Sustainment Considerations for the Multi-Domain Battle

In 2016, Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark A. Milley described his vision of the future operational environment. This vision encompassed many new challenges for the US Army and the Joint Force. Specifically, the concept of multi-domain battle requires the Joint Force to operate in ways not experienced in the recent past. The potential lack of air supremacy, in particular, will not only force the US military to change the way it fights, but also logistics support to those combat forces. The current capabilities of the US Army sustainment community are not adequate to order to operate successfully in the future operational environment as described by Army leadership. Counter-Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) and dispersed operations present difficult challenges for the sustainment community. In order for the US Army to maintain its core competency of "set the theater," to include theater distribution, the Army sustainment community must conduct capability gap analysis, using the DOTMLPF-P framework, for both counter-A2/AD and dispersed operations challenges. Possible solutions for these challenges include sea basing and cache operations, which encompass the breadth of the DOTMLPF-P spectrum, in order to ensure robust sustainment operations capable of supporting in the future operational environment.