gives us the opportunity to partner with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and State fish and game agencies in order to manage endangered species present on military lands. Management via our Integrated Natural Resources Management Plans, which we prepare in partnerships with these agencies, allows us to protect and enhance populations of these species on our lands while allowing Marines to train. Finally, we support the Secretary of Defense’s efforts to provide flexibility under the Clean Air Act and to clarify the governing authorities under which DoD would manage operational ranges. The Marine Corps strives to be a good environmental steward and the growing number of endangered species on our lands and their increasing populations are examples of our successes. We remain committed to protecting the resources entrusted to us by the American people.
Base Realignment and Closures. A successful Base Realignment and Closure process, resulting in recommendations in 2005, is critically important to the Nation, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Navy. By eliminating excesses and improving efficiencies, the armed services will achieve a transformation of our infrastructure in the same way we are achieving a transformation of our forces. Recommendations will be developed only after a thorough and in-depth review.
Command and Control
Naval expeditionary warfare will depend heavily on the ability of the forces to share linked and fused information from a common source which will, in turn, ensure command and control of widely dispersed forces. Exploiting the use of space, ground and aerial platforms requires a networked, protected, and assured global grid of information. Leveraging command and control technology to improve our interoperability continues to be our focus of effort.
Advances in technology and a need to leverage existing infrastructure requires us to establish a new Information Technology (IT) framework ? one that is more reliable, efficient, secure, and responsive. This new IT framework must provide enhanced information access and improved information services to the operating forces. By streamlining the deployment of IT tools and realigning our IT resources, the Marine Corps Enterprise IT Services will shift the burden away from the operating forces by establishing a new IT environment. This IT environment will fuse and integrate Department wide, net-centric enterprise services to provide a common set of sharable IT services to the entire Marine Corps. By eliminating individual organizations providing duplicative and redundant services, we will reduce the IT burden on the operating forces through enterprise provided IT services, and improve our ability to process information and enhance the speed of decision-making.
Intelligence
Our Fiscal Year 1996 through Fiscal Year 2004 enhancements to Marine intelligence improved the intelligence capability within Marine units and established a “reach-back” intelligence production capability between forward deployed units and our Marine Corps Intelligence Activity in Quantico, Virginia. These improvements are proving to be remarkably beneficial to our efforts in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Marine intelligence is concurrently supporting ongoing operations, preparing for near term operations, and transforming our intelligence systems to meet future warfighting requirements. Marine Intelligence Specialists have provided significant contributions to ongoing operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti and will play a crucial intelligence role as Marine Forces return to Iraq in larger numbers this year. Before again deploying to Iraq, we will train over 400 Marines in basic Arabic to aid in our efforts to work with the Iraqis at the patrol level, and we will provide enhanced language training for some of our Arabic heritage speakers and others trained linguists to increase our operational influence and effectiveness. Meanwhile, we prepare for future conflicts by ensuring that our intelligence training and systems funded in the Fiscal Year 2005-2009 program incorporate the latest technological advances and become more capable of seamless interoperability with the systems used by other armed services and national agencies.
Mobility
As preliminary assessments of operations in Iraq highlight, operational and tactical mobility are essential to overcome the current range of threats. The ability to rapidly respond and then flexibly adapt to a changing situation is critical to address future challenges. Increasing the speed, range, and flexibility of maneuver units that are enhanced by logistical power generated from the sea, will increase naval power projection. The following initiatives are vital to achieve greater operational mobility:
MV-22 Osprey. The MV-22 remains the Marine Corps’ number one aviation acquisition priority. While fulfilling the critical Marine Corps medium lift requirement, the MV-22’s increased range, speed, payload, and survivability will generate truly transformational tactical and operational capabilities. With the Osprey, Marine forces operating from a sea base will be able to take the best of long-range maneuver and strategic surprise, and join it with the best of the sustainable forcible-entry capability. Ospreys will replace our aging fleets of CH-46E Sea Knight and CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters.
KC-130J. Continued replacement of our aging KC-130 fleet with KC-130J aircraft is necessary to ensure the viability and deployability of Marine Corps Tactical Air and Assault Support well into the 21st Century. Acquisition of the KC-130J represents a significant increase in operational efficiency and enhanced refueling and assault support capabilities for the Marine Corps. The KC-130J provides the aerial refueling and assault support airlift resources needed to support the Osprey, the Joint Strike Fighter, and the Marine Air-Ground Task Force and Joint Force Commanders.
Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). The EFV, formerly known as the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV), will provide Marine surface assault elements the requisite operational and tactical mobility to exploit fleeting opportunities in the fluid operational environment of the future. Designed to be launched from Naval amphibious shipping from over the horizon, the EFV will be capable of carrying a reinforced Marine rifle squad at speeds in excess of 20 nautical miles per hour in sea state three. This capability will reduce the vulnerability of our naval forces to enemy threats by keeping them well out to sea while providing our surface assault forces mounted in EFVs the mobility to react to and exploit gaps in enemy defenses ashore. Once ashore, EFV will provide Marine maneuver units with an armored personnel carrier designed to meet the threats of the future. EFV will replace the aging Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV). With its high speed land and water maneuverability, highly lethal day/night fighting ability, and advanced armor and Nuclear Biological and Chemical protection, the EFV will significantly enhance the lethality and survivability of Marine maneuver units and provide the Marine Air Ground Task Force and Expeditionary Strike Group with increased operational tempo across the spectrum of operations.
Power Projection Platforms. Combined with embarked Marines, amphibious warships provide our Nation with both a forward presence and a flexible crisis response force. These power projection platforms give decision-makers immediately responsive combat options. As the Seabasing concept matures, enhanced naval expeditionary forces will be optimized to provide a full spectrum of capabilities.
Inherent in the Sea Strike pillar of the Seabasing concept is the ability to both strike with fires from the sea base and from units maneuvering within the littoral region. The dilemma that these two offensive capabilities impose on an enemy and the multitude of options they create for our leadership increase our ability to achieve success effectively and efficiently. The built-in flexibility and survivability of amphibious ships coupled with their combat sustainment capability ensure the rapid achievement of a full range of offensive operations that either allow us to accomplish operational objectives directly or enable us to set the conditions for major joint operations. The ability to defeat an anti-access strategy – before it is completed or even once it is developed – is vital to our national security objectives.
The LPD 17 class amphibious ships, currently planned or under construction, represent the Department of the Navy's commitment to a modern expeditionary power projection fleet. These ships will assist our naval forces in meeting the fiscally-constrained programming goal of lifting 2.5 Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) Assault Echelons (AEs). The lead ship detail design has been completed and the construction process is over 80 percent, complete with a successful launch in July 2003. Production effort is focused on meeting test milestones for a November 2004 delivery. Construction of LPD 23 has been accelerated from Fiscal Year 2006 to Fiscal Year 2005, leveraging Fiscal Year 2004 Advance Procurement resources provided by Congress. LPD 17 replaces four classes of older ships-the LKA, LST, LSD, and the LPD-and is being built with a 40-year expected service life.
LHAs 1-5 reach their 35-year service life at a rate of one per year in 2011-15. LHD-8 will replace one LHA when it delivers in Fiscal Year 2007. In order to meet future warfighting requirements, the Navy and Marine Corps leadership is evaluating LHA (Replacement) – LHA(R) – requirements in the larger context of Joint Seabasing, power projection, the Global War On Terrorism, and lessons learned from Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. The resulting platform will provide a transformational capability that is interoperable with future amphibious and Maritime Preposition Force ships, high-speed connectors, advanced rotorcraft like the MV-22, Joint Strike Fighter, and Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles.
Maritime Pre-positioning Force. The leases on the current Maritime Prepositioning Ships begin to expire in 2009. The Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) – MPF(F) – will be a key enabler to sea-based operations. It will allow us to better exploit the maneuver space provided by the sea to conduct joint operations at a time and place of our choosing. When the MPF(F) becomes operational, the maritime prepositioning role will expand far beyond its current capability to provide the combat equipment for a fly-in force. MPF(F) will serve four functions that the current MPF cannot: (1) at-sea arrival and assembly of units; (2) direct support of the assault echelon of the Amphibious Task Force; (3) long-term, sea-based sustainment of the landing force; and (4) at-sea reconstitution and redeployment of the force. The enhanced capabilities of these ships will significantly increase the capability of the Sea Base – in the Seabasing concept – to provide unimpeded mobility and persistent sustainment. This enhanced sea base will minimize limitations imposed by reliance on overseas shore-based support, maximize the ability of the naval elements of the joint force to conduct combat operations from the maritime domain, and enable the transformed joint force to exploit our Nation’s asymmetric advantage of our seapower dominance. The ability to rapidly generate maneuver forces from this sea base will augment our forward presence and forcible entry forces, increasing the overall power and effect of the joint campaign. Acceleration of the lead MPF (F) from Fiscal Year 2008 to Fiscal Year 2007 in the Fiscal Year 2005 budget reflects an emphasis on Seabasing capabilities. The Fiscal Years 2005-2009 plan procures three MPF (F) ships and advanced construction for an MPF (F) Aviation variant.
