It has been a great honor to serve as the Army Materiel Command’s commanding general and our Army’s senior sustainer these past three years. As I reflect on my career of over 35 years, I take personal and professional pride in how much our sustainment enterprise has accomplished and the critical role we have played in support of the Army and joint force. Our ability to project, position, resupply, and sustain combat power from installations and organic industrial base depots, arsenals, and ammunition plants to the tactical points of need throughout the world has provided our warfighters a strategic advantage in every exercise and operation, across all phases of integrated deterrence/campaigning, in crisis and conflict.
To our tremendous professionals serving in key functional and multifunctional support organizations at echelon throughout our Army, thank you for spectacularly delivering sustainment readiness in support of worldwide operations each and every day.
These past three years have brought no shortage of challenges, and in every situation, you have proven your significance, resilience, and agility. When the COVID-19 pandemic shook our nation, the sustainment enterprise went to work producing, distributing, and delivering critical personal protective equipment, vaccines, and therapeutics. In Afghanistan, not only did we sustain combat power for the Army and joint forces, but we also supported Operation Allies Welcome, establishing and providing temporary housing, medical, and logistics services to the departments of State and Homeland Security for Afghan special immigrants and their families. In the past year, the support this enterprise has provided to Ukraine and our NATO partners and allies has been nothing short of phenomenal, delivering more than 10,000 pieces of equipment and millions of rounds of ammunition worth more than $8 billion, all while maintaining the readiness of our Army. These examples barely scratch the surface. From significant growth in participation at Project Convergence, providing the Sensor-Shooter-Sustainer linkage to increase speed, range, and convergence in support of building the Army of 2030 and designing the Army of 2040, to the critical support provided during the DEFENDER series of exercises, to rotational support to combat training centers and (Pacific) Pathways, the list goes on and on.
The theme of this edition is Education Modernization: Building the Army of 2030, and I can unequivocally attest the sustainment enterprise is fully aligned with transformation efforts and with the National Security Strategy signed by the president in October 2022 that emphasizes modernizing and strengthening our military, specifically “to be lethal, resilient, sustainable, survivable, agile, and responsive” in support of Army and joint force multidomain operations. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth addressed the future of Army sustainment as a key function in building the Army of 2030 during her opening remarks at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting last October. She made it clear that to succeed on the future battlefield and continue to dominate the land domain, “We’ve got to sustain the fight across contested terrain for both short, sharp operations, as well as protracted conflicts.”
We are committed to continued innovation in our approach to modernizing the sustainment warfighting function across doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy in both organizational design and materiel development, integrating capabilities including autonomous distribution, unmanned aerial and ground resupply, atmospheric water generation/extraction, mod-ernized energy and power generation platforms, advanced manufacturing/3D printing, modernized watercraft such as the maneuver support vessel (light and heavy), and more to achieve freedom of action, extend operational reach, and prolong endurance. To that end, we are postured to build a contested logistics cross functional team (CFT), focused on sustainment capabilities, while maintaining support to all other CFTs and portfolios. From the readiness of the strategic support area to setting the theater, we must continue to execute anticipatory, agile logistics, informed by data, to provide strategic depth of materiel and all classes of supply.
The future of our enterprise is bright, and I have 100 percent confidence in the next generation of sustainment leaders. We have stood on the shoulders of giants. Their legacy continues in the ordnance, transportation, quartermaster, human resources, and finance Soldiers and professionals who ensure the sustainment warfighting function is at the forefront of our Army’s transformation efforts as we build the Army of 2030 and design the Army of 2040. It has been my absolute honor and privilege to serve shoulder-to-shoulder with all of you in this great Profession of Arms. People First! Winning Matters! Army Strong!
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Gen. Ed Daly serves as the commanding general of Army Materiel Command (AMC). He served three years as the deputy commanding general of AMC in his previous assignment. He managed the day-to-day operations of the Army’s logistics enterprise and served as the senior commander of Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. He served as the commanding general of Army Sustainment Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, and as AMC’s deputy chief of staff, overseeing the roles and functions of the headquarters staff.
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This article was published in the Winter 23 issue of Army Sustainment.
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