U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) will pursue partnering opportunities with commercial transportation providers so they are ready to support future surges, according to its new strategy released Friday.
“We will also take proactive steps to ensure commercial programs remain relevant and effective and retain the surge capacity necessary to meet our nation’s military transportation needs,” TRANSCOM said in Our Vision: 2013 to 2017.
TRANSCOM spokeswoman Cynthia Bauer said Wednesday in an email the command will pursue these partnering opportunities because it foresees transportation requirements decreasing after U.S. forces leave Afghanistan, shrinking the amount of Defense Department business for commercial carriers.
To help explore these partnering opportunities, Bauer said TRANSCOM created an Enterprise Readiness Center within the command that is charged with improving partnerships and attracting more DoD and non-DoD government customers. Bauer also said TRANSCOM’s new Transportation and Technology Industry Liaison Office now serves as a single point of contact for new and existing partners to provide us with information on their capabilities and solutions to transportation challenges.
“We still need to ensure our commercial partners stay viable and can respond to DoD requirements,” Bauer said.
TRANSCOM will strive to better understand why some customers try to move DoD cargo outside the Defense Transportation System (DTS) and will “more effectively articulate” how non-DTS movements impact overall readiness and increase costs to DoD.
TRANSCOM will also consider expanding, to the extent authorized by law, the scope of DTS to provide cargo movement to non-DoD federal agencies and departments.
“Offering transportation and distribution services to non-military agencies will help preserve our readiness, surge capability and our objective of providing a coherent, cost-effective, whole-of-government approach to diverse mission requirements,” TRANSCOM said.
TRANSCOM will release, for the first time, DoD’s Global Campaign Plan for Distribution. The plan will coordinate global distribution planning and activities; deliver distribution cyber space capabilities; anticipate future requirements; optimize air, land and sealift capabilities; develop secure and flexible infrastructure and “right-size” global materiel positioning. Bauer said TRANSCOM is working on having a final version of the plan approved by mid-2013.
TRANSCOM will also be more vigilant in its cyber defense efforts. TRANSCOM said it must be “much more proactive” in protecting its information technology (IT) infrastructure and the credibility of the information it exchanges with allies and partners. TRANSCOM said it will also advocate for commercial information systems that are capable of anticipating cyber threats and operating in a contested cyber domain.
TRANSCOM said its new strategy, overall, has four main focus areas: preserving readiness capability, achieving IT management excellence, aligning resources and processes for mission success and developing customer-focused professionals.