Ingenuity in Action: TACOM's Organic Industrial Base in life cycle sustainment

The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Life Cycle Management Command (TACOM), headquartered in Warren, Michigan, spearheads life cycle sustainment for about 65 percent of the equipment an Army Brigade Combat Team uses. A global enterprise whose 19,000 professionals research, develop, procure, field, maintain, repair, upgrade, modernize and sustain the force, TACOM is formidable when it comes to enabling readiness through its depots and arsenals.

Under the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC), TACOM manages five facilities: Anniston Army Depot (ANAD) in Alabama; Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center (RIA-JMTC) in Illinois; Watervliet Arsenal (WVA) in New York; Red River Army Depot (RRAD) in Texas; and Sierra Army Depot (SIAD) in Nevada.

These facilities join 18 other depots, arsenals and ammunition plants comprising the Army's Organic Industrial Base (OIB), managed by AMC.

"The Army's OIB is a national security asset, providing a critical capability in delivering readiness, not only to the Army, but to the entire joint force," said Gen. Dennis Via, AMC commander. "The OIB builds readiness for our Soldiers and Brigade Combat Teams, provides critical surge capabilities in support of global contingencies, and ultimately ensures our warfighters have the best equipment possible."

Whether it is a mission of reset, Battle Damage Assessment and Repair (BDAR), manufacturing, refurbishment, retrograde, redistribution, storage or shipping, TACOM's depots and arsenals optimize the life cycle for tens of thousands of items, ranging from repair parts to major end-items like howitzers and combat and tactical vehicles.

Reset

In Fiscal Year 2015, TACOM arsenals and depots reset more than 21,000 Class VII major end-items, according to the TACOM Integrated Logistics Support Center's Industrial Base Operations Directorate. That equates to almost 58 per day.

RRAD and the Army Program Office for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP) just marked one year of production on the reset of the MaxxPro variant -- from planning to the prototype stage, through low-rate initial and full production. The team addresses issues at the lowest level, focusing on Lean Six Sigma manufacturing tools and processes to identify waste, variability and choke points.

RRAD optimizes material reclamation by identifying pieces by part number, quantity per station where it is removed from the vehicle, and the station where it will later be reassembled onto a MaxxPro. This stabilizes the process and reduces overall reset costs.

Battle Damage Assessment and Repair (BDAR)

ANAD moved the last BDAR Stryker off its assembly line earlier this year. Central to the repairs, the weld team remained aware of the technical and structural engineering changes as the program migrated from older flat-bottom to newer double-v hull Strykers.

From the outset, the program encompassed more than battle-damaged vehicles; it included testing assets and vehicles involved in accidents. Once ANAD industrial artisans made repairs and upgraded vehicles to specification, they conducted appropriate inspections.

"Each team's quality goal was to present their vehicle to the Defense Contact Management Agency with zero defects," said David Funderburg, chief of Anniston's Stryker Division. "The ANAD BDAR team's ultimate goal was to support the warfighter and provide the best quality Stryker vehicle."

Public-Private Partnerships (P3)

WVA, the nation's oldest, continuously active arsenal, has cut production costs for two artillery systems through a P3 with a company called Electralloy. The partnership, which began in 2013, has been so successful that a new 20-year agreement was signed last year.

P3s optimize partnerships to bolster and preserve OIB facilities, skill sets and processes, especially in a time of declining demand and resources, while providing industry access to those capabilities.

Electralloy uses the arsenal's workforce and its rotary forge to produce high-temperature alloys for a range of robust end uses. The company has invested millions on the arsenal, installing three new furnaces and modernizing other forge-area operations. The Army recently approved Electralloy's furnaces for use in cannon production for the 155 mm self-propelled and towed howitzer systems.

"We believe we will be able to decrease our forge time by nearly 25 percent, while using low-cost natural gas to heat the furnaces, both of which will significantly reduce the production costs for those two weapon systems," said Joseph Turcotte, WVA's deputy commander.

The partnership has exceeded expectations, expanding capacity by about 70 percent in two years, said Electralloy President Tracy Rudolph. Work generated as a result of the P3 has enabled the arsenal to hire 25 full-time employees.

Storage, Reclamation and Redistribution

SIAD bolsters readiness through equipment reclamation and redistribution, asset management, storage, maintenance, assembly and containerization, and rapid worldwide materiel shipment.

The depot is home to the Army's largest processing center dedicated to the reclamation and redistribution of critical assets from installations across the world. The depot provides for the receipt, identification, condition code classification, storage, Care of Supplies in Storage, security, accountability, disposal and shipment of excess items to meet readiness demands.

Last year, in response to a Presidential order involving excess U.S. equipment and training to assist the government of Iraq, SIAD was directed to repair and ship 50 fully operational MRAP Self-Protection Adaptive Roller Kits (SPARK) to the Iraqi General Depot at CampTaji, Iraq.

SIAD stored hundreds of excess SPARK mine rollers as a result of the Afghanistan draw down. None of the rollers were operational, which prompted depot craftsmen to harvest serviceable parts from them. Sierra's skilled mechanics successfully rebuilt and tested all 50 kits prior to shipment. The entire initiative was completed in a mere three weeks.

Unique Capabilities

RIA-JMTC is the DOD's only multipurpose, vertically integrated metal manufacturer. It boasts more than three million square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and logistical operations space. Its model of vertical integration is not replicated anywhere within industry or government.

"We don't compete with private industry. We maintain a capability that enables private industry to do what they do until they can ramp up to meet national priorities," said Col. Don Wols, RIA-JMTC commander.

Critical capabilities are managed under one roof, enabling quick response. For example, when a vulnerability gap in the Caiman MRAP surfaced during Operation Enduring Freedom, RIA-JMTC redesigned the armor kit and produced 504 kits within 30 days.

Consolidated operations also yield cost savings. The M997A3 Ambulance is specifically suited to meet Army Reserve and Army National Guard homeland security missions, and assist in disaster relief efforts. It is the most modern ambulance in the fleet. When the initial order of 500 ambulances was complete, RIA-JMTC was able to reduce the cost of the system by 15 percent. As a result, it received a follow-on contract for 600 additional ambulances.

Additionally, JMTC has delivered readiness for the U.S. Marine Corps by solving an obsolescence issue beleaguering the Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV). Originally fielded in the 1970s, the AAV fleet required impeller spares. RIA-JMTC reverse-engineered an old impeller to create a design, improved upon and produced it, helping get the AAV fleet back underway with a reliable, responsive source for impeller spares.

Ensuring Readiness

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has repeatedly stressed that readiness is the Army's top priority. The Army must generate readiness needed to meet national strategy and resultant requirements.

TACOM's contributions to life cycle sustainment through its OIB provide increased rapid response capabilities, more efficient and effective operation, cost savings and expanded capacity. Spanning the extent of OIB operations, TACOM's depots and arsenals contribute significantly to the warfighting readiness, and might of the nation's Armed Forces and its partners, by optimizing the life cycle for countless items.