US Strategic Command calls sustaining the force its top priority

U.S. Strategic Command’s deputy commander underscored the central role of logistics in deterrence and combat readiness, praising the Defense Logistics Agency as a critical partner during a March 31 Warfighter Talk at the McNamara Headquarters Complex.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Lutton thanked the DLA workforce and emphasized that sustaining the force is a top operational imperative for USSTRATCOM. “On behalf of Adm. Correll – our combatant commander – and the 41,000 joint team members of U.S. Strategic Command, we couldn’t have a better partner than DLA,” Lutton said. “We’re a global combatant command. We don’t know when our nation’s going to call on us. But we know that we are going to have a team member like DLA that’s going to get us there, sustain us, and we’re going to be able to take the fight to the enemy.”

Lutton outlined the command’s around-the-clock posture and broad mission set under the Unified Command Plan, noting that nearly two-thirds of the force is on alert at any given time. He cited responsibilities that include strategic deterrence, nuclear operations, joint electromagnetic spectrum operations, global strike, missile threat assessment, and nuclear command, control and communications.

The global dispersion of USSTRATCOM forces presents substantial sustainment challenges, he said, including operations in extreme climates. Using the northern Great Plains as an example, Lutton added, “The ability to sustain a force that’s going to operate at potentially 57 below to 101 or 102 degrees, you’ve got to have good gear.”

Linking sustainment to modernization across the nuclear enterprise, Lutton pointed to the need to field new capabilities while maintaining legacy systems. As the command brings online the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile and the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, it must continue to support the Minuteman III and Ohio-class platforms until their successors are fully operational. “Operationalizing and fielding that modern force is inherently linked to sustaining that force and is inherently linked to delivering a deterrent force for our nation,” he said.

Lutton also urged DLA leaders to weigh outcomes alongside hazards in decision-making. “As we team together, I know we can balance risk and payoff so we deliver for the nation and the joint force,” he said.

He closed by stressing the foundational role of strategic deterrence in U.S. defense planning. “It underpins our national security and underpins every plan that we have within the Department because they’re predicated on deterrence holding,” he said.