Military Review English Edition November December 2016 | Page 56

to integrate OCS within his or her operational-design
concept plays an increasingly important role.8
This is an important point. OCS enables commanders to respond effectively to a number of warfighting
challenges identified within the AOC, including the
Army’s responsibility to shape security environments;
provide security force assistance; conduct entry operations; conduct wide area security; and set the theater,
sustain operations, and maintain freedom of movement.9

What Commanders Really Need to
Know
Commanders need to know six key points
about OCS:
OCS is here to stay.
OCS is a key enabler.
OCS gets us there faster and smarter.
OCS helps us set the theater.
Planning usually works better than reacting.
Ignorance is not bliss.
OCS is here to stay. U.S. military forces are more
dependent than ever on contract support to execute contingency operations and other smaller-scale,
combatant-commander-directed operations. That

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From left to right, Frhadi Foroq, advisor for Afghanistan’s Directorate
of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock; Col. Alber Rivera, U.S. Army
Reserve; and Capt. Jennifer Leathers and Maj. Anthony Evanego,
both assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah, observe a
solar-powered water pump 28 September 2013 during a meeting
in Farah City, Afghanistan. The project was part of over $30 million
in U.S. Agency for International Development, foreign aid, and commander emergency funds spent between 2005 and 2013 to rebuild
roads and highways, fifteen schools, seven health care centers, several government buildings, agricultural structures, and orphanages,
and for repairs to mosques and small business micro-grant support.
(Photo by Lt. Chad A. Dulac, U.S. Navy)

dependency is likely to increase based on two important trends within the U.S. military. The first trend is
the series of decisions to accept risk within our force
structure by shifting organic sustainment capability to
the reserve component.10 Reserve units now provide
71 percent of the Army’s sustainment, including 92
percent of the Army’s bulk-petroleum storage capability.11 These forces will continue to play a critical role
in future military operations, but policy and resource
issues limit both their responsiveness and the frequency of their deployments.12
The second trend is a dramatic reduction in the
deployment of large military formations, including
November-December 2016  MILITARY REVIEW