2014 Issue

32 S PREADACROSS THE vastNorthern Prairies of the United States, miles fromeach other, nuclear tippedmis- siles and Launch Officers lay secure in their impenetrable underground vaults. These powerful sentinels are a constant reminder to anyone considering an attack on our homeland. This article is about how this complex weap- on system has affordably been kept on the ready for decades by the best sustainment methodology ever developed, and how you can learn and profit from this approach – whether the system you are sustaining is a nuclear weapon delivery system or main- tenance of equipment on a large farming conglomerate. WE TAKE IT SERIOUSLY World War II taught us the lesson that two oceans were no longer enough to keep war from our shores. The Allies’ Combined Bomber Offensive in Europe proved that manned bombers could bring a modern industrial nation like Germany to its knees. But our greatest lesson was Sputnik passing over us unchallenged. We realized that a belligerent nation would not even need manned bombers to reach us with devastat- ing weapons. But since then, and for over 60 years, our potential military enemies have looked at our manned bombers and our sea and land based ICBMs, considered the calculus of deterrence and have told themselves, “No, not today.” Our Nation’s land based force is theMinute- man III Weapon System. These 450missiles are on hold on final countdown ready at a moment’s notice. This system’s mission is to keep the peace. Every other military strat- egy, weapon system, and national mission objective takes its presence into account and depends on its reliability. We accept as our solemn duty to keepMin- uteman III providing deterrence. WE HAVE DEVELOPED AN IMPRESSIVE METHODOLOGY The rocket scientists, program managers, contracts and business personnel, and every single member of the Northrop Grumman teamworking to sustain our ICBM force take this mission personally to heart. (You may remember these professionals as TRW Inc, the folks who helped the Air Force design, build and deploy the first ICBMs. In 2001, TRW became Northrop Grumman and the legacy continues.) If you feel as we do, and you had the overwhelming responsibility to ensure that each and every one of these 450 missiles is ready and reliable, how would you perform sustainment? If you knew what was riding on the accuracy and survivability of each missile what would you do to ensure its mission? Above all, knowing this system is worse thanworthless if we cannot guarantee its surety and safety, how do you guarantee it is safely ready every minute of every hour of every day, but will not be used unless required and authorized by the National Command Authority? These rockets were built and deployed and on alert in the early 1970’s. Once fully de- ployed, the United States Air Force directed the nation’s top team of systems engineers, business professionals and managers and charged us with the responsibility of sustaining these national assets. Ours is a strong team. Many of these dedicated professionals have advanced degrees in Science, Physics, Math, all kinds of engi- neering, and Management. The team also has decades of prior Air Force experience, often the same LaunchOfficers that manned the impenetrable underground vaults. So, what happened? This team developed the ultimate sustain- ment methodology. Over the years we have consistently re- ceived top marks, awards fee scores, and awards. More importantly, Minuteman III has remained ready, reliable, accurate, survivable, sure, and safe. But it doesn’t stop there. After high marks from the Air Force for our sustainment skills on Minuteman, we were called upon by other areas of Northrop Grumman to ex- plain our approach to other weapon systems and help them achieve affordable, effective sustainment. Success followed success. We have a sys- tems management approach that can be applied not only to any weapon system, but to any system. It works effectively on complex, large systems, but can be scaled down for efficiency on simpler and smaller systems. We call it the PRISM™ Approach – Proac- tive Risk Integrated Systems Management. A good way to catch the flavor of our PRISM™approach is to step inside a “Level 1 Risk Management Board” in progress at the Northrop Grumman ICBM Conference Room. Before you go inside, here’s a little back- ground. You will see men and women from the customer and various contractors discussing risks to the Weapon System. The men and women at the front table are “Level 1Managers,” that is, they are the top managers from both the government and By Charlie Vono ImproveYour Sustainment Performance with the PRISM TM Approach