New software to offer better warfighter support Published Aug. 20, 2010 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- A team at Robins has a new way of doing business which will ultimately transform Air Force logistics. The Vehicles and Support Equipment Division of the Aerospace Sustainment Directorate is blazing a trail with the Expeditionary Combat Support System, which consolidates into a single system an array of processes and systems for delivering support to warfighters. ECSS will be implemented in four releases, said Mary Kicklighter, chief of the Robins ECSS Support Office. The first release is still in its preliminary stage, having started here and at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., with the release of several pilots. Robins is scheduled for full implementation of the first release in November 2012, she said. Joe Messick, vehicle equipment specialist supervisor, acknowledged users here are still learning the system, but said they already see the benefits. "The biggest hurdle has been change, but the more exposure they have to it, the more they start to grasp it," he said. The division is responsible for sustainment of 82,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment around the globe, ranging from pickup trucks to armored fighting vehicles. Its duties include shipping parts, managing technical orders, and keeping vehicles and equipment operating. With ECSS, the division will have a live global view of the system and visibility of Air Force inventory, which will help prioritize the delivery of parts and other items, Messick said. Users will be able do things quickly on their computers which previously would have taken several phone calls to various people around the world, he added. Equipment specialist Gary Hull, who supports forklifts, said his job requires performing multiple tasks, each of which is done in a different, outdated software system. The new software allows him to do all of his work in one system. "We are going from a bunch of stand alone, legacy systems which do not interact with each other to a Web based system with global visibility," he said. But ECSS is about more than just a new software program, according to Roy Swygert, ECSS communications lead at Robins. ECSS also involves a change in business processes and is an unprecedented effort. "The program is exponentially larger than any (civilian or military) enterprise-resource planning product which has been attempted," he said. "The whole purpose is to enable us to give the warfighter what he needs on a consistent level." To learn more about ECSS, visit www.ecssmission.com.