Improving Logistics Cooperation in Crisis Environments Seminar

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., July 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On behalf of the Joint Staff Directorate for Logistics (J-4) and The Department of Defense's DCMO Expeditionary Business Operations Directorate, the Center for Stabilization and Economic Reconstruction (CSER) at the Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) conducted the third offering of its Seminar on Logistics Cooperation for Stabilization and Reconstruction in Chapel Hill, NC.  The seminar, which ran from July 24 – July 29, provided a forum focused on improving logistics cooperation between the Department of Defense (DoD), public, private and voluntary sectors in post-disaster and post-conflict environments.

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In a welcome letter to the participants, LTG Kathleen Gainey, Director for Logistics at the Joint Chiefs of Staff explained why attending this course was so important, "The recent crises in Japan, Libya and right in our own heartland along the Mississippi River, emphasize the increasing need for cooperation among a wide array of public, private, military and voluntary organizations."

The 33 participants brought diverse, real-world experience to the seminar, drawing on lessons from many crisis responses such as Japan and Somalia.  Many of these organizational cultures today consult, coordinate and even plan with one another, but rarely do all of them coalesce into a fully functional team.  The gaps or inefficiencies in logistics during crises are all too evident and have been the subject of much public complaint.  This seminar assembled many of the relevant actors in order to build a level of assured reliance and to find ways to improve cooperation in logistics.  Along with the practical knowledge gained through the seminar the logisticians left Chapel Hill with an expanded network of professional relationships, critical to success in an increasingly disparate and complex environment.

A total of 20 speakers, representing a diverse range of organizations presented at the seminar including:

• LTG (Ret.) Robert VanAntwerp (Former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
• Ms. Lara Coutinho, All Partners Access Network
• Dr. Jamison Day, Louisiana State University
• Mr. Alan Estevez, OSD - L&M
• BRIG Chris Field, Combined Joint Task Force -82
• Dr. Rick Gilkey, Emory University
• Ms. Jennifer Glasse, International Journalist
• LTC Robert Kneeland, USA, JCS J4
• Mr. Gary Koch, USNORTHCOM/NORAD
• Gov. Scott McCallum, Aidmatrix Foundation
• MAJ Tracy Michael, FACHE, TRICARE Regional Office- South
• Mr. Hilmi Mohamed, InterAction
• Mr. Will Moser, U.S. Department of State
• Mr. Matteo Perrone, United Nations World Food Program
• Mr. Robert Prieto, Fluor
• Gen (Ret.) Gene Renuart, BAE (Former USNORTHCOM/NORAD Commander)
• Mr. George Roark, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Mr. Michael Vineyard, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Professor Steve Walton, Emory University
• Dr. D. Clay Whybark, Senior IDB Faculty

The next seminar on Logistics Cooperation for Stabilization and Reconstruction is scheduled for October 23-28, 2011 in Durham, NC at the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center.

About the IDB

The Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) is a non-profit research and education institute formed in 1997 by UNC-Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina. The IDB offers a series of educational programs for the military, government, non-governmental agencies, and private sector, in the areas of logistics, operations, life cycle management, organizational change, and stabilization and economic reconstruction.

For more information:  Please contact Mary Grace Baxendale at 919-969-8008 or [email protected]

SOURCE Institute for Defense and Business