The Global Expeditionary Logistics Symposium (GELS) 2024, co-hosted by the Association of Marine Corps Logisticians (AMCL) and Christopher Newport University's (CNU) Center for American Studies (CAS), was a notable event for industry leaders, logisticians, and Marine Corps members alike. Among the attendees were CANA's Shawn Charchan, Technical Director of Energy Solutions, Rob Cranston, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Bowmer, Principal Logistics Analyst.
Mark Bowmer, attending GELS for the first time, found the event to be an inspiring learning experience. "As a first-time GELS attendee, it was amazing to learn from fellow logisticians and be inspired by Marine leadership to achieve new expeditionary capabilities," said Bowmer. "The opportunity to develop and exchange ideas was enormous. I can’t help but recall some poignant words by Russell Rumbaugh, assistant secretary of the Navy, Financial Management and Comptroller, who said, 'Having people who are willing to be those interlocutors and help put that together, identify operational needs, identify technological solutions and bring those together is invaluable. The more tools we have to reach out [and] create relationships that continue on to the benefit of everybody, the better off we are.' GELS was the perfect interlocution. Industry and the Marines are better because of opportunities like this."
Rob Cranston echoed Bowmer’s sentiments, highlighting the event's ability to bring together diverse participants. “It was really awesome to reconnect with several USMC in and out of uniform and old business owner friends at the Global Expeditionary Logistics Symposium (GELS) 2024,” Cranston said. He praised the hosts, AMCL and CNU CAS, for organizing a phenomenal event, particularly noting the interactive war game led by Travis Reese and Kevin Williamson, which engaged attendees in unique collaborative sessions. "Guest speakers like MGen Bill Bowers, CG, MCRC, Pat Kelleher, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Materiel Readiness, and the 38th commandant of the Marine Corps, Dave Berger, really challenged and interacted with the audience on challenges in logistics distribution facilities installations as a war-fighting position, supply chain failures, maintenance planning and positioning, and health and wellness of recruiting." Cranston expressed enthusiasm for the future, stating, "The CANA Team is 100% looking forward to participating once again at GELS 2025 at the same CNU location!”
Shawn Charchan also valued the networking opportunities GELS provided. "GELS was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with old classmates and colleagues from the Marine Corps logistics community," said Charchan.
Representing CANA, Charchan had the honor of moderating a panel alongside industry leaders in DOD energy. "In that capacity, we aimed to ask questions that would be both insightful and actionable for the audience, particularly the many uniformed AMCL members in attendance. The panel highlighted both specific emergent tech and how audience members could effectively balance DOD acquisition guidelines with the need to calibrate requirements based on the current state of the art for DOD and industry technologies related to alternative fuel sources, energy storage, and energy transmission."
Overall, GELS 2024 proved to be a rich forum for sharing ideas, learning from industry leaders, and exploring innovative solutions in logistics and expeditionary capabilities. With its successful outcome, anticipation for GELS 2025 is already building among attendees like Charchan, Cranston, and Bowmer, who look forward to furthering the dialogue and collaboration initiated at this year’s symposium.
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