Defense Transportation Journal

The Official Publication of the National Defense Transportation Association

October 2017

www.ndtahq.com

The Fall Meeting Issue A Look at the People and Processes Rising Above

INSIDE THIS ISSUE • US Transportation & Logistics Category Management • Powerful Mentoring for Results • Business Prospects for Blockchain and Big Data • The Student Loan Crisis and Why You Should Care Plus, the 2017 NDTA Awards and more

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

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October 2017

FEATURES October 2017 • Vol 73, No. 5 PUBLISHER

COL James E. Veditz, USA (Ret.) MANAGING EDITOR

Sharon Lo | sharon@ndtahq.com CIRCULATION MANAGER

Leah Ashe | leah@ndtahq.com PUBLISHING OFFICE

NDTA 50 South Pickett Street, Suite 220 Alexandria, VA 22304-7296 703-751-5011 • F 703-823-8761

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION MANAGER

Debbie Bretches

ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGER

Bonnie Coggin bcoggin@cjp.com

ADVERTISING & PRODUCTION Carden Jennings Publishing Co., Ltd. Custom Publishing Division 375 Greenbrier Drive, Suite 100 Charlottesville, VA 22901 434-817-2000 x330 • F 434-817-2020

INTERVIEW WITH LISA ROBERTS 14 Category Manager, Transportation & Logistics Services

By James Marconi

POWERFUL MENTORING FOR RESULTS 20

By Jenn Labin

2017 NDTA AWARDS 25 WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS PROSPECTS 33 FOR BLOCKCHAIN AND BIG DATA? A conversation with Promontory’s Dr. Phyllis Schneck

By James Marconi

THE STUDENT LOAN CRISIS 38 AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

By Larry Larkin

DEPARTMENTS PRESIDENT’S CORNER | COL James E. Veditz, USA (Ret.)..........................................11 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | Irvin Varkonyi......................................................12 CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE.......................................................................................40 HONOR ROLL..................................................................................................41 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS.................................................................................... 42

Defense Transportation Journal (ISSN 0011-7625) is published bimonthly by the National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA), a non-profit research and educational organization; 50 South Pickett Street, Suite 220, Alexandria, VA 22304-7296, 703-751-5011. Copyright by NDTA. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and at additional mailing offices.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One year (six issues) $40. Two years, $60. Three years, $75. To foreign post offices, $45. Single copies, $6 plus postage. The DTJ is free to members. For details on membership, visit www.ndtahq.com.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Defense Transportation Journal 50 South Pickett Street, Suite 220 Alexandria, VA 22304-7296

We encourage contributions to DTJ and our online publication, The Conduit. To submit an article or story idea, please see our guidelines at https://www.ndtahq.com/media-and-publications/submitting-articles/. www.ndtahq.com |

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

PRESIDENT’S CORNER NDTA’s Transition & a Hearty Welcome for New President COL James E. Veditz, USA (Ret.)

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as of September 18, 2017

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE • KGL Holding (upgrade) SUSTAINING • International Association of Movers

Interim President & CEO, NDTA reetings from Alexandria! After Rear Adm. Buzby’s August confirmation and swearing-in as Maritime Administrator, I’ve temporarily taken the helm at NDTA. We certainly will miss his leader-

WELCOME NEW CORPORATE MEMBERS

ship, but feel confident that Buz will do great things for our nation’s maritime community. We look forward to continued engagement with him in the months ahead!

Speaking of which, the business of NDTA goes on. We’ve had a busy few months, and preparations have continued at breakneck speed for our annual NDTAUSTRANSCOM Fall Meeting, Oct. 10-13.

This year’s theme of “Force Projection – Assuring Access: Cyber & Physical” couldn’t be more relevant in the current security environment. The 2017 meeting also marks the fifth year of our partnership with USTRANSCOM, and features

a high-powered group of keynote speakers, roundtable discussions, more than 70 Transportation Academy courses and various meetings with Gen. McDew and his component commanders.

NDTA’s Expo runs concurrently to the Fall Meeting at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel. This fantastic facility has been renovated since last year with new improvements to further accommodate classroom and social activities. Sales of booth space are moving briskly and once again, we will feature NDTA committee meetings, See Pres. Corner pg. 42

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

NDTA Headquarters Staff COL Jim Veditz, USA (Ret.) Interim President & CEO Patty Casidy VP Finance Lee Matthews VP Marketing and Corporate Development Leah Ashe Manager, Database James Marconi Director of Public Relations Rebecca Jones Executive Assistant to the President

For a listing of current Committee Chairpersons, Government Liaisons, and Chapter & Regional Presidents, please visit the Association website at www.ndtahq.com.

EDITORIAL OBJECTIVES The editorial objectives of the Defense Transportation Journal are to advance knowledge and science in defense logistics and transportation and the partnership between the commercial transportation industry and the government transporter. DTJ stimulates thought and effort in the areas of defense transportation, logistics, and distribution by providing readers with: • News and information about defense logistics and transportation issues • New theories or techniques • Information on research programs • Creative views and syntheses of new concepts • Articles in subject areas that have significant current impact on thought and practice in defense logistics and transportation • Reports on NDTA Chapters EDITORIAL POLICY The Defense Transportation Journal is designed as a forum for current research, opinion, and identification of trends in defense transportation and logistics. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Editors, the Editorial Review Board, or NDTA. EDITORIAL CONTENT Archives are available to members on www.ndtahq.com.

Sharon Lo, Managing Editor, DTJ NDTA 50 South Pickett Street, Suite 220 Alexandria, VA 22304-7296 703-751-5011 • F 703-823-8761 sharon@ndtahq.com

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

ADVANCING YOUR CAREER WITH LOGISTICS EDUCATION Irvin Varkonyi, President, SCOPE Consulting ivarkonyi@scopedu.com

T

he market for supply chain professionals, including logisticians, acquisitions specialists, operations managers and more, continues to offer opportunities. Median pay for logisticians in 2016 was $74,170 according to Bureau of Labor statistics. That number increases for those classified as working in professional, scientific, and technical services, as well as those working for the federal government.

But, regardless of the industry, a bachelor’s degree was increasingly a requirement, even for many entry level positons.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics states, “As logistics becomes increasingly complex, more companies prefer to hire workers who have at least a bachelor’s degree.

Many logisticians have a bachelor’s degree in business, systems engineering, or supply chain management. Bachelor’s degree programs often include coursework in operations and database management, and system dynamics. In addition, most programs offer courses that train students on software and technologies commonly used by logisticians, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID).”1 That software and technology education is becoming critical for logisticians and related industries. Prospects for the greatest job growth is expected in the world of e-commerce with giant firms such as Amazon, Walmart and major defense contractors and integrators. Logistics Management magazine states, “In our 33rd Annual Salary Survey…respondents who said that they’re highly knowledgeable about e-commerce are bringing in a median salary of $105,000 compared to the $73,500 earned by those who say they are on the low end of the learning curve.”2 Is a graduate degree a requirement? Is it helpful in career advancement? According to Salary.com’s employer reported data, all signs point to yes with supply chain man-

agers holding a Master’s or MBA pulling in six figures ($101,338 - $109,031).3 Logisticians and supply chain managers already working in the field may consider returning to school for an advanced degree to enhance their career potential. These graduate programs, similar to undergraduate degrees, are delivered in a variety of ways—the traditional brick and mortar

Is a graduate degree a requirement?

Is it helpful in career advancement?

According to Salary.com’s employer reported data, all signs point to yes with supply chain managers holding a Master’s or MBA pulling in six figures ($101,338 - $109,031).3 degree, the all online degree and the hybrid degree, with the latter becoming a preferred method.

Online often provides the greatest flexibility. However, U.S. News & Worlds Report, well-known for its annual report and ranking of colleges and universities, found that whether online or in-person, part-time MBA programs attract a similar demographic of students: working professionals looking to balance their jobs and other responsibilities with an education.4 It may be interesting to note that even traditional brick and mortar programs are utilizing online learning tools to present much of their content—meaning that anyone interested in pursuing an advanced degree should be prepared to work online to some extent.

Study.com gives a good overview of the three main degree options: An Associate’s degree gives the broadest overview of logistics, covering logisSee Prof. Devel. on pg. 42

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Interview with Lisa Roberts Category Manager, Transportation & Logistics Services

By James M. Marconi Director of Public Relations, NDTA

T

aken as a whole, the US government represents the largest buyer in the world. While there are many unique purchasing needs across the various federal agencies, there is roughly $287 billion in areas of common spending. Within the past several years, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) classified those areas into categories to be managed government-wide, with the goal of driving more efficient buying decisions.

The concept, already used within a variety of business organizations, is known as category management. The US government developed 10 categories in total; information technology, professional services, security and protection, facilities and construction, industrial products and services, office management, transportation and logistics services, travel and lodging, human capital, and medical.

Although each category has touchpoints in different departments throughout the federal enterprise, one department or agency is designated as the category lead, and puts forward an executive—the category manager—to drive the reform effort.

In the following interview Lisa Roberts, the Category Manager for Transportation and Logistics Services, highlights her experiences developing the category’s functionality and kick-starting its strategic initiatives. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

DTJ: Thanks for taking the time to inter-

view today. To start, could you outline the history of category management within the federal government, and what it’s meant to accomplish?

Ms. Roberts: Absolutely. First I want to say

thanks to the NDTA for its support to the DOD. NDTA has been an important partner, and we have that common interest in providing joint logistics solutions to support America’s warfighters, so thank you for that.

Category management has its roots in the Office of Management and Budget’s 14

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

strategic sourcing initiative, going back to 2003. It was in 2014, though, that the OMB shifted from strategic sourcing— which is really about managing purchases that are priced individually across thousands of procurement units—to managing entire categories of goods and services through common spend and total cost through category management.

Today, strategic sourcing is just one of the key levers of category management that’s used to create supply chain value. The other levers include things like demand management and supplier relationship management. But think of category management as a federal-wide initiative, spearheaded by OMB, that just gets us working together on common spend areas to buy smarter and more like a single enterprise.

It has been a concept that’s been around for some time, and DOD is not the only user of category management. There are many commercial companies that employ the category management principles when they buy and manage commodities. And then there are other governments like the UK that have also had success with category management.

So there are lots of benefits to it. It can help reduce duplication; it can align requirements to better manage demand; it can leverage buying power.

The other benefit is it puts data and metrics in one place to help organizations make better business decisions. And then for industry, it hopefully makes it easier to do business with the government, through increased innovation, best practices, sharing expertise and implementing supplier relationship management programs.

DTJ: What do your responsibilities entail as category manager for Transportation & Logistics Services?

