Desde las teorías feministas y culturales

a. Lead Component for Logistics and Contracting

The CENTCOM Contracting Branch has established a Lead Component for Logistics and Contracting (LCLC) for each country in theater. The Contracting Branch decided to coin the term LCLC instead of EA to avoid confusion with the official term EA used by the SECDEF and Joint Staff. The LCLC is:

…a component assigned responsibility by USCENTCOM as the lead for coordinating joint logistics and contracting common item and common service support or other administrative and support functions. Individual OPLAN/CONPLANs or OPORDs published by USCENTCOM address specific support responsibilities. The lead component ensures efforts are coordinated through the theater security POC.66

b. CENTCOM Regulation (CCR) 700-2

CENTCOM created CCR 700-2: Outsourcing Logistical Support: Host Nation Support (HNS), Other Nation Support (ONS), Contracting and Civil Augmentation Programs (CAP) on August 15, 2004. While 700-2 has many objectives, its purpose is to “optimize efficiency for all customers, make effective use of available resources/people, organize contracting support for contingencies, serve as effective force multiplier and provide (conceptually) for centralized coordination/decentralized execution to enhance war fighting capabilities.”67

It is the research team’s opinion that the CCR 700-2 is a great step in the right direction to understand what the CCO must do in CENTCOM’s AOR. In addition to the objectives stated above, the purpose of the regulation is to have a document that establishes and provides guidance on outsourcing logistical support that will be used to support U.S. forces. Since this is a CENTCOM regulation, it applies to those designated units, Service Components, and DoD Agencies that require or need to have contracted support within CENTCOM’s AOR.

66_{J4 Branch brief, p.7.}

The CCR’s outsourcing goal for contracting support is to improve the AOR’s supportability so that the supported units’ operational risk is reduced. To accomplish this, CENTCOM has planned to leverage the HNS, ONS, contingency contracting and CAP. This is also the order of preference CENTCOM wants the COs to follow.

c. CENTCOM Contingency Contracting Observations

The following are issues and lessons learned from the fact finding interview session with the CENTCOM J4 Contracting Branch.

(i) Joint Theater Logistics. The Joint Force Commander (JFC) has responsibility for theater level logistics. CENTCOM lacks a subordinate commander or organization that is charged with executing theater logistics. This presents a conflict in that the JFC needs control over all Joint logistics, but there is no doctrinal requirement for a theater level logistics commander. The theater logistics commander should have responsibility for theater distribution (logistics planning), medical, munitions, services (post office and mortuary affairs), contracting (HNS), and infrastructure (civil engineering). A solution would be to develop doctrine to support this requirement followed by the creation of an organization that can perform some of the functions previously mentioned.

(ii) Early problems in OIF Joint theater contracting and contracts management. First, it appeared that there was a gap in the ability to capture the visibility of all the contractors and contracts that are in theater. There was not a consolidated theater- level reception center where all the contractors would report so that all could be identified and their data captured in a database. There is a lot of competition for limited resources which creates scarcity, and it is very inefficient for DoD Services and Agencies to “out bid” each other for services or products. Because of this competition, DoD was not able to take advantage of economic order quantities to get lower prices. CAPs are a quick fix to many problems. The group cautions that organizations need to ensure a shift to a sustainment contract occurs sooner rather than later since CAPs are usually very costly.

The research team recommends that all the Services in theater have a good understanding of how to conduct contingency contracting. This requires review of pertinent Federal, DoD, and Service specific procedures, policy and doctrine. The role and responsibility of a Joint reception center in the JCC-I must be defined to ensure compliance with CENTCOM AOR procedures. In addition, all contractors need to in- process through the JCC-I so visibility can be established and all contracting actions are filtered through the JCC-I.

d. Contracting Command & Control During OIF/OEF

It was observed that the initial contracting organizational structure was not adequate for OIF. The ACA placed the Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting (PARC) in Kuwait. Unfortunately, this was not where the Combined Joint Task Force Commander was located. This resulted in a duplication of contracts and created competition between U.S. entities.

The JFC needs to have the PARC co-located with them so the PARC can provide the correct oversight of the contract support mission. The PARC was moved further forward into the JCC-I to facilitate contracting actions. Admittedly, this should have been decided in the planning process.

e. Contractor Management During OIF/OEF

There was a lack of situational awareness regarding the extremely high numbers of contractors on the battlefield and understanding the enormity of its impact on the security/support requirements for the fielded forces. During planning, the scope and breadth of the contractor support that would be required in theater was not thoroughly explored. For example, there was a major problem when it came to giving weapons to contractors. The problem was exacerbated because the process was not consistent and would change with each new request. In addition, the terms under which the contractors were authorized to possess a weapon were not clear. DoD needs to create clear, concise policy and guidance that governs issues affecting contractors deploying with the force.

Another problem with contractor management occurred when it came to the deployment of contractors into the battlefield. It should have been regarded with the

same attention to detail as the deployment of troops into theater. One of the first steps is the arrival at the CONUS Replacement Centers (CRCs) prior to the arrival in the AOR. This would be followed by the monitoring of the contractors’ arrival through a Joint operation reception center.

Clear guidance needs to be issued that addresses all issues in terms of contractor deployment. As of today, there are two Joint Staff documents, DoD Directive (DoDD) 1400.31 and DoD Instruction (DoDI) 3020.37, that address this issue. In addition, there are two draft documents (DoDD and DoDI) and a Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) case, 2003-D087 pending promulgation. The Joint Staff, COCOM, and Services have provided input on the language of this policy. Once the guidance has been given to CENTCOM, it is then passed to the LCLC. The LCLC could then ensure each contract let within the CENTCOM AOR follows the approved DoD guidelines. The result would be all of the appropriate clauses would be properly incorporated in existing and new contracts.

f. Contractor Officer Deployment in OIF/OEF.

At the onset of OIF/OEF, the Services did not have joint visibility of where other Services were deploying COs. There was little coordination of effort with no one clearinghouse tracking a CO’s mission. One suggestion is to have a periodic review of each Service’s contracting plan. At the review, each Service could ensure there was the proper skill and grade match for the positions that are required.

The research team believes this review is a responsibility of a theater-level contracting command. CENTCOM needs to ensure that the JCC-I, which was stood up in October 2004, fulfills this need. As CENTCOM continues to support the GWOT, a decision needs to be made as to how the JCC-I will evolve. The group believes the JCC-I should ensure all Services have representatives who meet and review the status of their COs in the AOR to ensure the right mixes of people are doing the right jobs. Concurrence from the Joint Staff and CENTCOM would give the JCC-I the support it needs to make this happen. In addition, the issue of a theater logistical support command and the relationship to the JCC-I needs to be explored by the CENTCOM J4.