11. They also are applicable across the entire U.S. military from the strategic level to the tactical level. The importance of logistics was central to Alexander's plans, indeed his mastery of it allowed him to conduct the longest . In this interview, they discuss what made them want to join the service, what led them to research, and how their military experience guides the work they do at RAND. This will include capabilities to enhance close combat lethality in complex terrain.24 With regard to mobility and resilience, our military will be required to field ground, air, sea, and space forces that can deploy, survive, operate, maneuver, and regenerate in all domains while under attack. It is therefore important that logistics correctly assess the short-term consumption expected by combat forces; that is, the "here and now", which are essential to facilitate combat readiness and the . Logistics > PRISM | National Defense University > News. Admiral Brewer put these accomplishments into context: The amount of cargo we delivered could fill all 119 Division 1-A college football fields three times over.22 Specifically: From November 2002 to May 2003, nearly 85,000 pieces of cargo and 4,000 containers of ammunition, requiring 16 million square feet of cargo space, were loaded aboard MSC ships under MSC Atlantics operational control. The span of that bridge was literally a ship every 72 miles from the US to Kuwait. All you can think about . MSC normally operates 120 civilian-crewed, non-combatant ships for a variety of missions around the world. Hello Class. Transitioning Army Logistics Officer, looking to pursue new goals and passions outside of the Military. The report also offers recommendations for improved distribution monitoring. The criticality of logistics is not a new phenomenon, however; logistics has a significantly more complex nature today because of its integration across air, land, sea, space, and the information and cyber environments. The U.S. military has not had to fight its way to the fight since World War II. Military readiness is the capability of the military force to meet the requests of their designated assignments or missions. During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, the United States delivered 1,089 warfighting ships to the fleet that today would be classified as battle force ships. Mattis, Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America, p. 1. "The Marine Corps' reverse logistics movement of equipment and material to support maintenance, re-acquisition, evacuation, and disposition thereof, has proven vital to its modern day mission and function of providing combat power through combined- arms task forces in an expeditious manner" (Wikler, 2009). Managing logistics is extremely crucial as it helps the organisations to gain deep insights of the supply chain. Once the 2 nd World War finished, enterprises and businesses within the United States took up this word and started implementing it within normal business . For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, / For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, / For the want of a horse the rider was lost, / For the want of a rider the battle was lost, / For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost, / And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail. Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richards Almanack, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/poor-richard-s-almanac (accessed May 30, 2018). The operational integration of these various capabilities provides the linkage between the tactical and strategic levels: a means to leverage the Arsenal of Democracy29 in the hands of the men and women who serve in harms way around the globe. Researchers identified approaches the U.S. Coast Guard could take to improve crew satisfaction with precommissioning assignments on offshore patrol cutters and overall fleet readiness, then evaluated the options using five criteria. 6. Topic: Logistics Quotes. 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. Shipyard capacities and the impact of deferred maintenance due to shortages of parts in the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps have been highlighted as factors in the need for improved force readiness.18. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right . Perhaps not so obvious is the interconnectedness of supply readiness to all other aspects of unit readiness. Naval Supply Systems Command, Logistics Quotations, http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/navy/log_quotes_navsup.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018). Field Marshal Viscount Slim, Defeat into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 19421945 (New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000), pp. Engineering support including horizontal and vertical construction of ports, airfields, and other military support infrastructure. Logistics can be seen as the bridge between deployed forces and the industrial base, which produces the material and weapons deployed forces need to accomplish their mission. Whether the unit engaging the enemy is in the air, on land, at sea, or in space or cyberspace, it must embrace innovation in logistics that not only integrates new technology, but also innovates in the hybrid environment of old and new in order to retain our militarys true advantage as the worlds only force that can prevail in conflict and preserve peace through strength,31 both today and well into the future. The use of unmanned platforms will be critical to the future of agile logistics. Therefore, understanding its nature is vital to commanders and institutional leaders. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. Importance of Logistics 5. Logistics is the foundation for the success of military operations from entry-level training to the most complex operations across the spectrum of conflict. 10. U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) provides daily examples of what it takes to keep U.S. forces and their sustainment moving around the world. 