Ms. Roberts: My main responsibility, I would say, is serving as an interagency change agent to drive the category management principles and practices throughout the federal government. What this means

is developing category-specific strategic plans, reviewing category-specific business cases, and then making recommendations for the use of best-in-class contracts and practices to the Category Management Leadership Council.

It also includes analyzing data to understand the category’s past and projected spending and market conditions, and then defining and tracking category performance metrics, and making recommendations for policy and active management of the category spend.

DTJ: As I understand it, category managers remain within their home departments and agencies while performing categorywide duties across the federal government.

How does that function, in terms of developing policy and executing initiatives among a variety of agencies?

Ms. Roberts: That’s a good question.

First of all, yes, the category managers remain at their home organizations, but

US Government Common Spend Categories • Information Technology • Professional Services • Security and Protection • Facilities and Construction • Industrial Products and Services • Office Management • Transportation and Logistics Services • Travel and Lodging • Human Capital • Medical

they wear a federal-wide hat for their category manager role. In my experience as a category manager, I’ve found that the key ingredient in developing federal-wide policy and implementing federal-wide initiatives is communication and collaboration.

It’s about making those connections and working together with the civilian agencies that may have competing interests.

It’s also extremely important, I believe, to be as objective as possible and think about what is right for the good of the entire federal government, and not just what is good for DOD or a specific agency. Going through that [process] contributes to the success of category management, because you’re building trust.

DTJ: Looking at Transportation and Logistics Services specifically, what agencies

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and types of activities does your category cover, and did any surprise you?

Ms. Roberts: The Transportation & Logistics Services category is made up of six sub-categories and in fiscal year 2016, it was a $21 billion spend category. DOD is by far the largest purchaser of transportation logistics services, coming in at $17.7 billion. Other top agencies are NASA, GSA, Department of State, and the VA. Some of the top suppliers are companies like United Launch Services, Oshkosh Defense, Lockheed Martin, AM General, Fluor, car manufacturers and petroleum companies.

Also, there are over 20 Federal agencies that I work with—we have regular communication and they are part of the interagency team for each of the initiatives.

What surprised me the most about this category is that it is very diverse—it includes functional areas that span procurement of fuel, motor vehicles, base operations, and all modes of transportation.

As I mentioned, there are six sub-categories, and the top four of these make up 96 percent of the spend in the category. From the largest spend down, the first is logistics

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support services, and that includes things like warehousing, storage and base operations.

The next one is fuel—liquid propellants and petroleum. And then there’s transportation of things—sealift, liner and charter services, and domestic freight.

And then the next one is motor vehicles, and these are non-tactical vehicle buys and leases. And then there’s package delivery, and transportation equipment.

DTJ: That’s a very broad set of responsibilities within the category. When you came into this position, what were the first steps that you needed to take? How did you get a handle on everything that’s within the portfolio?

Ms. Roberts: One of the first things I wanted to review is the data. I wanted to be able to peel back and understand the whole category, and each of the subcategories. The best way to do that was to look at the product and service codes (PSCs). The data comes from the Federal Procurement Data System, FPDS, that is used across the federal government, primarily by acquisition professionals. This data review helped me understand the scope of the category.

The data review uncovered PSCs that didn’t belong in our category. And there were PSCs in other categories that belonged in our category. So we’re working with the category management Program Management Office to sort through that, and to realign those product service codes.

DTJ: In the context of developing the cat-

egory on a government-wide scale, after you got a hold of the data, what were your initial priorities to make use of that information?

Ms. Roberts: By understanding the data, we could then start looking at opportunities to explore initiatives. One of our initial priorities was in the package delivery services area—FedEx, UPS, for example.

We found that there were a couple big contracts, one on the DOD side and one on the GSA side, performing virtually the same type of services.

The initiative was about combining those two contracts and any other agency contracts into one government-wide contract for package delivery services for all the federal agencies and authorized users.

That contract has a ceiling of $3 billion, a rather large contract.

I’m very proud of the team’s work on that initiative because in many ways, we broke new ground in developing a federalwide contract. It’s currently set for implementation October 1 of this year.

We’ve got regular communication with the team—it was more than just having that one workshop. We had several other sessions and ongoing communication with this interagency team to make sure that we got the requirements right, and that we were meeting everybody’s needs.

DTJ: This is a bit further in the weeds,

but how do you go about for that type of a contract outlining and managing all of the different requirements?

Ms. Roberts: First we had to make con-

tact with the other federal agencies and get connected with the right subject matter experts for package delivery services. That took a little bit more time than we would have liked, but it was worth it, because

then we were able to form an interagency subject matter expert team.

And to begin the requirements development, one of the accomplishments was leveraging the Defense Acquisition University. They helped by facilitating a Services Acquisition Workshop where we brought together the federal agencies to begin developing the federal-wide requirements.

From there it took off. We’ve got regular communication with the team—it was more than just having that one workshop. We had several other sessions and ongoing communication with this interagency team to make sure that we got the requirements right, and that we were meeting everybody’s needs.

DTJ: It sounds like package delivery services was one of 2016’s highlights. What were some of your other achievements this year, and what are some key initiatives in the near- to mid-term future?

Ms. Roberts: One of the things we had to do was create a strategic plan, looking out three years. So we’ve got an FY17-19 strategic plan, looking at four main initiatives.

For FY16, the biggest accomplishment was that we were able to get consensus

and form an interagency team to combine these two major contracts into a government-wide contract for package delivery services. The rest of the time in FY16 was spent understanding the category and initiating best-in-class contract assessments.

Moving ahead with the strategic plan, we have four key initiatives. The first is related to a fuel solution. Fuel in many ways can drive the spend of the entire category, so we wanted to dig into that area further. For this initiative, we’re partnering with DLA Energy, and we’re assessing the contracts and determining whether they should be designated as best-in-class.

Best-in-class is a contracting and acquisition designation used to denote contracts that meet rigorous category management performance criteria as defined by OMB. A BIC-designated contract represents a preferred government-wide solution and provides a unique opportunity to leverage the government’s buying power.

The next initiative is related to motor vehicles. This initiative is about finding opportunities to reduce the costs of motor vehicles and providing federal agencies a management tool for making more informed buy versus lease decisions.

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The third initiative is related to freight, and this is probably the least mature of the initiatives. This initiative is about leveraging freight contracts and tenders across the federal enterprise. We’re in the beginning stages of this initiative, gathering and analyzing data and determining whether there’s a business case that supports a federal-wide solution.

The fourth initiative is related to package delivery services, and as you know this is the most mature of the initiatives.

DTJ: Obviously this type of reform doesn’t

happen overnight, or without growing pains. What are the most significant obstacles to enacting the benefits that category management aims to achieve?

Ms. Roberts: Two things. One of the challenges we have in this category is understanding the federal-wide spend, and the cultures within the numerous agencies of the government.

I mentioned the Federal Procurement Data System, which is a pretty robust database; it’s got a variety of contract data.

However not all transportation data is in the system, especially since DOD and

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

many of the civilian agencies use non-Federal Acquisition Regulation procurement instruments for moving things.

So this is a challenge and we’re working closely with the government-wide program management office at GSA to get this data and get it included with the Federal Procurement Data System data, so we can analyze it and look for opportunities.

Secondly, communication in the beginning was definitely a challenge in finding transportation/logistics counterparts in the 20+ federal agencies. It seems simple enough, but it wasn’t.

Each organization is structured differently, and the challenge was connecting with the right people to speak for their organization and to be part of our team. But after months of phone calls, e-mails, networking, we now have a level one, first tier senior executive team that communicates on a monthly basis about what’s going on in the category. And this is the team that I use to get feedback on ideas, initiatives and opportunities. I also use this team to coordinate on products like the strategic plan, best-in-class assessments, and any other category-wide issues.

A few words about communication with industry—it’s important to us that we in-

clude industry in our discussions where we can and to hear their ideas, best practices, thoughts. We’re working with the category management PMO to institute a supplier relationship management program, to be able to get industry more involved in this process as well.

DTJ: Is there anything else I’ve missed that you’d like to elaborate on?

Ms. Roberts: I would like for readers to

understand that category management is not just about consolidating contracts into single, large-scale contracts. It is more than that and could be simple policy or procedural changes, sharing best practices across the federal enterprise, and getting better connected with vendors.

A good source of information on category management is the Acquisition Gateway. Within the Gateway are 10 ‘hallways,’ one for each category including Transportation and Logistics Services.

I encourage both federal employees and industry to visit the website to learn more about category management at https:// hallways.cap.gsa.gov/app/#/gateway/transportation-logistics-services. DTJ

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19

Powerful

MENTORING for Results

By Jenn Labin Owner, T.E.R.P. associates, llc

L

et’s start with a bold concept— “Mentoring can change the trajectory of a career.” Over the course of almost two decades, I have seen incredible career trajectories attributed, in part, to great mentorship. In fact, most of the successful leaders I have worked with in my own career were happy to share stories about the mentors in their lives who have helped them. Truly great mentoring can achieve tremendous results and mentees who benefit from capable and confident mentors can grow as leaders. That type of resultsdriven learning relationship is what I call Powerful Mentoring.

Powerful Mentoring is defined as, “a sustained social learning relationship between two or more individuals, based on mutual trust and respect.” That’s a mouthful so let’s break it down!

SUSTAINED SOCIAL LEARNING RELATIONSHIP

To begin with, powerful mentoring can only be achieved over time. Learning events, such a classroom training or eLearning, have limited reach and a steep forgetting 20

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

Without a focus on learning, mentoring will not achieve results. On the other hand, learning has to be balanced with social connection because too much emphasis on learning will result in a weaker and less trusting relationship.

curve. However, learning that is stretched and reinforced over time not only has a greater impact in the long run, but new skills and behaviors are more likely to last.

Therefore, a Powerful Mentoring relationship must be sustained, lasting three to twelve months or even longer, depending on other factors.

The phrase “social learning” is also important. Too often, mentoring relation-

ships are all social or all learning but for the relationship to achieve its full potential, these concepts need to be balanced.

The social aspect means that mentors and mentees find significant connections to strengthen the relationship. Finding connections could include discovering experiences or preferences you have in common, but it is just as important to connect and explore what makes you different from each other, as well. This discovery process enhances trust and helps to establish a strong foundation. The learning aspect of the relationship is important so that the “real” work can be done. Without a focus on learning, mentoring will not achieve results. On the other hand, learning has to be balanced with social connection because too much emphasis on learning will result in a weaker and less trusting relationship.

