Welcome to the Air Force Institute of Technology

By Maj Jerry Stonecipher

What is a joint logistician? Each service’s unique logistics requirements make this a difficult question to answer. For example, an Army logistician is expected to handle Class I or Food Services operations, a Navy logistician is required to handle funds disbursement, and within the Air Force both of these duties belong to separate career fields. Does that mean as Air Force logisticians we do not need to be prepared to handle these operations? Absolutely not. Air Force Logistics Readiness Officers (LRO) must be prepared to step into joint logistics roles and handle whatever task the joint commander assigns, even if it is outside their expected skill set.

To do this, especially in the combat environment, it is essential for LROs to understand the differing roles, responsibilities, terminology, and capabilities. The US Army Logistics Management College (ALMC) based at Fort Lee, Virginia, and AFIT’s School of Systems and Logistics (AFIT/LSM) based in Kettering, Ohio, work together to provide integrated Professional Continuing Education (PCE) to help bridge the gap between the services.

ALMC offers the Joint Logistics Course (JLC) and AFIT/LSM offers Combat Logistics (LOG 299). The schools and courses are unique in their approach to the material and their target audience but are linked by shared faculty. AFIT and ALMC faculties exchange active duty logisticians to ensure that both the Air Force and Army perspective are present in each school’s curriculum. These positions are filled by field grade logisticians with recent deployed experience in a joint environment.

The Joint Logistics Course, JLC, focuses on theater-level joint logistics operations by preparing military officers, noncommissioned officers, and civilians to function in assignments that involve defense logistics planning, inter-service, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational logistics support to a full range of military operations. This 10 day, in-residence course is held at Fort Lee, 11 times a year. There are five seats reserved for Air Force mid-level managers: active duty and reserve component military (O4-O5, E8-E9) and civilians (GS12-GS14) assigned or en-route to positions that require joint logistics knowledge.

Combat Logistics, LOG 299, focuses on providing Air Force logisticians insight into the key doctrine, organizations, programs, and processes that will enable them to operate in a joint and multinational forward deployed environment. Emphasis is placed on looking at logistics from a joint theater perspective versus an Air Force functional “flight-line” view. This seven-day course is offered 12-14 times a year at locations across the Air Force. The target audience is logisticians including active duty and reserve component military (O1-O3, E5-E8) and civilians (GS9-GS12).

Both AFIT/LSM and ALMC use these PCE programs to bring the latest doctrine and warfigher experience into the classroom so we can prepare the next crop of logisticians for the ever-changing theater level logistics environment. An understanding of joint, multinational, and civil-military capabilities is a critical skill for logisticians to support the warfighter. Feedback from students who have deployed after taking these courses indicates that the information gained was essential to shortening the on-site learning curve and allowed them to make a significant impact immediately. Our Air Force operations tempo has never been higher, but there is always time to invest in PCE.

For more information on the Joint Logistics Course, visit http://www.almc.army.mil/ or contact LCDR Donna Johnson, JLC Senior Instructor, at donna.johnson12@us.army.mil or (804) 765-4117/DSN 539-4117

For more information on LOG 299, Combat Logistics, visit www.afit.edu/ls or contact Mr. Allan Cridlebaugh, LOG 299 Course Director, at allen.cridlebaugh@afit.edu or (937) 255-7777 x 3207/DSN 785-7777 x 3207