Essay On How Sustainment Operations Affect The Contemporary Operational Environment

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How Sustainment Operations Affect the Contemporary Operational Environment

MSG Bradley Toles
Sergeants Major Course
Class 73
SGM Delain & SGM Estes
2 April 2023

How Sustainment Operations Affect the Contemporary Operational Environment
With the various global conflicts, United States (US) Army forces must be ready to conduct sustainment operations in the contemporary operational environment (COE). Operational environments consist of conditions that can influence decisions that commanders make. Operational environments consist of variables that have regional and global influences that can affect operations in theater. Some trends can affect operations, such as failing states, globalization, urbanization, and technological …show more content…

Finance operations support US Army forces by conducting processing operations such as authorizing unit’s budgets, making payments to contractors, and implementing financial policies (Department of the Army, 2019a, p.1-9).
Financial management is how the US Army runs. Each fiscal year the budget funds Soldiers' pay, housing, food, clothing, recruiting, and retention efforts. A significant portion of the budget is used to fund equipment. In the contemporary environment, leaders must prioritize how to use the budget in the COE. For example, the US Army has a recruiting problem more than a retention problem. Funding can be reallocated to recruiting from retention focused expenditures.
Another example is the unit training budget. Units slated for a mission will receive more funding to conduct training than without a mission. In the COE, it is essential to understand resource management for units. With fewer resources available, units will have to be creative with the resources they have. The reduction in resources is due to the shortage of manpower straining the personnel services in the …show more content…

With the sustainment warfighting function responsible for the procurement of equipment, unit commanders must be mindful of requirements to conduct operations in the COE. Having modern equipment on the battlefield will be essential for the future fights. Commanders must understand and embrace modernization efforts by working with sustainment personnel to ensure US Army modernization goals are met. An example of this is an Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) requesting modernized drones for their military intelligence company to conduct reconnaissance operations further into enemy