BETWEEN TWO OR MORE INDIVIDUALS

There are a lot of ways that Powerful Mentoring can show up in the world. There are many types of mentoring relationships, and many of them are not just one men-

tor and one mentee. Some of the strongest and most impactful mentoring programs I have built utilized multiple types of mentoring relationships.

The traditional type of mentoring relationship, or structure, is one-to-one, which is a relationship between one mentor and one mentee. In some cases, a mentor may have two simultaneous relationships with mentees, but should not have more than that. Overall, this a strong choice because of the individual attention and investment that comes with one-to-one relationship development, and is particularly popular for use with leadership development programs. However, some drawbacks include larger program costs, administrative time and potential personality conflicts.

Another type of mentoring is MentorLed Groups, which is usually a single mentor leading a group of four to six mentees all sharing a common developmental goal.

There is also Peer Mentoring Groups, which are also groups of four to six mentees, but are self-led instead of relying on a mentor. Both formats are strong community-based learning and have lower resource and administrative costs than oneto-one mentoring, but they don’t provide the individual attention of one-to-one.

There are several other types of relationships you may choose for your organization, such as reverse mentoring, speed mentoring, and rotational mentoring.

However, sometimes the best option is to combine structures for maximum impact.

Choose the approach that will work best for your organizational culture and mentoring participants.

BUILT ON MUTUAL TRUST AND RESPECT

The final component of our Powerful Mentoring definition specifically highlights the need for a relationship that has a foundation of mutual trust and respect.

One of the more common questions I have received after creating and collaborating on dozens of mentoring programs is, “What if participants have a personality conflict or a bad match?” Organizations building a mentoring program internally are understandably concerned that mentees will not get value out of their mentoring relationship if they clash with their assigned mentors.

The best way to circumvent conflicts is to have a mindful pairing process and help mentees and mentors establish deep trust

and respect early and with purpose once they are matched. Empower participants with guides, workbooks, videos and resources to navigate the early conversations to quickly build trust. If a connection is built on mutual trust and respect, mentees will be more inclined to be open, honest and vulnerable, and mentors will feel more relaxed and invested in the mentoring relationship. Positive measurable results are more likely to follow. It is also important to have a program support system in place, in the event that the pair needs additional help navigating their relationship.

HOW TO INITIATE MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

Organizations can choose to implement a formal mentoring program in which mentoring relationships are formed and monitored, or informal mentoring, in which organic relationships are formed by individual choice and supported usually by a human resource or training department. Formal programs take a lot of effort to implement the right way, but create tremendous lasting results and transform leaders. Informal, organic relationships require few resources, but do not create

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Ways to Be a GREAT Mentor 1. Be a Credible and Positive Role Model

6. Be Proactive with Your Time

• Mentees respect mentors who are good role models, and they can learn a lot just from observing how their mentor behaves in situations.

• Mentees will seek out people who can provide them with the best answers for the specific skills they are trying to build at that time.

• Your mentee doesn’t just need you to tell them what to do.

Your experience, wisdom and actions will guide them to reach the right answers.

2. Show Interest in Your Mentee • Mentoring is a complicated relationship. It often covers personal, as well as professional, areas of your mentee’s life.

• By learning your mentee’s background, interests and dreams, you can have a better understanding of their personality and have a great vision of what kind of learning will serve them best in the long run.

3. Share Your Story • Describe your experiences with your mentor(s) —both positive and negative—and how they affected you.

• Be open about mistakes that you’ve made in your professional life, and help your mentee see that learning from mistakes is an effective way to grow.

• Talk about what worked for you in the past and what didn’t.

4. Balance Guidance with Questions • The best mentors know when to offer advice, and when to ask critical questions • Avoid using “Should” language (“You should do this next…”)

• When providing feedback, begin by asking permission and highlight the benefits of the information to your mentee.

5. Acknowledge Your Mentee’s Achievements • This will help to build their confidence.

• This is also an opportunity for you to learn something from your mentee.

predictable results. The right choice is the one that will work best for your organization’s culture.

Mentees seeking mentors for informal relationships should be encouraged to look internally in other departments or divisions or externally in professional organizations, conferences, and industry thought leaders. Mentees should seek potential mentors who have experiences or careers that they are looking to build themselves.

Ideally, they can find a personal connec22

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

• Review your notes before meeting.

• At the end of the meeting, establish the agenda for the next time you meet.

• Be fully present during your meeting—don’t take calls, check your texts, etc.

• Make punctuality a priority—everyone’s time is important!

7. Set Expectations at the Beginning • Discuss alternate ways to meet, such as phone calls, Skype, Webex, etc.

• Establish check in methods and timing to keep in touch between meetings.

8. Build Your Communication Skills • Practice active listening, which is one of the greatest skills a mentor can have!

• When talking with your mentee, ask open ended questions that will help your mentee work towards their own solutions.

9. Find Growth Opportunities for Your Mentee • Suggest meetings, committees or conferences that they should attend or in which to participate.

• Introduce them to other mentors who may have an area of expertise that will benefit the mentee but that you cannot help them with.

• Provide reading materials.

• Suggest professional groups for them to join.

10. Help Your Mentee Move On When the Time is Right • Ending a relationship can be difficult but it doesn’t need to be!

• Work out what signals the end of the relationship at the beginning of the relationship—achievement of goals, time frame, etc.

• Both the mentor and mentee should have the opportunity to talk about what they have learned from their time together.

Celebrate your success and growth within the partnership.

tion or colleague that can help with introduction to a potential mentor.

Formal programs should recruit mentors from across the entire organization, generally encouraging under-represented groups to participate and share their experience. In most programs, matches should be made based on developmental need instead of role or title. One notable exception is for programs specifically built for succession planning purposes. Succession planning programs should match primar-

ily for role exposure. At all costs, avoid forming mentoring relationships with direct supervisors, as the dynamics will be effected by job performance issues and power dynamics.

At the beginning of any mentoring relationship, participants should display genuine enthusiasm for their work and learning, be open and vulnerable, and demonstrate an active interest in development. Mentees should show a commitment to their own learning. Mentors should be ready, be

available, and be kind. After all, that’s what Powerful Mentoring is all about!

BUILDING MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

Any relationship takes effort to keep it strong. Participants in mentoring relationships should take time to discuss their behavior styles and communication preferences, as well as personal limitations and constraints.

Expectations should be set about meeting frequency, how and when meetings will occur, the kind of relationship to be built (casual or strictly business), and the roles each person in the relationship will play.

Early in the mentoring relationship, the mentee and the mentor should collaborate to create no more than three developmental goals which will guide conversations moving forward. Developmental goals should be challenging and stretch mentees, but still be attainable. Use an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to help craft strong goals and a vision for success.

CREATE POWERFUL MENTORS AND MENTEES

When you decide to create and support mentoring within your organization, you

get closer to creating lasting, measurable results. However, there is still one common obstacle organizations fail to address and it can undermine all your efforts. Mentors and mentees need the skills required to be successful in their mentoring relationships.

Great leaders do not always make great mentors. The mentoring skillset is not necessarily one that comes naturally to most people. For example, mentors need to be able to give both positive and critical feedback, listen actively, coach for performance and use questioning as a tool. These skills need to be acquired, practiced and reinforced.

Mentees also benefit from development of learning agility. Learning agility is the ability to find real and lasting development from your experiences, including mentoring conversations. Mentees receiving help to improve their learning agility gain much more from their learning relationships and see longer-lasting results.

Be sure to create opportunities for both mentors and mentees to grow and hone their skills through training programs, video resource libraries and mentor-coaches.

This will not only create better mentoring experiences but also create strategic leadership impact.

IT’S YOUR TURN

You can create Powerful Mentoring experiences for your organization that change the trajectory of careers. Help establish formal or informal mentoring relationships supported with skills development for mentees and mentors. Create sustained social learning relationships between two or more individuals built on mutual trust and respect. Empower and equip mentees and mentors with guides, videos and reinforcement of these critical skills.

The results of Powerful Mentoring are better leaders who are more capable of innovation, developing others and strategic thinking and an organization better equipped with stronger and more invested talent. DTJ

Jenn Labin is the owner of T.E.R.P. associates, llc, a full-service consulting group that provides a broad range of mentoring and talent development services. In addition, Ms. Labin is the author of the book Mentoring Programs that Work, which provides a unique approach to creating sustainable and scalable programs.

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

NDTA has a number of awards that recognize individual and corporate members, as well as chapters and military units that have excelled in fostering the goals and aims of the association. These awards include the NDTA Distinguished Service Awards, NDTA Corporate Distinguished Service Awards, and Military Unit of the Year Awards, among others. We congratulate this year’s award winners and thank them for their contributions to the association, as well as to the greater logistics and transportation community.

NDTA EDUCATOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Julie Willems-Espinoza

Associate Director, Center for Logistics Education and Research University of North Texas

J

ulie Willems-Espinoza is awarded the Educator Distinguished Service Award for exceptional service and commitment to the goals and objectives of the National Defense Transportation Association. Ms. Willems-Espinoza has been the driving force in providing numerous opportunities for students majoring in transportation and logistics to advance their professional and leadership skills. She has advised multiple student teams enabling students to address complex logistics problems and present their recommendations to business executives in several competitions at the national and

international levels. Several of these teams have won nationally and routinely place among the top levels.

Ms. Willems-Espinoza has developed several programs targeted on advancing the skillsets of transportation and logistics graduates. She worked with senior transportation and logistics professionals to develop a seminar series that permits students to interact with senior executives and learn from their leadership experiences. She also created a series of workshops targeted at enhancing the students’ professionalism and ability to transition into the transportation and logistics workforce.

These workshops have engaged senior leaders from many of the country’s top companies and resulted in a near perfect placement for students upon graduation.

Her efforts have directly contributed to the University of North Texas Logistics Supply Chain Management program receiving multiple national rankings over the past several years and to continued growth of the program.

The tremendous service by Ms. WillemsEspinoza to promote and develop future transportation and logistics professionals make her most deserving of the NDTA Educator Distinguished Service Award.

NDTA SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS – NATIONAL LEVEL PROGRAM A

PROGRAM B

NDTA ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

Daniel Cremer

Abigail Andrusin

NDTA offers three scholarship/tuition assistance programs to NDTA members and their financial dependents.

Kelsey Diven

George Brooks

Savannah Fragoso

Isabella Calzadillas

ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM A: To encourage good college students to study the fields of logistics, transportation, supply chain, physical distribution, and passenger travel services.

