1 Adobe Acrobat Document The Warehouse of the Future MSG Ortega, Johanny Sergeants Major Course Class 71 Mr. Torres April 8, 2021 2 The Warehouse of the Future Imagine the future. The year is 2035, and drones fly in the sky. A Supply Support Activity (SSA) Soldier prepares high-priority parts for shipment to a forward element and loads them. The drone takes off. The joint logistic system tracks its route and feeds the information to the awaiting customer, giving them live estimated shipment time across a secured cyber communication. When it arrives, the drone scans the customer’s identification card, validating the receipt. It promptly sends a notification to the SSA that the customer received the part. The customer then verifies it against their requisition to ensure serviceability and correctness. If there are no high-priority retrogrades, the customer dispatches the drone. Before takeoff, the drone submits the customer’s part verification receipt, effectively closing the request. Is this science fiction? No. Amazon is testing and refining a version of this and named it Amazon Prime Air (Palmer, 2020). Unfortunately, the Army has yet to catch on to this process. However, to be fair, Amazon began testing drone deliveries in 2013 while the Army was still conducting combat operations in Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom (Palmer, 2020; Torreon, 2020). Since then, Amazon has steadily modernized to meet current and future demand and overmatched most competitors. Nevertheless, the Army’s procurement and budgeting processes are different. Therefore, its trajectory to modernization will differ. Despite these differences, modernization is knocking at the Army’s door. Some military critics say delivery drones in the Army are too risky for its cost. What if the enemy shoots them down? However, if drones are fiscally out of reach, what about robots that can extend human capabilities and productivity in the warehouse? Amazon has those as well, and while the system 3 is not perfect, the company has experimented enough that anyone watching can mitigate potential pitfalls by learning from their mistakes. Furthermore, if the Army modernizes the warehouse, what of the training to accompany this new hardware? Amazon created and is still implementing several educational initiatives to upskill its employees. Thus, when looking at Amazon and comparing it to an Army warehouse, it begs the question: How would the Army of 2035 look on the SSA? To say no to modernizing the Army warehouse is a risky decision. In combat operations, commanders seek to extend their operational reach to attain their objective and bring the enemy to its culminating point (Department of the Army, 2019a). However, to reach their objectives, commanders need endurance which sustainment provides (Department of the Army, 2019b). The critical player in sustainment is the SSA, the hub that receives, issues, stores, and turns in all supply classes. Thus, an archaic warehouse in the Army of 2035 will inhibit supplies from national providers and depot facilities to the customer. Nevertheless, an outdated warehouse can become ready for the Army of 2035 by looking towards its civilian counterpart to emulate the processes that may work within, adjust the processes that do not, and mitigate potential pitfalls by learning from Amazon’s mistakes. The Pandemic’s Big Reveal The arrival of the coronavirus was a sucker punch to the world. Flexible corporations and ingenious minds turned this chaotic event into successes. Contrarily, the inflexible and one-track minded flailed and drowned. Thus, the pandemic revealed the weaknesses of processes and systems that could only survive in a face-to-face environment. Finally, when the coronavirus pulled the curtains completely, it revealed Amazon—a flexible corporation ready to adapt to its customers’ needs. 4 As stated previously, Amazon started experimenting with drone deliveries eight years ago. By August 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted the company approval to fly delivery drones (Palmer, 2020). Additionally, the company is testing autonomous delivery vehicles. Furthermore, they are researching and developing their robotic line to increase warehouse production. Soon, critics warn, Amazon will also have a distribution line. Consequently, the pandemic became a catalyst for this corporation to try the technology and processes they had experimented with. It is exciting to think that this forward-leaning company started from Jeff Bezos’ garage and a humble dream to be an everything store (Huddleston Jr., 2019). On the other hand, the U.S. Army’s roots and processes go further than Bezos ‘nineties garage days. However, sometimes, the trees with the deepest roots are the hardest to replant. Nevertheless, despite being hard, it is possible. The Army streamlined modernization by establishing the Army Futures Command (AFC), an organization that assesses the future operational environment and develops technology to support it (Army Futures Command, n.d.). If modernization includes the SSA, the AFC’s Sustainment Capabilities Development