Air forces from five allied nations consisting of the United States Air Force, Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force and Canadian Air Force partnered to advance combined logistics support for agile operations during a forum at the Pentagon July 20.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom Miller, deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Linda Hurry, director of Logistics and deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, hosted logistics counterparts for the forum, which focused on aligning with the National Defense Strategy to prioritize agile and responsive logistics and sustainment, while directly supporting Department of the Air Force Operational Imperatives on resilient basing and readiness to deploy and fight.
"Recognizing the changing character of war means reckoning with the challenge of contested logistics," said U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, who opened the event. "Continually improving our capability to sustain Agile Combat Employment in close coordination with our allies is a cornerstone of integrated deterrence."
Leaders discussed logistics strategy, combined maintenance and munitions operations, air base defense, rapid airfield damage repair, and a recent contested logistics table-top exercise. Discussions built on recent progress, such as aircraft repair and maintenance agreements for common platforms like the C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules.
"We tackled the shared challenge of contested logistics and discussed specific actions our teams are taking to remove policy obstacles, expand combined training and realize combined campaigning efforts," Miller said. "A demonstration of this burgeoning combined logistics capability occurred during exercise Mobility Guardian 23, which included integrated maintenance support that allowed maintainers from different nations to fix one another's aircraft and source shared parts."
This is just one example of a planned expansion of logistics integration in combined exercises.
"Through our combined efforts, we will ensure logistics remains an unqualified strength of the American and allied airpower," Miller said. "The resilience, agility and operational flexibility of our combined force rests on the adaptability of our joint logistics enterprise working hand-in-hand with our allies and partners."