Rachel Larson

John R. Casey

University of North Texas The University of Tennessee Knoxville Western Michigan University Western Michigan University

Addison Lash

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Eileen Stribling

Appalachian State University

Tram Tran

St. Louis University

Kylie Weaver

The Pennsylvania State University

Virginia Tech University Notre Dame of Ohio Saint Martin’s University Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania

Cole Matthew Dinges

Wayne Community College

Riley Sean Jorgenson

Maine Maritime Academy

Kaitlin Siemonsma Loyola University

Trevor Webb

SUNY Maritime College

Jack Wykle

West Virginia University

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM B: To assist high school graduates achieve their academic goals in the fields of business/ management, logistics, transportation, supply chain, physical distribution, and passenger travel services.

ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM C: To encourage good distance learning college students to study the fields of logistics, transportation, supply chain, physical distribution, and passenger travel services.

NDTA scholarship/tuition assistance funds can only be disbursed to an academic institution on behalf of the successful applicant. If the institution is not known at the time an application is submitted, the successful applicant must submit documentation showing that he/she has in fact been accepted by an institution as a fulltime student before disbursements can be made.

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NDTA CORPORATE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS This award is presented annually to corporate members that have provided outstanding service in support of NDTA’s goals and programs at the local and national levels.

AAR CORP. Agility Defense & Government Services American President Lines, LLC American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (ARC) Amtrak Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Bennett Motor Express, LLC BNSF Railway Boyle Transportation, Inc. Central Gulf Lines, Inc. Concur Technologies, Inc. Crane Worldwide Logistics, LLC

Crowley Maritime Corporation CSX Transportation FedEx Freeman Holdings Group Global Logistics Providers LLC Hapag-Lloyd USA, LLC Intermarine, LLC - US Ocean La Quinta Inns & Suites Landstar System, Inc. Leidos Liberty Global Logistics-Liberty Maritime Maersk Line, Limited

National Air Cargo, Inc. Norfolk Southern R&R Trucking Saber Travel Network Schuyler Line Navigation Company LLC Southwest Airlines, Co. The Pasha Group TOTE, Inc. Travelport U.S. Bank Freight Payment United Cargo Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc.

NDTA DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS The NDTA Distinguished Service Awards recognize active members for their unusual and commendable service, dedication, and assistance in furthering the aims and objectives of the association.

Stephen Bullard

Cheryl Silvis

Dallas-Ft. Worth Chapter

Becca Zarcone

Dallas-Ft. Worth Chapter

Tampa Bay Chapter

NDTA INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD In conjunction with the senior logistics chiefs from each of the services, the NDTA Instructor of the Year Awards honor instructors from the service transportation schools. Criteria for award selection are established by the military services and include such measures as the individual’s technical knowledge, teaching skills, self-development, and general leadership abilities.

ARMY

SSG Yolanda L. Ware, USA

US Army Transportation School Fort Lee, Virginia

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

NAVY

Richard Kaley

Navy Supply Corps School Newport, Rhode Island

NDTA INTERNATIONAL CHAPTER OF THE YEAR AWARD The International Chapter of the Year Award was initiated in 1977 to recognize chapters that have excelled in fostering the goals and objectives of NDTA; promoting an understanding of the importance of transportation to the security of the nation; participating in community service programs; developing quality educational programs for the chapter membership; and providing for chapter growth through effective membership recruiting and retention programs.

WASHINGTON DC CHAPTER

T

he Washington DC Chapter is recognized as the winner of the 2017 International Chapter of the Year Award, for exceptionally meritorious representation of the National Defense Transportation Association. The Washington DC Chapter exhibited excellence in its chapter programs, membership development, community

involvement, communication development, and emergency preparedness. The Washington DC Chapter held itself in the finest traditions of the NDTA, representative of its values, and upholding the underlying purpose of the NDTA—fostering a unique brand of partnership between private and public enterprise.

NDTA MILITARY UNIT OF THE YEAR AWARDS Since 1966, NDTA has honored units of the military Services that have performed outstanding service in transportation or a related field. These units are selected for this recognition by each of the Services.

Army US ARMY ACTIVE COMPONENT

96th Transportation Company (HET) 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion 1st Calvary Division Fort Hood, Texas

The 96th Transportation Company “Heavy Truck” provides tactical relocation of heavy maneuver forces in support of the 1st Cavalry Division, 3rd Cavalry Regiment and all units assigned to Fort Hood, Texas. The unit is and will continue to be the premiere combat Heavy Equipment Transportation (HET) Company in the United States Army.

Major accomplishments for 2016 included supporting 3rd Cavalry Regiment “Brave Rifles” as part of TF Gunslinger during National Training Center (NTC) Rotation 16-04. The company transformed for this unique mission providing mission command as multi-functional logistics unit. 96th Transportation Company led the merge and alliance of 250 Soldiers comprised of four different unit elements—the first time this had been accomplished and it proved invaluable to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. The support provided significantly increased the “Brave Rifles’” ability to conduct decisive operations

as part of NTC 16-04 in preparation for their combat deployment to Afghanistan.

The 96th Transportation Company also directly supported 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) of the Mississippi Army National Guard during the Multicomponent Integrated Brigade Training (MIBT) operation. The MIBT operation allowed 155th ABCT to display its combat power during a maneuver forceon-force operation against 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. The 96th Transportation Company successfully moved 250 tracked vehicles of the 155th ABCT in less than 48 hours, surpassing more than 3,000 miles across Fort Hood training areas with zero incidents/accidents.

The 96th Transportation Company also aligned with the 1245th Transportation Company, 345th CSSB of Ada, Oklahoma. This alignment supported the Associated Unit Program (AUP) increasing the training opportunities prior to 1245th Transportation Company’s combat mission. The troopers of the 1245th Transportation Company now wear the heralded patch of the 1st Cavalry Division, and have worked closely with 96th Transportation Company to improve their unit overall mission support capabilities.

Heavy Truck conducted a phenomenal Truck (HET) Rodeo in July 2016. The two-day event provided 32 teams from multiple units’ phenomenal training and

competition on 88M MOS proficiency tasks. The events included eight tactical challenges composed of a 50 question written test, winch recovery operations, HET trailer hookup and straight line back, tracked vehicle tie-down, HET CBRN drive, HET serpentine, PMCS, and HET trailer tire change.

US ARMY NATIONAL GUARD COMPONENT

1744th Transportation Company 232nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion Robbins, Illinois

During fiscal year 2016, the 1744th Transportation Company (TC) focused on Unit READINESS. The 1744th TC Soldiers’ dedication and commitment to service led to a successful 2016 calendar year. The 1744th continually trained, implemented new programs, and developed competent and motivated Soldiers. In 2012 the 1744th went from an S4 non-deployable readiness code to an S2 deployable unit. Since achieving this designation, the 1744th has modeled all operations and events with the command philosophy to train as we fight. The unit has grown significantly and trained Soldiers to achieve an IDT strength of 93%.

The 1744th TC mission success rate, dependability, and enforcement of logistical policies and procedures have established it as an outstanding unit. The unit set itself apart from its peers by conductwww.ndtahq.com |

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ing meaningful missions within the Contiguous United States (CONUS) while continuously evaluating and improving its tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to progress with an ever-evolving military and improve the unit’s overall performance. The 1744th TC and its diverse group of Soldiers remain competitive and strive to exceed the standard for convoy logistics operations within the Illinois Army National Guard, the 108th Sustainment Brigade and the 232nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

Over the past 12 months, the 1744th TC successfully conducted logistics operations in support of Operation Golden Coyote where it accrued more than 215,000 mission miles of convoy operations and safely transported an operation and single-unit record of 82 loads of wood/timber to the Sioux Indian reservations throughout the state of South Dakota. The success of these missions reflected the readiness of our unit and proudly represented the Illinois National Guard. The 1744th TC success has helped pave the way for additional Illinois units to be invited and participate in similar operations in the future.

The 1744th TC leads the way in Administrative and Supply functions. The unit consistently met and exceeded all Command Maintenance and Evaluation Team (COMET) and CSIP inspections.

The unit has one of the best Drivers Training Programs in the brigade which is reflected by the 1744th consistently exceeding the mandates required of a US Army Transportation Corps unit. The Soldiers of this unit are positive role models and consistently exceed standards while upholding the Army Values. The 1744th TC is battle ready, proficient, and motivated.

US ARMY RESERVE COMPONENT

804th Movement Control Team (TC) 382nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion Tacoma, Washington

The 804th Movement Control Team (MCT) provides transportation capabilities for the onward movement of cargo and personnel. It is the unit’s objective to provide support through expediting, coordinating, and supervising movement in and out of assigned geographical areas to include aerial and water ports.

During 2016, the 804th MCT had various movement Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) positions, overseeing the Arrival/Departure Airfield Con30

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

trol Group, Cargo Documentation Team, Joint Distribution Management center, Joint Personnel Reception Center, and Rotary passenger. The Air COR oversaw and audited 128 ex-patriate contractors who worked under the Logistics Civilian Augmentee Program. Within the first two months of deployment, the Air COR was the sole liaison for the Brigade during the planning and execution of a joint effort between the Army and the Air Force to consolidate the rotary and fixed wing passenger and cargo operations. The Ground Movements COR was responsible for 30 civilian contractors and 23 REED security personnel overseeing the National Afghan Trucking (NAT) yard, Container Data Managements, and Container Yard Management. The MCT oversaw 43,000 truck movements carrying 260 million pounds of assets. They maintained inventory of more than 37,000 commercial trucks and NAT trucks. The Ground COR oversaw the reported status of vehicles in the staging yard daily, ensuring vehicles were out-gated within two hours, preventing demurrage fees. Their efforts resulted in less than one percent of all trucks entering Bagram receiving demurrage charges, saving the government money. The MCT also spearheaded the reduction of containers across the CJOA-A, to meet the intent of drawing down US forces and their associated cost. This oversight prevented the accrued cost per container from being excessive, saving the government over one million dollars in demurred detention cost. The COR for the Truck Wranglers oversaw eight local nationals who in-gated over 18,000 trucks with 100 percent accountability.

At Camp Mazar-e-Sharif (MES), the MCT processed over 2,000 personnel movements, 1,000 truck movements, and the placement of 30 bunkers and 300 T-Walls over the duration of the deployment. At Camp Dahlke, the MCT supported over 900 Soldiers and civilians and opted to expand their value to the camp by volunteering to take on additional responsibilities, such as container management and base life support worth more than $800,000, as well as vehicle escort, Crane and Kalmar Operator, and COR for base life support contracts. The MCT processed more than 200 truck movements and 1.3 million pounds of air cargo at Camp Arena. They oversaw shipment of 120 twenty-foot equivalent (TEUS) of ret-

rograde equipment, resulting in a 20 percent reduction of US equipment and property on the Camp. At Advising Platform (AP) Lightning, and with just a two-man team, the MCT established MCT operations and performed various duties such as creating a retro sort yard for in-gating and out-gating vehicles, wrangling trucks, processing movement requests, air movement requests, operating the passenger terminal ensuring passengers were received and sent out on their flights, handling mail, and assisting with machine handling operations.