High Speed Connectors. High Speed Connectors (HSC) possess characteristics that make them uniquely suited to support the Sea Base and sea-based operations. HSCs are unique in combining shallow draft, high speed and large lift capacity into a single platform. HSCs will help create an enhanced operational capability by providing commanders with a flexible platform to deliver tailored, scalable forces in response to a wide range of mission requirements. The range and payload capacity of HSCs, combined with their ability to interface with current and future MPF shipping and access austere ports greatly enhances the operational reach, tactical mobility, and flexibility of sea-based forces.
Mine Countermeasure Capabilities. There is a great need to continue the development of our mine countermeasure capabilities. A major challenge for the Navy-Marine Corps Team is ensuring the effective delivery of ground forces ashore when mines and other anti-access measures are employed in the surf zone or ashore beyond the high water mark. We are currently exploring with the Navy how the technology of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) promises a short-term solution and may lead to a better long-term solution to the challenge of mines in the surf zone. Using unitary bombs, fuses, and JDAM tail kits, we have designed a mine countermeasure known as the JDAM Assault Breaching System, (JABS). Preliminary test results are showing promise as an interim solution for breaching surface laid minefields and light obstacles in the beach zones. Further testing and characterization of the JABS system is proceeding throughout Fiscal Year 2004 with tests against Surf Zone Mines and obstacles.
Some aspects of JABS development may lead to a long-term solution to the mine threat. One possible solution that is envisioned includes developing bomb-delivered darts that physically destroy buried mines in the Beach Zone and Surf Zone region. In addition, the Navy has adopted the Marine Corp Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) mine sensor system for the beach zone with a planned product improvement enhancement for COBRA called the Rapid Overt Airborne Reconnaissance (ROAR) that extends detection to the very shallow water and the surf zone regions by 2015. In addition, the Marine Corps seeks to improve breaching capability beyond the high water mark by developing both deliberate and in-stride breaching systems. These include the Advanced Mine Detector program and the Assault Breacher Vehicle program.
Fires and Effects
As events over the past year have demonstrated – and suggest for the future – the increased range and speed of expeditionary forces and the depth of their influence landward has and will continue to increase. To fully realize these capabilities the Nation requires a range of complementary, expeditionary lethal and non-lethal fire support capabilities. During Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, sixty AV-8B Harrier aircraft were based at-sea aboard amphibious shipping – minimizing the challenge of airfield shortages ashore. This prelude to future sea-based operations was extremely successful with over 2,200 sorties generated – mostly in support of I Marine Expeditionary Force ground units. A key factor to this success was the employment of forward operating bases close to the ground forces which allowed the AV-8B to refuel and rearm multiple times before returning to their ships. In addition, the complementary capabilities of surface and air delivered fires were highlighted in this campaign. Further, the importance of both precision and volume fires was critical to success. Precision fires assisted in reducing both collateral damage and the demands on tactical logistics. I Marine Expeditionary Force also validated the requirement for volume fires in support of maneuver warfare tactics. These fires allow maneuver forces to take advantage of maneuver warfare opportunities before precision intelligence can be developed and precision fires can be employed against fleeting targets or rapidly developing enemy defensive postures.
Short Take Off Vertical Landing Joint Strike Fighter (STOVL JSF). The STOVL JSF will be a single engine, stealth, supersonic, strike-fighter capable of short take-offs and vertical landings. The aircraft is designed to replace the AV-8B and FA-18 aircraft in the Marine Corps inventory. The operational reliability, stealth, and payload capability designed into the STOVL JSF represents a great improvement in combat capability over existing legacy platforms. The aircraft is in the second year of a 10-12 year development program. The STOVL JSF force is integral to our future warfighting capabilities. Its design and capabilities will fulfill all Marine Corps strike-fighter requirements and better support the combined arms requirements in expeditionary operations. Continued support of the STOVL JSF is vital to the Marine Corps.
