by 1st Lt. Marshel Slater, 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center) Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- Planners here teamed with planners from the U.S. Transportation Command and the aircrew of a C-5M Super Galaxy Sept. 25 and 26 to open a new nonstop route from the U.S. to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
The aircrew members and aircraft originated from the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
The flight marked the first time a C-5 has flown this route from the United States East Coast, across the Atlantic Ocean, then over Europe into Afghanistan, officials said. The total flight time was less than 14 hours, cutting time off of traditional routing and eliminating the need for crews to rest overnight in Germany. The new route also enhances the ability of air mobility forces to respond worldwide despite challenging environments including volcanoes, floods, natural disasters or weather-related diversions.
"This was a huge collaborative effort," said Harold Guckin, the chief planner for the Contingency Channel Operations Directorate here. "My schedulers worked closely with flight managers from the command and control directorate, and we all worked tirelessly with the operations group at Dover (AFB) to get the mission planned."
The success of the flight also required in-flight refueling over England by a KC-135R Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England.
With its ability to carry more than any other aircraft, the C-5 has been an aviation workhorse for the Air Force since the 1970s and is critical to the success of global mobility operations, officials said. The new route not only showcased the capabilities of the airframe, but also supported ongoing Department of Defense efficiency initiatives by providing both an increase in airlift velocity and a reduced mobility footprint.
According to officials here, planners at the 618th AOC (TACC) are constantly looking for innovative solutions that allow the mobility Air Force to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to them by the American taxpayer.
"The 618th AOC (TACC) is the hub for mobility operations, said Brig. Gen. Dewey Everhart, the 618th AOC (TACC) commander. "It is our responsibility to ensure that those we serve can succeed in their mission. This new route provides invaluable options and increased flexibility, so air mobility assets can arrive where they're needed faster and more efficiently."
Showing posts with label US Transportation Command. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Transportation Command. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Logisticians Ready for Afghan Transportation Task
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON - U.S. military logisticians are up to the challenge of getting 30,000 more American troops into Afghanistan and moving troops and equipment from Iraq, the commander of U.S. Transportation Command said today.
Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb told the Defense Writers Group that the command is well able to handle the demands being placed on it.
Transcom has worked for years to develop supply lines into Afghanistan – one of the most remote and difficult countries in the world. The nation is landlocked and has some of the highest mountains in the world. Only five passes are available to get supplies into Afghanistan by land, and U.S. officials are studying them all.
"We need to look at all options," McNabb said. "You need other options in case the main supply route goes down."
McNabb said he isn't too concerned about moving 30,000 servicemembers and their equipment into Afghanistan, because the command already has done it. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 combat forces into the country. "With support troops, that was about 30,000," he said.
Most of the combat troops – especially the Stryker brigade combat team – had to arrive in time for the Afghan elections in August. "We're talking roughly the same numbers – maybe some NATO allies that we will transport – and equipment over roughly the same time," McNabb said. "On the positive side, we've just done that. On the more difficult side, we're talking about doing it in December."
Winter makes the effort a bit harder, the general explained. Still, over the past 18 months in anticipation of increasing forces in Afghanistan, the command made sure the airfields in the region could handle the traffic. Officials also worked to maximize cargo and personnel throughput, and ensured the cargo handling and air traffic control teams were in place.
McNabb said he told Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. Central Command commander, and Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, "that our job is to make sure we give you lots of options, and that we're going to get the stuff through."
If the command has to get everything into Afghanistan by air, McNabb said, Transcom has the assets needed to make it happen. "If I have to bring this stuff all in by air, it will be a lot more expensive," he said. "But if we need to do that, we can, and that's our ace in the hole."
More than likely, the command will use all transportation modes to get personnel, cargo and supplies in. The main supply line is through Pakistan from the port of Karachi. About 50 percent of cargo and supplies use this route. Another 30 percent of cargo uses the Northern Distribution Route, a series of railroad routes, with some running from northern Europe and others coming via the Black Sea, then over land. The final 20 percent is delivered by air. "We take everything lethal and sensitive in by air," the general said.
With these various supply lines, enough capacity exists to sustain the effort, McNabb said. "I basically would like to have double the capacity that we need, just to be sure, and we're very close to that now," he added.