Marine Corps USMC ACTIVE COMPONENT

Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, 2d Transportation Support Battalion Combat Logistics Regiment 2 2D Marine Logistics Group Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Throughout 2016, 2d Transportation Support Battalion (TSB) consistently provided responsive and effective transportation and logistical support to units, exercises, and operations across the II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). 2d TSB’s efforts were critical to the work-up and deployment of numerous units, while simultaneously distributing essential supplies to units and organizations across Camp Lejeune; consistently excelling in its missions while overcoming a host of equipment and manpower challenges.

In addition to providing critical distribution capabilities for II MEF supply chains, 2d TSB consistently provided augmentation to support exercises and unit deployments. The support provided by 2d TSB filled critical roles in the concept of logistics for those exercises and was essential to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response (SPMAGTFCR) and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) missions. On top of the highly effective and responsive logistical support provided, 2d TSB also played key leadership roles in developing enterprise solutions to enhance air cargo movements and ground mobility in cold weather environments. 2d Transportation Support Battalion’s impact on Marine distribution capabilities was exceptional and worthy of the 2017 National Defense Transportation Association Military Unit Award.

ing joint operational readiness in support of the strategic mission.

Navy US NAVY ACTIVE COMPONENT

Trident Refit Facility Supply Department Commander Submarine Group Ten Kings Bay, Georgia

Trident Refit Facility provides quality industrial and logistics support for the incremental overhaul, modernization and repair of Trident submarine, and global submarine support. Providing maintenance and support services to other submarines, regional maintenance customers, and other activities as requested, Trident Refit Facility is an organization with a total mission not found in other Naval activities.

Essential to the submarine supply support effort, the Trident Refit Facility Voyage Repair Logistics Support Team is continuously relied upon to provide world class logistical support and distribution services to forward deployed guided missile submarines in various remote and austere locations, including the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. From 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016, the multi-faceted Voyage Repair Logistics Support Team provided unsurpassed levels of supply support to Trident Refit Facility fly away maintenance teams deployed to Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, for critical planned and unplanned Trident Special Service Group Navy (SSGN) Voyage Repair Period maintenance. The team repeatedly accomplished the daunting task of expeditiously receiving, packaging, booking and shipping each repair part and piece of equipment to ensure that all material was available on Diego Garcia prior to the commencement of each Voyage Repair Period.

Additional highlights of this team’s efforts include the expediting and tracking of highly valuable and critical components such as a towed array cable assembly for emergent repairs that required the use of a dedicated cargo aircraft chartered to meet the truncated time-line for mission capability, as well as a myriad of other repair components, tools and equipment. The team’s herculean efforts contributed significantly to the forward deployed SSGN’s ability to maintain continuous presence in the US Central Command’s area of responsibility (AOR) in support of the Global War on Terrorism, and maintain-

US NAVY RESERVE COMPONENT

Navy Cargo Handling Battalion Ten Second Navy Expeditionary Logistics Regiment Williamsburg, Virginia

US Navy Cargo Handling Battalion Ten (NCHB-10) is a Navy Reserve cargo handling battalion. They are a rapid-response, forward-deployable logistics support team tasked with conducting expeditionary cargo handling, air terminal, open-ocean, and freight terminal operations. In short, Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG), the 2nd Navy Expeditionary Logistics Regiment and NCHB-10 specifically are the Navy’s 911 for any and all expeditionary logistics needs. NCHB10 is capable of providing independent mission-tailored detachments or entire command deployments as a self-sustaining unit to any region around the globe.

During Fiscal Year 2016 (FY-16), NCHB-10 was tasked with executing what no other Cargo Handling Battalion has done in the history of NAVELSG: back-to-back mobilizations. Contributory support for the first mobilization totaled: processing/moving 2,842 tons of cargo; processed 68,474 passengers and 410 Distinguished Visitors; managed 8,633 ground movements; and moved $202.3 million in cargo or managed assets.

Total contribution outside of the support for Operation Enduring Freedom resulted in NCHB-10 effectively executing and coordinating tactical operations within the Naval and Joint arena around the globe. In total, NCHB-10 manned nine (9) operational taskings during Calendar Year 2016. Total contributory support logged by reserve personnel totaled over 2,191 man-days to include; the movement of 1,484 pieces of cargo, hundreds of pieces of equipment, and hundreds of pallets of break bulk cargo valued at more than $1.7 billion.

All operations and exercises were properly planned, coordinated, and flawlessly executed. In addition, no major personnel injuries or damage to Navy assets occurred.

Also during this time, NCHB-10 was subjected to a battalion-wide Management Assessment Visit where the team performed flawlessly, achieving unparalleled success in all of the command programs. Finally, despite FY-16 being an operational year, the Training (S7) department was very success-

ful in training new affiliates and continuing to improve upon battalion readiness: 23,272 hours of training were captured; 149 licenses were acquired; 142 Personnel Qualification Standard sign offs were accomplished; and 72 classes were attended.

Air Force USAF ACTIVE COMPONENT

2d Logistics Readiness Squadron 2d Mission Support Group Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

The 2d Logistics Readiness Squadron has been selected to receive this year’s Military Unit of the Year Award in recognition of the unit’s outstanding contributions in the field of transportation and logistics. During the 2016 calendar year, the 2d Logistics Readiness Squadron provided outstanding logistics support, enabling disaster relief and cementing military combat operations abroad. The unit mobilized six B-52 combat aircraft, 463 personnel and 257 tons of cargo, powering the 2d Bomb Wing’s first US Central Command deployment in more than 10 years. Their superb actions enabled 774 sorties and 3,624 bombs on target. Additionally, the unit managed passenger airlift operations and mobilized 106 Airmen to 12 forward operating bases. The unit’s efforts allowed seven Combatant Commanders to successfully drop 2,000 bombs and destroy 1,400 enemy targets.

Furthermore, the 2d Logistics Readiness Squadron piloted a Hurricane Evacuation Contingency Operation for four installations. The unit expertly executed the bed down of 351 personnel, 97 aircraft and issued more than 225,000 gallons of fuel, ensuring the security of four billion dollars in US Air Force assets, allowing the wings to continue operations.

The unit mobilized 12 personnel to provide logistical support to the President of the United States during a no-notice presidential visit to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The unit’s swift actions allowed the President to sign the Louisiana Disaster Declaration, providing emergency relief for 115,000 personnel and securing 127 billion dollars in financial aid. Finally, the unit led Exercise Cold Response, mobilizing 4,100 personnel and 168 tons of cargo.

Their actions postured 16,000 warfighters across 17 nations for combat and crisis rewww.ndtahq.com |

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sponse. The extraordinary contributions of the 2d Logistics Readiness Squadron directly culminated in Barksdale Air Force Base earning the 2016 Commander in Chief ’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence. The outstanding contributions of the 2d Logistics Readiness Squadron reflect credit upon the United States Air Force and the Department of Defense.

USAF AIR NATIONAL GUARD

109th Logistics Readiness Squadron 109th Airlift Wing Scotia, New York

The 109th Airlift Wing, 109th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s Air Terminal Operations section, Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia, New York, is well deserving of this year’s Military Unit of the Year Award.

Their selection was based on exemplary logistical and personnel support at home station, and throughout three additional Arctic and Antarctic support missions.

The deployments included demonstrated operational capability in Greenland, Canada, and throughout Operation Deep Freeze, Antarctica.

During home station operations, the Air Terminal Operations section provided 24hour logistical personnel and material handling equipment support to the operations group, ensuring aircrew currency training was accomplished, maintaining the wing’s polar and tactical mission set. During the deployment to Greenland, Canada, and McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the unit moved more than 15,000 short tons of cargo and 1,700 passengers on more than 225 missions.

Additionally, the unit spearheaded a massive effort to remove several thousand short tons of retrograde cargo from the South Pole Station, Antarctica. Working in temperatures as low as negative 38 degrees Fahrenheit, a team of three experienced polar-trained 2T2 Airmen built 73 463L pallets in a ten day period. Furthermore, the Air Transportation Operations section conducted all operations while preparing and training 15 percent of their workforce for a mass deployment to the Central Command area of responsibility.

US AIR FORCE RESERVE COMPONENT 67th Aerial Port Squadron Tenth Air Force Hill Air Force Base, Utah

The 67th Aerial Port Squadron, Air Force Reserve, distinguished itself by exceptionally meritorious service of national and 32

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

international significance throughout the 2016 calendar year. During this period, 31 squadron members volunteered for Air Expeditionary Force deployments for a combined total of 5,645 days to the following locations: Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait; Bahrain; Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar; Camp Taji, Iraq; Baghdad Diplomatic Center, Iraq; Jordan; and Al Taqaddum Air Base, Iraq. Furthermore, annual tours were completed stateside at Air Force Bases McChord, Andrews, Hill, Nellis, Tyndall, and Travis; Volk Field Air National Guard Base; as well as in Japan at Yokota Air Base. These deployments and tours immensely contributed to the success of the following operations and exercises: Inherent Resolve, Red Flag, Patriot Warrior, and Combat Archer.

The 67th Aerial Port Squadron contributed immensely to the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard and all other US service branches during joint operations, as well as to NATO Coalition Forces.

This was accomplished by their direct engagement in over 14,063 missions involving the combined movement of more than 108,668 passengers and 304 million pounds of cargo, bolstering overall warfighting capabilities and air space superiority worldwide. The distinctive accomplishments of the members of the 67th Aerial Port Squadron reflect great credit upon themselves and the United States Air Force.

Coast Guard US COAST GUARD ACTIVE COMPONENT US Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi US Coast Guard District Eight Corpus Christi, Texas

US Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi provided exceptional service spearheading the vast coordination and readiness efforts to meet a surge in military out load operations within the Port of Corpus Christi. After a period of three years without military operations, agencies and personnel had become unfamiliar with the tactics, techniques, and procedures to execute such complex multi-agency, multijurisdictional operations. However, that changed last year and military out load operations began to occur on a frequent basis.

To ensure the safety and security of critical military equipment transiting through the

port, Sector Corpus Christi was challenged to not only secure Coast Guard deployable and organic surface, air, dive, and K-9 assets, but other government agencies and port partner resources.

