Alexander the Great noted with dark humor the importance and complexity of logistics during his campaigns of conquest nearly 2,400 years ago: My logisticians are a humorless lotthey know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.13 Alexanders ability to move a force from Greece to India and back, conquering adversaries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia and leaving functioning outposts along the way, attests to his logistical prowess. Supply readiness has been the subject of various testimonies to Congress regarding the readiness of the force on land, in the air, or on the sea. After the Cold War, U.S. logistics planners moved away from a focus on effectiveness to a focus on efficiency in the sense that little is left idle for significant periods and that commodities are delivered at minimum cost. The essence of logistics is an integrated approach to all its constituent activities, which reduces costs and increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the logistics system in supporting. See Esper and Milley, statement On the Posture of the United States Army, April 12, 2018; Spencer, statement on Fiscal Year 2019 Department of the Navy Budget, April 19, 2018; Richardson, statement on Fiscal Year 2019 Navy Budget, April 19, 2018; Neller, statement on The Posture of the United States Marine Corps, April 19, 2018; and Wilson and Goldfein, USAF Posture Statement: Fiscal Year 2019, April 24, 2018. Peter Dye, The Bridge to Airpower: Logistics Support for Royal Flying Corps Operations on the Western Front, 1914-18 Aircraft are complicated machines. By investing time into learning the different types of reverse logistics and the . This report presents algorithms that monitor the U.S. Army logistics distribution system and automatically detect distribution issues that might affect equipment readiness. To stop the ceaseless supply of allied stuff, and . Not explicitly addressed in the NDS but fundamentally implied is the equally daunting challenge of winning the home games by having the critical militaryindustry partnerships and dedicated infrastructure that serve as the preparation and launching pads for our forces. Logistics. This trend is very similar across the industrial capacity capabilities that produce aircraft and major land-component warfighting systems. The United States Marine Corps has implemented some proactive measures to respond to global events and crises. While significant force-protection requirements affected the deployment of military capability to Kuwait for combat operations in Iraq, the U.S. and partner-nation forces did not have to fight their way to the fight in Kuwait. Girardinihas led projects focusing. As a result, the logistics enterprise is rarely debated outside the logistics profession with the same intensity as other more publicized warfighting needs, especially the need to regain our military technological advantage over major competitors like China and Russia, are debated. The best example of a military outrunning its supply lines are the German experiences in both World Wars. [6] Further, uncertainty permeates operational plans, making it important that military leaders make timely and effective decisions based upon available information. Military forces must receive such support regardless of how limited or intermittent their access to the Internet may be, and supporting logistics forces must meet the demand while an enemy is trying to kill the customers, both at home and in the parking lot, and is destroying the delivery fleet at every opportunity. Press release, MSC Area Commands Provide a World of Service to Military Forces in Middle East, U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command, July 23, 2003, http://www.msc.navy.mil/publications/pressrel/press03/press34.htm (accessed May 29, 2018). U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, DLA at a Glance, http://www.dla.mil/AtaGlance.aspx (accessed May 29, 2018). Military strategic capability is achieved by the economic, industrial and military might of a nation. How do these provisional units currently source personnel and equipment requirements? Training, quality data improve MEDLOG catalog. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines logistics as the aspect of military science dealing with the procurement, maintenance, and transportation of military materiel, facilities, and personnel.2 The Joint Chiefs of Staffs Logistics elaborates on this definition and quotes Rear Admiral Henry E. Eccless 1959 statement that Logistics is the bridge between the economy of the Nation and the tactical operations of its combat forces. Highlights An important factor against integrated logistics is the experience in Iraq where the lapse in logistic doctrine of US revealed a To add a qualification at this point I don't count insurgencies or stay behind forces as defensive forces or defensive operations. The name . Perhaps not so obvious is the interconnectedness of supply readiness to all other aspects of unit readiness. Managing logistics is extremely crucial as it helps the organisations to gain deep insights of the supply chain. