PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. — "You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics," Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower once observed.
Decades later, that truth remains the bedrock of homeland defense. The mandate to “find the seams” amidst plans, policies and agencies was the driving force behind the recent NORAD and USNORTHCOM Sustainment Rehearsal of Concept (ROC) Drill, a collaborative event focused on readiness, logistics integration and inter-agency coordination.
The event drew in over 100 participants with personnel traveling from as far north as Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and as far south as Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The conference exercised the commands' ability to sustain operations in a wartime environment.
The event touched on critical functions of sustainment, uniting representatives from Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC), Canadian NORAD Region (CANR), Joint Staff J4 Logistics Directorate, U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command (USAWHC), U.S. Army North (ARNORTH), Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH), U.S. Naval Forces Northern Command (NAVNORTH), Marine Forces Northern Command (MARFORNORTH), the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), and the National Guard Bureau (NGB) to focus on distribution and deployment across the vast North American area of responsibility.
But before this diverse coalition of components, separates, regions (CSRs) and interagency partners could synchronize their efforts, they needed a unified way to visualize the battlefield.
Seven weeks before the event, Brig. Gen. Mark Siekman halted a planning brief with a clear directive to his staff. "Let me stop you right there and tell you what I want," Siekman said. "Not PowerPoint. Let's get a big map where leaders can walk and talk through their concepts of support step-by-step so everyone can follow along."
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) stepped up to the massive challenge. NGA designed, funded and overnight-shipped a 25-foot wide by 28-foot tall map of North America. Endearingly referred to as the BAM, or "Big Atlas Map," it vividly detailed strategic seaports, airports, rail lines and interstate highways.
"Rich Hanes and the NGA Support Team were amazing in its support of this event, designing and delivering the map in short order," said Lt. Col. Michael Dill, an action officer assisting with the ROC drill. The map allowed logisticians to step off the screen and onto the continent. Together, participants physically walked through force flow, identifying critical nodes and actively solving problems.
For participants like Sgt. Maj. Victor M. Robinson, the Joint Movement Center senior enlisted for Joint Task Force Southern Border (JTF-SB) logistics, the event highlighted how early sustainment planning with the Joint Staff, interagency organizations and allied partners is the definitive key to winning conflicts in the homeland and abroad.
That forward-looking perspective resonated at the highest levels of the National Guard as well.
"Every exercise we do should help us prepare for the future fight. The Sustainment ROC drill is an opportunity to decide where to make investments. The opportunities we have to close gaps are critical, and the subject matter expertise from all of the participating mission partners will help to identify the priority investments," said Maj. Gen. Win Burkett, Director of Operations, Plans and Exercises (G3/5/7) for the National Guard Bureau.
The drill also heavily emphasized the critical relationship with Canadian allies, ensuring binational logistics are seamlessly integrated during a crisis.
"This conference gave us the opportunity to come together and identify gaps, work through friction points and build relationships to realize our collective vision," said Canadian Armed Forces Col. Robert Bailey, J4 for the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC).
"We want to set the theater and understand the aggregated requirements that we and our interagency partners support in strategic plans," Siekman said, reflecting on the outcomes of the event. "This whole exercise facilitated some great work and discussion by the service components, separate commands, NORAD regions and allies, and our interagency partners."
Ultimately, the Sustainment ROC Drill proved that modern logistics is not just about moving supplies; it is about strengthening the network and the strategic principle of decision advantage. NORAD and USNORTHCOM logisticians proved they are ready to deliver that advantage whenever, and wherever, it is needed.