Sector Corpus Christi reestablished, and led, the Port Readiness Committee (PRC) to promptly organize multiagency operations consisting of the US Transportation Command, US Army 842nd Transportation Battalion, US Maritime Administration, Transportation Security Administration, Port of Corpus Christi, Port Police, City of Corpus Christi Police, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Sector Corpus Christi was hugely successful in coordinating these federal, state, and local agencies to ensure safe and secure vessel and pierside operations—cargo transportation, staging, loading, stowage, vessel transits, and shipboard safety systems.

Incident Action Plans (IAP) using the Incident Command System (ICS) were jointly developed to organize and assign the multi-agency assets. These IAPs were a unified representation of all members of the PRC and their federal, state, and local member agencies. Sector Corpus Christi and its partners executed maritime safety and security measures which included escorts, over flights, maritime traffic vetting, fixed and moving security zones, facility security sweeps, underwater pier sweeps, and harbor patrols. These military out loads supported Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against ISIS, as well as Operation Atlantic Resolve’s mission to reassure European allies.

Sector Corpus Christi and its partners have conducted five military out loads with over 2,500 pieces of critical military equipment, successfully supporting overseas military operations and combatant commanders. The flexibility among Sector Corpus Christi and its partners enabled operations to progress in a highly concentrated, mixed-use waterway (military, commercial, recreational and fishing vessel traffic) with minimal interruption to the marine transportation system, including adjacent commercial facilities and maritime traffic. The collaboration and superb cooperation displayed during these operations illustrates the power of teamwork and the benefits of port partnerships. As a result, Sector Corpus Christi has unquestionably become a model for national defense transportation operations supporting overseas combatant commanders. DTJ

What are the Business Prospects for Blockchain and Big Data?

A Conversation with Promontory’s Dr. Phyllis Schneck

By James M. Marconi Director of Public Relations, NDTA

ast, secure, transparent. These qualities define the technologies that are transforming both personal and business transactions.

One such technology, blockchain, enables the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. But blockchain’s potential value extends far beyond digital money. Several organizations are experimenting with blockchain’s possibilities for the global supply chain, everything from managing food fraud to ports and shipping.

Dr. Phyllis Schneck, currently the Managing Director of cyber solutions at Promontory, is a cybersecurity expert who will deliver a featured presentation on blockchain technology and another business enhancer—big data—at this year’s NDTA-USTRANSCOM Fall Meeting in St. Louis.

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Schneck provided a brief overview of both topics during a conversation with DTJ. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity: DTJ: Dr. Schneck, we’re looking forward to your presentation at the Fall Meeting, and I appreciate you taking some time to chat today. I’ll admit, I don’t know very much about Promontory—could you talk a bit about what the company does, and your role within it?

Dr. Schneck:

Absolutely. Promontory built their business and reputation over the past 15 years helping the financial sector at a very senior, board of directors’ level, employing people that basically built the field of financial risk management and business-driven regulatory compliance.

Our CEO is Gene Ludwig, who is the former comptroller of the currency. He built up the firm to help financial institutions over the past 15 years not only achieve regulatory compliance, but to really manage risk from the top.

I joined in April to take over a solid existing cybersecurity practice, and take it to the next level. I come out of several years of being a CTO [chief technology officer] for the global public sector at McAfee (when it was part of Intel), and then did almost four years at the Department of Homeland Security as the deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications, running the defensive cybersecurity mission for the federal civilian government and private sector, which is the risk and mitigation of cyber threats from a technology and global policy perspective.

I’m an operator, I’m a programmer, I’m a coder, and I have worked with senior policy officials in multiple governments to help our own, but most importantly I’m a person who really enjoys the field of cybersecurity.

I came to Promontory to work with all of these experts in the field of risk management in the financial sector and onward, whether it’s electricity or water or business or retail, to build out what we can do in cybersecurity to help customers use cybersecurity and risk management as business enablers.

As you know, everything today is connected, whether it’s shipping or health care, and we want to make sure that we use and enjoy that technology, but keep it safe. And Promontory was acquired in November 2016 by IBM, which gives us a whole new world of advantages with their technology that is building and using some 34

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

of the fastest and most capable computing power on the planet.

Where we can build risk management strategy, IBM can also help to implement it. They have cyber incident response; they have probably the world’s fastest computing, certainly the world’s fastest encryption.

And when I’m at your Fall Meeting, I’m representing a combination of Promontory and IBM to support taking this blockchain technology forward in all the different areas.

DTJ: In the past few years, I’ve seen more and more news stories about the blockchain technology that underpins digital currencies like Bitcoin. The technology has a number of other potential applications, which we’ll get to in a minute. For a general audience, how would you describe what blockchain is and how it works?

Dr. Schneck: The concept of blockchain

itself existed many years ago—I believe decades ago. In the world of cryptography, when you think about what you do to something, the changes in that object affect the next object. So if you think of a chain, and if you do something cryptographically, or say mathematically, to one link, the next link to it is going to be different. And so that concept has existed for years.

What they’re using that concept for now—and obviously with cryptographic techniques (which is probably Klingon for saying a lot of big math) done to enable this—started in this context with what many people call a ledger. In the old days before the bank kept your checking account for you online, you’d have to write in the money you make, what you deducted from a check, and record every transaction, to keep an accurate personal record of how much money was left in your account.

What blockchain was first used for was with these virtual currencies, to ensure accountability and to maintain immutable records of all transactions. Did you actually make this transaction? Can we make sure that the transaction can’t be altered or deleted?

You can’t undo the fact that the transaction was done. You can’t say, ‘I spent $30, not $40.’ You can’t change it. Something that’s very important in the field is called non-repudiation. You can’t come back and say ‘hey, I didn’t do that’ because the way the public key crypto-system works is there are two keys, a public and a private key, and only you have your private key; it’s a secret.

So if it was done, it was done by you. So

again you can’t come back and say, ‘I didn’t do it.’ When a transaction happens, the owner and the event are noted forever.

Blockchain, as it’s used today, also includes a nice feature. It can timestamp a transaction, so you can’t say ‘hey, that was done on that Tuesday’ when it was actually done five weeks later. And you can only add to it; you can’t actually erase it, you can’t take away any of the history. So all these characteristics really go into building a system that has allowed itself to preserve the integrity of all transactions, no matter where they are processed or recorded. This is what is known as ‘distributed’ in computer science, which means there are a lot of different points.

There’s no central hub. So these transactions in the virtual currency application [Bitcoin] involve many people all over the world, from students to people with hobbies to people with extra computer processing (most of us have machines that are idle much of the day, and many people choose to donate that time to Bitcoin or other processing). They are what they call Bitcoin operators who use their spare computer cycles to do the math to enable this global ledger to enable the virtual currency we all know as Bitcoin.

They do say it’s anonymous; I’ll argue that from the investigative perspective. I don’t think that it’s truly anonymous—I believe as a scientist that there are ways, just by mathematical patterns, that likely can be used by law enforcement investigators to make some of the Bitcoin transactions not anonymous. That doesn’t mean it isn’t very hard and that Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous for virtually everyone. Just don’t rule out the possibilities.

But what is nice about that distributed setup is what they call “peer-to-peer.” I can do a transaction just with you, without going through a central hub, but it makes it onto the ledger and it can’t be erased, and it’s there for all.

One more nice thing about this, you can automate it. So, when you’re using technology like this, you can say, for example, if Phyllis sends $4,000 this month, I want these things to happen: I want a message sent here, I want this transaction to happen there. So you can actually use the power of computing to make things happen based on transactions and affect the ecosystem, as well as other transactions. I often like to compare the internet ecosystem to the weather, and this is a bit of the analogy of a butterfly flapping its little wings in Australia having climate effects in say Arizona.

DTJ: I appreciate that overview. You touched on this with a couple of points, but at a broad level, what’s the practical value in using blockchain technology?

specific companies or government organizations, and what are some of the challenges involved?

Dr. Schneck: You can harness distributed

es, but there’s a lot of good, as with many new technologies. It’s really good to be able to be a part of this conversation in the early stages of how it gets adopted, because you will have some of the best minds in the world focused on some of the cybersecurity issues as well, making sure the transactions themselves are safe.

So some of the things I think it adapts well to—I know we’ll try to cover it at the Fall Meeting, especially on the shipping side— are things that IBM is really working on with supply chain, for example your food system.

If you think back to a couple of years ago when you had certain produce that was causing people to get sick, it took them a couple of weeks to figure out what farm some of that produce came from.

And if you think about what you could do now with a more computerized, distributed event log of where things were shipped, where they came from, you would have a much faster, more rapid ability to

computing power to enable high-integrity tracking and records, so you don’t have to have a really big, expensive machine in one spot. To create a global system that tracks transactions—whether it’s supply chain or financial—you’re creating a global event log, or ledger, that can’t be modified, it can’t be erased and has a historical timestamp to it.

There’s a lot of value in that, whether you’re trading a currency or making sure a watermelon that came in from another country is stamped as to where it came from, for tracking diseases or simply freshness. You can help the integrity of your food, your machine or auto parts products supply chain. So it does have a lot of possible uses.

DTJ: As you just mentioned, the technology is decentralized, which in Bitcoin’s case made it difficult to resolve disputes over technical issues and upgrades. How can blockchain be adapted to work for

Dr. Schneck: There are a lot of challeng-

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identify the source. And you could actually improve quality of life for people. You can also show food freshness, food provenance.

There are a lot of different applications for this, including even software. I spoke

Blockchain, as it’s used today, also includes a nice feature. It can timestamp a transaction, so you can’t say ‘hey, that was done on that Tuesday’ when it was actually done five weeks later. And you can only add to it; you can’t actually erase it, you can’t take away any of the history. at RSA [information security conference] a couple of years ago about software provenance and specifically malware provenance—where does software come from and who made it? And it may be that in the future, there is a way to track where certain computer code comes from.

Now the challenge is, they’re going to be leveraging that distributed nature. It’s great because you get a lot of computing power without buying a massive multi-million dollar machine, but it’s also I think very

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difficult to narrow down any issues, for example in a global system where something might not have been able to be processed or where there was a computer fault.

If you’re one company using it, you have more control. Again, it’s just a concept— you can set up a blockchain infrastructure that’s not controlled by people you don’t know. Bitcoin is global and anyone can join the crowdsourced computer processing effort, but in a company or more closed group you would have more control over who is providing the processing, and some of those challenges would go away.

DTJ: So the equivalent of Bitcoin miners would all be internal to one organization, if that’s accurate?

Dr. Schneck: It could be, but if you look

at technology like “cloud,” the advantage comes from economies of scale, having potential points of massive processing that are not controlled or maintained by you. This will create an interesting set of decisions that point back to risk management, where I think Promontory will have a significant role given the unique expertise. It goes back to understanding what your configurations should be for the exact application, how to manage risk, and how to keep regulators informed and, of course, happy.

