INTERVIEW WITH Joseph Brooks
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REGIONAL SUSTAINMENT FRAMEWORK in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Product Support
by BENJAMIN TYREE
J oseph Brooks was interviewed April 9, 2025, at the Pentagon by Benjamin Tyree, managing editor of Defense Acquisition magazine.
Q Mr. Brooks, the Regional Sustainment Framework (RSF) initiative was announced about 16 months ago at the December 2023 DoD Maintenance Symposium. Can we assume that like other sources, you consider that the RSF dovetails with the current administration’s priorities? A. Well, Ben, it absolutely does. RSF is directly in line with the 2025 Interim National Defense Strategy Guidance pri- orities of the administration as we are working to rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence. We’re closely collaborating everything we’re doing with the combatant commanders—working with their J4 [Joint 4 Logistics], their J5 [Joint Strategy, Plans, and Policy] to ensure that whatever co-sustainment equities we put into place match the threats that are coming. So we’re building capabilities to counter threats, but also we’re working to make sure that we put in-theater assets and capabilities and capacities for co-sustainment that allow the theater to be an economy of force in certain places, such as EUCOM [Europe] and CENTCOM [Middle East, Central and Southern Asia], but also in the case of INDOPACOM [Indo-Pacific region], to allow the combat- ant commander to have that option for sustainment closer because, in the heat of battle, you don’t necessarily want a platform to have to make the long-distance trip over the ocean to get repaired. When can I get it done here? Can I get it done closer? Can I get it back in the fight? And that’s really what regional sustainment is all about: getting that asset, that unit, that platform back in the fight, giving that combatant commander another tool to deter or to prosecute the enemy. Q What are your impressions on how implementation is going thus far? A. It’s going pretty well, actually. We’re seeing sustained movement across the board. I’ve got to tell you, for in-
stance, in the Pacific we’re seeing great developments there. We’re partnering with our Services on a growing list of pathway projects. A pathway project is something that helps us set an example. It’s something that allows us to learn and then be able to take from that and navigate. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) broadly has three job jars, right? Our first one is synchronization across the depart- ment, helping prioritize and helping advocate. So, what we’re doing at OSD’s RSF team here is synchronizing the various efforts; we’re helping prioritize. But almost more importantly, we take the lessons learned from these path- finders and go to Congress, go to higher headquarters, and try to figure out what the Warfighter requires to sustain the fight forward. What does the combatant commander need to deter? And then we’re advocating on their behalf, whether it be to deregulate, to find some regulations that maybe aren’t necessarily appropriate anymore, or find re- sources. So that’s one of our biggest roles. We’re seeing lots of good benefits right now, lots of good progress, and I’m looking forward to talking more about those. Q How are matters proceeding specifically in INDOPA- COM? I know that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was out there recently. Is that escalating with the partners you have in the area? A. Absolutely. I think there’s a lot of interest right now, especially with the partners with industry and the Ser- vices are executing. We see, as I said earlier, that we have pathway projects that address aircraft maintenance, we have pathway projects that address communications abili- ties, and pathway projects that have addressed watercraft for the Army in particular. And so, we’re seeing a lot of progress there. The pathway projects for aircraft main- tenance and for watercraft maintenance are underway
May-June 2025 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION | 7
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