Moving an Army brigade combat team requires airlifting 1,200 short tons, requiring 50 to 60 C-17 Globemaster III transport jet missions. Each brigade requires roughly 200,000 square feet of cargo space, which comes out to between one and two ships. The brigades have about 3,500 soldiers who board C-17s or C-130 Hercules transports in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, for the trip into Afghanistan.
Transcom is involved not only in getting personnel and cargo to the country, but also in distributing it upon arrival. "Once you get stuff in, how do you distribute it throughout the country? You have three choices: secure the area to get convoys through, run convoys with armed protection or you can get stuff in vertically," McNabb said.
"Vertically" means bringing goods in via helicopters or by airdrop from fixed-wing aircraft. Use of airdrop has increased dramatically, the general said. "We did 2 million pounds of airdrop in all of 2005," he said. "In September 2009, we did 4 million pounds. We're going to be up around 19 million to 20 million for this year."
Transcom officials are working with U.S. Central Command and with U.S. Joint Forces Command to work out the scheduling of the move, McNabb said.
"Right now, the transportation and movement is not the long pole in the tent; getting those bases built and ready to receive the forces is," he said.
WASHINGTON - U.S. military logisticians are up to the challenge of getting 30,000 more American troops into Afghanistan and moving troops and equipment from Iraq, the commander of U.S. Transportation Command said today.
Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb told the Defense Writers Group that the command is well able to handle the demands being placed on it.
Transcom has worked for years to develop supply lines into Afghanistan – one of the most remote and difficult countries in the world. The nation is landlocked and has some of the highest mountains in the world. Only five passes are available to get supplies into Afghanistan by land, and U.S. officials are studying them all.
"We need to look at all options," McNabb said. "You need other options in case the main supply route goes down."
McNabb said he isn't too concerned about moving 30,000 servicemembers and their equipment into Afghanistan, because the command already has done it. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 combat forces into the country. "With support troops, that was about 30,000," he said.
Most of the combat troops – especially the Stryker brigade combat team – had to arrive in time for the Afghan elections in August. "We're talking roughly the same numbers – maybe some NATO allies that we will transport – and equipment over roughly the same time," McNabb said. "On the positive side, we've just done that. On the more difficult side, we're talking about doing it in December."
Winter makes the effort a bit harder, the general explained. Still, over the past 18 months in anticipation of increasing forces in Afghanistan, the command made sure the airfields in the region could handle the traffic. Officials also worked to maximize cargo and personnel throughput, and ensured the cargo handling and air traffic control teams were in place.
McNabb said he told Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. Central Command commander, and Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, "that our job is to make sure we give you lots of options, and that we're going to get the stuff through."
If the command has to get everything into Afghanistan by air, McNabb said, Transcom has the assets needed to make it happen. "If I have to bring this stuff all in by air, it will be a lot more expensive," he said. "But if we need to do that, we can, and that's our ace in the hole."
More than likely, the command will use all transportation modes to get personnel, cargo and supplies in. The main supply line is through Pakistan from the port of Karachi. About 50 percent of cargo and supplies use this route. Another 30 percent of cargo uses the Northern Distribution Route, a series of railroad routes, with some running from northern Europe and others coming via the Black Sea, then over land. The final 20 percent is delivered by air. "We take everything lethal and sensitive in by air," the general said.
With these various supply lines, enough capacity exists to sustain the effort, McNabb said. "I basically would like to have double the capacity that we need, just to be sure, and we're very close to that now," he added.
Moving an Army brigade combat team requires airlifting 1,200 short tons, requiring 50 to 60 C-17 Globemaster III transport jet missions. Each brigade requires roughly 200,000 square feet of cargo space, which comes out to between one and two ships. The brigades have about 3,500 soldiers who board C-17s or C-130 Hercules transports in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, for the trip into Afghanistan.
Transcom is involved not only in getting personnel and cargo to the country, but also in distributing it upon arrival. "Once you get stuff in, how do you distribute it throughout the country? You have three choices: secure the area to get convoys through, run convoys with armed protection or you can get stuff in vertically," McNabb said.
