ITV Exercise Paves the Way for Cargo Tracking Improvements

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Army North, and North American Aerospace Defense Command worked together in March for the Commercial Ground Movements In-Transit Visibility Proof of Principle exercise in preparation for USTRANSCOM’s Turbo Challenge 2014. 

Turbo Challenge is USTRANSCOM’s tier one exercise for Defense Transportation System support to a regional combatant command.  This year, TC14 practiced humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in support of USNORTHCOM in a series of linked exercises conducted with state and federal agencies to simulate interagency response to a major earthquake in Alaska.

The ITV PoP helped identify opportunities to improve current processes. Adam Munn of NORAD/USNORTHCOM’s Mobility Division said, “The results of this exercise will not only assist NORAD and USNORTHCOM in refining guidance within our draft ITV Instruction, but will also help pave the way for ground deployment ITV tracking improvements both within and outside the continental U.S.”

For USTRANSCOM, the exercise focused on the ability to identify challenges between various military service ITV feeder systems and the Defense Department’s transportation tracking system known as Integrated Data Environment/Global Transportation Network Convergence (IGC).

The test tracked cargo by two line-haul trucking companies transporting TC14 cargo from Fort Eustis, Va., to the West Coast.  One company used an automated electronic data interchange transaction system, while the other company entered EDI transactions manually.  The results confirmed the automated system provided successful, timely, effective, and efficient EDI transactions.

The exercise included discussions of processes used to move unit cargo.  Les Williams, USTRANSCOM Logistics Support Enabling Division, said, “This PoP is especially applicable since the U.S. Army is transitioning to the Cargo Movement Operations System for their ground movements between installations in CONUS.”

NORTHCOM’s Munn believes this exercise is a success.  “Most important, the result of this PoP exercise provides a way-ahead for transportation system program managers, deployment policy subject matter experts, and DOD leadership to help improve ITV of ground movement deployment operations, not just for NORAD and USNORTHCOM, but for all combatant commands.”  

Army Brig. Gen Timothy McKeithen, USA NORAD/USNORTHCOM director of logistics, in an update to the USTRANSCOM deputy commander, reported, “With the strong support of In-Transit Visibility [subject matter experts] at USTRANSCOM and JCS J4 (director of logistics at the Joint Chiefs of Staff), we are making steady and significant progress to improve ITV of ground movement deployments [in support of] NORAD and USNORTHCOM operations.”