FA 90: an update on the multifunctional logistician program: recent developments in functional area 90 mirror the increasing importance of multifunctional logistics in officers' careers

Army Logistician, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Terry E. Juskowiak, Robert L. Shumar

Currently, the HRC Colonels Division is studying the realignment of colonel-level commands to ensure that they mirror the categories and changes at the lieutenant colonel level. Clearly, if a logistics officer desires to command, multifunctional logistics offers the greatest number of opportunities. However, a few branch specialty commands will still exist and will likely have a place in our Army for the foreseeable future. (See the chart on page 5.)

CPL Certification Annotated on ORBs

As many logisticians know, the process of becoming a Certified Professional Logistician (CPL) is very arduous. Of those who try, only a few actually earn the coveted designation of CPL from SOLE--The International Society of Logistics. The CPL designation is a professional statement of competence and a personal statement of commitment to logistics as a career. In the past, however, CPL status could not be documented in official military records. Commanders in the field and career managers also had no way of tracking who in the military logistics community had this prestigious certification--until now.

In an acknowledgment of the importance of the CPL designation for multifunctional logisticians, CASCOM, with the CSS Division at HRC, has gained official recognition of CPL as a professional certification. The certification now can be annotated on section X of an officer's Officer Record Brief (ORB). Tom Edwards, the Deputy to the Commanding General of CASCOM, summarizes the relevance of CPL certification for Army logisticians--

   Professionals take examinations to certify
   their competence whether they are doctors, lawyers,
   accountants, or physical therapists. The
   Army cannot be excellent in logistics without
   excellent logisticians. I encourage any Army
   logistician who considers himself or herself a
   professional to study for and pass the Certified
   Professional Logistician examination.

TAADS Review of Logistics Positions

To assist career managers in assigning officers across the Army, CASCOM, with the proponents for the Transportation, Ordnance, and Quartermaster branches, spearheaded a major review of over 10,000 officer positions in The Army Authorization Documents System (TAADS). The rewrite of DA Pam 600-3 increased the timeliness of a review of positions to determine if they met the criteria to be considered multifunctional.

The result of the review was a recommendation that over 2,000 positions be recoded to FA 90, other logistics basic branches, or other Army functional areas. Another finding was the need for a designation for logistics officers performing duties that require officers qualified by education, training, or experience in any of the logistics branches but not requiring the expertise of a multifunctional logistician (FA 90).

With the rewrite of the FA 90 chapter of DA Pam 600-3, the criteria separating the skills and jobs of a functional logistics officer from those of a multifunctional logistics officer now are delineated more clearly. However, the staff working on the TAADS review faced a dilemma: Hundreds of officer positions of all grades clearly needed a logistician but did not require the experience of a multifunctional logistician or a specific functional logistics officer. Examples of these positions included Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) instructors, recruiting command positions, aides de camp, inspector general positions, battalion S-1s, and various indefinable staff officer positions. This dilemma resulted in a recommendation to establish a logistics officer immaterial code or a logistics officer designation.