"Vertically" means bringing goods in via helicopters or by airdrop from fixed-wing aircraft. Use of airdrop has increased dramatically, the general said. "We did 2 million pounds of airdrop in all of 2005," he said. "In September 2009, we did 4 million pounds. We're going to be up around 19 million to 20 million for this year."
Transcom officials are working with U.S. Central Command and with U.S. Joint Forces Command to work out the scheduling of the move, McNabb said.
"Right now, the transportation and movement is not the long pole in the tent; getting those bases built and ready to receive the forces is," he said.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Ships, Planes Deliver Stryker Brigade to Afghanistan
By Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service
Military transportation experts used ships and planes to deploy an Army combat unit that arrived in Afghanistan last month, marking a notable milestone for U.S. Transportation Command.
The 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Lewis, Wash., began departing from nearby Tacoma by ship in early May; the unit's equipment arrived in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province July 25, about five days earlier than requested by U.S. Central Command, Army Lt. Col. John Kaylor, a transportation expert assigned to Transcom's headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., said yesterday.
More than 3,800 troops and 900 pieces of the unit's equipment, including more than 300 Stryker armored combat vehicles, were deployed to Afghanistan during the movement, Kaylor said. This latest large-scale movement, he added, avoided millions of dollars in costs and improved Transcom's Joint Task Force Port Opening operations.
The movement to Afghanistan was the Stryker brigade's first combat deployment.
"It worked out great," Kaylor said of the unit's successful, nearly 7,000-mile deployment.
The deployment is part of U.S. plans to bulk up forces in Afghanistan to confront resurgent Taliban activity in the south of the country. The 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team officially took up its duties in southern Afghanistan on Aug. 9.
Most of the brigade's troops traveled to Afghanistan via commercial air carrier. The Strykers and other equipment, Kaylor said, were shipped from Tacoma to Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean. The two ships left Tacoma in early May and arrived at Diego Garcia in early June. The Strykers and other military equipment then were airlifted from Diego Garcia to Afghanistan.
The deployment used a combination of ships and planes, Kaylor said, because it was more cost-efficient and the timeframe allowed for it. In addition, the first operational deployment of Joint Task Force Port Opening airmen and soldiers expedited the move of the brigade's Strykers and cargo into Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country without a seaport, Kaylor explained. Though this precluded the exclusive use of ships to deliver the military equipment, he said, exclusive use of aircraft to move the unit would have incurred "massive costs."
In fact, using a combination of ships and planes resulted in a cost-avoidance to the U.S. government of $64 million, Kaylor said, noting that more cargo can be loaded aboard ships than planes.
U.S. C-17 Globemaster III transport jets and chartered Russian-made AN-124 cargo aircraft, Kaylor said, were employed during the equipment airlifts from Diego Garcia to Afghanistan.
Military transportation experts used ships and planes to deploy an Army combat unit that arrived in Afghanistan last month, marking a notable milestone for U.S. Transportation Command.
The 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Lewis, Wash., began departing from nearby Tacoma by ship in early May; the unit's equipment arrived in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province July 25, about five days earlier than requested by U.S. Central Command, Army Lt. Col. John Kaylor, a transportation expert assigned to Transcom's headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., said yesterday.
More than 3,800 troops and 900 pieces of the unit's equipment, including more than 300 Stryker armored combat vehicles, were deployed to Afghanistan during the movement, Kaylor said. This latest large-scale movement, he added, avoided millions of dollars in costs and improved Transcom's Joint Task Force Port Opening operations.
The movement to Afghanistan was the Stryker brigade's first combat deployment.
"It worked out great," Kaylor said of the unit's successful, nearly 7,000-mile deployment.
The deployment is part of U.S. plans to bulk up forces in Afghanistan to confront resurgent Taliban activity in the south of the country. The 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team officially took up its duties in southern Afghanistan on Aug. 9.
Most of the brigade's troops traveled to Afghanistan via commercial air carrier. The Strykers and other equipment, Kaylor said, were shipped from Tacoma to Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean. The two ships left Tacoma in early May and arrived at Diego Garcia in early June. The Strykers and other military equipment then were airlifted from Diego Garcia to Afghanistan.
