WLTW Logistical Message Army G4 Workshop

Slide #1. Introduction Slide. This podcast is meant for all of you who were not able to make it to the World-wide Logistics Training Workshop (WLTW) at Redstone Arsenal 21-25 April 2008, I wish to share the Army G4 logistical message workshop with you. This was an hour long workshop. I do not plan to have this podcast last for one hour so I will “zoom” through some of these messages. Please print out or have available for viewing the slides attached to this podcast and flip through the slides as I talk about each of them.

Slide #2. Messages and Projects. Today I plan on discussing how to retrieve logistical messages. I will give a short overview of 37 published messages starting with the messages that were last published and moving back in time to the oldest message. At the end of the presentation, I will also discuss some of the Army G4 working projects.

Slide #3. Retrieving Messages. To retrieve logistical messages, you should go to LOGNet in the News Items topic, Messages to the field. The website is on the slide. Subscribe to the Messages to the Field topic and you will be sent an email every time a logistical message is added giving you the chance to go to the supplied link and view each message. Messages that affect PBUSE usually can be found on the PBUSE sign-in screen.

Slide #4. Short Description. For each of the 37 messages, I will give you the publish date, which is important when you wish to find them on LOGNet. I will also provide some key points of each message as well as the POC. I do wish to point out that I am the POC for only one of the 37 messages. If you want more information, you should contact the POCs provided on the message.

Slide #5. Procurement of Cargo Containers. A message that the Army G4 just published on 4 April discusses the procurement procedures for general cargo and other than general cargo containers. This message tells the PBO that they are supposed to process the requisitions. Although these containers are currently coded as expendable items, that will change in the very near future. These containers will be coded to nonexpendable IAW the changes made to DA Pam 708-2 in November 2007. I have already had phone calls from staff officers stating that PBO’s are refusing to process these requisitions. In order to gain accountability of the containers as they are changed from expendable to nonexpendable, we need the support of every PBO to grab the accountability at the time of requisition even though they must order these as expendable items until the ARC is changed.

Slide #6. Policy for Combat Uniforms Issued as OCIE to Deployers. This message discusses the recent change to ACU accountability made possible through a signed presidential bill. This change has been made to the recent edition of AR 710-2. Combat uniforms issued to Soldiers as OCIE, are now non-recoverable items and CTA 50-900 Appendix F has been updated to reflect this change. The uniforms will remain on Soldier OCIE records but will not have to be turned in to the CIF and will transfer with the Soldier from place to place. This message also contains a request that before any ACU is disposed of, that the small IR square on each shoulder patch is removed prior to disposal. These IR patches were added to ACUs to prevent friendly-fire incidents. By disposing of them improperly, the IR squares could be used by the enemy and prevent a Soldier from firing on them assuming they are a friendly force. We need your help in getting this message about the IR patches down to every Soldier.

Slide #7. Treatment of Uniforms with Permethrin. We now have three types of ACU’s – two of which are fire-retardant. The Army has found that when treating the fire-retardant uniforms with the insect repellent, the repellant is not evenly distributed. The Army is already researching the ability to add the insect repellent to the fire-retardant uniforms before issue.

Slide #8. Establishment of MOS OCIE Retained Issue. The Army has established OCIE retained issue. Last October, we instituted a regional retained issue which was very successful. This message announces the fact that the retained issue will now be done Army-wide for all active duty Soldiers. The list of retained issue – those OCIE items that will not be turned in after issue as the Soldier PCS’s from one place to the next – can be found in the newest edition of CTA 50-900, found on FMSWeb. The OCIE will be shipped at government expense.

Slide #9. Automatics Reset Induction List (ARI) Change. A change to the handling of ARI, now requires that all units using the ARMT version 6.5 to turn-in equipment in Theater must turn-in 100% of their ARI. The previous percentage was 25%.

Slide #10. Unserviceable EPLRS Radio T/I Procedures. The EPLRS radio is no longer under warranty. Any unserviceable EPLRS must be sent to Raytheon as a supply transaction. The message gives step by step instructions on how to turn in the radios to the SSA and how and where the SSA is to ship them. Remember that EPLRS are CCI and that they have special handling procedures.

Slide #11. SARSS 1 OMA NIIN Table (DS-RX) Elimination. Please don’t ask me any questions about this message as it concerns a SARSS change. The message requires that by 5 September 2008, the OMA NIIN table be deleted. The message gives step by step directions. If you wish more information, please contact the POC on the message.

Slide #12. Ballistic Fragmentation Eye Protection. 10% of battlefield casualties are a result of eye injuries. The ballistic glasses that we are issuing prevent these eye injuries. Therefore we want Soldiers to wear them. This message gives you descriptions of each type of ballistic glasses as well as some commercial models that can be purchased. Step by step directions are provided.