DTJ: And you’ve obviously mentioned a couple of the applications that are currently being explored. Could you go into a bit more detail about some uses of blockchain or other cyber technologies that Promontory/IBM are currently pursuing?

Dr. Schneck: So our role at Promontory

really has been to work with boards of directors to mitigate regulatory and technology risk and determine what is best of the overall business. We have the hard conversations that say ‘what is the impact you can sustain’—for example, a ransomware event or a hardcore cyber intrusion, or for example, something like what happened with Saudi Aramco a few years ago when tens of thousands of computers went dark. How do you react; how do you pop back up; what’s your investigative strategy; what’s your incident response? Resilience is key.

We don’t implement, as Promontory, the blockchain, but IBM is doing extensive work in this area with many, many different sectors. They not only are world experts in the use of cryptographic tech-

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nology, encryption, in this case, or public key technology, but also in high-speed computing. So those are the items that will underpin any blockchain infrastructure.

DTJ: Once it’s more developed, the technology seems to hold a lot of promise.

What do you see as the overarching implications for business—and should we expect to see this technology more and more in coming years?

Dr. Schneck: I do think you’re going to see blockchain technology—again, the concept. So many people equate blockchain with Bitcoin—this is not about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an electronic currency whose transactions have been enabled by blockchain technology. I think you’ll see the concept of a massively high-performance computing and cryptographically enabled event log, or ledger, become pervasive and used for many different efforts.

And in shipping—if you imagine a container, if you look at where some of these large ships come in at the ports, and they unload container after container and they’re labeled or they have paperwork, eventually they could have a code on them that goes back to blockchain technology that you just scan.

And it will tell you immediately where this came from, who had it last, what’s in it, all the details about it, and then—probably with just a scan—you’ll electronically add its next step. That’s a very simple example, and they’re not using blockchain technology for this, but I think they will soon.

And if you take this to a blockchain technology, that gives you the ability in worldwide shipping to track millions of packages.

I know from my experience at DHS, one of the unsung heroes of our way of life is the maritime sector, and the ability to do this global shipping. The Coast Guard has a piece of this, from investigative as well as safety.

And the ability to track this information— if you think about the amount of material that is shipped, where it’s shipped, is it legal to have it there, trade restrictions, health restrictions—and I think the use of this electronic ledger that can immediately show you an immutable record will add a lot of value for us.

IBM just released a new mainframe, they call it Z, but in a very high level overview, it gives you speed. They have put encryptions straight into the very chips, and that enables you to do things like blockchain and other cryptographic operations for authentication or confidentiality faster than we’ve

ever been able to before. It integrates them, in a much more smooth way, which in turn provides new efficiencies to business.

I think you will see this as a result become pervasive, and this level of performance become at some point expected—just as “high-speed Internet” changed the way we all can watch TV and movies on demand.

DTJ: I’m going to jump topics here a little. A buzzword that’s become more and more prevalent in looking at how companies manage and grow their business is “big data.” From a very high level perspective, how does the concept and application of big data play a role in business?

Dr. Schneck: I like to equate big data to the weather—there’s just so much data out there coming from weather satellites, balloons and human reporting around the world, we can’t use all of it. If we could use more of it, we’d be a lot smarter.

The concept of big data is the ability to go through more data and understand what’s related to what in our world, whether it’s weather or DNA or healthcare, to find things like trends and forecast tornados earlier (which is what I used to do in prior research) or find cures for diseases. Because all of a sudden you can see patterns that you’d never see before a computer could detect them. That is big data. IBM’s Watson is a groundbreaking capability with big data because it not only has the speed to ingest the data, it learns what matters to humans—and after all we are much more important than computers. Watson helps us use our human brains for the most important work by highlighting what may be tiny but tremendously significant data points within a heap that no human could have otherwise processed.

That is going to change the world.

The other side to that is the need for big privacy. We have an enormous privacy practice in Promontory. We work very hard with privacy experts internally and externally, just as I did at the Department of Homeland Security, to make sure that, as we advise our clients, when they use this big data, they maintain everybody’s privacy to the best extent, and to the fullest extent of the law. So it’s a balance.

Where big data helps business a lot—to give you one example—is advertising. If you go online and look up something like recipes or kitchenware, for the next several weeks you will be getting ads for pots, and pans, and kitchen remodeling—anything that’s

remotely related—because businesses are trying to track to whom they should target their expensive advertisements for the most likelihood that you will go buy something.

Big data obviously helps the weather forecasting, and I believe the Weather Channel is now part of IBM as well. My guess on that is largely it has to do with the ability for IBM’s high-speed processing and the Weather Channel’s amazing use of weather data, how you put that together. That’s what I first did in grad school, before I did cybersecurity. I worked on faster tornado modeling using Georgia Tech’s high-performance computing and real weather data we got from researchers at some of the national storm centers.

The ability to use high-speed computing to go through massive amounts of global data and discover things we could never have seen before—while preserving privacy—to me that’s the core, that’s the sweet spot of big data.

I think the word term big data is used too much. It really has been applied to everything, but when I think of big data, it’s what can you only do with a massive data set and computing that’s fast and smart enough—such as IBM’s Watson, for example—to really find those patterns.

This is an example of the powerful combination of Promontory and IBM, looking at how you help the financial sector find money laundering, a Promontory expertise, and now adding the ability with Watson to parse reams of log data that no human could ever detect on their own. And that’s one early example of how big data is helping business—and fighting crime!

Another great example is what Watson is doing for healthcare, and helping diagnose patients. This is not just standard artificial intelligence where it robotically goes through every possibility and finds the right move in the chess game. This is cognitive learning, where the computer is actually “trained” to understand ‘if I wasn’t right the first time, I’m not going to do it that way again.’

And it is taught things from regulations or it’s taught things from the medical books, and actually comes up with diagnoses for diseases—that are obviously double-checked by a human. But it saves people a lot of time, because no one human could read all of those books, no matter how good you are. And it’s able to get you to what’s important more quickly, and save our best and brightest human minds for what matters most.

DTJ: Have I missed any key points about blockchain, big data or related technologies that you want to discuss?

Dr. Schneck: I would just add that this is a very exciting time to be looking at these

The ability to use high-speed computing to go through massive amounts of global data and discover things we could never have seen before—while preserving privacy— to me that’s the core, that’s the sweet spot of big data. issues. It’s an exciting time to be at Promontory and IBM. [In the context of your Fall Meeting], the responsibility of moving goods globally I think is enormous, and the addition of technology will help it. But we need to do it carefully. And I think that’s why it’s so important that we have these discussions with the people, especially members of the military, who have walked this walk and know the business. Technology exists to support them, and we are working to make it better for them every day. DTJ

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The Student Loan Crisis and Why You Should Care

By Larry Larkin Vice President, Foundation and Chair, NDTA Foundation Committee

THE CRISIS

Our next generation of leaders is facing an unprecedented crisis that is not only affecting their financial future, but our nation’s economy as well: college debt. In the last 10 years, the cost of attending college has risen 42% for private institutions and 19% for public institutions. For the 2016-2017 academic year, the cost of tuition, room and board at a private university averaged $45,370 and is increasing at a rate of 4.4% a year (Figure 1).

This rate of increase has far outpaced the growth rate of household income and financial aid. As a result, students—44 million of them—have had to take on an overwhelming amount of debt to fill the gap. The average student of the Class of 2016 graduated with a debt of $37,172—and that does not include any college loans the student’s parents may have taken out. Student loan debt has reached a staggering $1.3 trillion and now exceeds credit card and auto loan debt.

As a result, delinquencies (payment 90+ days delinquent or in default) have increased dramatically. Today, delinquencies stand at 11.2%, nearly double what they were in 2003. To put that number in perspective: The mortgage delinquency rate is 1.5%; auto loan is 3.9% and credit card is 7.4%.

Money that is going to pay off a student loan is money not spent on a new car, home or other consumer goods. Multiply this by tens of millions of households and you be-

ever. Every dollar we can give in scholarship money is one less dollar the student has to borrow plus another dollar of interest he/she has to pay. So, please, help our future leaders have a future by making a tax-deductible contribution to the NDTA Foundation Scholarship Fund.

Unless otherwise noted, all other statistical figures were obtained from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Figure 1 Cost of Tuition, Room, and Board 2007-2017

THE IMPACT

For federal student loans, the standard repayment schedule is 10 years. However, a One Wisconsin Institute survey of 62,000 individuals with student debt revealed that, on the average, it takes a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree 19.7 years to pay off a loan. For graduate-degree holders, the time is 23 years. The average repayment is $500/mo. for those with bachelor degrees and $650 for those with graduate degrees.

A major problem is that the bulk of the loan repayment happens early in the career of the college graduates, when their earnings are the lowest—and can constitute a significant portion of their overall income.

The situation is particularly serious for graduates in fields that do not pay high salaries or are underemployed (Figure 2).

The problem is further compounded by the fact that an upsurge in high-interest student loans has outpaced inflation and earnings growth for college graduates.

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| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

Data from College Board Annual Survey of Colleges 2017/Released.

gin to have an impact on the US economy: decreased demand for homes and autos, which translates to fewer construction and manufacturing jobs. The problem is nearing the proportion where it will have a material adverse effect on our economy.

THE POINT

So what’s the point of this article? It is to highlight that our NDTA Foundation scholarships are more important than

To make a contribution by credit card to the Foundation visit www.ndtahq.com, click on “About Us” and select “NDTA Foundation & Scholarships” from the drop down window, then just click on the “DONATE TO THE NDTA FOUNDATION” button at the top of the page. Or, to make a donation by check please make it out to NDTA Foundation and mail it to NDTA, 50 S. Pickett Street, Suite 220, Alexandria, VA 22304.

Figure 2 Percentage of Median Earnings Needed for Student Loan Repayment in the First Year, by Major

The Brookings Institution, The Hamilton Project, Major Decisions: Graduates’ Earning Growth and Debt Repayment. Used with permission.

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CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

These corporations are a distinctive group of NDTA Members who, through their generous support of the Association, have dedicated themselves to supporting an expansion of NDTA programs to benefit our members and defense transportation preparedness.

