§2229b Responsibility for Contested Logistics Posture Management

Summary

The Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Commander of U.S. Transportation Command must run and coordinate the Department’s plans for logistics in contested situations. They must find weaknesses across core logistics areas (like supply, maintenance, prepositioned stockpiles, moving and distributing forces, medical support, engineering, logistics services, and contracts), make and carry out a plan to fix those risks, and align investments across the military departments. That alignment must cover where stocks are stored outside the continental United States and what is in them, having enough sea and air movement inside a theater, and tracking resource choices that support operational and contingency plans. Those three officials must also co-write and use a two-year strategy (updated every two years) that lists overseas prepositioned sites as of the strategy date, their status and the plans they support, any gaps and what extra sites or equipment are needed, the funds required, and a prioritized list of investments. The strategy must name locations where a military department lacks access authority and assess threats to overseas sites. The Deputy Secretary and Vice Chair must co-chair at least two Deputy Management Action Group meetings each year on these matters. Within 180 days after enactment, and quarterly thereafter until December 31, 2031, those officials must brief the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on their work under subsection (a)(1) and (2). The Secretary of Defense must include in the President’s budget justification materials a cumulative accounting of contested logistics investments and how they relate to those same duties.