Military officials have pushed back a deadline for their contractor to present a plan to deal with the looming annual summer surge in shipments of troops' personal vehicles to and from overseas assignments — and avoid a repeat of last year's considerable problems.
Initially, U.S. Transportation Command officials gave International Auto Logistics a deadline of Feb. 1 to hold a briefing. Because Since that was a Sunday, IAL was expected at TRANSCOM headquarters Feb. 2.
But because the command's chief, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, had a scheduling conflict, the briefing now has moved to Feb. 12, said TRANSCOM spokesman Navy Cmdr. Dave Nunnally.
"That is truly the first opportunity General Selva has back here at U.S. TRANSCOM to sit with IAL leadership and discuss their plan ... literally, the first full day he has back in the office," Nunnally said.
The command will assess the surge plan and determine whether it is sufficient.
IAL was plagued with problems virtually from the day it took over the Defense Department contract last May 1, with troops complaining about late deliveries and problems tracking their vehicles online. Selva took command of TRANSCOM four days later.
The contract was awarded in October 2013, but protests from the previous contractor delayed IAL's takeover until May, the start of peak moving season for troops heading to new assignments. In August, Selva convened a team of experts to address the problems and closely monitor the progress.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