Indirect Fires Support. In response to identified gaps in our indirect fires capability, the Marine Corps undertook an effort to replace the aging M198 155mm towed howitzers and provide a full spectrum all-weather system of systems fires capability. Operations in Iraq confirmed this requirement and the direction that the Marine Corps has undertaken. This system of systems will be capable of employing both precision and volume munitions.
The Lightweight 155mm howitzer (LW 155) is optimized for versatility, pro-active counter fire and offensive operations in support of light and medium forces. It supports Operational Maneuver from the Sea and replaces all M198’s in the Marine Corps, as well as the M198’s in Army Airborne, Light Units and Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. Compared to the current system, the LW 155 is more mobile, capable of more rapid deployment, more survivable, and more accurate. Initial operational capability is expected during Fiscal Year 2005, and a full operational capability will be reached three years later.
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) fulfills a critical range and volume gap in Marine Corps fire support assets by providing twenty-four hour, all weather, ground-based, responsive, General Support, General Support-Reinforcing, and Reinforcing indirect fires throughout all phases of combat operations ashore. HIMARS will be fielded in one artillery battalion of the active component and one battalion of the reserve component. An initial operational capability is planned for Fiscal Year 2007 with a full capability expected during Fiscal Year 2008. An interim capability of one battery during Fiscal Years 2005-2006 is also currently planned.
The Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) is the third element of the triad of ground firing systems, and it will be the principal indirect fire support system for the vertical assault element. EFSS-equipped units will be especially well suited for missions requiring speed, tactical agility, and vertical transportability. The estimated Approved Acquisition Objective is eighty-eight systems. Initially, this provides eleven batteries to support our Marine Expeditionary Units (Special Operations Capable). Initial operational capability is planned for Fiscal Year 2006 and full operational capability is planned for Fiscal Year 2008.
Naval Surface Fire Support. An important element of our fires and effects capability will continue to be surface ships that provide direct delivery of fires from the sea base. Critical deficiencies currently exist in the capability of the Navy to provide all-weather, accurate, lethal and responsive fire support throughout the depth of the littoral in support of expeditionary operations. In the critical period of the early phases of the forcible entry operations when organic Marine Corps ground indirect fires are not yet or just beginning to be established, the landing force will be even more dependent on the complementary capability required of naval surface fire support assets. To date, no systems have been introduced or are being developed which meet near or mid-term Naval Surface Fire Support requirements. The DD(X) destroyer – armed with two 155mm Advanced Gun Systems – continues to be the best long-term solution to satisfy the Marine Corps’ Naval Surface Fire Support requirements. Our Nation’s forcible entry, expeditionary forces will remain at considerable risk for want of suitable sea-based fire support until DD(X) joins the fleet in considerable numbers in 2020. Currently, the lead ship of this class will not be operational until Fiscal Year 2013. In addition, the Marine Corps is closely monitoring research into the development of electro-magnetic gun technology to support future range and velocity requirements. Electro-magnetic guns could potentially provide Naval Surface Fire Support at ranges on the order of 220 nautical miles, and could eventually be incorporated into ground mobile weapon systems like the future Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles as size, weight, and power technology hurdles are overcome.
H-1 (UH-1Y/AH-1Z). The current fleet of UH-1N utility helicopters and AH-1W attack helicopters is reaching the end of their planned service life and face a number of deficiencies in crew and passenger survivability, payload, power availability, endurance, range, airspeed, maneuverability, and supportability. The Department of the Navy has determined that the H-1 Upgrade Program is the most cost effective alternative that meets the Marine Corps’ attack and utility helicopter requirements until the introduction of a new technology advanced rotorcraft aircraft. The H-1 Upgrade Program is a key modernization effort designed to resolve existing safety deficiencies, enhance operational effectiveness of both the UH-1N and the AH-1W, and extend the service life of both aircraft. Additionally, the commonality gained between the UH-1Y and AH-1Z (projected to be 84 percent) will significantly reduce life-cycle costs and logistical footprint, while increasing the maintainability and deployability of both aircraft. On 22 October 2003, the program to enter Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP), and on 29 December 2003 the LRIP Lot 1 aircraft contract was awarded to Bell Helicopter.