The deployment used a combination of ships and planes, Kaylor said, because it was more cost-efficient and the timeframe allowed for it. In addition, the first operational deployment of Joint Task Force Port Opening airmen and soldiers expedited the move of the brigade's Strykers and cargo into Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country without a seaport, Kaylor explained. Though this precluded the exclusive use of ships to deliver the military equipment, he said, exclusive use of aircraft to move the unit would have incurred "massive costs."
In fact, using a combination of ships and planes resulted in a cost-avoidance to the U.S. government of $64 million, Kaylor said, noting that more cargo can be loaded aboard ships than planes.
U.S. C-17 Globemaster III transport jets and chartered Russian-made AN-124 cargo aircraft, Kaylor said, were employed during the equipment airlifts from Diego Garcia to Afghanistan.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Commander Discusses 'Jewel in Crown' of America's Military
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - The United States military is the best-manned, best-equipped and best-trained force in the world, but that doesn't mean a thing if it can't get to the fight.
The 138,000 military and civilian men and women of the U.S. Transportation Command and its service components – the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, the Navy's Military Sealift Command and the Army's Military Deployment and Distribution Command – "are really the jewel in the crown" of the American military, Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, TransCom commander, said in an interview here yesterday.
The command gives the United States the strategic ability "that is just tremendous" to move and sustain its forces globally, the general said. "That allows our warfighters to have great flexibility in their options," he explained. "If we've done this right, they never worry about us. They just assume it's going to be there."
The command – established in 1987 –supplies the day-to-day needs of a military force fighting two wars and operating in more than 70 countries. With civilian partners, the command also stands ready to support humanitarian assistance missions such as the ones that followed the earthquake in Pakistan, the tsunami in Indonesia or hurricanes in the United States.
The command has its own alphabet soup of acronyms, officials here said, but the mission is simple: get the warfighters to the fight, sustain them during the fight and bring them home. TransCom uses air, sea and land modes of transportation to accomplish the mission. Command officials prioritize requests from the combatant commands and put together the best way to deliver the capabilities. Depending on the mission, requests may be filled by airlift, sealift, ground transportation or – more likely – a combination of them all.
McNabb said the transportation of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan is a good example of the way TransCom works. In July 2007, very few MRAPs were in service in Iraq. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress for more MRAPs, and the vehicles began coming off assembly lines and were readied for shipment to U.S. Central Command.
As the "distribution process owner," TransCom has end-to-end responsibility for the supply chain, from assembly line to user. The command worked closely with industrial partners to plan the movement of the MRAPs to Central Command and monitored the various choke points along the way. The effort got under way in September 2007, and by the end of the year, 1,500 MRAPs were in the combat theater. To date, more than 10,300 of the vehicles have been delivered.
This was more than just collaboration, it was fusion, McNabb said.
"If you think about collaboration, a lot of that is just knowing what everyone is doing," he said. "But if you think of why you want collaboration, it's because you want to synchronize what they're doing. That's fusion."
The command flew the first vehicles to the theater aboard heavy-lift aircraft. Later shipments went by sea. In addition, TransCom officials had to ensure there were people in theater who knew how to off-load the vehicles and ensure they were combat ready. The command also worked with CentCom logistics officials to get the vehicles from airports or seaports to the men and women who needed the protection these vehicles provide.
This was an example of all involved working together to identify potential bottlenecks for the distribution process and put in place ways to smooth the flow of goods and materials, McNabb said.
"Synchronizing" and "orchestrating" are two terms constantly heard at TransCom, and McNabb said he wants to improve the distribution coordination in the military. The TransCom organization charged with this responsibility is the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center, "a true fusion cell," where members of the command and its service components receive the combatant commands' requirements and generate distribution solutions, McNabb explained.
In determining the best solutions to fulfill the need, the group asks a lot of questions, the general said. Should the goods be delivered by military assets or by civilian lift partners? Should it be delivered by air or sea or by some combination of both?
"I want to put everything together in a way that is precise," McNabb said. "You fuse your operation. You need to have redundancy in your system, but you want to make sure you have it all orchestrated."
