Copyright © 2023 CNA Corporation

JAPBI Brief on 

CAMOLAND

Gino Saad

saade@cna.org

Nov 15 2023

A Clothing & Textile Industrial 

Base Wargame

Photo Credit: Golden Manufacturing Tupelo, MS; Thomas 

Wells, Daily Journal.
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Who is CNA? 

• Overview

 Nonprofit research and analysis organization 

 75+ years serving government 

 Nearly 700 research and professional staff

 72% of researchers hold Ph.D.s

• A History of Service

 1942: Created during World War II to bring civilian scientists to 

the U-boat fight. Pioneered the field of operations research for 

the Navy. Embedded with sailors and Marines in every war since.

 1993: The Center for Naval Analyses branches off the Institute 

for Public Research, serving non-defense agencies such as the 

FAA, HHS and FEMA. 

Together they make up CNA.
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The problem in detail

• Time scale: 6 years total including pre- and post-

contingency (2024-2028).

• Mobilization of Active, Reserve, and Guard components 

for a large-scale contingency operation (LSCO).

 ~2 million with about 1/3 forward deployed—and 

requiring combat uniforms—at the peak.

• Study population has a representative sample of C&T 

NIINs required to support wargame contingency 

events: 7-layer cold weather system, Combat uniforms, 

Boots, Coveralls, Aircrew/flame resistant uniforms.

• Wargame scenarios:  Years 1-2: Wartime preparations.  Year 3: Small-scale contingency in the high north that 

requires the 7-layer extreme cold weather clothing 

system. 

 Years 3-6: large-scale contingency in INDOPACOM 

requiring both temperate and tropical weather uniforms.

 Year 6: post-contingency. 
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Wargame Design

Turn begins

• White team updates scenario 

• Deployed troop forecast

• C&T production demand for turn

• Teams draw action card hands for turn

Government turn

• Government statement

• Proposal for C&T team policy actions for 

next turn

C&T IB turn

• C&T IB team statement

• Proposal for government policy actions 

for next turn

C&T production (4x)

• Government team plays action cards 

• C&T IB team plays action cards

• C&T IB team produces PCGs

Teams out brief

• Update

• Assess production

• Plans for next turn

• Three parts of the game

 Supply chain engine & DLA ACE 

Model

 Policy Actions Cards

 Industry & Government 

Discussions

• Centered on full DoD mobilization 

of Active, Reserve, and Guard 

components to meet demand of 

simultaneous small- and large-scale 

contingency operations.
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Supply Chain Truths 

• Production requires sufficient trained staff, 

equipment, and inventory of parts to produce 

goods.

• Supply chain throughput is limited by whichever 

factor is slowest (1 missing component can stall the 

supply chain).

• Bottlenecks move through the system starting at raw 

materials.

• The C&T supply chains are lean

• Overproduction, unused equipment, & overstaffing 

costs $

• Scaling up takes more time than scaling down.

• Training people and acquiring new equipment takes 

more time than lay-offs.

• Production doesn’t start until a delivery order is in 

hand (not forecast, not contract, DO). Products will 

be delivered 3-6 months after DO in hand.

• Steady demand is more efficient than sporadic 

demand

• Continuously running production lines will be better 

prepared for a surge in demand than those that 

producing in batches.

Tension between Industry and 

Government

• Remove Berry 

compliance. Cuts 

government 

spending

• Loss of resiliency 

(dependencies on 

foreign countries) 

in contingency

• Expand Berry 

compliance – stabilize 

demand, increase 

market size

• Must address 

accusations of 

government porkbarreling
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Supply Chain Engine

• Purpose: the production phase is a 

very simplified surrogate of C&T IB 

production designed to reveal 

constraints, limitations, and 

bottlenecks. 

• There are three tiers to the 

CAMOLAND C&T supply chain

1. Clothing manufacturers (tier 1)

2. Component manufacturers (tier 2)

3. Raw material suppliers (tier 3)

• PCGs played were CW Parka, FR Coat, 

and IHWCU Coat.

• Each tier produces using simplified 

inputs

• Each tier feeds the subsequent tier to 

meet DLA demand or rectify 

delinquencies. 

• Individual tiers manage # of lines, 

staffing, production capability and 

balancing their budget sheet. 
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Industry & Government Discussions

• Provided a venue for IB partners and government participants to 

discuss supply chain challenges in greater detail than the supply 

chain engine allowed:

 Pain and friction points between DLA & Industry

 Issues specific to IB areas

 Potential government and IB solutions to identified challenges

• Sessions split by areas 

 Uniforms (non-profit)

 Uniforms (for-profit) 

 Uniform components

 Cold weather uniforms

 Boots 
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Supply Chain Engine In Action

• Game Summary:

 5 turns. Players actively worked through 3.5 

years of a 7 year scenario. 

