NORFOLK, VA, July 7, 2025 —
John Denver may be ok leavin’ on a jet plane and not having a grasp on his schedule after that, but the same can’t be said for delivering critical parts to deployed Coast Guard operational assets.
LOG-X, the Expeditionary Logistics Division of the Coast Guard’s Operational Logistics Command, recently identified issues the Service was having moving parts into the Pacific. LOG-X—a go-to team for coordinating mission support activities for deployed assets—worked hand-in-hand with their LOGCOM counterparts (the Resource Management Division (LOG-8) and Strategic Mobility and Transportation Branch (LOG-45)), as well as the Coast Guard Financial Service Center (FSC) and Logistics Program Management Division (CG-SID-41) to establish a repeatable, compliant airlift process for short-notice logistical movements.
Logistics Management Specialist CWO Mitchell Robison describes the work as a “coordinated, enterprise-level approach” and emphasizes the importance of the unified effort: “By aligning internal stakeholders and integrating this existing DoD capability into Coast Guard logistics frameworks, we are proactively working to expand the Service’s ability to move mission-critical parts efficiently and reliably through established military channels,” Robison said.
Currently, much of the mission support enterprise relies on commercial carriers to get parts to locations such as Hawaii, Guam, Japan, and beyond. Due to extensive distance, this can mean long lead times, customs delays, and elevated risk in contested environments. Not exactly what you want to hear when you’re stuck at sea on a Cutter with a mission critical casualty. The LOG-X team believes that leveraging Travis Air Force Base, an already established Transportation Command/Air Mobility Command (TRANSCOM/AMC) hub, and developing a process for short-notice military air transport will create new opportunities for the deployment/distribution of materiel to District Fourteen and Pacific Area sites. Moreover, the relationship will strengthen the Coast Guard’s logistics posture, help reduce risk, and improve operational continuity across the Indo-Pacific and Oceania regions.
But, this isn’t just a LOG-X problem. Not having a standardized Coast Guard process for using short-notice TRANSCOM/AMC airlift has revealed gaps in financial tracking and control. Units who independently deliver cargo to Air Force Bases often omit critical information, leaving FSC responsible for reconciling unexpected bills.
So, while LOG-X drafts an SOP for the airlift method, FSC’s FSMS Job Aid Team is now developing a service-wide job aid detailing how to properly obligate funds for such shipments. This will ensure compliance, support accurate billing, and enable units to execute shipments under the appropriate fiscal framework.
“Once published, LOG-X’s Military Airlift SOP will align with TRANSCOM, AMC, and FSC guidance and be validated through a pilot test at Travis AFB. This shared goal helps lay the foundation for a sustainable logistics capability and an alternative to commercial shipping,” says Robison.
Even better, this alternative can be scaled fleet-wide thus offering a cost-effective, resilient alternative that leverages AMC’s capability anywhere in the world.