Single continental U.S. organization: Army approves major MTMC reorganization
The reorganization was approved June 28 by Army Vice Chief of Staff, General John M. Keane.
As approved, the newly designed organization will reduce redundancy and layering in the headquarters and supporting offices.
The concept is to combine the Headquarters, MTMC, and Headquarters, MTMC Deployment Support Command, into a single headquarters managing all MTMC assets worldwide.
The result will be a single Headquarters, MTMC with locations at both Alexandria, Va., and Fort Eustis, Va.
The operations staff, which is now split between two locations, will be predominantly located at Fort. Eustis, Va., making it the operational hub for the command.
The move will eliminate redundant staff functions, improve global operations, and result in a reduction in the total workforce.
"The reorganization will enable MTMC to provide seamless end-to-end support to the warfighting Commanders'-in-Chief," said Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, commander.
"The new organization will provide a single global, surface movement, process manager - as the director of operations for MTMC."
The proposed reorganization supports Army Transformation efforts, said Privratsky.
"We will be a more efficient organization to better support Army full spectrum initiatives," he said.
In its impact and range, the announced changes are the largest in the history of the 36-year-old command. MTMC's responsibility includes the movement of Department of Defense freight worldwide and the movement of service members' personal property and privately owned vehicles.
To effect the reorganization, a series of gradual changes will be implemented to accomplish the following:
· The current commander Deployment Support Command will be designated as both Deputy Commanding General MTMC and Director of Operations.
· The creation of a single MTMC Operations Center at Fort Eustis, Va.
· The inactivation of MTMC's Deployment Support Command, Fort Eustis, Va.
· The elimination of an Operations Division, at MTMC Headquarters, Alexandria, Va.
· The elimination of the Joint Traffic Management Office, at MTMC Headquarters, Alexandria, Va.
Additionally, MTMC will reestablish the 597th Transportation Group at Sunny Point, North Carolina, as the single operational group headquarters for former units of the Deployment Support Command.
The 597th and MTMC's two overseas groups will then report to the MTMC Deputy Commanding General /Director of Operations.
All the changes will be in effect by June 30, 2003.
The reorganization will trim approximately 250 personnel spaces, or 9 percent, of MTMC's current 2,346 worldwide force.
"In its simplest terms, we have a redundancy of two operating headquarters located only a few hours apart," said Col. Tom E. Thompson, chief of staff.
"Now, we will have a single operating headquarters," said Thompson, who has coordinated the reorganization study. "The elimination of the duplication will provide us with both labor and operational efficiencies."
The number of people in MTMC operations jobs will drop from approximately 425-to-257, a cut of 168 personnel spaces.
The reorganization is a fundamental change in how we do business in workload, said Thompson.
Impacted employees will have opportunities to qualify for new jobs in the operations center and existing jobs in the MTMC global organization.
The changes reflect a sea change in MTMC's organization and operations.
Deployment Support Command
The Deployment Support Command was activated Oct. 2, 1998, at Fort Eustis, Va. The command, under Brig. Gen. Don Parker, is responsible for the command and control of eight water ports in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The command was formed from MTMC Western Area and MTMC Eastern Area following the closure of Oakland Army Base, Oakland, Calif., and Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne, Bayonne, N.J., in September 1999. Both installations were closed as a result of the 1995 Base Realignment & Closure Commission decisions.
Functions such as command and control and some transportation functions from the two ocean ports were then re-established at Fort Eustis.
The 450-member organization includes approximately 200 former employees of the two ports - 160 from Bayonne and 40 from Oakland.
The Joint Traffic Management Office
The Joint Traffic Management Office was formed in 1996 from elements of MTMC and the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. The office's big missions include ocean shipping, non-scheduled liner cargo and intermodal equipment.
MTMC Command & Control
Some MTMC command and control arrangements will be altered. In the new organization, the commander of MTMC's new Operations Center will be in an expanded position: MTMC's deputy commanding general & director of operations.
(FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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