Therefore, to ensure military readiness, it is important to evaluate . Integrating simulators and virtual reality capabilities into range design will also help to reduce the logistical impact of home-station training and generate much-needed efficiencies in major range training opportunities while also improving overall warfighting readiness. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, DLA at a Glance, http://www.dla.mil/AtaGlance.aspx (accessed May 29, 2018). 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. These challenges become infinitely harder when considering the vastness of the Pacific or the intricacies of meeting challenges across the depth and breadth of Europe. Which successful supply chain organizations use to execute operations efficiently and increase value for their end customers. We propose interventions that accelerate concurrent development of new operational and logistics concepts. That was more than 78 percent of the total MSC active fleet of 214 ships that dayships dedicated to supporting the US forces. 30. 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. Future logistics command and control systems can ensure agility by operating despite an enemys efforts to disrupt communications through cyber and electronic warfare. Naval Supply Systems Command, Logistics Quotations, http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/navy/log_quotes_navsup.pdf (accessed May 30, 2018). logistics , In military science, all the activities of armed-force units in support of combat units, including transport, supply, communications, and medical aid. This narrated presentation describes the project, including key findings. The United States might look at its support of Ukraine as a potential model for future defense strategy. Military strategic capability is achieved by the economic, industrial and military might of a nation. 5. Military logistics has been part of the history of mankind and has evolved to become a science of application to different processes of the Operational Forces. 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. 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. Girardinihas led projects focusing. Military operations involve multifaceted threats, many with differing agendas, reactive capabilities, and adaptive competencies in a non-static environment. USTRANSCOM conducts more than 1,900 air missions during an average week and has 25 ships underway and 10,000 ground shipments operating in 75 percent of the worlds countries. 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. It is an important area of supply chain whose effective use can ensure a balance between supply and demand. 3. In February, MSC Pacific provided direct support in the activation of 10 MSC cargo ships at various West Coast ports. 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. From the food on your table, through the clothes on your body and all the way to your business product or services. 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. Secondly, the introduction of complex systems and machines will transform the way militaries will organise. Equally absent since that time has been the need to apply combat power to preserve logistics capabilities. The same account further reflects that from January 2003 through the end of April 2003, MSC delivered more than 21 million square feet of warfighting equipment and supplies, 260 million gallons of fuel, and 95,000 tons of ammunition to the Persian Gulf area for the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy warfighters involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is largely self-evident that bringing new technology into military organisations is challenging. The number of ships expanded to about 214 in mid-March as additional ships were activated from reduced operating status or chartered for the commands support of U.S. forces in OIF.23, While the immensity of this undertaking is staggering, it pales in comparison to the requirement laid out for the future military force in the National Defense Strategy (NDS). 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. The research findings summarize Patton's career and his exposure to the importance logistics plays in modern war. Unlike commercial companies with global distribution operations, the military faces conflicts that usually erupt with very little warning and immediately create enormous demands for support akin to the Christmas rush, the Black Friday crush, and Cyber Monday rolled into one. Obviously then, the logistics system must be in harmony, both with the economic system of the Nation and with the tactical concepts and environment of the combat forces.3. 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. Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms. For example, Secretary of Defense Mattiss recently announced intention to reduce non-deployable personnel is one aspect of force readiness that is affected by the health services component of logistics.17 Large numbers of non-deployable personnel reduce the available strength of military units, and without the full complement of personnel, teams cannot be trained effectively, whether they are ground units, ships crews, or aviation formations. 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. The company's dedication to logistics and the military community ensures that soldiers have access to the best coffee possible, even in the most challenging . logistics, in military science, all the activities of armed-force units in roles supporting combat units, including transport, supply, signal communication, medical aid, and the like. Taken together, collaborative services and innovation stress the importance of a vibrant military logistics community that is externally connected. They are more intricate when you have . In January 2003 momentum was really gaining and APS-3 downloaded several ships of equipment into theater. To stop the ceaseless supply of allied stuff, and . Read this work not for its focus on the sea but for its focus on national power. Research has recognized supply chain as an important source of competitive advantage. The growing complexity and diversity of the needs of modern-day armies require supply and logistics efficiency, enabling militaries to achieve national goals. "Leaders win through logistics. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989), p. 95. The name . Importance of Logistics 5. 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. This was enough military cargo to fill the deck space of 58 Nimitz class aircraft carriers. bilities outside the military logistics system. Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement, supply, and maintenance of military forces. 