Slide #13. Establishment of Combat Action Streamer. The reason I am providing you with a G1 message on the establishment of the Combat Action Streamer is because as logisticians, you know that we will have to order these streamers. The procedures to order them are IAW AR 840-10 and are found in the message for those of you who have never ordered streamers before.

Slide #14. Unauthorized Transportation of Soldier’s Personal Items. We have a problem with personal effects being shipped back to home station as unit cargo. There was a message published in 2005 which gives instructions on how to transport personal effects for Soldiers killed in action, missing in action, and wounded medically evacuated. These procedures do not have any personal effects being held by the command and transported back as unit cargo, yet many units are doing so. There is also a problem with Soldiers purchasing items in Theater that will not fit in their authorized baggage and placing them into the unit cargo containers to be shipped back to home station. No personal effects are to be shipped back to home station via unit cargo, no matter the reason.

Slide #15. First Source for SKOT. PM SKOT is to be contacted and given a chance to supply hand tools before any tools are locally purchased. Any hand tools of sets, kits, or outfits locally purchased must be approved by an O-6 commander prior to purchase. This new change will be reflected in the next publication of DA Pam 700-60 which should be published in the next couple of months.

Slide #16. Physical Security Policy for Transporting Army Weapons and Ammo. This message is not a change of any policy but gives, in one document, the entire set of polices and procedures on how to ship weapons and ammo in commercial aircraft. We have had problems with Soldiers being denied the ability to ship their weapon with commercial airliners and leaving their weapons at the airlines. We want to prevent this as well as ensure that weapons and ammunition are handled properly.

Slide #17. Security and Accountability of Sensitive Items. The VCSA was concerned with the amount of controlled items that are being found in the hands of the enemy. This message was published to remind all Army leaders that the security of our controlled and other high value items is critical. We don’t want our Soldiers killed by the enemy using our own equipment.

Slide #18. Military Uniforms and Accessories Wear Out Dates. This message is a G1 message but just like the one concerning the combat streamers, logisticians are the ones providing the information to Soldiers concerning the wear out dates of uniforms. This message gives you those dates for items such as BDU’s, DCU’s, black combat boots, and Jungle boots. So, I ask that you use this message to get the word out concerning these wear out dates.

Slide #19. FY08 PVS-7 Image Intensifier Tubes (I2T). The Army is currently short of serviceable PVS-7 image intensifier tubes. This message lists the mitigation strategies that we are using. This message gives step by step instructions on what to do with unserviceable intensifier tubes.

Slide #20. Use of Army Expert ASL Team. The use of the ASL expert team has been a real success in Theater in the management of ASL. Therefore, the use of the strategies deployed by the ASL expert team will continue to be used in Theater as well as in Europe and Korea that have direct support customers.

Slide #21. Updated FBCB2 and BFT Unit and Theater Management. This message discusses the installation and deinstallation of FBCB2 and BFT installation kits. If your unit is deploying, it is essential that you understand these policies.

Slide #22. Revised USR Reporting Requirements. The Army has deployed a new USR program which uses the on hand balance of equipment accountable in PBUSE through a LIW feed. The commander still has the ability to change that quantity when there is the possibility that more or less equipment is actually available because of loans, transfers and other transactions. At the monthly strategic readiness reviews chaired by the VCSA, each deployed and deploying BCTs are shown. The Vice has made numerous notes of BCT commanders changing the Equipment on Hand quantities to show more than want is on-hand in PBUSE. I have received numerous requests to justify the quantities supplied by LIW to this new USR program. In most cases, the query was initiated because the commander was reporting more than what is shown on accountable records. In almost all cases, the queries resulted in the finding that the units had more equipment than what was shown on their accountable records. Not a good finding to give to the VCSA who, like all the Army staff, is quite concerned of our property accountability. This message doesn’t discuss all that but it does give the procedures on how to use the stand-alone program. I told you about the problems because accountability issues should be a concern of all leaders, logisticians, and especially property book officers.

