NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As America's posture in the world changes, the Army must adapt and transition away from costly contracting programs to become more self-sufficient. The Army Materiel Command is responsible for procuring, supplying and repairing every piece of equipment the Army uses, and is at the tip of the spear for a new cost saving initiative.
"The Army is moving to a culture that emphasizes a unit's ability to deploy using equipment Soldiers have trained with, know how to maintain, operate, and fix, both at home station and forward deployed," said AMC's Command Chief Warrant Officer 5 Darren Cook during an office call with warrant officers and senior logisticians at the Tennessee National Guard Bureau. "The Army is serious about this transition; as sustainers, you are instrumental to this change."
Warrant officers are the subject matter experts on operating, managing and maintaining the Army's equipment and serve as leaders, mentors and advisors to Soldiers and their commanding officer.
Cook is leading this Army-wide charge. He is traveling around the world speaking to members of every echelon of the Army's Active, Reserve and National Guard logistics/maintenance infrastructure. He is both educating on the Army's transition and collecting feedback about specific and unique challenges to each organization.
"During the last 16 years as units deployed, the equipment and support infrastructure used in theater was in place and ready for Soldiers to use," said Cook. "After years of this, Soldiers no longer know how to properly maintain their equipment and leaders are unable to manage maintenance schedules, lack supply discipline and property accountability because it was done entirely by contractors and it was not part of their mission."
Since 2001, the Army has heavily relied on defense contractors to maintain their equipment in the field. This allowed Soldiers to maintain high-tempo operations and focus on the mission.
"We are all wearing this patch on our uniform [U.S. Army]," Cook said to maintenance leaders of the Tennessee National Guard. "Whether you are Reserve, National Guard or Active Army, this change is going to affect you. There is no longer a differentiation between the services we are a total force and we need to synchronize our efforts."
Cook has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles highlighting and determining how AMC can better serve the Army with a program poised to impact every person in uniform.
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