Military logistics

Last updated
U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 and Navy personnel from Beach Master Unit 2 off-load ISO containers from a Landing Craft Utility with a Logistics Vehicle System Replacement U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8, Transportation Support Company, work together with Navy personnel from Beach Master Unit 2 off-loading ISO containers off a Landing Craft Utility during 120615-M-KS710-039.jpg
U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 and Navy personnel from Beach Master Unit 2 off-load ISO containers from a Landing Craft Utility with a Logistics Vehicle System Replacement
Loading artillery shells Saber Junction 15 150426-A-QC664-003.jpg
Loading artillery shells

Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement, supply, and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:

Contents

Etymology and definition

The word "logistics" is derived from the Greek adjective logistikos meaning "skilled in calculating", [1] and its corresponding Latin word logisticus. In turn this comes from the Greek logos, which refers to the principles of thought and action. [2] Another Latin root, log-, gave rise around 1380 to logio, meaning to lodge or dwell, and became the French verb loger , meaning "to lodge". Around 1670, the French King Louis XIV created the position of Maréchal des logis , an officer responsible for planning marches, establishing camp sites, and regulating transport and supply. The term logistique soon came to refer to his duties. [3] It was in this sense that Antoine-Henri Jomini referred to the term in his Summary of the Art of War (1838). In the English translation, the word became "logistics". [4]

In 1888, Charles C. Rogers created a course on naval logistics at the Naval War College. In Farrow's Military Encyclopedia (1895), Edward S. Farrow, and instructor in tactics at West Point provided this definition:

Bardin considers the application of this word by some writers as more ambitious than accurate. It is derived from Latin logista, the administrator or intendant of the Roman armies. It is properly that branch of the military art embracing all the details for moving and supplying armies. It includes the operations of the ordnance, quartermaster's, subsistence, medical, and pay departments. It also embraces the preparation and regulation of magazines, for opening a campaign, and all orders of march and other orders from the general-in-chief relative to moving and supplying armies. [5]

The term became popularised during the Second World War. In Logistics in World War II: Final Report of the Army Service Forces, Lieutenant General LeRoy Lutes, the commanding general of the Army Service Forces, gave the term a more expansive definition:

The word "logistics" has been given many different shades of meaning. A common definition is: "That branch of military art which embraces the details of the transport, quartering, and supply of troops in military operations." As the word is used in the following pages, its meaning is even broader. It embraces all military activities not included in the terms "strategy" and "tactics." In this sense, logistics includes procurement, storage, and distribution of equipment and supplies; transport of troops and cargo by land, sea, and air; construction and maintenance of facilities; communication by wire, radio, and the mails; care of the sick and wounded; and the induction, classification, assignment, welfare and separation of personnel. [6]

NATO uses a more restrictive definition:

The science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of forces. In its most comprehensive sense, the aspects of military operations which deal with:

  1. design and development, acquisition, storage, movement, distribution, maintenance, evacuation, and disposal of materiel;
  2. transport of personnel;
  3. acquisition or construction, maintenance, operation, and disposition of facilities;
  4. acquisition or furnishing of services; and
  5. medical and health service support. [7]

In the 1960s, the term "logistics" began to be used in the business world, [2] where it means physical distribution and supply chain management. This is more restricted than the military definition. [8]

Logistics is an enabler of military operations, not an end in itself. [9] Poor logistics can result in defeat, but even the best logistics cannot guarantee victory. Conversely, the best possible logistics is not always required: fit for purpose can suffice. [10]

Principles

Pallets of supplies being dropped to servicemembers at a remote camp in Afghanistan. Air transport was an important part of NATO logistics in Afghanistan. Airdrop pallets.jpg
Pallets of supplies being dropped to servicemembers at a remote camp in Afghanistan. Air transport was an important part of NATO logistics in Afghanistan.