2. In this companion report, researchers identify next steps toward implementing variable cost pricing for selected business lines funded by the Transportation Working Capital Fund. Modernizing home game infrastructure must also include improved, state-of-the-art ranges and maintenance facilities, which are critical to supporting the readiness of new platforms that are being acquired in every service. 101, Issue 10 (October 2017), https://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/2017/10/21st-century-logistics (accessed May 29, 2018). . "Clearly, logistics is the hard part of fighting a war." "Gentlemen, the officer who doesn't know his communications and supply as well as his tactics is totally useless." "Bitter experience in war has taught the maxim that the art of war . To add a qualification at this point I don't count insurgencies or stay behind forces as defensive forces or defensive operations. 1. An important factor against integrated logistics is the experience in Iraq where the lapse in logistic doctrine of US revealed a In late March 2003 MSC reached a peak of 167 ships in the Steel Bridge of Democracy, carrying the torch of freedom to the Iraqi people in the words of Rear Admiral D. L. Brewer III, Commander, Military Sealift Command. Therefore, to ensure military readiness, it is important to evaluate . 24. The NDS focuses on investments needed to improve the ability of forces deployed abroad to maneuver against an enemy and ensure that the posture of those forces (how they are arrayed in theater) has resilience (the ability to sustain losses and remain effective). Nevertheless, changes that positively influence the agility, survivability, responsiveness, and effectiveness of logistics systems can and must be made. Military 80 Penn State program trains Marines on battlefield logistics DC Velocity DECEMBER 18, 2018 The future fight will require significantly greater responsiveness and diversity in the face of a greater threat. Logistics owns the great privilege of . In February, MSC Pacific provided direct support in the activation of 10 MSC cargo ships at various West Coast ports. 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. "The mechanics of the processes are often similar, but the shipping requirements are often different. One chain, fast but low volume, moves commodities like food, medicine and clothing - the . Logistics is perhaps the most complex and interrelated capability provided by todays military. 31. More than 90 percent of the military cargo to support OIF was delivered by MSC ships. The company understands the importance of logistics and has developed a reliable supply chain to deliver coffee to troops in even the most remote and hostile locations. It should be noted that the current shipbuilding plan projects 11 more battle force ships than were projected in the 2017 plan. This sets the globe left of conflict and logistically. Imagine further that this must be accomplished against a force that has near-parity with our technological capabilities and the ability to engage us from fixed, friendly facilities with engagement timed on their terms. The ability to make the force more survivable requires both technological improvements that reduce the need for large footprints in bulk liquids and ammunition and refocused training and logistics concepts. The end for which a soldier is recruited, clothed, armed, and trained, the whole objective of his sleeping, eating, drinking, and marching is simply that he should fight at the right place and the right time. Lovelace February 27, 2023. Learn about the top 10 major importance of logistics management. Additionally, two of the three Maritime Prepositioning squadrons supporting the U.S. Marine Corps were unloaded at the Ash Shuayba Port in Kuwait. However, the concentration on the military mission with regard to effects, while logical from a military perspective, is cause for a gravely misleading perception among civil actors. The shift in our military focus to competing in an era of great-power competition demands an even greater understanding of logistics and highlights the breadth of the requirement to support the entirety of the force in innovative ways, from training in the United States to deploying far from home. -- In medical logistics, there are many moving parts -- each as important as the next -- to . How do these provisional units currently source personnel and equipment requirements? 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. New principles must be embraced to achieve the requirements for successful logistics capabilities in support of operational commanders and the National Defense Strategy. Preparing for the Future of Combat Casualty Care: Opportunities to Refine the Military Health System's Alignment with the National Defense Strategy, Strategic Airlift in Africa: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities for the Movement Coordination Centre Europe. Unmanned platforms that support ground distribution will complement unmanned aerial platforms that deliver vital sustainment to widely distributed forces. 17. Logistics is vital to any military campaign. 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. Secondly, the introduction of complex systems and machines will transform the way militaries will organise. Improved planning, execution, and online university for military can be of great help for boosting the market. The force of tomorrow must be ready to defeat a peer competitor in a broad battlespace that requires security for each logistics movement, the ability to off-load across various widely distributed locations, with minimal infrastructure, and in a communications-degraded environment. On deeper inspection, however, the differences are profound. From the food on your table, through the clothes on your body and all the way to your business product or services. Researchers conducted an analysis of alternatives of interoperability measurement systems to support the U.S. Army in achieving interoperability with partners. 