Slide #23. Operation Total Recall FRAGO #2. This is the only message of the 37 messages where I am the POC. The main points of this FRAGO were: 1) An OCIE inventory. This inventory’s intent was to reconcile OCIE that had been issued to units and Soldiers accounted for on PBUSE with those assets issued to Soldiers using our new OCIE enterprise-system CIF ISM. But, the results were far from ideal. There were many OCIE items that were added back to accountable records- that is a good news story - but hardly any of these items were those issued by RFI. 2) Because of the introduction of the national nonstandard catalog managed in SLAMIS, we need to realign our user-created catalogs in PBUSE. This will allow for us to have national visibility of the nonstandard items on property book records. The deadline for property book officers to accomplish this task Is 1 October 2008 except for IMCOM units that are currently or just recently migrated to PBUSE. They will have until 1 April 2009. There are tools within SLAMIS that will assist you in this task. Right now we have over 2 million items that need to be realigned. 3) FRAGO #2 is our first attempt at resolving serial number discrepancies. Currently we are concentrating on UIT items. When we first deployed PBUSE, it would allow for duplicate serial numbers. We no longer allow that. So, we need to get the duplicate serial numbers resolved. We are also trying to resolve UIT serial numbers that contain all zeros or that contain N/A. I was amazed to find that PBOs would use all zeros or N/A as serial numbers for controlled items. 4) The FRAGO also announced more changes to the processing of a financial liability investigation of property loss. It is now required, not a choice, that the inquiry/investigation number be assigned prior to the accountable officer posting a document number. An additional change is that the approving authority’s UIC is to be placed in block two. This is so that we will be able to track the financial liability investigations better and ensure that the investigation is completed. The FRAGO also reiterated who can perform the functions of an approving authority. The approving authority must be an O-6 commander or above and cannot be delegated below the O-6 level. If the final result of the investigation is a loss of equipment $100,000 or greater or a loss of a controlled item, then the approving authority is “bumped” up to a general officer or a SES. I want to reiterate that the approving authority is only “bumped” up when the final loss meets the requirements – not the items listed at the initiation of the financial liability of investigation. This policy is not just for Theater; it is intended for every Army unit or agency. The appointing authority requirement s remains unchanged. You can look at the financial liability investigation information posted in PBUSE on LIW, in reportable assets. In the Army Serial Number Tracker (ARSNT) module you can view the UIT serial number discrepancies.

Slide #24. Turn In of Interceptor Body Armor. We have a new body armor – IOTV . Some units are being issued the new body armor prior to deployment and others are getting them in Theater. Issuing them means that we have Soldiers with two sets of body armor. This message gives disposition instructions for those extra sets. It also discusses components of the body armor as well as care instructions. It directs that mixed ACU/DCU/BDU pattern body armor is authorized.

Slide #25. Materiel Status Data Flow Reporting Policy. This message addresses how SAMS-E data will be processed and reporting frequencies and consolidation procedures.

Slide #26. FY08 RESET FRAGO. This message details equipment-related RESET procedures and defines how the Army will execute RESET operations in FY08. This message has 13 attachments. In LOGNet, you will be directed to an AKO site to view the attachments since LOGNet will only allow one attachment to the conversations.

Slide #27. Establishment of OCIE Central Management Office. This only applies to the Active Component. OCIE now has a central manager. No longer will Ft. Campbell be short items while Ft. Bragg has excess – the central manager will move OICE stocks around to ensure that no one is short. The central manager will order all OCIE and give disposition instructions for excess. This message details what items will be managed and also discusses the OCIE property accountability system, CIF ISM. CIF ISM allows for a Soldier to be issued OCIE at Ft. Hood , turn it in anywhere in the world, and his/her CIF records are updated to show the turn-in. This ability will certainly give us an advantage in the future when units deploy or Soldiers are processed through a CRC. It has also given us the ability turn-in the OCIE for KIA’s and wounded medically evacuated. The OCIE is sent through the Joint Personal Effects Depot (JPED) to Aberdeen Proving Grounds where it is cleaned and processed. The JPED then turns in the OCIE at the Aberdeen Proving Ground CIF and their records are cleared for the items that were turned in.

Slide #28. Retrograde Operations. We have published three messages which give specific guidance by class of supply on equipment and materiel retrograde in three Theaters – CENTCOM, EUSA, and USAREUR.

Slide #29. PEO/PM Equipment Fielding in CENTCOM AOR. Having the PM’s use PBUSE to issue equipment has been in the works for a couple of years. Making the PM’s use PBUSE forces them to issue equipment with valid LINs/NSLINs and NSNs/MCNs. If the item is not in the catalog, the PM’s must request a SLAMIS NSLIN/MCN in order to put the equipment into their PBUSE account to issue. The proof-of-principle equipment is the MRAP’s. Not only can we say that we have 100% accountability of the vehicles that have been fielded, we can also say that we 100% accountability of all the auxiliary equipment as well, such as BFT, SINCGARS, etc. This message provides execution guidance. All PM’s issuing equipment in the CENTCOM Theater must be using PBUSE to do so by the end of this fiscal year; all others by the end of FY09.

Slide #30. Interim In-Transit Visibility (ITV). Gives specific directions on the use of RFID tags – what must be tagged, what level of detail required, and procedures to view ITV data.

Slide #31. Security of Army Computers. Although this message was published by the Army Provost Marshall, there is an accountability requirement hidden in this message which specifies that all Army computers must be issued to the user using hand receipt procedures. This does not mean that computers must be on the property book. What this means is that there must accountability at the company-level. Which means units must use PBUSE to hand receipt to the user or use a DA Form 2062.