Integration Directorate (CDID) will modernize it. Additionally, the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), as a TRADOC Futures Center enabler, can upskill Army logisticians through updated doctrine and learning modules for new Soldiers and those attending leader development courses. These commands working together can then generate trained and lethal sustainers able to support large-scale combat operations. After all, if Amazon did it, so can the Army. However, how did Amazon do it? Emulate This 5 Driven by customer feedback for faster delivery, Amazon sought to speed its distribution. The company achieved this goal by acquiring the technology of drones and autonomous vehicles, followed by research and experimentation. Currently, Amazon has Prime Air and Zoox, an autonomous driving technology firm (Greene, 2020). These technology purchases resulted in a soon-to-be drone delivery system and autonomous delivery vehicles (Greene, 2020; Greene & Siddiqui, 2020). This company is leaning into the future with little to no timidity. However, is the Army ready for cargo drones? To Drone or Not to Drone, that is the Question While the SSA is the heart of Army logistics—pumping blood to every vital organ— distribution is the vessel that routes the blood to those organs. The Army distribution network consists of land, sea, and air routes that may be simple or complex (Joint Chiefs of Staff [JCS], 2019). JCS (2019) attests that in joint operations, the Army will work with the various military branches, international forces, U.S. and international government, and non-government organizations to meet the joint force commander’s distribution requirement. While by regulation, the goal of logistics is to meet the combatant commander’s sustainment requirements, the technology that supports the various logistic aspects lags behind Amazon and the future environment. Distribution in Army logistics is low-tech. It consists of trucks, airplanes, helicopters, or ships. Unlike Amazon, there are no autonomous driving vans or drones to deliver high-priority items efficiently. Consequently, when speaking about the future at the United States Army Global Force Next Symposium, General John M. Murray said that forces must predict where the fight will be and establish prepositioned stock in advantageous forward areas (Olderog, 2021). 6 While this is an excellent idea to build combat power during the beginning phase of an operation, it does not sustain the force throughout all phases. The continuous flow of sustainment is what keeps the warfighters fighting. Thus, sustaining the force not only requires the initial build through prepositioned stock and contracts, but it also needs arming logistics with the technology necessary to shorten the lines of communication and expedite the distribution process. The Army currently has the RQ-7B Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (TUAS) to perform surveillance and carry sixty pounds (Department of the Army, 2006). This begs the question, why not use it for cargo? Sixty pounds is not much, but when a part is critical to an end item and the lines of communications contested, why not adjust? In 2012 Betson argued that the risk did not outweigh the benefit of deploying a TUAS that could only lift sixty pounds while still requiring a security force. However, Betson used Afghanistan and Iraq as examples, not Russia or China, our current threat. Additionally, Betson authored the article in 2012, which begs the question, has technology advanced since then? The Possible Future of U.S. Army Cargo Unmanned Aircraft System One Army organization seems to think so and is looking to exploit technology for logistics operations. Yates Electrospace Corporation (2019) announced in a press release a development contract for a cargo drone with U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The press release further explained some of the drone’s capabilities— its ability to deliver up to 1,631 pounds of supplies. The Army community knows USSOCOM as a forward-thinking organization. With this first step, they give the rest of the regular Army organizations a way to bring disruptive innovation into an archaic process to optimize it. Imagine How This May Look in an Army Warehouse 7 The future is for those who prepare first. Looking ahead, one can imagine a squad size group of warehouse Soldiers with an additional skill identifier for drone operations. From their location at the brigade support area (BSA), they will load the cargo and dispatch the drone to the combat trains. However, if the environment allows, they can push supplies as far out as the company trains. The caveat to this method will be similar to aerial resupply—use this asset when U.S. forces and allies have control of the air domain (Department of the Army, 2020). Nevertheless, this asset has immense possibilities during the stability phase of an operation or humanitarian and crisis response. Not all Army operations are combat. Some are peacekeeping operations. Additionally, combat operations evolve into stability, followed by the phase to enable civil authorities (JCS, 2018).