Peer Reviews

U.S Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) provides air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense.  U.S. Transportation command is a critical aspect in the National Security Starageidy as it facilitates the mobility of all military equipment across all COCOMS (Department of Defense, 2017).  The main missions of TRANSCOM include air, sea land transportation, management of global patient movement, management of DTS, joint sourcing of contracted mobility assets and more.  USTRANSCOM, in short, moves the force and enables the global reach that is critical to the Department of Defense.

Defense Support of Civil Authorities or DSCA is a collaboration of efforts that often include DOD civilians, contractors and all components of the DOD to support local municipalities in incidents such as domestic responsibilities, law enforcement support and other domestic actions (Department of Defense, 2017).  DSCA, while simplistic in concept bridges multiple authorities and involves a complicated command structure involving civilian leadership.  The complicated nature of civilian-military interaction coupled with a non-standard command structure lends DSCS mission to be challenging in nature.

There are several challenges that the U.S. Transportation Command may face when supporting a DSCA mission.  DSCA missions are typically short notice.  TRANSCOM must react quickly to fulfill the mobilization requirements in a timely manner.  Additionally, during reception, staging, onward-movement and integration (RSOI) U.S. Transportation Command’s subordinate elements must be able to rapidly flex to the ever-changing environment that is often present in DSCA missions.  Examples are the moving equipment as the need arises due to the operational environment in a natural disaster or civil disturbance.  Funding for U.S. Transportation Command is also complicated during Defense Support of Civil Authority missions.  Because funding crossed titles of authority (Department of Defense, 2017) it can be difficult to move in the rapid manner.  There are systems such as a Declaration of Emergency that local municipalities can utilize to help expedite funding but it is never as easy as what is viewed as a “tradition” mission.  Lastly, required logistical support is often difficult as well due to the nature of DSCA missions.

While there are challenges faced by TRANSCOM during the RSOI phase of operations in a DSCA mission a well-educated staff aided by a SGM can leverage the required assets to ensure the mission is accomplished.

 

 

References

Department of Defense. (2017). The Defense Transportation System (JP 4-01). https://sgm-a.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/SGM-A_SMC_DL_AY21-22_PH2_MASTER/jp4_01_2%20Sealift.pdf

Department of Defense. (2017) Joint Operations (JP 3-0). https://sgm-a.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/SGM-A_SMC_DL_AY21-22_PH2_MASTER/JP%203-0.pdf