The conference addressed a series of topical and key issues facing the international defence logistics community. Subjects ranged from the support to current operations, through acquisition, the support chain, logistics transformation to future possibilities.
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue, Chief of Defence Logistics (CDL), opened the conference, setting the scene for the six discussion panels that followed. He welcomed colleagues from overseas, who gave the conference a strong international flavour. Sir Kevin, who also launched the Defence Logistics Programme during his opening address, recognised that the conference was taking place at a challenging time for UK logistics.
In opening the first panel, Air Vice-Marshal Kevin Leeson, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Logistic Operations) (ACDS (Log Ops)) explored the key questions and issues in delivering the strategic and operational level of logistic support to operations. Lieutenant General Chris Christianson, Director J4 from the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and Air Vice-Marshal Chris Spence, Commander of Joint Logistics for the Australian Defence Forces, then gave their respective nations’ perspectives.
Air Commodore Matt Wiles, Assistant Chief of Staff J1/J4, at the Permanent Joint Headquarters and Andrew White, Chief Executive Officer of SERCO Defence and Aerospace, then offered views from both the military and contractor points of view.
The Logistics Transformation panel was chaired by Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Bairsto who discussed the overall transformation of UK logistic support. Air Commodore Simon Bollom focused on the specifics of Tornado while US speakers offered Department of Defense, US Army and USAF updates. Following the panel, Air Vice-Marshal Bairsto said:
"The panellists contributed an enormous amount and brought out all the themes I'd hoped they would. I was disappointed, however, that the questions asked didn’t focus very much on the issues of changing culture."
The following day the first discussion panel covered acquisition, chaired by Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fulton, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Equipment Capability), and the second ‘thoughts from the front’ chaired by Air Vice-Marshal Chris Nickols, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Operations).
The implications of the Defence Industrial Strategy were also discussed at length with Ben Palmer, Director of Equipment Capability Secretariat, responsible for issuing the DIS. The industry view came from Ian King, managing director of BAE Systems Customer Solutions and Support. Professor Matt Uttley of the Defence Academy challenged established thinking while Brigadier Graeme Morrison gained the loudest applause for his presentation on 'Munitions win Wars'.
The 'thoughts from the front' panel presented the opportunity to air current practical experiences. Views were provided by Brigadier Jonathan Downes who returned from Afghanistan to brief the JFLogC experiences on Operation Herrick and Colonel Rupert Prince gave the view from the Defence Logistics Operations Centre (DLOC).
Consignment tracking was mentioned as a recent success story, and the significant efforts the DLO had put into this. Questions to this panel were wide-ranging but understanding and working with contractors on operations was a recurrent theme.
Sir Kevin delivered the closing address, offering his view of how future logistic support would look, as the various themes in the Defence Logistic Programme were taken forward and came to fruition. He felt the conference was a success and had met its aims of informing, provoking debate and ideas. As the UK's premier logistics conference, supported by the DLO, the conference had provided the mechanism for an exchange of views and debate on current initiatives and future ways of doing business.
Air Vice-Marshal Kevin Leeson, Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Logistics Operations) concluded:
"Unifying logistic ethos is one of the key themes of the Defence Logistics Programme. With 32 speakers and 350 participants from around the world – from all elements of the logistic community – the conference offered a tremendous opportunity for us all to compare priorities and reach a shared understanding."
