Aviation logistics community shares lessons learned

By Dan O'BoyleNovember 20, 2014

AMCOM commander Maj. Gen. Jim Richardson addresses the conference audience in Bob Jones Auditorium
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

With 300 attendees, AMCOM hosted the Worldwide Aviation Logistics Conference, Monday through Thursday, with subject areas including sustainment strategies, Program Executive Office overviews, Cost-Wise Readiness and Corrosion Prevention. "This is an important conference," Maj. Gen. Jim Richardson, AMCOM commander said. "If you are in a Combat Aviation Brigade you have people here who help you every single day. You need to establish relationships with the key people at AMCOM. You've got the 'Who's Who in Army aviation here."

The commander mentioned the power and the transparency of the enterprise: AMCOM, Program Executive Aviation, Aviation Center of Excellence. "We have optimized our mission; we have knobs and dials that we can turn up and down to support you, and we do that everyday," Richardson said. "We have the right equipment, the right people -- Soldiers, Civilians, Industry - and the right tools to accomplish the mission."

The command's new mission statement also drew emphasis. "Responsive is a key word in our mission statement," Richardson said. "I don't want to wait for you to call me; I want to have a situational understanding. Commanders are all about readiness. I can tell you from my history that I would have failed in my missions if it weren't for AMCOM."

Using the graphic: 'What does AMCOM do for you,' Richardson cited the contributions of Logistics Assistance Representatives, Support to the training fleet at Fort Rucker, Ala., the AMCOM Logisitic Center and its 144 Item Managers who manage more than 29,000 parts, Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Calibration Support -- a no Fail Mission -- as well as Resetting Aviation and Missile systems.

"All told, we are an organization providing readiness to Joint Warfighting Combatant Commands," Richardson said. "We hold a weekly telephonic forum - We are one team one fight here - to engage with the senior leaders of Army Aviation, to ensure we are in sync and working together to address the priority issues affecting Army aviators everywhere. This informal coordination mechanism helps us keep priorities aligned."

Some of the break-out sessions focused on the following:

• Acquisition Logistics, involving requirements, supportability analysis, support analysis, planning, publications, packaging, transportability, New Equipment Training and Materiel Fielding.

• Sustainment Logistics, involving AMCOM as the National Inventory Control Point, Supply Chain Management, Inventory Management, Asset Management, Distribution, Packaging, Transportation, Publications, Sample Data Collection, War Reserve Management and Pre Positioned Stocks.

• Field and Sustainment Maintenance, involving AMCOM as the National Maintenance Point for Aviation and Missile Readiness reporting and analysis, Logistics Assistance, Corpus Christi and Letterkenny Army Depot Maintenance for major and secondary items, Aviation Center Logistics Command and support to the training fleets, Reset and Condition-Based Maintenance

• Security Assistance, involving Foreign Military Sales, Letters Of Request, Case Development and Case Execution.

• Calibration, involving Army-Wide Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment repair and calibration, Radiation and Dosimetry Support, Primary Standards Lab, Secondary and Transfer Standards Lab.