Historian James A. Huston proposed sixteen principles of military logistics: [11] [12]

  1. Equivalence: Strategy, tactics and logistics are inseparable and interdependent facets of military art and science.
  2. Material precedence: Mobilisation of materiel should precede that of personnel, and the provision of logistical units that of combat units.
  3. Forward impetus: The impetus of supply should be from the rear, and combat unit commanders should be spared having to deal with logistical details while still being in control of their logistics.
  4. Mobility: Logistics should facilitate the rapid movement of both combat and logistical units in support of operations.
  5. Dispersion: Multiple sources of supply and lines of communications reduce the enemy interference and congestion of transportation infrastructure.
  6. Economy: Logistical resources are limited, so they must be deployed so as to make the best use of them.
  7. Feasibility: Logistical capabilities are subject to external constraints.
  8. Flexibility: Strategic and operational plans and priorities change and logistical support must change with them.
  9. Relativity: Logistics is relative to time and space.
  10. Continuity: Fundamental changes should not be required to meet an emergency.
  11. Timeliness Logistical tasks must be accomplished so as to take full advantage of opportunities.
  12. Responsibility: Someone must be responsible for logistical performance and outcomes.
  13. Unity of command: Logistics is a function of command and a single authority should be responsible for logistics.
  14. Information: Accurate and timely information is required for effective logistical planning and support.
  15. Quality: Logistics is facilitated by strict quality standards.
  16. Simplicity: Simple solutions are more effective and manageable.

The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff reduced the number of principles to just seven: [13]

  1. Responsiveness: Providing the required support when and where it is needed.
  2. Simplicity: fosters unity and efficiency in planning and execution, and reduces the fog of war and the "friction" caused by combat.
  3. Flexibility: the ability to improvise and adapt to changing situations and requirements.
  4. Economy: using the minimum amount of resources required to bring about an objective.
  5. Attainability: the point at which sufficient supplies, support and distribution capabilities exist to initiate operations at an acceptable level of risk.
  6. Sustainability: the ability to maintain the necessary level and duration of logistics support to achieve objectives.
  7. Survivability: the capacity to prevail in spite of adverse impacts.

Supply options

There are three basic options for the supply of an army in the field, which can be employed individually or in combination. [14]

Obtain supplies in the field

A soldier purchases fresh melons from a local merchant in Shah Wali Kot district, Afghanistan Buying melons (Image 1 of 2).webp
A soldier purchases fresh melons from a local merchant in Shah Wali Kot district, Afghanistan

The most basic requirements of an army were food and water. [15] Foraging involved gathering food and fodder for animals in the field. The availability of these tends to be seasonal, with greater abundance around harvest time in agricultural regions. [16] There is also a dependence on geography, for in desert campaigns there may not be food, water or fodder available locally. [17]

Looting was a means of obtaining supplies in the field. It is possible to capture supplies from the enemy or enemy population. [18] An alternative is purchasing, whereby an army takes cash and buys its supplies in the field. [19] Cash can also be obtained in the field through local taxation, backed by the threat of violence. [20] The major drawback of using local sources of supply is that they can be exhausted if an army remains in one place for too long, so a force dependent on local supply needs to keep moving. [21]

The widespread use of resources in the field gives rise to counter-logistics, whereby they are denied to the enemy through devastation of the land and removal or destruction of resources. [16] Pre-emptive purchasing can be used as a form of economic warfare. [22] A besieging force can attempt to starve out a garrison or tempt it to sally through devastation of the surrounding area rather than undertake the more costly operation of assaulting and destroying it, but if it is dependent on local supply then the besieger who might be starved out through their exhaustion. [23]

Carry supplies with the army

A second method is to bring along what is needed, whether by ships, pack animals, wagons or carried on the backs of the soldiers themselves. [24] Since ancient times, troops had carried rations and personal equipment such as weapons, armour, cooking gear and bedrolls. [25] Animals could be driven to accompany the army and consumed for meat. [16] Roads facilitate the movement of wheeled vehicles, and travel by river or sea permits the carriage of large volumes of supplies. [25] This allowed the army some measure of self-sufficiency, and until the development of faster firing weapons in the 19th century most of the ammunition a soldier needed for an entire campaign could be carried on their person or in wagons accompanying the troops. However, this method led to an extensive baggage train which could slow the army's advance. [24]

Ship supplies from the rear

USS Mustin receives supplies at sea Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - USS Mustin receives supplies at sea2.jpg
USS Mustin receives supplies at sea

Obtaining supplies in the field and carrying supplies with the army remained the primary means of supply until the 19th century, [24] but even in the 17th century the much larger armies of the period were highly dependent on food supplies being gathered in magazines and shipped to the front. [26] Starting with the Industrial Revolution, new technological, technical and administrative advances permitted supplies to be transported at speeds and over distances never before possible. [27]

At the same time, increased demands for ammunition, and the heavier weight of shells and bombs made it more difficult for armies to carry their requirements, and they soon became dependent on regular replenishment of ammunition from depots. At the same time, mechanisation, with motor vehicles replacing animals, created a demand for fuel and spare parts, neither of which could be obtained locally. This led to a "logistical revolution" which began in the 20th century and drastically improved the capabilities of modern armies while making them highly dependent on this method. [27]

History

Airmen load pallets of fuel onto a C-17 Globemaster III to support the first ever C-17 polar airdrop. 050412-F-0158T-001 Airmen load pallets of fuel onto a C-17 Globemaster III, to support the first ever C-17 polar airdrop.jpg
Airmen load pallets of fuel onto a C-17 Globemaster III to support the first ever C-17 polar airdrop.

