What DoD logisticians should know about the army

Air Force Journal of Logistics, Fall, 2004 by James C. Bates

Introduction

As US military operations become increasingly joint and with the increased involvement of government interagency activities and coalition partners, it is beneficial for Department of Defense (DoD) logisticians, both military and civilian, to have a basic understanding of the organizational structure and logistics-related aspects of all the Services, not just the service they are assigned to. This article's focus is the Army. It is the fourth in a series; the previous articles were published in The Army Logistician and were aptly named "What Army Logisticians Should Know about the Air Force" (September-October 2003), "What Army Logisticians Should Know About the Navy" (November-December 2003), and "What Army Logisticians Should Know About the Marine Corps" (July-August 2003). All are online and available at http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/index.asp.> Sustaining Deployed Army Forces

The Army is America's senior service, having been founded in 1775. It also has the most members of any of the Services. From a logistics perspective, it has unique characteristics that offer certain challenges not faced by the other services. For instance, unlike Navy, Air Force, and Marine amphibious forces, the Army depends entirely on the other services or the civilian sector for strategic transportation lift. Moreover, as the primary land force, Army forces disperse over a wide area and in remote locations. This compounds the difficulties involved in supply chain management since--in such a distributed, noncontiguous environment--there are multiple transportation stops, potential mode changes (air to land, rail to road, sea to air, sea to land, and so on), and transload configuration changes (individual items being moved from 40-foot containers into 20-foot containers, 463L pallets to palletized load system trucks, multipack boxes to parts bins, and so on). Moreover, the software, hardware, telecommunications devices, computers, and automatic identification technology needed for an effective logistics management information network must be linked over extended distances and in austere environments. Thousands of information input sites are distributed over vast noncontiguous environments. Frankly, providing cost-effective, responsive, and visible sustainment to such a force is a formidable task.

For instance, for a logistics information network to be able to track the quantity of a specific truck tire available within an area of operations like Iraq, all the onhand visibility data associated with this type of tire somehow must be transmitted to the network servers on at least a daily basis, preferably twice daily. This means every unit and support battalion within the area of operations--there could be more than a thousand units and tens of support units--that have or need the tire must transmit this information to a centralized data repository. However, unlike a ship or an established Air Force base, Army units forwardly deployed do not have telecommunications land lines or habitual satellite links. Providing logistics support and obtaining reliable logistics information in this type of environment, especially when forces are frequently relocating, is indeed a Herculean task. With this in mind, let us take a look at how the Army is structured and then review the transformational changes underway or planned.

The Total Army

According to the Army almanacs of 2002 and 2003, the active Army force has 485,000 soldiers and about 200,000 Department of the Army civilians. In addition, the Army Reserve has 206,000 soldiers, and the Army National Guard has 352,000 soldiers. The Army Reserve is controlled completely by the Federal Government and serves solely as a Federal reserve to the active Army. The Army National Guard, on the other hand, may be controlled by either the state or the Federal Government, depending on the circumstance. The Army Guard force structure consists of combat, combat support, and combat service support units, while the Army Reserve force is comprised primarily of combat support and combat service support. Both organizations are part of the Army, which consists of the Active, Guard, and Reserve components.

Rank and Pay Grade

The following are the ranks and corresponding pay grades within the Army, from lowest to highest. E stands for enlisted, WO stands for warrant officer, and O stands for officer. Trainee (E-1), private (E-2), private first class (E-3), corporal (E-4), sergeant (E-5), staff sergeant (E-6), sergeant first class (E-7), master sergeant (E-8), first sergeant (E-8 serving as top enlisted soldier in a company), sergeant major (E-9), command sergeant major (E-9 serving as the senior enlisted soldier in a battalion or higher), WO1, WO2, WO3, WO4, WO5, second lieutenant (O-1), first lieutenant (O2), captain (O-3), major (O-4), lieutenant colonel (O-5), colonel (O-6), brigadier general (O-7), major general (O-8), lieutenant general (O-9), and general (O-10).

Army Organization

From smallest to largest, the Army is organized as follows: soldier, team, squad, platoon, company (also called troop by cavalry forces or battery by artillery forces), battalion (also called squadron by cavalry forces), brigade (also called group by logistics forces or regiment by special forces), division, corps, and army service component command (ASCC). Colloquially known as The Ultimate Weapon, the soldier is the foundation of the Army. Five soldiers make up a team, and two teams make up a squad. A squad is considered the smallest element within the Army. It typically has 9-11 soldiers and is led by a sergeant or staff sergeant. Two or more squads make up a platoon, which usually has about 40 soldiers and is led by a lieutenant. Two to four platoons make up a company, which is commanded by a captain and contains from 62 to 200 soldiers. Currently, companies are the smallest Army element to be routinely assigned unit identification codes and DoD Activity Address Codes. Four to six companies make up a battalion, which is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and has from 300 to 1,000 soldiers. Two to five battalions make up a brigade, which is commanded by a colonel and has from 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers. Three or more brigades typically make up a division, which is commanded by a major general and has from 10,000 to 17,000 soldiers. Two or more divisions make up a corps, which is commanded by a lieutenant general and has from 20,000 to 45,000 soldiers. The Army's largest suborganization is the ASCC. It typically has 50,000 plus soldiers, is made up of two or more corps, and is commanded by a lieutenant general or a general.