Training and Familiarization with the Battle Command Sustainment Support System

Commanders always require a large amount of data to maintain situational awareness, a very complicated endeavor, especially during deployments in Iraq or Afghanistan with subordinate units spread across the country. The Battle Command Sustainment Support System BCS3 is the logistics Battle Command system that provides command and control to logistics commanders. The BCS3s capabilities include the logistics common operating picture in-transit visibility of convoys and commodities logistics status and Standard Army Information System reporting and Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration. Unfortunately, in spite of its vast capabilities, units underutilize the BCS3 in the field. There are numerous possible reasons for the low use of the system as a whole and evidence also points to lack of use in specific modules and program capabilities. Although recent BCS3 software improvements may assist operators to perform common tasks, a key to increasing the BCS3s popularity is to improve familiarization by logistics managers. Training and certification of Functional Area 90 students during their attendance at Intermediate Level Education at the Command and General Staff College should increase their willingness to use the BCS3 in the field. The findings suggest that a willingness to operate and manage the system is dependent on three factors 1 the amount, quality, and type of formal BCS3 training the logistics manager has had, 2 the logistics managers degree of familiarization with the BCS3, and 3 how well the logistics manager understands the capabilities of the BCS3.