The history of military logistics goes back to Neolithic times. [28] The most basic requirements of an army were food and water. [15] Early armies were equipped with weapons used for hunting like spears, knives, axes and bows and arrows, [28] and rarely exceeded 20,000 men due to the practical difficulty of supplying a large number of soldiers. [29] Large armies began to appear in the Iron Age. [30] Animals such as horses, oxen, camels and elephants were used as beasts of burden to carry supplies. [31] [32] Food, water and fodder for the animals could usually be found or purchased in the field. [33]

The Roman Empire and Maurya Empire in India built networks of roads, but it was far less expensive to transport a ton of grain from Egypt to Rome than 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road. [34] [25] After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century there was the shift from a centrally organised army to a combination of military forces made up of local troops. [35] Feudalism was a distributed military logistics system where magnates of the households drew upon their own resources for men and equipment. [36] [37]

When operating in enemy territory an army was forced to plunder the local countryside for supplies, which allowed war to be conducted at the enemy's expense. However, with the increase in army sizes from the late sixteenth century onward, this reliance on pillage and plunder became problematic, as decisions regarding where and when an army could move or fight became based not on strategic objectives but on whether a given area was capable of supporting the soldiers' needs. Sieges in particular were affected by this, both for an army attempting to lay siege to a town and one coming to its relief. Unless a commander was able to arrange a form of regular resupply, a fortress or town with a devastated countryside could become immune to either operation. [38]

Napoleon made logistics a major part of his strategy. [39] He dispersed his corps along a broad front to maximise the area from which supplies could be drawn. Each day forage parties brought in supplies. This differed from earlier operations living off the land in the size of the forces involved, and because the primary motivation was the emperor's desire for mobility. [40] Ammunition could not as a rule be obtained locally, but it was still possible to carry sufficient ammunition for an entire campaign. [41]

Rail operations at Camp Lejeune U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, participate in rail operations at Camp Lejeune (11).webp
Rail operations at Camp Lejeune

The nineteenth century witnessed technological developments that facilitated immense improvements to the storage, handling and transportation of supplies which made it easier to support and army from the rear. Canning simplified storage and distribution of foods, and reduced waste and the incidence of food-related illness. Refrigeration allowed frozen meat and fresh produce to be stored and shipped. [42] Steamships made water transports faster and more reliable. [43] Railways were a more economical form of transport than animal-drawn carts and wagons, although they were limited to tracks, and therefore could not support an advancing army unless its advance was along existing railway lines. [43] At the same time, the advent of industrial warfare in the form of bolt-action rifles, machine guns and quick-firing artillery sent ammunition consumption soaring during the First World War. [44] [45]

In the twentieth century the advent of motor vehicles powered by internal combustion engines offered an alternative to animal transport for moving supplies forward of the railhead, although many armies still used animals during the Second World War. [46] [47] The development of air transport provided an alternative to both land and sea transport, but with limited tonnage and at high cost. [48] An airlift over "the Hump" helped supply the Chinese war effort, [49] and after the war the 1948 Berlin Air Lift was successful in supplying half of the city. [44] With the subsequent development of large jets, aircraft became the preferred method of moving personnel over long distances, although it was still more economical to move cargo by sea and land. In forward areas, the helicopter was well-suited to moving troops and supplies, especially over rugged terrain. [44]

Models

Levels

Akin to the three levels of war, there can be considered to be three levels of logistics. Although modern communications and information technology may have blurred the distinction between them, [50] the three-level hierarchy is deeply embedded in the organisational structure of military forces. [51]

Unlike business logistics, the objective of military logistics is not cost effectiveness of the supply chain, but maximum sustained combat effectiveness. [56] At the tactical level, efficiency is the overriding consideration, whereas at the strategic level effectiveness is the dominant concern. [57]

