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Global logistics support: the GLSC: operational supply chain management
Air Force Journal of Logistics, Fall, 2007 by David Reusser
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The Global Logistic Support Center (GLSC), a new center that will stand up in fiscal year 2008, will be the supply chain manager for the Air Force. The GLSC will support a concept of operations which integrates supply chain (SC) processes into a single end-to-end enterprise which, combined with other key logistics initiatives, will help the Air Force meet its Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21) goals of reducing SC operating costs by 10 percent and improving aircraft availability by 20 percent.
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The GLSC Provisional (GLSCP) Office has been working for the past several months to develop a roadmap for standing up the GLSC organization, and to determine its initial operational capability processes. The GLSC will be organized around three main supply chain functions: supply chain planning and execution (SCPE), supply chain operations (SCO), and supply chain strategy & integration (SCS&I). Each of these functions has been translating the strategic direction contained in Headquarters United States Air Force Program Action Directive 07-01 into specific actions which will need to occur to successfully stand up the GLSC capability.
The two most important points are that the GLSC will be an operational center, and the vast majority of the people in the GLSC will remain at their current operational locations. The GLSC will be a highly virtual organization with six operating locations across the United States (Langley AFB, Hill AFB, Tinker AFB, Scott AFB, Robins AFB and Wright Patterson AFB). There will also be a small GLSC headquarters collocated with the SCO Wing at Scott AFB. The GLSC Headquarters proper will be a lean, small staff of about 16 people who will perform the following functions:
* Ensure the GLSC is focused on warfighter operations
* Provide functional managers for the GLSC
* Support functional personnel
* Work memos of agreement for all necessary support relationships
* Provide a point of entry for GLSC updated procedures and guidance
* Coordinate all taskings in and out of the GLSC
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Much of the support for this small headquarters proper will come from the 375th Air Base Wing at Scott AFB.
People in the SCS&I (group) will be located at Wright-Patterson AFB (WPAFB)--that includes both the leadership and actual workers (approximately 200 people). Most of the people are currently located at WPAFB where they perform the majority of the current SCS&I functions. A small headquarters staff of approximately five people will also reside at WPAFB. This arrangement provides a direct connection with the Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command (HQ AFMC) functional staff and ensures integration with other eLog21 initiatives [Repair Enterprise 21, Centralized Asset Management, Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS), and others]. See Figure 1.
People in the SCO (wing) will be located at Scott, Langley, Robins, Tinker, and Hill AFBs. Overall staffing will be approximately 1,000 people, with the vast majority remaining at their respective Combat Air Forces and Mobility Air Forces Logistic Support Centers and the three AFMC Air Logistic Centers. A small headquarters staff of approximately five people will also reside at Scott AFB. This organization will ensure fast, effective customer support across the Air Force Enterprise.
People in SCPE (wing) will be located at Robins, Tinker, and Hill AFBs. Overall staffing will be approximately 3,300 people, with the majority remaining at their respective operating locations. A small headquarters staff of approximately five people will reside at Tinker AFB. This structure will provide direct interaction with the system program directors and system program managers at each center for requirements identification in order to ensure realistic and flexible enterprise planning. See Figure 1.
Colonel H. Brent Baker, Sr, GLSC(P) commander, related, "Knowing that the GLSC will be a virtual organization and the commander can't be at all locations, he or she really needs to be close to the warfighter and located where time sensitive decisions are most critical." He went on to say, "We must also remember the key attribute for the GLSC, as the Air Force's enterprise supply chain manager, is to function as an operational unit."
Article Acronyms
CAF--Combat Air Forces
eLog21--Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century
GLSC--Global Logistics Support Center
GLSCP--GLSC Provisional Office
MAF--Mobility Air Forces
P&E--Planning and Execution
SC--Supply Chain
SCM--Supply Chain Management
SCO--Supply Chain Operations
SCPE--Supply Chain Planning and Execution
SCS&I--Supply Chain Strategy and Integration
WPAFB--Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Sound logistics forms the foundation for the development of strategic flexibility and mobility. If such flexibility is to be exercised and exploited, military command must have adequate control of its logistic support.
--Adm Henry E. Eeeles, USN