Information Operations. The Marine Corps is exploring ways to ensure Marines will be capable of conducting full spectrum information operations, pursuing the development of information capabilities through initiatives in policy and doctrine, career force, structure, training and education, and programs and resources. Marine forces will use information operations to deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy or influence an adversary commander’s methods, means or ability to command and control his forces.
New Weapons Technologies. The Marine Corps is particularly interested in adapting truly transformational weapon technologies. We have forged partnerships throughout the Department of Defense, other Agencies, and with industry over the past several years in an effort to develop and adapt the most hopeful areas of science and technology. Several notable programs with promising technologies include: (1) Advanced Tactical Lasers to potentially support a tactical gunship high energy laser weapon, (2) Active Denial System – a high-power millimeter-wave, non-lethal weapon, (3) Free Electron Lasers for multi-mission shipboard weapons application, and (4) various promising Counter Improvised Explosive Device technologies.
Logistics and Combat Service Support
Logistics Modernization. Since 1999, the Marine Corps has undertaken several logistics modernization efforts to improve the overall effectiveness of our Marine Air-Ground Task Forces as agile, expeditionary forces in readiness. Some of these initiatives have reached full operational capability or are on track for complete implementation. Applying the lessons learned from Operation IRAQI FREEDOM resulted in new initiatives concerning naval logistics integration, naval distribution, and the integration of the Combat Service Support Element with Marine Corps Bases.
The Marine Corps’ number one logistics priority is the re-engineering of logistics information technology and the retirement of our legacy systems, which is described in the next section. The Marine Corps is working to enhance the integration of its distribution processes across the tactical through strategic levels of warfare, providing the warfighter a “snap shot” view of his needed supplies in the distribution chain to instantly locate specific items that are en route. This capability, described in the following section, will result in increased confidence in the distribution chain and will reduce both the quantity of reorders and the amount of inventory carried to support the war fighter.
Logistics Command and Control. The Global Combat Support System–Marine Corps is the Marine Corps’ portion of the overarching Global Combat Support System Family of Systems as designated by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and the Global Combat Support System General Officer Steering Committee. It is a Marine Corps acquisition program with the responsibility to acquire and integrate commercial off the shelf software in order to satisfy the information requirements of commanders, as well as support the Marine Corps Logistics Operational Architecture. The Global Combat Support System–Marine Corps program will provide modern, deployable information technology tools for all elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Existing Logistics Information Systems used today in direct support of our Marine Air Ground Task Forces are either not deployable (mainframe based) or are deployable with such limited capability (tethered client server) that our commanders lack in-transit and asset visibility. Global Combat Support System–Marine Corps requirements include a single point of entry, web based portal capability to generate simple requests for products and services, logistics command and control capability to support the Marine Air Ground Task Force, and back office tools to assist in the management of the logistics chain. These capabilities will improve warfighting excellence by providing commanders with the logistics information they need to make timely command and control decisions. The key to improving the accuracy and visibility of materiel in the logistics chain is to establish a shared data environment.
End-to-End Distribution. The Marine Corps is aggressively pursuing standardization of the materiel distribution within the Marine Corps to include interfacing with commercial and operational-level Department of Defense distribution organizations. Furthermore, distribution processes and resources used in a deployed theater of operations need to be the same as those used in garrison. We strongly support United States Transportation Command’s designation as the Department of Defense’s Distribution Process Owner. In this capacity, United States Transportation Command can more easily integrate distribution processes and systems at the strategic and operational levels and provide the Department of Defense a standard, joint solution for distribution management. Materiel End-To-End Distribution provides Marine commanders the means to seamlessly execute inbound and outbound movements for all classes of supply while maintaining Total Asset and In-transit Visibility throughout the distribution pipeline.
VI. CONCLUSION
The Marine Corps remains focused on organizing, training, and equipping our forces to best support combatant commanders throughout the spectrum of combat. Incorporating recent experiences, increasing our forces’ integration with joint capabilities, exploiting the flexibility and rapid response capabilities of our units, and preserving the adaptability of our Marines, will collectively lead to more options for the combatant commanders. The Marine Corps’ commitment to warfighting excellence and the steadfast support we receive from this Committee will lead to success in the Global War On Terrorism while helping to ensure America’s security and prosperity.