Slide #32. Change 1 to LBE Policy. This message provides clarification to the original LBE message (6 Sep 07) which we will discuss in just a bit. Supplemental guidance to the original message is given in the areas of lateral transfers, maintenance standards and temporary loans.

Slide #33. CENTCOM SCMO Checklist. This is a G1 message, but as we have already found, there is a logistical piece of this message as well. This is the official checklist for Summary Court Martial Officers assigned to handle personal effects of Soldiers KIA, MIA, or wounded medically-evacuated. Since our supply sergeants and other supply personnel usually are involved with the handling of personal effects, this message needs to get to every commander in Theater. This is one of those messages that needs to be in the Pre-Deployment file because if you wait until the situation exists, you won’t know the proper procedures for handling that Soldier’s personal effects.

Slide #34. Heirloom PE Chests. Speaking of personal effects, this message provides instructions on how to acquire these chests for the family members of the deceased Soldier and who can stock them for use.

Slide #35. Maintenance Stock Policy SAMS-E. Since SAMS-E can handle the accountability of maintenance stocks, this message gives directions on what stock can be maintained.

Slide #36. Revised ARPL. At the conference, I found that usually only one or two individuals in each brief knew what the ARPL is. But, when I asked how many of them knew what the DAMPL was, almost everyone raised their hands. The ARPL replaced the DAMPL. The ARPL has different priorities for units depending on where they are in the ARFORGEN model and is used to distribute equipment in accordance with G-3 priorities. If you are having difficulties ordering equipment, your UIC may not be on the ARPL. You should call the item manager to ensure that the ARPL contains your UICs.

Slide #37. LBE Policy and Procedures. This is the LBE that has a change 1 that we discussed just a few slides back. Any information about LBE is contained in this message including correct UIC structure, PBIC and TAC.

Slide #38. TPE Modification. This is an extremely long message in two parts. If you print them both out, it will be a stack of paper about ½ inch high. This message contains the list of equipment that has been declared TPE by the Army G3 - that is the equipment has been designated not to leave Theater and is accounted for by AMCs TPE Property Book Office.

Slide #39. FRAGO #2 ARMT. This FRAGO provides procedures for the use of the Automated RESET Management Tool. This is the tool that is being used by redeploying units to manage ARI as well as other equipment being inducted into RESET. LOGSA provides training in the use of this module.

Slide #40. Off-line Cancellations. This message is a supplement to a message about two years ago that prohibits the use of eMall and other off-line requisitioning methods except with the use of the GPC. The reason these off-line methods are a problem is financial, as the Army does not receive a bill until the equipment has already been purchased. The obligation is never captured nor is the requisition so the equipment cannot be canceled if funds are not available. This message now prohibits the use of emails, fax, internet, or other off-line methods to cancel requisitions for the exact same reason. SARSS or the GPC should be the only method used to requisition supplies and equipment.

Slide #41. Now I am going to go quickly over some projects in the works.

Slide #42. Did you all know that you could use AKO to view your OCIE records (active component only)? In AKO, go to My Clothing, and your CIF records will be displayed. We are working on opening this ability to commanders. I challenge you to look at yours and see how accurate they are.
AR 735-5 is currently in the final stages of revision. We expect to start informal staffing by the end-of-May which means the final should be out by October or so. We could be held up with the update of the two forms which go along with this regulation – DA Form 1659 and 7531. These forms had to be updated to reflect the new requirements such as assigning the investigation number prior to the document number. The update will reflect the new civilian personnel system NSPS vice GS or WG. It will also contain new DD Form 200 completion instructions to take into consideration multiple items and the use of other continuation sheets. The adjustment limit of durable hand tools will be updated from $100 to $500 per incident – that is if it is published as currently written. This ability will be supplemented with durable and expendable components of SKO’s. Because there is just as much of a chance of a OE-254 component being lost in a quick unit movement from place to place as there is for a mechanic to lose some of his or her hand tools during field maintenance. We are also adding procedures for accounting for losses of other durable items without having to do a financial liability investigation.
The last thing I would like to discuss with you is a new procedure which will not be in the next AR 735-5 but will probably be added in a rapid update once the policies and procedures have been determined. Here’s the situation – you, the PBO know that Charlie Company has 3 more M1’s that what are on the property book. Currently there is nothing you can do about it unless you get a copy of a receipt or an FOI signed by the commander. The Report of Automated Accountability Discrepancy process will allow you as the PBO to add these items to the property book without the intervention of the unit commander. The commander will get the RAAD after the equipment has been added to allow him or her to rebut the addition. This process will also be used to change serial numbers or one PBO to request another PBO to update their records when you are unable to add equipment to PBUSE because of duplicate records. This process is in the early developmental stages. We want the whole process to be automated rather than manual.

Well, that s all I briefed at the WLTW. I hope this information has been helpful.