The Army Field Support
Brigade Pacific has developed a system to bring order
to the mass of available logistics information and improve
situational awareness.
Twenty years ago, Lieutenant Colonel Bob Mad-ayag (now retired)
observed when the first computers arrived at the Army School
of the Americas, “It will be another 20 years before
the real capabilities of this technology are realized.” Little
did I know then how accurate his prediction would prove to
be. Compared to today’s computer systems, those first
computers were little more than digital typewriters or, for
some users, confusing status ornaments. Today, Army transformation
is pushing the digital boundaries, with real-time
network-centric technology at the epicenter. In fact, the amount
of information available to Army leaders and staffers is now
so great that systems are needed to organize it into usable
forms. The Army Materiel Command’s (AMC’s) Army
Field Support Brigade (AFSB) Pacific has developed such a system
to help organize logistics information, increase logistics
situational awareness, and track critical issues. This system
is SIGTRAKS—the Significant Issue
Tracking System.
Information Overload
The Army faces no shortage of information, but the availability
of more information is not necessarily a good thing. Email
has become an endless flow of facts and figures with limited
filtering, accounting, or tracking features. Staffers must
sort through volumes of runaway emails, attempting to establish
ownership and separate the relevant from the extrane-ous.
Misdirected emails, laced with outdated or already resolved
actions, steal
time from many users who have to read them. It is not uncommon
to have information unintentionally delayed or overlooked
or to have critical information bypass key personnel.
Information overload, accumulating from multiple, dissimilar
channels, complicates the flow of real-issue tracking. Information
from reports in multiple texts, such as Word and PowerPoint,
can be difficult to search for, sort, and summarize and has
a limited shelf life before it is deleted, lost, or archived
into obscurity. Leaders cannot lead and managers cannot manage
without access to timely information. Timely, critical information
that does not reach its intended audience is essentially
worthless.
D Minus 90
In June 2003, AMC Forward Stryker at Fort Lewis, Washington,
began assembling AMC’s first brigade logistics support
team (BLST). This integrated team of 15 to 17 highly trained
AMC logistics specialists was tailored to provide habitual,
dedicated direct support to a Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT).
With an SBCT scheduled for deployment in 90 days, the greater
concern at the time was BLST management of 85 program manager
(PM) contractors and their systems. For example, of 79 communications
systems, only 22 were supported by the Communications-Electronics
Command (CECOM); the remaining 57 were supported by PM-managed
systems contractors.
Clearly, in 2003, the lines of logistics responsibil-ity,
accountability, and authority were becoming doc-trinally
transparent among
contractor and Government personnel. However, little consideration
was given to how to collectively integrate SBCT equipment
sup-ported by PM-managed contractors into an effective centralized
management
structure within the BLST.
Operational Tracking System
The immediate solution was to establish an Operational Tracking
System (OPTRAKS) on the SBCT Intranet, which enabled the
brigade to submit, consolidate, and track all AMC and PM
trouble reports
through completion. “We must be able push information
from the ground up,” stated Richard Metcalf, who
designed the initial operating system. This
network-centric system synchronized AMC with the warfighter,
sharing logistics situational awareness while tracking
requested support.
The idea was to triage each trouble report and forward
it to the right technicians for immediate resolution.
The trouble
report remained active until the problem was resolved to
the satisfaction of both the initiator and the problem
solver (either
an AMC lo-gistics assistance representative [LAR] or field
service representative [FSR]). As the trouble report database
grew, it quickly became a source of performance-based information
used to resolve recurring technical issues.
OPTRAKS implementation ultimately resulted in an 18-percent
decrease in FSR calls forward, which, in turn, reduced
the logistics footprint. OPTRAKS was used in garrison and
combat,
and, as of October 2006, it had logged over 6,000 trouble
reports. The success of OPTRAKS was unparalleled.
|
|
| Under SIGTRAKS,
logistics issues are compiled weekly using the information
shown above. Older issues are archived. Issues that
cannot be resolved at or below the AFSB commander’s
level are reported to the LCMCs and the Army Sustainment
Command. |
|
Significant Issue Tracking System
An AFSB is the AMC regional center of gravity and the single face of AMC to the
warfighter. It is responsible for integrating, balancing, and providing global
reach back to AMC’s life cycle management commands (LCMCs). The goal of
each AFSB is to have one AMC person in charge with one focus—tactical
support to the Soldier.
In November 2005, the AFSB Pacific operations officer, Hiep Nguyen, began modeling
a prototype SIGTRAKS. The primary purpose was to integrate and rapidly move LCMC
critical issues through the AFSB chain of command.
During the testing phase, AFSB Pacific tasked its stakeholders in Hawaii, Alaska,
Washington, and several overseas locations to evaluate SIGTRAKS. Using a disciplined,
measured approach facilitated rapid feedback from a diverse control group. The
primary objective was to eliminate redundant or valueless reporting while maximizing
useful output.