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrarsenalofdemocracy.html, (accessed May 29, 2018). From providing the facilities that house the members of the force and the ranges where they train, to sustaining the equipment warriors operate and wear, to providing fuel and ammunition in operations and training, the interconnectedness of logistics inextricably links logistics to military combat power. The landings in Normandy and the following supply chains had a large influence on the success of the allied operations. Given the evolution of competitors abilities to threaten the logistical underpinnings of U.S. combat power, force logistics planning now requires innovation in both technology and operational concepts. See, for example, The Honorable Mark T. Esper, Secretary of the Army, and General Mark A. Milley, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, statement On the Posture of the United States Army before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, 115th Cong., 2nd Sess., April 12, 2018, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Esper-Milley_04-12-18.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018); The Honorable Richard V. Spencer, Secretary of the Navy, statement on Fiscal Year 2019 Department of the Navy Budget before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, April 19, 2018, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Spencer_04-19-18.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018); Admiral John M. Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations, statement on Fiscal Year 2019 Navy Budget before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, April 19, 2018, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Richardson_04-19-18.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018); General Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the Marine Corps, statement on The Posture of the United States Marine Corps before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, April 19, 2018, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Neller_04-19-18.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018); and The Honorable Dr. Heather Wilson, Secretary of the Air Force, and General David L. Goldfein, Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force, USAF Posture Statement: Fiscal Year 2019, Department of the Air Force presentation to the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate, 115th Cong., 2nd Sess., April 24, 2018, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Wilson-Goldfein_04-24-18.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018). Currently slated to graduate in . Military Logistics Featured Logisticsthe transfer of personnel and materiel from one location to another, as well as the maintenance of that materielis essential for a military to be able to support an ongoing deployment or respond effectively to emergent threats. Having better-trained commanders is a force multiplier. Logistics is vital to any military campaign. According to one account: In January 2003, MSC began the build-up for what would become Operation Iraqi Freedom. 24. Answer (1 of 4): I'm as logistics officer at the IDF can tell you that no army can move for more than 72 hours without the military logistics. They are in charge of everything from buying new machinery to training of troops, and maintenance of vehicles and facilities. The shrinking militaryindustrial base that provides the wherewithal of national power faces significant challenges because of unpredictable budgets and inconsistent program funding. In concert with the diplomatic, information, and economic instruments of national power, the military helps to implement America's national security and defense strategies, 1 but success in. bilities outside the military logistics system. 20. The ability of the system to support the joint force in the event of major conflict is at best untested and could be problematic. This study identifies the likely changes that will arise in global mobility requirements for UK Armed Forces between now and 2040. 19. The use of unmanned platforms will be critical to the future of agile logistics. The logistics challenges of domestic military and civilian shipments are often comparable. Change must be made that ensures logistics agility by designing procedures and acquiring systems that adjust to changing requirements across a widely distributed force constantly and with domain-wide visibility, highlighting the needs, resources, and capabilities of the force. All you can think about . Within logistics, the supply function is critical to equipment readiness. To remain a vital contributor to military success, logistics must adapt continuously so that it bridges old systems and capabilities while embracing new technologies and concepts. You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics. This situation will strain the systems, processes, and resources intrinsic in military logistics, and exacerbate the friction along the combatants' lines of communications. One such measure is deploying task-organized units, also referred to as provisional units. MSC normally operates 120 civilian-crewed, non-combatant ships for a variety of missions around the world. Researchers conducted an analysis of alternatives of interoperability measurement systems to support the U.S. Army in achieving interoperability with partners. (Photo: U.S. Army) The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, 71 years ago today. Our logistics enterprise is absolutely vital for responding to emergencies while preparing for future conflicts." "I've been unwavering in my insistence that we cannot build a combat creditable deterrence if we do not have the logistics capability and capacity to realistically support the complex military operational plans we are likely . It should be noted, however, that in the years since these tremendous accomplishments, the size