AAR CORP. + PLUS Agility Defense & Government Services + PLUS AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc. + PLUS American President Lines, LLC + PLUS American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier + PLUS Amtrak + PLUS Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings + PLUS Bennett Motor Express, LLC + PLUS Boyle Transportation, Inc. + PLUS Concur Technologies, Inc. + PLUS Crane Worldwide Logistics, LLC + PLUS Crowley Maritime Corp. + PLUS FedEx + PLUS Final Mile Logistics + PLUS Freeman Holdings Group + PLUS Hapag-Lloyd USA, LLC + PLUS Innovative Logistics, LLC + PLUS Intermarine, LLC - US Ocean + PLUS International Auto Logistics + PLUS Interstate Moving | Relocation | Logistics + PLUS Landstar System, Inc. + PLUS Leidos + PLUS Liberty Global Logistics-Liberty Maritime + PLUS Maersk Line, Limited + PLUS National Air Cargo + PLUS Norfolk Southern Corporation + PLUS Omni Air International + PLUS Panalpina World Transport Ltd. + PLUS Schuyler Line Navigation Company LLC + PLUS Senator International Freight Forwarding LLC + PLUS TOTE, Inc. + PLUS United Airlines + PLUS Western Global Airlines + PLUS AeroCapital, LLC ArcBest BNSF Railway Bristol Associates CEVA Logistics Choice Hotels International CSX Transportation CWTSatoTravel Echo Global Logistics, Inc. 40

| Defense Transportation Journal | OCTOBER 2017

Global Logistics Providers LLC International Shipholding Corporation KGL Holding La Quinta Inns & Suites Matson National Air Carrier Association Portus R & R Trucking

SAIC Sealift, Inc. The Pasha Group Transportation Institute Tri-State U.S. Bank Freight Payment Union Pacific Railroad Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. UPS

HONOR ROLL

OF

SUSTAINING MEMBERS AND REGIONAL PATRONS

ALL OF THESE FIRMS SUPPORT THE PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES OF NDTA

SUSTAINING MEMBERS 1-800-PACK-RAT AAT Carriers, Inc. Accenture Federal Services Admiral Merchants Motor Freight, Inc. Advantage Rent A Car Air Transport International, Inc. Airlines for America Alabama Motor Express, Inc. Al-Hamd International Container Terminal American Group LLC American Maritime Officers American Moving & Storage Association American Trucking Associations Army & Air Force Exchange Service Arven Freight Forwarding Arven Services, LLC Associated Global Systems Atlas World Group International ATS Specialized, Inc. Avis Budget Group aVolt Incorporated Baggett Transportation Company Benchmarking Partners, Inc. Best Western International Boeing Company Bollore Logistics C.L. Services, Inc.

REGIONAL PATRONS ACME Truck Line Agile Defense, Inc. Alaska West Express Amyx C5T Corporation CakeBoxx Technologies Cavalier Logistics Ceres Terminals Incorporated Chassis King, Inc. Columbia Helicopters, Inc.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Chalich Trucking, Inc. DAMCO Daybreak Express Delta Air Lines DHL Express Eagle Freight, LLC Enterprise Holdings Erickson Incorporated Estes Forwarding Worldwide, LLC Europcar Car & Truck Rental Eurpac Evanhoe & Associates, Inc. Extended Stay America Hotels FlightSafety International General Dynamics/American Overseas Marine GeoDecisions Greatwide Truckload Management Green Valley Transportation Corp.

Hanjin Intermodal America, Inc. Hertz Corporation Hilton Worldwide IBM Intercomp Company Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) International Association of Movers International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), AFL-CIO International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots

Keystone Shipping Co. KROWN1 FZC Kuehne + Nagel, Inc. LMI Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association Marriott International Martin Logistics Incorporated Mayflower Transit McCollister’s Transportation Systems, Inc. Mercer Transportation Company Meridian Global Consulting LLC National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc. National Van Lines, Inc. Northern Air Cargo Inc. Northern Neck Transfer Inc. Omega World Travel Omnitracs, LLC One Network Enterprises, Inc. Oracle ORBCOMM PGL Pilot Freight Services PODS Port of Beaumont Port of San Diego Ports America Pratt & Whitney Preferred Systems Solutions, Inc. Prestera Trucking, Inc. Priority Solutions International

Priority Worldwide Services PTS Worldwide Radiant Global Logistics Ramar Transportation, Inc. Roadrunner Transportation Systems Sabre Travel Network Savi Seafarers International Union of NA, AGLIW SEKO Aerospace & Aviation Skylease 1, Inc. Southwest Airlines Teradata Corporation The Parking Spot Transcor Transportation Intermediaries Assn. (TIA) Travelport TSA Transportation LLC TTX Company Tucker Company Worldwide, Inc. United Van Lines, Inc. USA Jet Airlines Volga Dnepr Airlines Wally Park Wapack Labs Corporation Women In Trucking Association, Inc. XPO Logistics YRC Freight

Dalko Resources, Inc. DB Schenker Duluth Travel, Inc. (DTI) Enterprise Management Systems HLI Government Services JAS Forwarding John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences Kalitta Charters, LLC Kansas City Southern Lineage Logistics LMJ International Logistics, LLC

MacGregor USA, Inc. Madison Hospitality MCR Federal, LLC mLINQS Move One Logistics NFI NovaVision Inc. Oakwood Worldwide Overdrive Logistics, Inc. Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Patriot Contract Services, LLC

Philadelphia Regional Port Authority PITT OHIO Port Canaveral Port of Port Arthur Seatac Marine Services Staybridge Suites McLean-Tysons Corner Hotel TechGuard Security Trans Global Logistics Europe GmbH Ultimate Air FZ LLC (Central Asia Development Group Inc)

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Cont’d from Prof. Devel. on pg. 12 tics core competencies, as well as general business coursework. Courses might include logistics technology, commerce and e-business, business law, inventory management and international logistics, in addition to computer operation and common software programs used in logistics operations.

A Bachelor’s degree prepares students for logistics and supply chain management roles. It encompasses many of the same core logistics coursework as an Associate’s degree, but often allows students an opportunity to specialize in a specific area such as sales and operations management or data analysis. More in depth classes in consumer and industrial sales, distribution channels, logistics technology, procurement and materials handling are common.

A master’s degree program is aimed at equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to manage a company’s supply chain operations Material will challenge students to think critically and solve complex problems through such courses as business logistics, operations research, information systems for logistics and design of logistics distribution systems.5 But, as any well-rounded professional will tell you, and as many employers know, education does not begin and end in the classroom. Professional certifications and work experience such as that gained from military service also helped solidify logisticians’ knowledge and value to employers. Specifically, advancements in technical requirements over the past 20 years have elevated the importance of professional certifications.

The Bureau of Labor Statics (and many job ads I have seen) highlight the value of professional certifications in supply chain careers. Though, certifications are relatively newer to the fields. The Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) was passed into law in 1990, as a means to establish guidelines for the education, training, career development, etc. of the government’s acquisition workforce.6 The APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional certification was created in 2006 and provides a means for individuals to demonstrate their “knowledge and organizational skills for developing more streamlines operations.” The military has 42

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also consequently developed militaryunique certifications.7 As with most professions, the more knowledge, education, skills and experience one can gather the better. Logisticians and supply chain managers work in a constantly evolving, increasingly complex global field.

It’s imperative to keep up by taking advantage of opportunities to learn and grow. DTJ The author is an adjunct professor in logistics, supply chain management and risk management at George Mason University, American Military University and the University of Denver. He is a master instructor for APICS. 1 US Dept. of Labor. (2017, August 23).

Retrieved from US Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ business-and-financial/logisticians. htm#tab-5 2 Burnson, P. (2017, April 26). 2017 Salary Survey: Fresh Voices Express Optimism.

Logistics Management Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/ article/2017_salary_survey_fresh_voices_ express_optimism 3 Salaries for Supply Chain Manager with a Master’s Degree or MBA. (2017). Retrieved from Salary.com: http://www1.salary.com/ Salaries-for-Supply-Chain-Manager-with-aMasters-Degree-or-MBA 4 Friedman, J. (2016, March 21). Compare Top Online, On-Ground MBA Programs Through Data. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from https://www. usnews.com/education/online-education/ articles/2016-03-21/compare-top-onlineon-ground-mba-programs-through-data 5 Logistics Education Requirements and Career Information. (2017, August 30).

Retrieved from Study.com: http://study. com/logistics_education.html 6 Congress, U. (1990). H.R.5211 - Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act. Washington, DC: Congress.gov.

7 Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP). (2017, August 25). Retrieved from Apics.org: https://www.apics.org/ credentials-education/credentials/cscp

Cont’d from Pres. Corner pg. 11 historic train rides, live music during the welcome reception on Tuesday, and a host of other compelling professional and networking reasons to attend the event. The Midway—where hundreds of thousands of passengers used to pass through to catch their trains—provides an ideal gathering place. If you’re an industry or government transporter/logistician, there’s no better place to meet with the people who matter to your business.

Kudos and thanks to the NDTA and USTRANSCOM staffs for their hard work making the Fall Meeting a reality.

Even with all the messiness that accompanies any transition, they didn’t miss a beat.

We’ve got a fantastic show planned.

While it’s been my pleasure to keep the president’s chair warm, all good things must come to an end. I’m excited to announce that NDTA’s Board of Directors has selected Vice Adm. Andy Brown as our next President and CEO. VADM Brown is newly retired after 37 years of Navy service, most recently as the J4 on the Joint Staff. He has extensive experience in the military logistics world both at sea and ashore, and has been a long-time supporter of NDTA. We are lucky to welcome a professional of his caliber as our leader.

He literally arrived at NDTA Headquarters in Alexandria just in time for the Fall Meeting. The staff caught him up to speed on the agenda and how we do business, and I think it’s safe to say he’s eager to meet you all in St. Louis.

With that, I’m pleased to pass the baton to Andy Brown as our 28th President. The next president’s column you’ll read in these pages will articulate his perspective on our mission trajectory. And if you’re joining us at the Fall Meeting, make a point to say hello! DTJ

DTJ INDEX OF ADVERTISERS AeroCapital, LLC....................................................11 American President Lines, LLC...............................43 American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier (ARC)....................2 ArcBest..................................................................16 Atlas Air...................................................................4 Avis Budget Group.................................................17 Bennett Motor Express, LLC.....................................3 Boyle Transportation, Inc..........................................5 CWTSatoTravel......................................................18 Eurpac Service, Inc................................................35 Evanhoe & Associates, Inc......................................21 FedEx Government Services...................................44

Landstar Transportation Logistics, Inc....................13 Matson Navigation Company Inc............................24 Omni Air International Inc.......................................15 Pilot Freight Services...............................................7 PODS.......................................................................6 Sealift, Inc..............................................................37 Senator International Freight Forwarding, LLC............19 The Pasha Group...................................................27 TOTE, Inc.................................................................8 Transportation Institute..........................................10 Western Global Airlines..........................................23 YRC Worldwide......................................................35

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