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, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Logistics, pp. Ethiopia, some logistics principles were applied concerning the food-supplies taken there. . Mattis, Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America, p. 6. During fiscal year (FY) 2017, DLA provided more than $35 billion in goods and services, coordinating the actions of 25,000 military, civilian, and contract personnel who provided food, clothing, fuel, repair parts, and other items across nine supply chains distributing approximately 5 million distinct consumable, expendable, and reparable items. Therefore, understanding its nature is vital to commanders and institutional leaders. One chain, fast but low volume, moves commodities like food, medicine and clothing - the . For this to happen, the U.S. government needs the appropriate license rights and actual possession of the data. Logistics, Merriam-Webster.com, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/logistics (accessed May 29, 2018). It must be able to dictate the time and tempo of its buildup and control the massive capabilities of the U.S. military. 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. More than 90 percent of the military cargo to support OIF was delivered by MSC ships. Additionally, U.S. and partner-nation forces had significant time to deploy military capability, ultimately using a single point of entry with mature facilities and infrastructure and Internet access. 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. Throughout the past decades, the military helped revolutionize the world of logistics in a myriad of ways. In Clausewitzs words, getting the force to the fight at the right place and the right time1 is the true essence of military logistics. 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. 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 United States Marine Corps has implemented some proactive measures to respond to global events and crises. 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. Utilizing its people, trucks, trains, railcars, aircraft, ships, information systems, and distribution infrastructure, as well as commercial partners 1,203 aircraft in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and 379 vessels in the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA), USTRANSCOM provides the U.S. military with highly responsive strategic mobility.11 Its handoff to service logistics personnel around the globe creates a distribution pipeline that moves critical sustainment from the factory to the tactical edge of U.S. military operations. 9. It also outlines a range of options to deliver global mobility in dynamic threat and policy environments. 19. To say the least, the challenges of military logistics are unique. 28. Shipbuilding History, Large Naval Ships and Submarines, http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/navalships.htm (accessed July 27, 2018). For the U.S. to be able to sustain effective combat operations in the modern era, it must prioritize prepositioned forward stocks and munitions, strategic mobility assets, partner and allied support, as well as non-commercially dependent distributed logistics and maintenance to ensure logistics sustainment while under persistent multi-domain attack.16. It's impossible to overstate the benefits of business logistics systems or the importance of distribution logistics. "The mechanics of the processes are often similar, but the shipping requirements are often different. Having greater logistics capability than the enemy is a force multiplier. The ability to meet the NDS requirements requires a significantly more agile force. Logistics essentially undergirds operational capability in support of national security. By C.J. This can be done by developing the means to transfer logistics data systems seamlessly from digital-based processes to analog-based processes and back. Without the right equipment, units cannot train to the full complement of their mission sets. Logistics always over-promises and under delivers. Developments in mechanized, aerial, and amphibious warfare made the logistic support of armed forces vastly more complicated and extensive (Nelson, 1992). In addition, unmanned platforms that can evacuate the injured from the point of injury without sacrificing high-cost combat platforms and additional combat capability will be critical in the dispersed battlefield. 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. Engineering support including horizontal and vertical construction of ports, airfields, and other military support infrastructure. In the modern era, the appreciation of logistics by Admiral Ernest J. 2.2 Defense Logistics Agency The Defense Mattis, Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America, p. 1. The Military Health System needs an agile, resilient, and global network of treatment and storage facilities and transportation assets, as well as knowledge of gaps and risks that could hinder effective medical support for future combat operations. The ability to measure effectiveness against efficient performance is critical. He was the director of the Military Logistics Program in the RAND Arroyo Center from 2011 to 2016 and has worked extensively in supply chain management, logistics, and data analytics. 17. It is the Army's responsibility to position the right assets for the joint force to seize the initiative in large-scale combat operations. "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 . Success at the operational level requires the integration of logistics capabilities contributed by all entities involved in military affairs, to include service, coalition-partner, interagency, governmental, private/commercial, and host-nation capabilities. Equipment readiness is another area of concern. DNA, Oxford Living Dictionaries, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dna (accessed May 29, 2018). Global Security.org, Sealift in Operation Iraqi Freedom, last modified July 7, 2011, https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/sealift-oif.htm (accessed May 30, 2018). 2. 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). This study identifies the likely changes that will arise in global mobility requirements for UK Armed Forces between now and 2040. Military units cannot perform their mission without the equipment needed to do so. It also outlines a range of options to deliver global mobility in dynamic threat and policy environments. These are far from back office functions and are truly what sustain the force and support its warfighting readiness. 4. In its simplest form, logistics is important because it is needed to supply raw materials, goods and equipment to both the maker and the consumer. Simply stated, supply readiness is the ability to have the right types and amount of equipment available for a ground unit, a ship, or an aviation unit. 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). Six months may seem a long time, but the volume of activity was immense. 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. The U.S. military has seven geographic combatant commands set up around the world Europe, Africa, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, South America, North America and even . 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