USTRANSCOM Commander and top business execs discuss logistics’ role in National Security

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill.  – The Commander of U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) addressed the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) and answered questions on the current and future of geostrategic competition and military logistics during a virtual discussion March 11.

Nearly 40 C-Suite leaders joined the event hosted by BENS Chicago to participate in its Commanders Forum with guest Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, USTRANSCOM commander. BENS describes itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit comprised of senior business leaders who apply best business practices to address the United States’ pressing security challenges. The group has a national office in Washington, D.C. and six other regional locations.

“I want to say thank you to the BENS team,” Lyons began. “I also really appreciate and enjoy seeing this level of industry interest in our work.”

Gen. Joseph L. Votel, USA(Ret.), BENS president and CEO, sent leaders of the group invitations to join Lyons in this conversation, noting the high importance of USTRANSCOM’s mission, “In a renewed era of great-power competition, logistics cannot be overlooked.”

Lyons gave an overview of USTRANSCOM, explaining the command is one of 11 combatant commands in the Department of Defense (DOD), of which seven are geographic commands and four are functional. With its area of responsibility as global, “Transportation Command transcends all those responsibilities,” the general said, “and that’s why it exists.”

Lyons highlighted that the success of the DOD power projection capability is contingent on three critical elements of TRANSCOM's warfighting framework: Global Mobility Posture; Global Transport Capacity; and Global Command, Control, and Integration. That posture allows the
U.S. to move quickly and fluidly across the globe to extend logistical reach as nation, allowing
a shift from a problem in the west to a problem in the east. It organizes commercial transportation preparation, programs, is in charge of the $2.5 billion Global Household Goods contract, and conducts $7 billion in business annually with commercial enterprises.

Those commercial enterprises factor in when crisis calls, and USTRANSCOM is in charge of mobilizing global response efforts, Lyons said, which would utilize committed private sector support to help with defense.

“This ability for the nation is a key strategic advantage. We are the only nation, I would argue, that has the ability to do what we do on the scale that we do it.”

That scale is aided from strong industry partnerships with USTRANSCOM that Lyons said are consequential to day-to-day operations and the nation’s ability to surge. He mentioned the recent cooperative research and a working agreement with SpaceX to eventually move cargo through space to anywhere on the planet in an hour, a feat Lyons said “would be an incredible ability.”

“The ability to project military power anywhere in the world is one of our key advantages that allows us to be a superpower,” Lyons said. “As our enemies look to the US and the DOD, they acknowledge this strength.”

But, Lyons said, that also it is dependent on the nation’s relationships with allies and partners across the globe.

“As a result, these relationships are something we spend a lot of time nurturing. We all understand that the emerging joint operating sphere is changing. It forces us to challenge many of our assumptions that we have had the luxury to make.”

Joining Lyons from USTRANSCOM was Mr. Bruce A. Busler, director and senior executive (SES) of USTRANSCOM’s Joint Distribution Process Analysis Center (JDPAC). Busler added his thoughts on “determination for force shaping” as well as technology-driven and culture-driven challenges: “We have to be able to anticipate how to scale these logistics and analytics to find value.”

Following their comments, William J. Flynn, president and CEO of Amtrak, who was moderating the event, opened a question and answer period.

Lyons and Busler answered questions ranging from how USTRANSCOM operated within the COVID-19 pandemic, how civilian partners can do better with cyber security as they integrate with the command, innovations that will aid USTRANSCOM’s effectiveness, working relationships and transparency regarding private industry partners, and what TRANSCOM will look like in the future.

Lyons told the group USTRANSCOM looks forward to hosting BENS members once COVID restrictions are lifted. “Just a heartfelt thank you. Sincerely. You all have busy schedules and your interest in national security is greatly appreciated. … You are always welcome at TRANSCOM,” he said.

USTRANSCOM exists as a warfighting combatant command to project and sustain military power at a time and place of the nation’s choosing. Powered by dedicated men and women, USTRANSCOM underwrites the lethality of the Joint Force, advances American interests around the globe, and provide our nation's leaders with strategic flexibility to select from multiple options, while creating multiple dilemmas for our adversaries.