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. Military partnerships exponentially improve the depth of logistics capacity available, creating force posture options that may not have existed before, shape regional capability, and influence long-term commitment through the sharing of organic and non-organic national industrial capability. Patton's logistical experience before assuming command of the Third Army in 1944, examines how logistics successfully contributed to Third Army's 1944-45 campaigns, and suggests appropriate lessons for today's joint logistician. 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. Raison D'etre Technologies such as additive manufacturing, improved manmachine interfaces, and advanced robotics will contribute significantly to improved survivability. Data Rights Relevant to Weapon Systems in Air Force Special Operations Command, Strategic Airlift in Africa: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities for the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) and Member Nations. The success of military logistics during the past 16-plus years of overseas combat operations is partly to blame for anyones assumption that continued logistical success in the ever-changing national security environment is a given across the entirety of the military logistics enterprise. By investing time into learning the different types of reverse logistics and the . 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. Not Sure if someone was looking for quotes on logistics so I will post a few here. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation. Every military has planned for operations its systems of logistics cannot support. That was more than 78 percent of the total MSC active fleet of 214 ships that dayships dedicated to supporting the US forces. They are innovative in thought and practice, with a command and control architecture that is immunized against cyber and electronic warfare threats, and data-driven through predictive analytics. "The cost of operating and maintaining a system over its useful life is driven primarily by system design, and reliability and maintainability decisions, which are typically made before production." - Ms. Christine Fox, Former Director, Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation (CAPE) 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.). "Leaders win through logistics. The Military Ensures Our Freedom and Safety Around the World From the battlefields of the American Revolution to the front lines of Eastern Europe, American service members have been ensuring the freedom of America and its allies for centuries. It must coordinate with allies and partners to place combined force capabilities against the adversarys weakness and develop and sustain a broad array of overseas advanced bases that will change frequently and provide the responsiveness and effectiveness needed to prevail despite enemy efforts to prevent U.S. forces from getting to or operating within the theater of combat. Military Logistics: A Brief History - Logistics is a relatively new word used to describe a very old practice: the supply, movement and maintenance of an armed force both in peacetime and under operational conditions. This situation will strain the systems, processes, and resources intrinsic in military logistics, and exacerbate the friction along the combatants' lines of communications. US admits "We're not the clear [technology] leaders that we used to be" James R. Broyles, Ph.D., is an operations researcher at the RAND Corporation with interests in military logistics, military personnel, personnel capacity planning, healthcare delivery, stochastic processes, computer simulation, and applied statistics. 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. Peter Dye, The Bridge to Airpower: Logistics Support for Royal Flying Corps Operations on the Western Front, 1914-18 Aircraft are complicated machines. In preparation for combat operations in Iraq, logisticians had six months to deploy the force and its associated sustainment. 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. Here is why: Logistics connects the world. 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. Reductions in the size and capability of the industrial base, limitations on our national sealift capacity, and aging of the infrastructure needed to move personnel, weapons systems, ammunition, and fuel all directly challenge the ability of the United States to project military power. Static inventory is distribution moving at zero miles per hour, and anything that is static on the modern battlefield has little chance of remaining survivable. 20. Throughout the past decades, the military helped revolutionize the world of logistics in a myriad of ways. 27. The best example of a military outrunning its supply lines are the German experiences in both World Wars. Failure to understand the implications of not modernizing logistics in a time of great technological change potentially spells doom for the success of the modernized force. To appreciate the challenge confronting Americas logistical capabilities, imagine having to execute a future operation similar in scale to the major deployment of U.S. combat power to Kuwait in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in March 2003. This requires both technological and training/conceptual change across the force, not exclusively in the logistics enterprise. The authors examine the logistics and sustainment aspects of an emerging operational concept for employing a family of unmanned aerial vehicles that can be launched, recovered, and sustained with minimal reliance on runways. This focus on effectiveness will prioritize the forces critical logistics needs by evaluating all requirements against mission success and differentiating the critical requirements from the multitude of inputs: in essence, providing the nail at the right time and place that prevents having to build a complete inventory of shoes, horses, and riders in order to win the battle.30. 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