DOL transfers operational control to Army Materiel Command

By Michael Heckman, Fort Hood SentinelOctober 12, 2010

DOL transfers operational control to AMC
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Leadership and members of Fort Hood's Directorate of Logistics, Installation Management Command, and the "Mighty" 407th Army Field Support Brigade, (Army Sustainment Command), belt out a tune during an Oct. 8 ceremony in a DOL warehouse. The ceremony... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
DOL transfers operational control to AMC
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Army Materiel Command colors are posted Oct. 8 during a transfer of operational control ceremony taking Fort Hood's Directorate of Logistics from the Installation Management Command to the Army Sustainment Command's 407th Army Field Support Brigade. ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
DOL transfers operational control to AMC
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Bob Bishop, director of Logistics, gives ceremonial keys to Col. Danny Tilzey, 407th AFSB commander, during a transfer of control ceremony, taking Fort Hood's Directorate of Logistics from Installation Management Command to the Army Sustainment Comma... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas--Implementation of the Army's materiel enterprise was represented in a transfer of operational control ceremony held Oct. 8 at a Fort Hood Directorate of Logistics warehouse.

Bob Bishop, DOL director, said the event "... marks the closure of a tremendous effort over the past two years. I truly believe the reason we are transferring the entire DOL and went away from the DOM/DOSS concept is because of the detailed analysis performed by this directorate that showed AMC and IMCOM that it could not be done with zero growth."

DOM is the Directorate of Materiel and DOSS is the Directorate of Support Services. Bishop told a crowd of about 200 people, including Col. Mark Freitag, garrison commander, and Col. Danny Tilzey, commander of the 407th Army Field Support Brigade, Army Sustainment Command, "The Fort Hood DOL was the only one of two DOLs in the Army prepared to execute the DOM/DOSS split."

Of the directorate's reorganization, Bishop said, "What I'm most proud of is that while we conducted these exhaustive analyses, challenging ourselves for ways to separate an organization built over many years to be highly effective and efficient, this team never lost sight of the mission."

Of the directorate's accomplishments, he added, "When you look at these events, such as deployments, I ask you to think of them as culminating events of a much larger effort.

"Each event can't be done by one division alone; it takes a logistics triad of transportation, maintenance supply and a multi-functional support staff."

From feeding and outfitting Soldiers to ensuring parts are issued to fix deployed equipment to operating railheads and air fields, he emphasized, "It takes a logistics team."

Bishop said the directorate would "... continue to provide Fort Hood the local support required as we do today through my battalion and my brigade. We will be better able to provide you logistics capabilities than I currently am."

With logistics operations now an AMC responsibility, Bishop said, "The great advantage is I will be able to reach back into the logistics community directly instead of having to go through other headquarters to get into the Army Materiel Command. So I should have more resources available to me to fix problems and to find innovative solutions. Customers will see no difference (in services provided), just a different headquarters above me."

During the past six years, Freitag said, Bishop kept the directorate moving forward.

With the reorganization, Bishop will report to the "Mighty" 407th AFSB under Tilzey.

Highlighting its accomplishments during the past year, Freitag said 56,000 Soldiers shipped in or out; 367 aircraft were processed; 27 trains comprised of more than 1,800 rail cars were handled; nearly 5,000 national maintenance work orders were completed; nearly 350,000 supply transactions were processed; the transportation section conducted 18,000-plus permanent change of station moves; the Central Issue Facility processed or issued over 437,000 issues; post dining facilities served over 2 million meals; and the freight center processed over 366,000 transactions.

"We are changing the way we do business in the Army," Freitag said. "By placing DOL OPCON (Operational Control) to AMC, I expect we'll see greater efficiencies in our logistics processes."

As outlined during the reading of orders, AMC assumed operational control of all DOL functions in the United States and the post's DOL was placed under the operational control of the 407th.

Because Army logistics operations always have focused on meeting Soldiers' needs, Tilzey said, "Every system, procedure and decision is directed to responding to their needs. In the logistics world, this is just another step in that evolution of support."

As resources are aligned to better support units and Warfighters, he added, "The DOL transformation will enable us to focus on materiel and services support at our installations, optimizing supply and maintenance services."

The process also will improve contract management and enhance the quality and visibility of services, he said.

"There is no doubt the Mighty 407th AFSB and garrison command will work together to make this transition as fluid as possible," he added.

Because administrative control and funding remain with IMCOM, he added, "I can't hire you or fire you."

In closing remarks, Bishop said the garrison flag was not removed for two reasons: the garrison still retains administrative control; and the commanding general is deployed and the cased colors represent the installation and III Corps.

In closing the ceremony, Bishop presented ceremonial keys to the DOL to Tilzey and Canadian Brig. Gen. Pete Atkinson, deputy garrison commander.