ARLINGTON, Va. (March 10, 2015) -- Additional metrics were recently added to installation status reports to better assess what is needed for unforeseen contingencies.
Maj. Gen. Duane Gamble, assistant deputy chief of staff, G-4, spoke about improving deployments from power projection platforms, March 10, during the Association of the U.S. Army Institute of Land Warfare's "Hot Topics" forum on Installation Management.
Gamble was part of a panel discussion titled "The Installation - A Power Projection Platform and Training Enabler in Support of Army Force 2025 and Beyond."
A unit in Alaska has already benefited from the streamlined report, Gamble said. The unit was able to obtain much-needed loading ramps for its trucks and other vehicles to facilitate future deployments.
"We continue to bang the drum … it gets better and better every month," Gamble said.
The task at hand, he said, is about validating the collective task of deployment. "You have to have the infrastructure, procedures, trained and ready forces, consumable supplies and bring that all together in a collective sort of way [for the] validation process."
Gamble described force projection as a "team sport," calling for a foundational level build before getting to a high-end collective task.
Maj. Gen. Al Aycock, director of operations, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, said the cost savings, while existent, could also be painful, especially in matters of joint basing.
"We created a system of problem-solving that requires all of us to do something that we don't like to do … elevate a problem to our boss without a solution," Aycock said.
As such, Aycock cited the Office of the Secretary of Defense's system to reinstitute the senior installation management group, comprised of joint base leaders who can follow joint base maintenance guidance for a clearer path to ensuring continued availability of personnel, equipment, facilities, networks, information and infrastructure.
"One of the keys is the role of senior commanders on the bases," Aycock said. "That's going to be an issue that we have got to work out and we pledge to try and make that happen."
Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, commanding general of XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, also participated in the panel.
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