US Army photo by Spc. Ryan Lucas, 19 July 2019

Serving as a brigade, group, or regimental S4 is one of several possible key developmental (KD) assignments for Majors in the Army’s Logistics branch.  There are nuances among brigades, groups, and regiments that have different force structures and different missions. Therefore, this article is meant to be universally applicable across diverse units.

In addition to serving as the brigade’s lead long-range logistics planner, the S4 has oversight for a variety of command discipline programs and policies that are key to enabling the brigade and its units to accomplish their mission-essential tasks.  To oversee so many command discipline programs, the brigade S4 must be an effective manager of managers. His aperture is too wide to do anything else.

To help navigate this challenging position, the following list of “do’s” and don’ts” can help the large-organization logistician succeed. 

Do

Write effectively.  Much of your work is done through correspondence.  All the TDY in the world won’t let you be everywhere at once.  Apart from emails and routine briefings, you may find yourself writing executive summaries, information papers, and performance work statements or statements of work for contracts.

Understand contracts. The S4 must be able to understand and be able to write them well.  Be clear about the effects you’re trying to produce. Modern logisticians are irrelevant if they don’t understand contracting.  Most of us who deployed to CENTCOM in the last 10 to 15 years, perhaps without knowing it, benefited from life support and signal support contracts at a minimum.  The contractor population isn’t constrained by military manpower limits, and contractors can either supplement unit capabilities (such as maintenance for specific systems support), or provide niche or highly specialized capabilities that service members aren’t trained or equipped to accommodate.  Even in large-scale ground combat operations, there will surely be some requirement for contractor support within that theater. Contracting requirements will ultimately apply to the entire staff and every warfighting function, not just sustainment.

Gain an appreciation for lawful appropriations by government entities, and learn about Army Management Structure Codes (or “pots of money”). Pay attention to what your units are ordering, and develop a simple and sustainable release strategy for those daily orders.  Learn the different procurement methods available to you – and learn what your unit can and can’t legally purchase.

Use dollars to buttress your (and your subordinates’) performance for awards and evaluations.  Talk about the budget you’ve helped execute to improve your organization’s readiness.  Conversely, talk about the money you’ve saved for your brigade (and the Army) by being a good steward of resources.  Naturally, a good budget execution enables your unit to execute its Combat Training Center rotations, pre-deployment and home station training, and maintain your equipment to fight and win.  All this serves to generate readiness. What many don’t realize is your unit will be rewarded for a good budget execution. If you develop a reputation for having a high obligation rate (without abusing the system via frivolous purchases), you’re more likely to receive the funds you request in your spend plan for the next fiscal year.  This is why something as simple as a traveler promptly submitting his or her voucher upon return from TDY has second- and third-order effects for the whole brigade.

Learn about Global Combat Support System-Army.  I’ll admit my personal skills with this system are still rudimentary at best, but it’s important to at least understand the capabilities of this system and include its many transactions within your unit battle rhythm.  (In other words, know enough to be able to “call BS.”) Help fill knowledge gaps, if necessary. We recently hosted a workshop that supplemented the existing GCSS-Army operator’s and manager’s courses already offered on most installations.  This workshop targeted our most troublesome metrics and problem areas. The workshop included both blocks of instruction and hands-on execution of critical GCSS-A transactions. Our main AAR comment is to break the audience down into smaller, more functional teams (supply clerks/company XOs/battalion S4s/battalion XOs) because each of them would realistically conduct different transactions and have different roles, responsibilities, and permissions within the system.

Build predictability.  Know when reports are due, share due-outs and status updates among your shop, and implement the means to do routine things routinely.  It’s the only way to get out of daily “firefighting” and conduct deliberate long-range logistics planning.

Don’t

Don’t make assumptions about a subordinate unit’s capability, compliance, or understanding.  Instead, pay them a visit, or pick up the phone. Those assumptions can easily harm your brigade’s mission.  The scenarios are endless: whether the brigade commander orders an immediate tactical road march to test the readiness of the fleet, or your unit is tasked for something like a no-notice deployment or DSCA mission … you can expect a significant emotional event if a battalion’s capability or understanding were simply assumed away by the brigade staff.

Don’t be surprised.  This is hard, because there is always something on the horizon – and as the brigade’s lead long-range logistics planner, you are expected to know.  New equipment fielding, excess property divestiture, container management, unit movement, and USR ratings are all data points you need to be prepared to answer quickly.  If you aren’t already, get organized and develop systems to readily access and update all this information…or you’ll waste considerable time trying to track things down.

Don’t take bad news badly.  Considering your wide gamut of responsibilities, it is inevitable that something will go wrong.  Avoid “shooting the messenger.” Instead of targeting scapegoats, fix the problem. Treat the problem as an opportunity.  If more than one subordinate unit has the same problem or misses the same suspense, it is most likely a “systems” failure – and an opportunity for you to develop a system, program, or policy that improves the whole brigade.  Always have your facts and trend analysis straight. Why did one of our units have a problem/miss a suspense/fail to accomplish something? Is it because I didn’t keep them resourced or informed? Is it because that unit is deliberately blowing me off?  Did that unit’s commander fully understand what all the requirements were? Was there a breakdown in communication? Absolutely answer these questions before overreacting to bad news, and certainly before getting your boss involved.

Major Ryan Cornell-d’Echert is an Army logistics officer with three deployments and nearly 12 years of active duty experience.  He currently serves as the S4 for 71st Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). After commanding an infantry forward support company, he taught at Army Logistics University.