With new organizations called joint deployment and distribution operations centers, TransCom now has the end-to-end visibility it needs to do its job and provide warfighters with better service, McNabb said. The first of these stood up in CentCom in January 2007, and now all of the combatant commands have them, he said.
Technology will help with the transportation mission, the general said, noting that TransCom is the DoD proponent for automatic identification technology and radio frequency identification. Both provide better visibility of cargo in transit. "If you can see it, you trust it," McNabb said.
The technology will allow maintenance or supply specialists to use computers to see exactly where their piece of cargo is. Overnight delivery companies pioneered the technology in the civilian world, and just as people waiting for a package can track where it is, DoD personnel will be able to do the same, McNabb said.
Eventually, the general said, this will change the customer's behavior. Now, supply personnel may order parts two or three times, because they don't know where their gizmo is, but they want to be sure they get it.
"FedEx changed peoples' behavior with their tracking system," he said. "People can trust that they will deliver it when they say. That's how we want [servicemembers] to view the supply chain. They can watch it every day and verify that it's moving. With that trust, you also save a lot of money."
The command has many other initiatives working, including how best to deliver supplies to places where the infrastructure has been wiped out and coming up with better ways to write and monitor contracts. TransCom officials are looking at ways to increase access to Afghanistan, and are working with commercial carriers to ensure that vital part of the supply chain is healthy. They are taking best practices learned from civilian organizations and adapting them to military applications, McNabb said.
The fusion idea is at the center of all this, the general said. When TransCom's new headquarters building opens here in 2010, the expanded operations center will include people not currently on the main floor.
"We don't know what synergy will result from that," McNabb said. "The idea is to get to where we are fusing all actions, and everything is on the table. When you have a championship organization like this one, people are always looking for ways to make it better."
Job No. 1 for the command is to take care of the warfighter, the general said.
"The very next job is to make sure we can do this for the future, and that depends on a strong sealift industry and a very strong airlift industry," he said. The economy has not been kind to the airline industry, McNabb said, so he is worried. He is meeting with airline chief executive officers in the coming weeks to see what effect the economic downturn will have on military operations.
"The partnership with air and sea lift companies is a very cheap way to maintain the military's capabilities for war," he said.
McNabb recently returned from visiting the TransCom assets in the CentCom area of operations, and from consultations with leaders in the region.
"What I found is how far we keep coming," he said. From the ports to airfields, he said, everybody is looking at ways to improve services to the troops.
"It is the way that everybody is working as a member of the team that is amazing to me, and humbling," McNabb said.
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - The United States military is the best-manned, best-equipped and best-trained force in the world, but that doesn't mean a thing if it can't get to the fight.
The 138,000 military and civilian men and women of the U.S. Transportation Command and its service components – the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, the Navy's Military Sealift Command and the Army's Military Deployment and Distribution Command – "are really the jewel in the crown" of the American military, Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, TransCom commander, said in an interview here yesterday.
The command gives the United States the strategic ability "that is just tremendous" to move and sustain its forces globally, the general said. "That allows our warfighters to have great flexibility in their options," he explained. "If we've done this right, they never worry about us. They just assume it's going to be there."
The command – established in 1987 –supplies the day-to-day needs of a military force fighting two wars and operating in more than 70 countries. With civilian partners, the command also stands ready to support humanitarian assistance missions such as the ones that followed the earthquake in Pakistan, the tsunami in Indonesia or hurricanes in the United States.
The command has its own alphabet soup of acronyms, officials here said, but the mission is simple: get the warfighters to the fight, sustain them during the fight and bring them home. TransCom uses air, sea and land modes of transportation to accomplish the mission. Command officials prioritize requests from the combatant commands and put together the best way to deliver the capabilities. Depending on the mission, requests may be filled by airlift, sealift, ground transportation or – more likely – a combination of them all.
McNabb said the transportation of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan is a good example of the way TransCom works. In July 2007, very few MRAPs were in service in Iraq. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress for more MRAPs, and the vehicles began coming off assembly lines and were readied for shipment to U.S. Central Command.