– Competition (baseline)

– CW contingency (1 year)

– LSCO ramp up w/ CW Rampdown

– LSCO steady state

– LSCO ramp down

 Game simplified to explore 3 PCGs: 

Demand Spike: Game orders increased 

5-7x from baseline with large 

oscillations due to troop rotations/wear 

and tear. 

Figure Credit: DLA ACE

• Simplified production does not mean simplified decisions.

 Wargames are tools to understand player decisions and identify challenges for follow-on 

study.

 While we made simplifying assumptions for game purposes, we ensured the mechanics 

required industry experts to make difficult/complex decisions.

 Adding more realism will only aggravate challenges observed within the wargame.
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CAMOLAND Initial Insights 

1. Everything is a bottleneck, but some bottlenecks are worse than others. 

 The demand spike resulted in all Tiers having insufficient equipment/staff and materials

 Players indicated policy solutions to reduce bottlenecks were specific to each company’s 

situation.

 Implication: DLA should consider identifying those companies able to ramp up most quickly 

in a supply chain.

2. Government needs visibility where/when multiple items competing for same 

component or material and must have process to prioritize items.

 When the LSCO was ramping up and the CW scenario was ramping down, the CW supply 

chain was directly competing with the uniform supply chain for bolts of cloth.

 DLA communication with tier 3 suppliers may increase the agility of the IB. 

3. The C&T DIB cannot ramp up at the flip of a switch

 The cold weather scenario was ramping down by the time the supply chain was able to ramp 

up.

 Implication: Short duration shocks to the supply chain can only be mitigated by stock on 

hand.

 Stockpile of component parts, whether GFM or VMI reduces delinquencies but delays 

between policy decisions and game effects resulted in miscalculations in stockpiling 

components.

 Implication: Government must not only have a policy, but a plan for phasing policy and 

targeting policy where and when it is needed.
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CAMOLAND Initial Insights (cont.) 

4. Different companies make different 

prioritization decisions that may 

prevent current capacity from being 

used in demand spike. 

 When demand spiked, 1 T2 co. chose “firstin, first out” leaving 1 company with excess 

and another without a required component. 

 The company with excess still lacked staff, 

while the company lacking material had 

unused staff/equipment that round.

5. Players prioritized staff stability over “chasing” the demand (following oscillations 

closely). 

• Players chose to accept delinquencies during a high quarter, to “even out” a subsequent relatively 

low quarter.

6. DLA’s cumulative delinquencies did not decrease until after LSCO ramp down.

• The DIB eventually ramped up to meet the new “steady state” demand.

• Participants were reluctant to ramp up sufficiently to “catch-up” with the backlog – again 

prioritizing staff stability and citing concerns of miscalculating a ramp-down. 

7. Outstanding delinquencies during ramp down created the opportunity for a natural 

“soft-landing” for the industry, though companies ramping down at different rates may 

complicate this process.

Start of 

game

Figure Credit: DLA ACE
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8. Inability of for-profit IB vendors to offer a competitive wage in their respective 

markets due to government contract terms compromises their long-term 

viability

 Other businesses competing for the same labor market segment can offer higher wages 

(i.e., fast food, retail etc.).

 C&T workers on commercial production lines at IB vendors make higher wages than their 

counterparts producing uniforms for DOD due to higher profit margins allowed in 

commercial contracts.

9. Strong community mentality within the C&T IB 

 Vendors band together to ensure competitors remain viable during times of lower 

demand—by sub-contracting to one another to limit operating losses. 

10. Defense Production Act Title III of particular interest to both government and 

industry participants with historical cases of use during COVID 19. 

11. DLA communication with all IB tiers improves vendor health and agility 

 Each tier experiences different chokepoints and problems are not persistent across all 

tiers. 

 Government and Tier 1 IB partners adjust contract and delivery terms to maintain 

vendor long-term viability. 

 With tier 3 suppliers may increase the agility of the IB. 

CAMOLAND Initial Insights (cont.) 
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CAMOLAND Initial Insights (cont.) 

12. Stockpiling component parts, either through GFM or VMI, increases IB ability to 

respond to demand spikes

13. Draw-down at the end of a contingency results in shrinkage of IB because of less 

demand and less funds for purchases

 Planning and strong government-IB communications can mitigate some of these effects.

14. Time delays result in large delinquencies early in a surge as bottle necks work their 

way through the supply chain

15. Expansion of Berry Amendment to other US Government agencies will stabilize 

industry demand however political barriers, such as free trade, remain

 Homeland Procurement Reform (HOPR) Act closes loopholes in the Kissell Amendment for 

the Department of Homeland Security by establishing criteria for purchasing uniforms, 

footwear, and personal equipment from American sources. 

 More federal agencies could source their uniforms, footwear, and personal equipment 

from American vendors, but doing so likely requires political intervention.