No Parts, No Readiness

When I spoke at the Military Aviation Logistics & Maintenance Symposium (MALMS) in Orlando on April 22, 2026, I wanted to leave the audience with one message above all others: if we are serious about readiness, we have to get serious about supply chain performance, and especially about service parts. We can talk all day about maintenance throughput, repair capacity, and the promise of advanced technologies, and those matter. But in my view, the principal takeaway is simpler and more urgent. Aircraft, fleets, and weapon systems do not achieve readiness because we admire the problem correctly. They achieve readiness when the right part is available, at the right place, at the right time, with the right data behind the decision.

Supply chain is critical to readiness

That is why I spent so much time on the supply chain. For years, too many organizations have been operating with processes and systems that are no longer a fit for the mission. As I said during the presentation, “the supply system, for the most part, is still operating like it did when I was a lieutenant.” COVID did not create that weakness, but it exposed it in a way no one could ignore. It showed us where we are brittle, where we are fragmented, and where legacy systems and disconnected processes are holding us back. If there is any good that came from that difficult period, it is that the mandate for supply chain improvement is now visible to everyone.

I also wanted to be very clear that repair, while essential, is only part of the readiness equation. “Repair is only part of the issue,” I said, because “the other big part is what? It’s spare parts.” I believe that point deserves even more emphasis now. Across the U.S. Air Force and across other military organizations, one of the biggest constraints on readiness is not whether we understand how to repair something. It is whether we can secure, forecast, allocate, and replenish the parts required to restore mission capability. That is why I repeated the point as plainly as I could: “It’s parts, parts, and did I say it? It is parts.” If readers take away only one idea from my presentation, I hope it is that one.

US Air Force innovation

What gives me optimism is that there is one area where modern capability can make an immediate difference, today. I discussed how the Air Force has invested in an advanced spare parts planning tool that has “completely revolutionized the way they do spare parts planning.” That matters because the old model was simply too slow and too rigid. Plans were often built years in advance and executed after conditions had already changed. Today, with modern planning tools, organizations can re-plan continuously, run what-if scenarios, collaborate more effectively with OEMs, and make better decisions based on current demand, current supply, and changing operational realities. In practical terms, that means better support for the warfighter and less dependence on outdated assumptions.

Urgency for action

The urgency here is real. For too long, readiness shortfalls have been treated as if they were inevitable, when in many cases they are the result of systems, decisions, and planning models that have not kept pace with operational needs. We cannot afford to accept that. As I said during the session, “we cannot continue” to do the same things and expect a better outcome. If we want to improve readiness in a measurable way, then service parts availability has to move closer to the center of our strategy. We need better visibility, better planning, better sourcing, better synchronization, and better integration from end to end. This is not a niche logistics issue. It is a readiness issue in the most direct sense possible.

DoD Instruction 5000.97 – Digital Transformation

That is also why I tied the conversation back to digital transformation. I referenced DoD Instruction 5000.97 because I believe it is far more consequential than its title suggests. In my words, it is “really the blueprint for the Department of War’s digital transformation.” I do not see digital transformation as separate from supply chain performance. I see it as the foundation that makes better supply chain performance possible. If program managers are now expected to demonstrate digitally transformed weapon systems across acquisition milestones, then that expectation must extend to sustainment, planning, and parts support as well. Readiness will improve when digital transformation reaches all the way through the supply chain, not when it stops at design or engineering.

AI belongs in this conversation, but I view it as an enabler rather than the headline. Its most important contribution may be in helping us make better parts and maintenance decisions faster. AI can improve forecasting, support anomaly detection, help identify likely failures, and reduce the administrative burden on item managers who are currently overwhelmed by scale. During my talk, I noted that the technology is already strong enough to transform how organizations manage demand and supply. In many cases, the opportunity is not to replace human judgment, but to elevate it by allowing people to focus on the exceptions that matter most. That is where AI becomes genuinely useful to readiness.

Abundant technology innovations

The same is true for the other technologies I highlighted. Cloud infrastructure, IoT, additive manufacturing, robotics, augmented reality, and condition-based maintenance all have important roles to play, but I would place them in a supporting category relative to the primary challenge of supply chain and parts readiness. They matter because they improve visibility, compress timelines, distribute capability, and reduce friction. Additive manufacturing can help close gaps. IoT can improve tracking and awareness. Cloud platforms can speed access and collaboration. Condition-based maintenance can improve intervention timing. But each of these becomes most powerful when it helps answer the core readiness question: do we have the parts support needed to keep the force ready?

Challenge to take action

One of the most important conclusions I have reached, especially since retiring from the Air Force, is that the problem is not a lack of available technology. In the presentation, I said, “The technology is out there.” I believe that strongly. The harder challenge is whether we know how to acquire it, integrate it, secure it, and use it in ways that produce operational advantage. That is an acquisition challenge, a leadership challenge, and in some cases a willingness challenge. We must move beyond admiration of modern capability and into implementation. The organizations that do that best will be the ones that create real readiness gains.

If I were to close with the same challenge I offered in Orlando, it would be this: we must get after it. We must modernize the supply chain, replace legacy approaches, and get our digital house in order so that better decisions can flow through the entire sustainment enterprise. Above all, we must recognize that service parts are not a secondary issue in readiness; they are a principal one. AI and other emerging technologies will help us, and in some cases help us dramatically, but they should be deployed in support of that larger objective. I remain optimistic because the path forward is visible, the tools are available, and the need is understood more clearly than ever. Now the task is to move with urgency and deliver the readiness our warfighters deserve.