The holy grail for logistics modernizers at the Defense Department is the Global Combat Support System, a family of programs that DOD and the military services are working on individually.

The GCSS classified Web portal will be accessible by browser and a common-operational-picture (COP) computer. GCSS will provide commanders and planners with information about facilities, locations, units, materiel and transportation.

The Joint Deployment Training Center now gives one- and two-day GCSS courses at Fort Eustis, Va., for action officers who use unit readiness data for planning or operations by combatant commands and joint task forces. GCSS students learn to drill down to COP tracks and sites, plot and filter aircraft or vehicle courses, and design facilities such as seaports and airfields. They also learn to use COP applications to collect operational, logistical and administrative data.

• The Defense Information Systems Agency is developing GCSS Combatant Commanders/Joint Task Force in response to high-level visionary concepts covering this decade and beyond. The concepts fuse traditional logistics with transportation to respond quickly to military crises by shifting and tracking units and supplies.

• GCSS (CC/JTF), now in incremental release as a Web-based query tool within the Global Command and Control System, gives read-only access to combat support information from authoritative sources. Its goal is a single, end-to-end capability to manage military units, personnel and equipment through all stages of mobilization.

• GCSS-Army, the Army’s portion, is also Web-based and is supposed to incorporate functions of the standard Army retail supply system, ammunition system, maintenance system, unit-level logistics system, integrated logistics analysis program and property book unit.

• GCSS-AF, the Air Force portion, will use Web services on an Oracle ERP platform to offer single sign-on, common workflow, ad hoc queries and unstructured collaboration spaces.

• GCSS-MC, the Marine Corps portion, will use the Oracle E-Business Suite for Web services. The Corps plans to mount sense-and-respond units on vehicles to accept and track logistics orders from wireless-enabled tablet computers for fuel, ammunition, parts and supplies.

purchase reprint

link to this page