By March 2006, the verdict from LARs, BLSTs, LCMC senior command representatives
(SCRs), and logistics support element commanders in the field was, “Implement
SIGTRAKS immediately.” Users at all levels adapted to using the system
and quickly recognized its added value. They moved from simply being in compliance
with SIGTRAKS guidance to committed supporters of the system. SIGTRAKS received
command approval and was implemented in March 2006.
SIGTRAKS Supporting the Field
AFSB Pacific, in concert with the Directorate of Information Management at Fort
Lewis, operates SIGTRAKS on a secure Department of Defense server, requiring
both a login and a password.
SIGTRAKS, like OPTRAKS, operates in a collaborative real-time network, encouraging
early, rapid resolution of logistics issues at the lowest level. SIGTRAKS empowers
the user and maintainer to document, track, and resolve issues quickly or move
them forward as required. Essentially, at the point of receipt, each AMC leader
or manager must decide if the SIGTRAKS issue is solvable, should be moved forward,
or should simply be filed for future reference. Only unresolved issues are forwarded
to the next echelon and ultimately entered automatically into the AFSB commander’s
weekly situation report for the Army Sustainment Command. Approximately 10 percent
of reported issues are approved by the commander and forwarded for general officer
review.
SIGTRAKS was designed primarily to digitally empower the frontline user, the
LAR. The first “face to the field” the Soldier sees is an LCMC LAR,
who acts as an “entry point of success.” The LARs are the foot soldiers
of AMC, the de facto eyes and ears of the command. LARs operate at the tactical
level as highly respected LCMC solution-oriented technical experts who bring
unparalleled added value to their supported units. As such, they also are tremendous
sources of information and combat enablers; by using SIGTRAKS, they can harness
and expand daily logistics situational awareness for the AFSB commander and the
LCMCs. SIGTRAKS focuses only on the current week’s mission-related issues;
previous reported issues are archived. (It should be noted that the current weekly,
or 7-day, cycle can be adjusted to meet any determined period.)
Unambiguous SIGTRAKS submissions are available immediately for worldwide review
by the
designated AFSB chain-of-command, which includes regionally assigned LCMC SCRs.
SCRs are indispensable assets to the AFSB commander for solving materiel readiness
issues beyond the scope of the LCMC LAR.
|
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| This is
a sample SIGTRAKS report. Note that it documents
cost avoidances. |
|
SIGTRAKS reporting has eliminated the dreaded
weekly nightmare of cutting and pasting text from disparate
reports and multiple sources into a single, standardized Microsoft
Word document. This feature alone saves countless administrative
man-hours throughout the command. Anyone who has attempted
to create a single document from many sources will have a profound
appreciation of how such a simple process can be so frustratingly
difficult.
Previous SIGTRAKS submissions can be updated easily for resubmission
into the new week’s cycle. Resubmissions automatically
thread historical data and once again move through the digital
chain of command. This action precludes the loss of valuable
historical data, or “data dumping,” caused by operational
and personnel turbulence. It is not uncommon to have a SIGTRAKS
submission with many updates over a period of several months.
SIGTRAKS also uses tools and techniques to document cost avoidance,
training received or given, trip reports, and meetings attended.
Continuing
Developments
Initial analysis showed SIGTRAKS to be an extraordinarily intuitive,
easy-to-use, affordable, Internet-based solution that significantly
improves the control and
flow of vital logistics information. AFSB Pacific is studying SIGTRAKS software
exportation to other AFSBs, which will enhance its collective value at the
LCMC level.
As the frontline executive agent of SIGTRAKS, AFSB Pacific is able to implement
software recommendations submitted by users, often in less than 24 hours. SIGTRAKS
is a work in progress designed for the user and by the user, and today it continues
to be improved to meet new requirements. This type of software development
is an example of post-development software support, or, as SIGTRAKS systems
analyst
Bob Farr aptly stated, “Building and flying the plane at the same time.”
Through a process of natural selection, complicated, irrelevant, or ineffective
logistics software programs will go the way of the dinosaur. The Army is transforming
while at war. To avoid future shock, the logistics community must catalyze
change from within. By applying spiral and evolutionary development, the Army
is working
to achieve its vision of combining interoperative systems to reduce information
waste, increase operational efficiency, and enable focused logistics from the
tactical to the strategic levels. SIGTRAKS contributes an important tool to
the realization of this vision.
ALOG
Gregory L. Alderete is the
Chief of Plans, Operations, and Security at the Army Field
Support Brigade Pacific, Army Materiel Command, at Fort Lewis,
Washington. He served 24 years in the Army and is a graduate
of the Army Command and General Staff College and the Army
Acquisition Level III Certification Program.