of the force available to execute these missions has shrunk considerably. If you believe and have prepared your followers, the . Additionally, two of the three Maritime Prepositioning squadrons supporting the U.S. Marine Corps were unloaded at the Ash Shuayba Port in Kuwait. The report also offers recommendations for improved distribution monitoring. The importance and the proportion of military logistics have developed at the same pace as the development of the industry of defence and the reassesment of the war concepts thus being forced to face bigger demands Field Marshal Viscount Slim, Defeat into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 19421945 (New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000), pp. Alan Estevez, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and a career Department of Defense Senior Executive Service logistics leader, recently stated, Logistics isnt rocket scienceits much harder!5 Logistics is fundamental to the readiness of the entire Joint forcethose at home, deployed in operational settings, and permanently stationed abroadgiven that it must operate around the world and across every domain of activity in spite of enemy efforts to frustrate its operations. While procurement is not exclusively a function of logistics, the countrys industrial capacity affects the availability of spare parts, the availability of technical support for contract maintenance, and the ability to replace warfighting platforms that are well beyond their service life, be they ships, aircraft, or major land-component systems (tanks, artillery, reconnaissance vehicles, personnel carriers, radars, ground vehicles, etc.). Responsiveness can be improved by leveraging industrial-base support from the point of manufacture to the tactical edge forces. Having greater logistics capability than the enemy is a force multiplier. Secondly, the introduction of complex systems and machines will transform the way militaries will organise. It would require a substantial expansion of the defense industrial base, but it might offer a plausible way to keep American objectives and resources in line without sacrificing too much in either. ognition of the importance of the logistics system to these ar-mies, attacks on magazines, baggage trains, and lines of . These interventions enable logistics capability development for new generations of warfare. King, Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II, is equally telling: I dont know what the hell this logistics is that [General George C.] Marshall is always talking about, but I want some of it.14 Similarly, in his timeless treatise on warfighting, Defeat into Victory, British Field Marshal Viscount Slim commented that building his theaters logistical infrastructure and supply reserves and maintaining his armys health were two of the three foundations of victory in his campaign in Burma and India. For this to happen, the U.S. government needs the appropriate license rights and actual possession of the data. With the coming in of COVID-19, global concerns are rising, and it is necessary to take proper care of everything. Topic: Logistics Quotes. With a single command, the soldiers needed can be supplied by the drone wherever they are. The most important of these was to guarantee free daily rations for the soldiers, amounting to two pounds of bread or hardtack a day. Importance of Logistics 5. In short, we need to have the ability to autonomously anticipate the needs of the commander, not simply respond faster to bottom-up needs identification. Without the right equipment, units cannot train to the full complement of their mission sets. The Movement Coordination Centre Europe commissioned RAND Europe to conduct a scoping study to understand constraints of operating in Africa, as well as barriers to the efficient coordination of airlift and other logistic support in the continent. Every facet of military logistics must embrace unmanned platforms, from unmanned sea-based ship-to-shore connectors to platforms for the refueling of ships to the use of unmanned platforms for aerial refueling. Widespread military use for the word logistics came during the Second World War when countries realized how important it was to maintain the flow of arsenal to the infantry on the ground. . Strategy, yes. The term logistics was not commonly used until shortly before World War II, but the concept and understanding of logistics have been around since the earliest days of warfare. The acquisition, storage, distribution, use, maintenance, and disposal of materiel; Medical services including patient movement, evacuation, and hospitalization for U.S. and partner personnel as well as indigenous personnel affected by operations; Facilities and infrastructure acquisition, construction, use, and disposition; Provision of food, water, and operational hygiene and sanitation support; Operational contract support including contract management; Infrastructure assessment, repairs, and maintenance; Common-user logistics support to other U.S. government entities, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, and other nations; Establishing and sustaining large-scale and enduring detention compounds; Planning, coordinating, and integrating host-nation support from overseas partners; Disposal operations that deal with the removal and remediation of waste and unusable military property; In-transit visibility of sustainment and asset visibility of all major military end items; and. 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