Global Combat Support System – Army Joins Defense Integrated Business Systems Portfolio

A year to the day after the Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) migrated from PEO EIS’s data portfolio to its enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems portfolio, the Global Combat Support System – Army (GCSS-Army) product office did the same — joining the Defense Integrated Business Systems (DIBS) family on Oct. 1.

During an all-hands virtual meeting on Sept. 30, DIBS project manager Col. Donald L. Burton officially welcomed GCSS-Army to the portfolio, deeming it a “great opportunity for the organization to come in and improve how things are done.”

Burton’s deputy, Robert Zoppa, gave thanks to the Army Data and Analytics Platforms portfolio, led by project manager Col. Rob Wolfe, for its “awesome support” for GCSS-Army over the years, enabling it to be successful for Soldiers around the world. Bringing GCSS-Army under the DIBS fold will “increase synergy among the ERPs,” he said.

As the tactical Army’s logistics ERP, GCSS-Army provides the Army with modernized logistics and financial capabilities, master data management, enterprise aviation logistics and enhanced business intelligence/business warehouse capabilities.

Lt. Col. Bill Reker, product manager for GCSS-Army, provided an overview of the product office for the meeting’s more than 120 virtual attendees. Noting that 80 percent of GCSS-Army’s staff is based at Fort Lee, Virginia — with the remainder at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama — Reker said that Enterprise Aviation (EAVN) is the Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command’s “number one GCSS-Army priority.” EAVN connects the Aircraft Notebook (ACN) to the Army’s tactical logistics ERP system in order to standardize business processes, move ACN data from the flight line to GCSS-Army’s enterprise systems, provide a single logistics data center for aviation data, and provide senior leaders and combatant commanders with “near-real-time views” of Army aviation assets.

Other priorities for GCSS-Army include ACN sustainment, Army prepositioned stocks (APS) capability, medical logistics capability deployment, disconnected operations/user experience, and cloud migration, which will wrap up by the fourth quarter of FY 2022.

Leaders from four other DIBS product offices briefed GCSS-Army team members about their missions and activities. LMP Deputy Product Director Marty Trackman noted lessons learned from LMP’s move to DIBS a year ago and praised the entire DIBS team for a smooth transition. 

“We were treated professionally and as part of the family since the day we joined,” he said.

Upcoming milestones for GCSS-Army under DIBS leadership include EAVN Release 2 and completion of the final APS site in March 2022.