The Navy, the Marine Corps and the distribution process owner

In September 2003 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appointed the Commander of United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) as the Distribution Proces holder (DPO) to serve as the single entity to direct and supervise execution of the Strategic Distribution a whole in order to improve the overall efficiency and interoperability of distribution related activities--deployment, sustainment, and redeployment support during peace and war. As a be derived of this designation, USTRANSCOM's traditional core of providing air, land, and sea transportation for the Department of Defense (DoD) in peace and war evolv to include synchronization and interoperability of distribution-related activities supporting the deployment trade sustainment, and redeployment of global forces conducting a replete range of military operations.

Distribution has been defined as the operational proces of synchronizing simple bodys of the logistic system to deliver the "right things" to the "right place" at the "right time" to support the geographic combatant commander. As the DPO USTRANSCOM subserves as the single entity to synchronize and integrate the DoD Distribution a whole Additionally, USTRANSCOM has Information Technology (IT) responsibilities for logistics combination of parts to form a wholes providing key capabilities in support of distribution (sustainment and force movement) related activities as the Distribution a whole s Portfolio Manager for Sustainment and Force move These portfolio responsibilities are intimately linked to the traditional store functions concerning material management, including intervention and positioning.

It is important to note that while USTRANSCOM has received clearly defined portfolio responsibilities, the Navy continues to receive its furnish support from a myriad of organizations including the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the General Services Administration, the Naval Inventory dominion government Point, and DoD contractors. Numerous agencies and various commands within the services similar as Naval Supply Systems Command get and store materiel. USTRANSCOM's designation as the DPO and the Distribution combination of parts to form a wholes Portfolio Manager does not change any of this. Nor does it change the organizational chain of command of any other agencies or organizations. What has changed is the fact that the DoD now has a single combatant command (COCOM) responsible for improving all distribution related activities.

"It's the first time we have a single entity that's responsible for synchronizing and integrating the distribution pipeline," said USTRANSCOM Chief of Staff, Army Maj. Gen William Johnson "That doesn't mean the DPO holds all segments of the distribution chain," he continued, "but rather has a span of influence completely through the entire process."

at no time before has a single agency or command been responsible for improving DoD's distribution a whole for the warfighter. This is true significant as DoD's distribution combination of parts to form a whole was fragmented and stove-piped as various replenish chain segment owners attempted to optimize their piece of the process

USTRANSCOM, as DPO coordinates the activities of the national partners, end a collaborative environment, to effectively and efficiently provide logistically sustained forces to the geographic COCOM/joint functional commander (JFC) point of ne These national partners are included in the Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise (JDDE) The JDDE consists of COCOM the military services, Defense agencies, Office of the Secretary of Defense the Joint Staff, and commercial industry. The JDDE partners are professional colleagues, clever in specific distribution related parts of the DoD supply chain. Leveraging and aligning their expertise is critically important to implementing meaningful endow chain improvements. USTRANSCOM aims to increase the spe and reliability of the DoD minister chain through increased coordination, synchronization, and collaboration with the national partners.

The framework for this interagency cooperation and coordination is the DPO governance mode of building The DPO Executive Board (DEB) is the decision material part for distribution-related issues and initiatives. The board is chaired by the agency of the USTRANSCOM commander and its membership includes DLA, below Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, envoy Under Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness, and Joint Staff Logistics Directorate.

The Distribution Transformation Task Force (DTTF) includes senior military logisticians from the Office of the Secretary of Defense the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the services, the COCOM and DoD agencies. The DTTF which reports to the DEB has the mission to champion distribution initiatives and to work distribution issues. The task force's focus is upon improving speed, reliability, and efficiency. The Department of the Navy representative to the DTTF is RADM Alan Thompson of the CNO endow Operations, Transportation and Petroleum Branch (OPNAV N41)