SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill., (USTCNS) --- US Transportation Command recognized over $25 million in cost avoidance while supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the first six months of this year. The savings are primarily due to efficiencies realized from establishment of a deployment distribution operations center in the US Central Command's area of operations.

Early this year, a team of over 60 logistics experts from USTRANSCOM, Defense Logistics Agency, the service materiel commands and other agencies and commands deployed to Kuwait for a first-of-a-kind logistics support cell known as the Central Command (CENTCOM) Deployment Distribution Operations Center (CDDOC). The CDDOC serves as a centralized collection point for the many varied logistics requirements generated by warfighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Working closely with the Operations Center here at USTRANSCOM, and other national logistics partners, the CDDOC has been highly successful in streamlining delivery and distribution of goods to forces in the US Central Command's area of operations, primarily the Middle East.

Much of the cost avoidance attained during the first six months of this year came from redirecting cargo movements from air to surface transport - maximizing use of sealift and overland carriers. Some examples include:

* 85,000 square feet of runway matting was moved from Qatar to Iraq overland rather than by air for a savings of $439,000.

* 100 armored "Humvee" vehicles moved from Kuwait to Afghanistan by surface carrier saving $2,600,000.

* Pallets with cargo destined for Iraq and Afghanistan were diverted from airlift to surface modes saving $132,000 and $228,240 respectively.

Innovative thinking and hard work by CDDOC experts resulted in substantial cost avoidance in other ways as well. For example:

* Five flights of frozen foods destined for Afghanistan were identified as excess and cancelled, saving $796,000.

* 937 containers of construction material were requisitioned from the United States in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. CDDOC experts determined regional supply stocks could meet the requirement, resulting in cost avoidances of $11,300,000 in materiel and $2,730,000 in transportation.

* Continuous sustainment of forces in Operation Enduring Freedom was made more efficient by the establishment of 'channel' operations diverting 45 tons per week of cargo from air to surface lift and avoiding $7.1 million.

Streamlining logistics by providing the war-fighting commander with a single point of contact is in keeping with US Transportation Command's role as the Defense Department's Distribution Process Owner (DPO). Since receiving the DPO designation in September of 2003 US Transportation Command has pursued a host of initiatives aimed at making distribution of goods within the Defense Department a standardized, efficient and reliable process.

Established in 1987, USTRANSCOM's mission is to provide air, land and sea transportation for DoD both in time of peace and war. Today, USTRANSCOM controls a fleet of military assets valued in excess of $52 billion, including, 87 ships; 1,332 aircraft; 2,150 railcars and assorted equipment, and $1.4 billion in infrastructure.

During an average week, USTRANSCOM conducts more than 1,900 air missions, with 25 ships underway and 10,000 ground shipments operating in 75 percent of the world's countries. USTRANSCOM provides daily transportation, sustainment and distribution to our nation's war fighters.