Research Paper on the Continuity of Operations Plan

Research Paper on the Continuity of Operations Plan
Technical Logistics College
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July 2021
Introduction: Continuity of Operations Plan
As the Army begins to evolve, we must work toward a way to fight that we have not trained on in well over 20 years since the war on terrorism had begun. Over the past 20 years, we have fought under the strategy of counter-insurgency. With this mindset, we have set up large operating bases throughout our theaters of operation and have had superiority over our adversaries in every way possible. From the equipment we fight with, to the training our soldiers have received, the insurgents and terrorists of both Iraq and Afghanistan stood nowhere near to our level of proficiency. Now that we are turning the page and working back toward a possibility of a peer or near-peer fight and large-scale combat operations, we must retrain most of the force that has never had the opportunity to train under these circumstances. We have become very comfortable with our technological resources that could be limited in a fight of this nature. Things that we once took for granted, such as sending an email to an item manager or getting on the phone and calling them to check the status of a part, could all come to a screeching halt.
For this reason, we must understand how to manually process our forms and procedures to allow the warfighters to take the fight to the enemy. A war will not end if we do not have access to Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-Army). Our access to our standard automated systems to include GCSS-Army, communications via VSAT, telecommunications, and cellular communications, has been cut off in this scenario. We will discuss how we will continue to allow the fight to move forward while still maintaining readiness using manual forms and processes until those lines of communication are restored. We will cover readiness, work order process, dispatching, parts requisition and turn-in, recovery operations, and PMCS.
Readiness as a Code One Priority in Times of Distress
Readiness is one of the most significant visualizations that the Army uses to determine the status of a unit's ability to fight. Data is gathered daily and analyzed at echelons far above the Forward Support Company level of our assignment in our automated system. Without using GCSS-Army for our readiness reporting, we must go back to a manual reporting procedure outlined in AR 700-138 paragraph 1-18. Before manual reporting is used, authorization and the change to manual reporting should be granted by the deputy chief of staff G4. After the approval has been given, the reports can then begin sending in the manual reports. Several forms must be used to determine the readiness over the reporting period accurately. For ground equipment status reporting, we will use a DA Form 2406, Material Condition Status Report. Use DA PAM 750-8 and AR 700-138 as a reference to correctly fill out this form. A few other forms may be used depending on the organization you support, such as DA Form 1352 for aircraft, DA Form 7752 for UAV, and DA Form 3266-1 for missile systems. Capturing the data throughout the reporting period is crucial to ensure this report is accurate before submission. As we work through different forms and procedures used in an environment constricted to manual processes, you will build the data to correctly fill out this form toward the end of the reporting period. In addition to using DA Form 2406, you will need to fill out DA Forms 2409 and 2410 to determine whether the equipment is down due to supply or maintenance reasons.
Essence of Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services
Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services (PMCS) is the bottom line in keeping equipment mission-ready. To correctly identify faults and ensure that equipment is fully mission capable, it starts with the daily PMCS conducted by the equipment operator. Regardless of the type of equipment, we must ensure that we are conducting these checks daily. Given we do not have access to our automated systems, we will capture our PMCS on a DA Form 2404. For the form to capture the data we need for readiness reporting correctly, the operator must fill it out correctly and accurately. You will use DA Pamphlet 750-8 to properly document the information using this form. After the form is filled out by the crew and no faults are identified, the crew will continue to use that same DA Form 2404 until a fault is identified. Once the operator identifies a fault, a mechanic should then verify the fault identified and use their MSD to troubleshoot the fault identified and capture the parts required to complete the repair on the DA Form 2404.
PMCS does not stop at the operator level and may need the term rebranded in many soldiers' eyes. PMCS also covers all the scheduled services on all equipment. The TM for the specific piece of equipment will determine the interval required to complete a service. For the most part, your wheeled fleet service interval is determined by the amount of time passed or the miles that the piece of equipment is driven. Most of your ground support equipment will be services based on time passed or the number of hours that the piece of equipment has run. For example, your generators that run continuously will have a parallel set so you can cycle the two generators allowing you to service one while still providing constant power to the supported item. Keeping track of the equipment usage is paramount in ensuring we can maintain the highest state of readiness. While operating in this type of environment, we will continue to keep service schedules on all equipment. For this process, we will use DD Form 314 and follow the reference data in DA PAM 750-8 for the specific coding for each line of the form. There should be one form for every piece of equipment that requires a service. Lastly, we need to ensure that we are still maintaining accurate service packets on our equipment. A service packet must contain at a minimum an operator level PMCS that covers the highest interval in the operator's manual captured on a DA Form 2404 and a maintainers level PMCS that coincided with the service interval required also captured on a DA Form 2404. The packet should also contain a work order using DA Form 2407. Lastly, it will need to have two DD 1970's capturing an initial and final road test to ensure any unusual operations can be annotated and repaired.
The Timely Intervention of Dispatching and Equipment Utilization
Equipment utilization drives readiness. Without accurately capturing the usage we put on a piece of equipment, we cannot maintain a proper service interval requisite to the technical manual. A generator, for example, that runs for 24 hours a day for seven days straight will likely require its first usage-based service far before a date requirement has passed. They will tell you that a service is required if an operator does not go in the menu and clear it on our newer generator systems. Dispatching is a way to help us as maintainers keep track of equipment and ensure repairs are completed, and preventative maintenance is done before failure if possible. We must dig back into several forms as we look at manual dispatching procedures that we have taken for granted as GCSS-Army captures all this data for us and even alerts us when an operator is not qualified on a specific piece of equipment. The job of a shop office clerk will most likely grow significantly during the manual dispatching procedures.
First and foremost, the DD Form 1970 will be used to show the piece of equipment is dispatched and approved by the commander for use. DA PAM 750-8 can be used as a reference when filling out this form for accuracy. As dispatches are opened and closed, a DA Form 2401, Organizational Control Record for Equipment, will need to be used to capture the overall use of the equipment you are responsible for maintaining. Lastly, we must ensure the soldier requesting the dispatch is properly trained and licensed on the piece of equipment. Their DA Form 348 is the driving factor in ensuring the license is properly annotated for the given piece of equipment. The shop office clerk must use the DA Form 348 to ...