The art of military logistics

I magine a military force entrenched on a riverbank , dug into a mountaintop, or isolated by a brutal winter storm. Members of the military force must have supplies—food, water, ammunition, fuel—to maintain their position and survive. How do they communicate their requirements to the rear area? What is the most efficient route and method to transport the materiel? 1 Many years ago, these were the basic problems of military logistics. Today this field has grown infinitely more complex. Drastic changes in supply chain management practices of military forces have been dictated by ever-changing global politics—and sometimes even changing political boundaries. United States military planners have begun transforming their logistical operations to accommodate a new national security environment, changing how logistic functions are accomplished while revising traditions and organization structures. But military organizations—with their rich historical traditions and special budgets—have proven an especially difficult domain to promote organization change and unification. For instance, one NATO government proposed a single unified enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to streamline its internal logistics system. Each element of its armed forces immediately presented a different ERP solution favoring its own supply system design. Since no service was willing to compromise or change its existing supply system, the project was terminated. Information technology has proved to be a unifying force in the business environment, in military organizations it will certainly prove a greater challenge. The U.S. military spends almost 30% of its operating budget on supply, maintenance, and transportation , with an increasing share devoted to technology [1]. Logisticians understand information is a fundamental element for effective logistic management. This has been true in the military context since armies were first organized and is even more critical today. Every aspect of the military supply chain—from consumption rates on the battlefield, to supply levels in forward and rear area depots, plus the ability to obtain air-or sea-lift capacity including the facilities and manpower to unload and store supplies—is contingent on solid information, and more critically on the capacity to communicate that information expeditiously. Logistics and supply chain management is rarely mentioned when countries expound upon their military achievements. The public rarely sees demonstrations of cargo aircraft, transport ships, and trucks it does fighter aircraft, warships, and tanks. Despite this lack of publicity, logistics has been a topic of interest for military philosophers and historians. Sun Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, and Carl Von Clausewitz discuss the art …