Javelin readiness rate tops in the Department of Defense

The Javelin weapon system -- the world's first fire-and-forget, man-portable, shoulder-launched, medium-range, anti-tank, guided munition and surveillance weapon system -- continues to hit key milestones that are drawing the attention of Department of Defense leaders.

For the eighth year in a row, the Javelin has reported a tactical operational readiness rate greater than 99 percent, far surpassing contractual requirements and customer expectations with the aid of performance-based logistics.

On July 26, the government-contractor team behind the Javelin's success was recognized with a Performance-Based Logistics Award presented by Terrence Emmert, deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness, as part of the 11th Annual Secretary of Defense Performance-Based Logistics Awards program. The Javelin Joint Venture Performance-Based Logistics Team, comprised of government employees from the Close Combat Weapons System project office, Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, and contractor employees from Raytheon Systems Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., was recognized with the System Level Gerald R. Beck Award. It was the only Army program that received a PBL award from DoD in the 2015 award cycle.

"This is a great day to be a missileer. We are tracking that the chief of staff of the Army's priority is readiness and there is no other priority. We take readiness very seriously with our missile systems. We understand how important readiness is to our warfighters and that's what we work for every day," said Barry Pike, program executive officer for Missiles and Space.

The Javelin Joint Venture PBL Team is a collaborative effort between the CCWS project office and the Javelin Joint Venture team comprised of a partnership between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin in a public-private partnership with the Letterkenny Army Depot, Pa., the Fort Benning (Ga.) Training Support Center and transportation partner, DHL Global Forwarding. The team supports the Javelin weapon system and its training devices.

"This award is a culmination of a lot of hard work from our government-contractor team, including contracts, logistics, engineering and project management," said Barry Thrower, product support manager for the Close Combat Weapons systems project office, Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, which manages the Javelin weapon system.

"It involved a collaborative effort between many partners, including DHL with transportation and Letterkenny Army Depot with repair. The overarching concept is to add value for the Army and to support our warfighters."

The award recognizes the work of the Javelin JV PBL team in developing, implementing and executing a performance-based logistics solution between the Close Combat Weapon Systems Project Office and contractors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin that has provided the Javelin warfighter the highest level of mission success and tactical operational readiness with the 99 percent readiness rate continuing through eight years of operations. In addition, restructuring of the Javelin Lifecycle Contractor Support reduced the cost of the PBL contract, resulting in a dramatic 48 percent annual cost reduction primarily based on modifications to contract scope and metrics, the use of historical hardware performance and actual demands on the supply system to determine the best level of logistics support.

"We do a lot of different things to maintain readiness of the system for the Soldier," said T.J. Longoria, a logistics management specialist for the CCWS Project Office. "We want to do our very best in support of our Soldiers in the field. It's an honor for us to get to work on the Javelin system and to work with our partners to make sure we provide the best equipment possible even with today's budget constraints."

Describing it as a noteworthy achievement, Emmert told the government-contractor team assembled for the award at the headquarters of the PEO for Missiles and Space at Redstone Arsenal that they have shown the "ability to address multiple support elements through logistics and to do that with a number of industry partners is significant."

From a DoD perspective, the work the team is doing, he said, provides support for a weapon system that "arguably is one of the initial capabilities needed to maintain the nation's strategic advantage. There are a lot of threats -- and a growth in the proliferation of threats and the intensity of threats -- in American history, and this system and the work you do is a countermeasure to those threats."

Weapon systems like Javelin and the sustainment team behind the system are essential in maintaining the nation's technological edge on the battlefield, Emmert said.

"What we do on the sustainment side is a critical enabler" of readiness and the ability to invest in new technologies, he said.

"You have hit very high readiness rates on equipment that is rode hard and put up wet," Emmert said. "I can't thank you enough. We are celebrating a team that has done fabulous work and what you have done essentially gets you a lot of visibility."

Members of the CCWS and Javelin JV teams include:

• The CCWS Leadership Team -- CCWS Project Manager Bill Ruta, CCWS Deputy Project Manager Phil Skelton, Javelin Product Director Dean Barten, Javelin Deputy Product Director Fritz Gordon, Javelin Assistant Product Director Doug Agee, CCWS Product Support Manager Barry Thrower and Acting Logistics Director Steven Potts.

• The Javelin Joint Venture Leadership Team -- JJV President John Halvey (Raytheon), JJV Vice President and site executive Kevin Byrnes (Raytheon Huntsville), JJV Program Manager Jake Jacobson (Lockheed-Martin), JJV Logistics Program Manager Tyronne Smith (Lockheed Martin), JJV Integrated Logistics Support Lead Walter Jones (Raytheon) and JJV Contracts Manager Kim Recker (Lockheed Martin)

• CCWS Award Team Members -- Steven Potts, Barry Thrower, Phil Epperson, Autumn Knoth-Jez, T.J. Longoria, Michael Taylor, Randy Gray, Bobby Lewis

• Letterkenny Army Depot Award Team Member - Kevin Gephart

• Javelin Joint Venture Award Team Members -- Tyronne Smith, Walt Jones, Rob Bone, Gary Hughes, Richard Kelley, Kevin Connors, Doug Johnson, Lee Ann Monty, Leonor Acosta, Amy Skinner, Juan Covas, Jessica Thompson, Kevin Pfeil, Scott Gerlt, Angelo Garcia, Angel Fennell, Bob Boyd, Eric Chu, Steve Montes, Dan Copson, William Warnock, Clarence Ragland, Fernando Flores and Debra Silver.

Performance-Based Logistics is a key Department of Defense strategy for delivering integrated, affordable, performance-based product support solutions designed to meet warfighter requirements and reduce cost. The tenets of PBL support Better Buying Power by incentivizing productivity and innovation in industry and government. DoD instituted the PBL Awards to enhance PBL awareness and encourage PBL excellence. Through the PBL Awards, DoD recognizes organizations responsible for outstanding achievements in PBL development, implementation and execution in three categories: System Level, Subsystem Level and Component Level.

The System Level Award won by the Javelin JV team is named in honor of the late Gerald R. "Jerry" Beck who had a long distinguished career as a DoD logistician. Beck was instrumental in establishing the PBL Program and helped initiate the annual awards program.