As the "distribution process owner," TransCom has end-to-end responsibility for the supply chain, from assembly line to user. The command worked closely with industrial partners to plan the movement of the MRAPs to Central Command and monitored the various choke points along the way. The effort got under way in September 2007, and by the end of the year, 1,500 MRAPs were in the combat theater. To date, more than 10,300 of the vehicles have been delivered.
This was more than just collaboration, it was fusion, McNabb said.
"If you think about collaboration, a lot of that is just knowing what everyone is doing," he said. "But if you think of why you want collaboration, it's because you want to synchronize what they're doing. That's fusion."
The command flew the first vehicles to the theater aboard heavy-lift aircraft. Later shipments went by sea. In addition, TransCom officials had to ensure there were people in theater who knew how to off-load the vehicles and ensure they were combat ready. The command also worked with CentCom logistics officials to get the vehicles from airports or seaports to the men and women who needed the protection these vehicles provide.
This was an example of all involved working together to identify potential bottlenecks for the distribution process and put in place ways to smooth the flow of goods and materials, McNabb said.
"Synchronizing" and "orchestrating" are two terms constantly heard at TransCom, and McNabb said he wants to improve the distribution coordination in the military. The TransCom organization charged with this responsibility is the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center, "a true fusion cell," where members of the command and its service components receive the combatant commands' requirements and generate distribution solutions, McNabb explained.
In determining the best solutions to fulfill the need, the group asks a lot of questions, the general said. Should the goods be delivered by military assets or by civilian lift partners? Should it be delivered by air or sea or by some combination of both?
"I want to put everything together in a way that is precise," McNabb said. "You fuse your operation. You need to have redundancy in your system, but you want to make sure you have it all orchestrated."
With new organizations called joint deployment and distribution operations centers, TransCom now has the end-to-end visibility it needs to do its job and provide warfighters with better service, McNabb said. The first of these stood up in CentCom in January 2007, and now all of the combatant commands have them, he said.
Technology will help with the transportation mission, the general said, noting that TransCom is the DoD proponent for automatic identification technology and radio frequency identification. Both provide better visibility of cargo in transit. "If you can see it, you trust it," McNabb said.
The technology will allow maintenance or supply specialists to use computers to see exactly where their piece of cargo is. Overnight delivery companies pioneered the technology in the civilian world, and just as people waiting for a package can track where it is, DoD personnel will be able to do the same, McNabb said.
Eventually, the general said, this will change the customer's behavior. Now, supply personnel may order parts two or three times, because they don't know where their gizmo is, but they want to be sure they get it.
"FedEx changed peoples' behavior with their tracking system," he said. "People can trust that they will deliver it when they say. That's how we want [servicemembers] to view the supply chain. They can watch it every day and verify that it's moving. With that trust, you also save a lot of money."
The command has many other initiatives working, including how best to deliver supplies to places where the infrastructure has been wiped out and coming up with better ways to write and monitor contracts. TransCom officials are looking at ways to increase access to Afghanistan, and are working with commercial carriers to ensure that vital part of the supply chain is healthy. They are taking best practices learned from civilian organizations and adapting them to military applications, McNabb said.
The fusion idea is at the center of all this, the general said. When TransCom's new headquarters building opens here in 2010, the expanded operations center will include people not currently on the main floor.
"We don't know what synergy will result from that," McNabb said. "The idea is to get to where we are fusing all actions, and everything is on the table. When you have a championship organization like this one, people are always looking for ways to make it better."
Job No. 1 for the command is to take care of the warfighter, the general said.
"The very next job is to make sure we can do this for the future, and that depends on a strong sealift industry and a very strong airlift industry," he said. The economy has not been kind to the airline industry, McNabb said, so he is worried. He is meeting with airline chief executive officers in the coming weeks to see what effect the economic downturn will have on military operations.
"The partnership with air and sea lift companies is a very cheap way to maintain the military's capabilities for war," he said.
McNabb recently returned from visiting the TransCom assets in the CentCom area of operations, and from consultations with leaders in the region.
"What I found is how far we keep coming," he said. From the ports to airfields, he said, everybody is looking at ways to improve services to the troops.
"It is the way that everybody is working as a member of the team that is amazing to me, and humbling," McNabb said.
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