This work argues that logistics in warfare is crucial to achieving strategic success. The author identifies logistical capabilities as an arbiter of opportunity, which plays a critical role in determining which side will hold the strategic iniative in war. Armies which have secured reliable resources of supply have a great advantage in determining the time and manner in which engagements take place. Often, they can fight in ways their opponents cannot. The author illustrates this point with case studies of British logistics during the Burma campaign in the World War II, American logistical innovations during the Pacific War, Communist supply methods during the American phase of the Vietnam War and the competing logistical systems of both NATO and Warsaw Pact conventional forces during the Cold War.

This book highlights recent advances in the development of effective modeling and solution approaches to enhance the performance of military logistics. It seeks to further research in global defense-related topics, including military operations, governmental operations and security, as well as nation support. Additionally its purpose is to promote the global exchange of information and ideas amongst developers and users of military operations research tools and techniques. Over the course of its nine chapters, this edited volume addresses significant issues in military logistics including: a) Restructuring processes via OR methods aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the military logistics, b) Sense-and-Respond logistics prediction and coordination techniques that provide competitive advantage, spanning the full range of military operations across the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war, c) Procurement and auctioning, d) Inventory and stock control theories and applications, e) Military transport and logistical equipment, and, f) Maintenance, repair and overhaul on operational capability in general and equipment availability. The book aims to bridge the gap between the abundant literature on commercial logistics and its scarce defense & combat counterpart. This collection of useful insights into new trends and research will offer an ideal reference for practitioners and army related personnel interested in integrating scientific rigor to improve logistics management within defense organizations & agencies. Ultimately this book should provide a relevant platform for the latest contributions of operations management, operations research, and computational intelligence towards the enhancement of military logistics.

Operational Logistics: The Art and Science of Sustaining Military Operations explores military logistics in terms of the theoretical foundations of operational logistics (OpLog) and its applications. The theoretical foundations are examined with regard to two dimensions. First, the artistic or qualitative aspects of contemporary logistics are looked at in the context of the operational level of war. These OpLog aspects include principles, imperatives and tenets, which are stated and analyzed. The second dimension relates to the scientific aspects of logistics. It is manifested by a formal network model that represents the structural and operational features of an OpLog system. Hence the book examines both artistic and scientific dimensions of military logistics and integrates the respective qualitative and quantitative aspects into a unified and definitive presentation of operational logistics. Chapter 1 presents a general introduction to military logistics. Chapter 2 discusses the general structure and characteristics of logistics and describes its three levels - strategic, operational and tactical. Chapter 3 focuses on Operational Logistics (OpLog). Chapter 4 deals with the logistics planning process. Chapter 5 addresses the issue of logistics information. Chapter 6 deals with forecasting logistics demands. Chapter 7 introduces the first version of the logistics network model. Chapter 8 addresses an important property of an OpLog system - Flexibility. Chapter 9 discusses two major (and dual) issues in OpLog practice: force accumulation and medical treatment and evacuation. Chapter 10 presents an inter-temporal network optimization model that is designed to determine deployment and employment of the support chain in an OpLog system.

You already know that logistics is hard, it should not be, but it just is. The key components to supply and movement consist of receive, store, issue, and move. It should be that simple. Bottom line: it just is not that simple. There are too many moveable parts where the synergy of the operation could provide a scenario where the combined requirements needed to sustain a theater are greater than the sum of their individual effects or capabilities. . This book outlines some of these logistical components and their doctrinal relationship to the operation, as well as provides some new ideas. . The chapters are formatted in a fashion that offer the reader the doctrinal concept that the operation or function is based on, and then presents new theories on how to better execute the logistical function or capability as it relates to the operation. . The goal is to discuss those hard logistical topics and their conception to improve the general knowledge and understanding on "why it happens", and "how we can improve the outcome".

The mission of the United States Army is to fight and win our nation's wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders. Accomplishing this mission rests on the ability of the Army to equip and move its forces to the battle and sustain them while they are engaged. Logistics provides the backbone for Army combat operations. Without fuel, ammunition, rations, and other supplies, the Army would grind to a halt. The U.S. military must be prepared to fight anywhere on the globe and, in an era of coalition warfare, to logistically support its allies. While aircraft can move large amounts of supplies, the vast majority must be carried on ocean going vessels and unloaded at ports that may be at a great distance from the battlefield. As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown, the costs of convoying vast quantities of supplies is tallied not only in economic terms but also in terms of lives lost in the movement of the materiel. As the ability of potential enemies to interdict movement to the battlefield and interdict movements in the battlespace increases, the challenge of logistics grows even larger. No matter how the nature of battle develops, logistics will remain a key factor. Force Multiplying Technologies for Logistics Support to Military Operations explores Army logistics in a global, complex environment that includes the increasing use of antiaccess and area-denial tactics and technologies by potential adversaries. This report describes new technologies and systems that would reduce the demand for logistics and meet the demand at the point of need, make maintenance more efficient, improve inter- and intratheater mobility, and improve near-real-time, in-transit visibility. Force Multiplying Technologies also explores options for the Army to operate with the other services and improve its support of Special Operations Forces. This report provides a logistics-centric research and development investment strategy and illustrative examples of how improved logistics could look in the future.

Winner of the Eugene Feit Award in Civil War Studies by the New York Military Affairs Symposium During the Civil War, neither the Union nor the Confederate army could have operated without effective transportation systems. Moving men, supplies, and equipment required coordination on a massive scale, and Earl J. Hess’s Civil War Logistics offers the first comprehensive analysis of this vital process. Utilizing an enormous array of reports, dispatches, and personal accounts by quartermasters involved in transporting war materials, Hess reveals how each conveyance system operated as well as the degree to which both armies accomplished their logistical goals. In a society just realizing the benefits of modern travel technology, both sides of the conflict faced challenges in maintaining national and regional lines of transportation. Union and Confederate quartermasters used riverboats, steamers, coastal shipping, railroads, wagon trains, pack trains, cattle herds, and their soldiers in the long and complicated chain that supported the military operations of their forces. Soldiers in blue and gray alike tried to destroy the transportation facilities of their enemy, firing on river boats and dismantling rails to disrupt opposing supply lines while defending their own means of transport. According to Hess, Union logistical efforts proved far more successful than Confederate attempts to move and supply its fighting forces, due mainly to the North’s superior administrative management and willingness to seize transportation resources when needed. As the war went on, the Union’s protean system grew in complexity, size, and efficiency, while that of the Confederates steadily declined in size and effectiveness until it hardly met the needs of its army. Indeed, Hess concludes that in its use of all types of military transportation, the Federal government far surpassed its opponent and thus laid the foundation for Union victory in the Civil War.

The management of logistics and supply chain operations is of vital importance in the defence sector. Defence Logistics looks at established theories and their practical utility, providing insights into current thinking for postgraduate and undergraduate students, lecturers, researchers, practitioners and professionals through real-life case studies. Defence Logistics focuses on key areas of logistics and supply chain management in context, such as sustainability, inventory management, resilience, procurement, information systems and crisis response. This comprehensive and up-to-the-minute collection includes contributions from international academics from a range of universities, academies and defence schools, along with practitioners who are currently working in the field of defence logistics.