GLSC Provisional commander briefs Tinker about upcoming Air Force endeavor

Published Dec. 6, 2007
By Brandice J. Armstrong
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Editor's note: This is the first in a three part series on the Global Logistics Support Center.
   Col. H. Brent Baker Sr. briefed and reassured the 448th Combat Sustainment Wing about a new Air Force endeavor Nov. 26-28.
   During his eight meetings, the Global Logistics Support Center provisional commander met with approximately 1,100 of the wing's employees at the 38th Engineering Installation Group theater, in a seminar setting.
   "For the past 20 to 25 years, we've been heading toward a Global Logistics Support Center of some type and I want to set your mind at ease that this isn't something we dreamt up last night," the colonel said. "As money starts dwindling (and) as resources start dwindling, we have to learn how to do things more efficiently. The primary purpose behind GLSC is to provide optimum support to the warfighter."
   The GLSC, which will serve as the Air Force's new supply chain manager and perform day-to-day operations, was brainstormed as part of the Air Force's eLog21 (Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century) campaign, as an effort to make current processes more effective and efficient.
   "Logistics have always been effective, but we've rarely been efficient," he said. "Think about the duck going across the pond, from the top it looks smooth but underneath there's a lot going on."
   Managed by Air Force Materiel the GLSC will employ about 4,500 military and civilians.
"We are going to be a center, just like any other center," the colonel said. "We are going to be the Global Logistics Support Center just like you have an Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Ogden Air Logistics Center, an Air Force Flight and Test Center." Yet, there will be one minor difference.
   The GLSC will operate from six different locations. They are Tinker; Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Langley AFB, Va.; Robins AFB, Ga; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and Scott AFB, Ill. Headquarters for overall GLSC operations will be at Scott AFB, while headquarters for the Supply Chain Planning and Execution Wing will be here at Tinker.
   Very few of the GLSC's employees will relocate for the position. At Tinker, Robins AFB and Hill AFB, the SCPE unit, there will be an estimated 3,000 of the total GLSC populace, according to an article from Air Force Print News Today.
Colonel Baker also assured attendees changes will be subtle as the center is organized. He referred to the transformation as a "patch change."
   "You're wearing the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center patch on Friday; you come in on Monday, and now you're miraculously in the GLSC," the colonel said. "And guess what, you're sitting at the same location, probably have the same boss, and doing kind of the same thing today as you did Friday.
   "We're trying to get the organization established, so for the most part, most people are coming in -- processes, money -- 'as is' today." Changes are scheduled to begin in early 2008 and are planned to be completed in fiscal 2013.