JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- During normal day-to-day functions, it may be easy to take for granted the tools of one’s specific trade. However, if a unit is not properly equipped, their mission can come to a screeching halt and possibly cost lives.
The 735th Supply Chain Operations Group at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, ensures that squadrons across the U.S. Air Force have all the tools needed to make sure that this does not happen. This task may not seem herculean, but when considering that they help to manage equipment for the entire Air Force, the gravity of their mission carries more weight.
Made up of the 438th Supply Chain Operation Squadron, 439th SCOS, 440th SCOS and the 441st Vehicle Support Chain Operation Squadron, the 735 SCOG delivers logistics capabilities to the entire Air Force.
The various missions of these squadrons range from servicing our warfighters, supporting national strategic deterrence capabilities, managing support equipment to ready the Air Force and delivering premier enterprise vehicle support to meet dynamic warfighter needs.
“The 735 SCOG is our group that is paying close attention to readiness both stateside (CONUS) and overseas (OCONUS) 24/7,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Gene Kirkland, Air Force Sustainment Center commander. “They engage weapons systems supporting personnel around the world, along with almost every fighter and bomber system, to make sure the warfighter at the base-level has what they need to accomplish the mission.”
Using the 441 VSCOS as an example, the squadron manages a vehicle portfolio of around 97,000 vehicle assets, valued at roughly $7 billion, across the entire Air Force. Along with this responsibility, the 441 VSCOS is tasked with providing sustainment to keep all Air Force vehicles up and functioning to meet mission requirements.
Kirkland went on to highlight that the supply and transportation professionals at the 735 SCOG have a global reach when it comes to making sure aircraft or vehicle parts, needed at any base in the world, are being tracked and a solution is being made to resolve the issue.
“We have to make sure that one MAJCOM isn’t sub-optimizing at the expense of another,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Ryan Bakazan, 735 SCOG commander. “We can make sure the most critical requirements globally are fulfilled so we can do what is right for the totality of the mission and ensure readiness and lethality.”
Taking a more proactive approach to ensuring mission readiness, the Air Force is embarking in predictive analytics to help preempt supply chain needs.
According to Bakazan, the 735 SCOG hopes not only to take into account the history of certain aircrafts and parts, but to look towards the future of how long certain aircraft will be flying, how often, and even what types of sortie missions they will be flying to help predict what parts will be needed and when.
“The general idea is to be able to know before that part breaks or wears out so we can replace it. This will help prevent unscheduled maintenance and down time,” Kirkland said. “By removing that part and putting another one in during the time aircraft would have been down for scheduled maintenance has a positive overall effect on mission readiness.”
Kirkland commended the 735 SCOG on their connectedness to the units like Air Combat Command, 1st Fighter Wing and the 192nd Fighter Wing because it helps understand the requirements of these organizations.
The 735 SCOG helps to manage equipment across the Air Force valued at roughly $146.1 billion. With that type of responsibility, proactive approaches to the supply chain are being researched to help ensure superior service to units so they can accomplish their mission, 24/7. The sun never sets on the 735 SCOG.