ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – There’s a little-known group in the U.S. Army Sustainment Command that performs very important work providing leaders the right data at the right time and in the right place to enable data-driven decisions for a data-centric force.
This is where the Special Activities Group comprised of ORSAs or Operations Research and Systems Analysts, come in to help ASC. This functional area applies analytic methods to study business practices and inform decision-making by integrating data and analytic techniques, explained ASC headquarters’ Matthew Peck, supervisory operations research analyst.
Analytics provides Army personnel with data to assist in getting things when and where they need it to carry out their global missions in the most proficient manner.
ASC is the logistics arm of the U.S. Army Materiel Command — ASC’s higher headquarters — that provides warfighters with everything they need to defend the nation and its allies. America’s Soldiers need ammunition, equipment, food, uniforms, and so much more to fight and win on the battlefield or respond to natural disasters. ASC makes sure troops get supplies and equipment wherever and whenever needed. The information provided by ORSA helps ASC provide materiel faster and more efficiently.
Peck, who’s been here since late 2020, is responsible for coordinating analytic projects and efforts given to the SAG.
Upon taking command of AMC last year, Gen. Charles Hamilton was quite clear on his understanding of the importance of understanding data’s many usages.
“Data is now a commander’s business, and senior leaders across the joint force are calling data a new form of ammunition,” said Hamilton, speaking at the Association of the U.S. Army Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, March 30, last year.
“Every successful sustainer knows you have to anticipate your operational customer’s requirements,” said Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, AMC deputy commanding general and acting commander, in an Army article in July. “You have to deliver what they need, when they need it and where they need it. This concept is nothing new to us, but what is new is being able to articulate what we need as commanders to our data and analytics teams so they can build us the decision support capability we need.”
Employees across ASC’s footprint help with ORSA-related products and projects. All ORSAs within ASC, not just those specifically located within the SAG, create ORSA-related products and analyses, Peck said.
“Various ORSA projects throughout the command have helped improve the understanding of different command processes and data linkages,” said Peck. “The outcomes of these projects include, but are not limited to, reduced wait time for data/analysis to give to subject matter experts and better data linkages across ASC systems and products.”
For instance, a recurring analysis that could take a subject matter expert two hours can be completed in a matter of minutes or seconds using current analytic tools or methodologies, Peck said. Hence, it is that reduction in time that contributes to improved efficiencies for the command.
As an example, the ASC SAG, in conjunction with ASC’s Lead Materiel Integrator staff, developed a Rapid Removal of Excess tracking dashboard for leaders to understand the impacts of this tracking method.
LMI is a materiel management approach designed to effectively and efficiently distribute and redistribute materiel to support the Army.
The R2E tracking method frees up units from obsolete materiel by removing excess equipment from property books so Soldiers can refocus their time and energy on other things like training instead of burdensome inventories and maintenance for defunct items.
Various analytic tools and techniques — such as programming, data visualization, and process improvement methodologies — have led to improved data quality and visibility, Peck explained.
“ORSA-related projects and studies inform decision-makers of their decision space within various mission areas. ORSA projects can synthesize both quantitative and qualitative data to give decision-makers an understanding of their decision space,” Peck said. This means much of this work involves gathering empirical data and conducting basic statistical analyses.
Peck said operations research is used throughout AMC, the Army, and Department of Defense.
“The ORSAs introduce quantitative analysis to the military decision-making processes by developing and applying probability models, statistical inference, simulations, optimization, and economics models,” Peck said.
All this translates into ORSA supporting ASC with maintaining equipment, providing technical support, and restoring equipment to like-new condition. This also includes supporting life support services including dining facilities, uniform issues, laundry, transportation, lodging, and more.
“As an example, we support the Second Destination Transportation team. For testing and research purposes, we recently developed a machine learning tool that predicts the cost of ground freight transportation given weight, distance, shipping method, and a couple of other factors as inputs,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Young Jr., an ORSA who works within the SAG. “The development of this tool required building a data transformation and modeling pipeline in Army Vantage that allowed users with minimal training to interact with the tool to generate cost predictions.”
Army Vantage is the service’s data driven operations and decision-making platform, enabling Army users at every level and across classifications to view comprehensive Army-wide data, analyze trends and make data-driving decisions. It improves and accelerates decisions on everything from personnel readiness to financial return on investment.
“We briefed SDT leadership on the results of the effort and potential applications for this and similar machine learning tools,” said Young. “In summary, this effort required knowledge of computer programming, data manipulation, statistical modeling, and communicating with non-technical people.”
With the support of ORSAs within ASC, the Army is leveraging data to achieve the most effective outcomes for its diverse logistics operations worldwide. This involves ensuring that American Soldiers have access to ammunition, supplies, sustenance, uniforms, maintenance, and the resources required for their daily activities, whether in combat situations or during emergency response efforts.
The primary goal is to deliver essential resources to Soldiers promptly and consistently, enabling them to carry out their missions successfully.
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