Article

September 2003

Logisticians Strive to Improve Quality of Life for Army Troops

by Roxana Tiron

Concerns about the troops’ quality of life on extended deployments in Iraq have prompted the Army to step up deliveries of climate-controlled shelters, water and clothing. But officials concede that the logistics challenges are huge, given the harsh weather conditions and the security problems.

When soldiers deployed in the past, they deployed with their own equipment. “They deployed with their own tents; they deployed with the sustainment that they required on the battlefield,” said Army Col. James Chambers, the support commander for the 3rd Corps, at Fort Hood, Texas.

“Today, at least early deployers ... come with very little of their own equipment. If they come in some place and wait for the equipment to arrive, or they are waiting for somebody to decide what they are going to do, the first thing that will crop up is ... quality of life.”

One way to improve soldiers’ quality of life in such early deployments is through Force Provider. Chambers described Force Provider as “sort of a small city” of state-of-the-art tents, equipped with air conditioning, showers and comfortable beds. The Army recently decided to buy 12 more of these tent cities, said Chambers.

In Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, Force Provider equipment was mass deployed. He said it actually was the largest deployment of Force Provider in Army history.

Due to the nature of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, force security is the number one priority. “Quality of life for soldiers in Iraq is not the number one issue,” he said.

According to Chambers, a major difference among the services’ quality of life is still obvious. “We get letters from congressmen and wives who want to know why these other servicemen are living in air- conditioned [shelters], while others are living in a very well heated plastic tent,” he said.

Dependence on bottled water in Iraq turned out to be a major sustainment and quality of life issue, Chambers said. Bottled water made up 30 percent of the distribution requirement even though bulk water was available, he said. “The soldiers are issued two bottles of water and then tons, I mean, more purified water than it is called for,” he said. “But we have the same problem that we have had for 50 years. Soldiers do not like to drink purified water.” Sixty percent of the tactical platforms were dedicated to delivering water, according to Chambers.

The Army also is struggling with supplying enough clothing, said Chambers. For example, every soldier was issued two battle-dress uniforms (BDU). “We are issuing the third and fourth set, but of course after six months over there, the first and second set are pretty much worn out,” he said. “So we are looking at producing enough to provide four sets for the soldiers.”

The Defense Department’s latest chemical-biological protective suit, the JSLIST, was a “great victory,” according to Chambers. “But again, the requirements that we had were much greater than the amount of JSLIST on hand,” he said. “We increased production on those, and right now, we are in pretty good shape.”

Chambers said he was pleased by a recent decision to supply every vehicle with armor protection plates against 7.62 mm rounds.

Chambers said providing logistics for OIF was a “Herculean” effort. Logisticians delivered enough MREs (meals ready to eat) to feed the entire town of Spokane, Wash., for more than a year. They provided an average of 2.1 million gallons of drinking water each day to 307,000 troops. They also provided 15 million gallons of fuel daily. That is about the same consumption as the entire state of Florida in one day. The logistics support groups shipped 367,834 tons of ammo, the equivalent of almost two billion items, said Chambers.

In order to transport and keep track of all the necessary items, the Army rapidly fielded the Maneuver Tracking System, before the conflict. MTS is a satellite-based technology that helps direct the movement of combat service support assets in the theater of operations.

“The rapid fielding of MTS and the addition of MTS to the Blue Force Tracking, was a great success, great innovation by the acquisition communities,” Chambers said. “We have to bring back that success and refine it.”

While, there are some contractor issues with the MTS that need to be solved, Chambers said he expected the system to be integrated into the Blue Force Tracking across the Army over the next few years.

Despite the advanced technology, the tactical distribution of spare parts was problematic, said Chambers. “The issue wasn’t getting them into theater,” he said. [There were] miles and miles of pallets catalogued into the system, but not catalogued out.”

The Army expected 50 percent of its equipment to survive combat, said Chambers. The first brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division turned in 80 percent of its equipment to be repaired within theater, said Chambers. “About 20 percent we are going to have to wash out, and that was supposedly the most shot-at brigade,” he said. “That is an indicator that it is not as bad as we thought.”

Turning in, Chambers said, means exchanging their tanks for their Humvees.

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