Analytical tools

Supply convoy in Afghanistan Tarin Kowt convoy.webp
Supply convoy in Afghanistan

The development of computers facilitated the use of analytic tools. Multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a sub-discipline of operations research that explicitly evaluates multiple conflicting criteria in decision making. [58] The location of a supply depot could involve multiple considerations and constraints, such as the access to road, rail and sea transport, and travel times to desired delivery destinations. Sometimes the number of alternatives is small and they can be considered individually, but they can also be too large for this to be possible. The consideration of constraints simplifies the decision making. These constraints could be economic, such as cost, but might also be less easily quantified, such as political, strategic or operational considerations. [59] [60] The United States Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense call this methodology the Analysis of Alternatives, and require it for military acquisitions. [61] [62]

Logistical planning requires forecasting of future consumption and attrition. [60] There are two types of attrition: material attrition and personnel attrition. The former relates to the loss of equipment through combat, accidents and ordinary wear and tear through usage. [63] Reliability theory can be used to forecast the mean time between failures of equipment and parts. [64] [65] This can be used to develop replacement factors, on which manufacturing and stock levels can be based. In the case of items like subsistence and soap, where demand is highly predictable, it is more convenient to use consumption factors instead. [66] Forecasting of casualties in combat is more difficult, as past experience may not be a reliable guide to future losses, but is required for planning by the medical services. [65] Mathematical models of combat have been developed for this purpose. [67] Lanchester's laws are differential equations that describe the time dependence of two armies' strengths as a function of time. [68]

Mathematical models exist for scheduling of convoys to ensure that vehicles and the goods they carry arrive in time. Vehicle routing models can be used to select routes for timely delivery with minimum exposure to enemy action and without overloading the capacity of transportation networks. Scheduling models can be used to coordinate convoys the share the same routes. There are also models for inventory management that can be used to scheduling and quantity of orders, and stock levels, taking into account factors such as storage capacity, demand rates and delivery lead times. [69] [70] [71]

Notes

  1. ↑ Mangan & Lalwani 2016, p. 8.
  2. 1 2 Tepic, Tanackov & Stojić 2011, p. 379.
  3. ↑ Rider 1970, p. 25.
  4. ↑ Rider 1970, p. 26.
  5. ↑ Farrow 1895, p. 230.
  6. ↑ Lutes 1993, p. vii.
  7. ↑ NATO 2013, p. 2-L-5.
  8. ↑ Mangan & Lalwani 2016, pp. 9–13.
  9. ↑ Tuttle 2005, pp. 3–4.
  10. ↑ Black 2021, p. 165.
  11. ↑ Huston 1989, pp. 386–388.
  12. ↑ Huston 1966, pp. 655–668.
  13. ↑ O'Donohue 2019, pp. I-8–I-9.
  14. ↑ Kress 2002, p. 9.
  15. 1 2 Kress 2002, p. 10.
  16. 1 2 3 Black 2021, p. 2.
  17. ↑ Lynn 1993, p. 32.
  18. ↑ Black 2021, pp. 12–13, 78.
  19. ↑ Black 2021, pp. 6, 74.
  20. ↑ Lynn 1993, pp. 143–146.
  21. ↑ Lynn 1993, pp. 139–140.
  22. ↑ Black 2021, p. 117.
  23. ↑ Lynn 1993, p. 35.
  24. 1 2 3 Kress 2002, pp. 9–10.
  25. 1 2 3 Black 2021, pp. 4–5.
  26. ↑ Lynn 1993, pp. 140–143.
  27. 1 2 Kress 2002, pp. 10–11.
  28. 1 2 Dyer 1985, p. 12.
  29. ↑ Dyer 1985, p. 26.
  30. ↑ Thompson 1991, p. 11.
  31. ↑ Engels 1980, pp. 14–16.
  32. ↑ Bachrach & Bachrach 2017, pp. 170–171.
  33. ↑ Black 2021, pp. 9–10.
  34. ↑ Roth 1999, pp. 214–217.
  35. ↑ Bachrach & Bachrach 2017, pp. 181–182.
  36. ↑ Black 2021, p. 8.
  37. ↑ Bachrach & Bachrach 2017, pp. 182–184.
  38. ↑ Creveld 1997, pp. 5–10.
  39. ↑ Schneid 2005, p. 106.
  40. ↑ Lynn 1993, pp. 18–19.
  41. ↑ Creveld 1997, pp. 56–57.
  42. ↑ Macksey 1989, p. 33-34.
  43. 1 2 Lynn 1993, pp. 183–184.
  44. 1 2 3 Lynn 1993, p. 185.
  45. ↑ Creveld 1997, pp. 109–111.
  46. ↑ Lynn 1993, p. 184.
  47. ↑ Black 2021, p. 124.
  48. ↑ Macksey 1989, pp. 129–130.
  49. ↑ Huston 1966, pp. 431–432.
  50. ↑ Ferris & Keithly 1997, pp. 38–49.
  51. ↑ Kress 2002, p. 17.
  52. 1 2 3 National Research Council 1999, p. 22.
  53. ↑ Rodgers 2020, p. 13.
  54. ↑ Black 2021, p. 182.
  55. ↑ Demarest, Colin (14 August 2023). "To Nail Logistics, US Army Works on Info-Sharing at Talisman Sabre". Defense News. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  56. ↑ Eccles 1959, p. 22.
  57. ↑ Kress 2002, p. 38.
  58. ↑ Koksalan, Wallenius & Zionts 2011, pp. 12–13.
  59. ↑ Zionts 1979, pp. 95–96.
  60. 1 2 Kress 2002, p. 27.
  61. ↑ Ast & Ullman 2011, p. 24.
  62. ↑ Ullman, David C. (September 2011). "Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) Based Decisions" . Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  63. ↑ Dupuy et al. 1986, p. 5.
  64. ↑ Barlow & Proschan 1996, pp. 1–5.
  65. 1 2 Kress 2002, p. 28.
  66. ↑ Risch 1953, pp. 215–216.
  67. ↑ Bracken, Kress & Rosent 1996, p. 17.
  68. ↑ Dupuy et al. 1986, p. 3.
  69. ↑ Kasilingam 1998, pp. 1–5.
  70. ↑ Irnich, Toth & Vigo 2014, pp. 1–3.
  71. ↑ Kress 2002, pp. 29–30.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logistics</span> Management of the flow of resources

Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logistics management is a component that holds the supply chain together. The resources managed in logistics may include tangible goods such as materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as food and other consumable items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Expeditionary Forces</span> Army-led formation of the U.S. Armed Forces on the Western Front of World War I

The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the U.S. Army. The AEF was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of then-Major General John J. Pershing. It fought alongside French Army, British Army, Canadian Army, British Indian Army, New Zealand Army and Australian Army units against the Imperial German Army. A small number of AEF troops also fought alongside Italian Army units in 1918 against the Austro-Hungarian Army. The AEF helped the French Army on the Western Front during the Aisne Offensive in the summer of 1918, and fought its major actions in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the latter part of 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Desert campaign</span> North African Campaign during WWII

The Western Desert campaign took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with the Italian declaration of war and the Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya in September. Operation Compass, a five-day raid by the British in December 1940, was so successful that it led to the destruction of the Italian 10th Army over the following two months. Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who sent a small German force to Tripoli under Directive 22. The Afrika Korps was formally under Italian command, as Italy was the main Axis power in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment</span> Military unit

The Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment, is the New Zealand Army's main military Logistics and combat service support (CSS) element. It is the largest regiment in the NZ Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combat loading</span> Type of unit loading of ships

Combat loading is a special type of unit loading of ships so that embarked forces will have immediately needed weapons, ammunition and supplies stowed in such a way that unloading of equipment will be concurrent with the force personnel and available for immediate combat during an amphibious landing. It gives primary consideration to the ease and sequence with which troops, equipment, and supplies can be unloaded ready for combat, rather than to the efficient use of cargo space as in convoy loading where forces and equipment would be joined in rear or secure areas. The art and science of combat loading were developed in World War II, and contributed greatly to the success of Allied amphibious campaigns. While combat loading usually took place in forward bases, the Western Task Force for the landings in North Africa was combat loaded at the Army's Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation which was called on again for the Sicily force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Chastity</span> Unrealised WW2 Allied logistics plan

Operation Chastity was a World War II plan by the Allies to seize Quiberon Bay, France, enabling the construction of an artificial harbor to support Allied operations in Northern France in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army Service Forces</span> Logistics component of the United States Army from 1942 to 1946

The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large commands, the Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, drastically reduced the number of officers and agencies reporting directly to him. The Army Service Forces brought together elements of five different components of the Army: elements of the War Department General Staff (WDGS), especially its G-4 division ; the Office of the Under Secretary of War; the eight administrative bureaus; the nine corps areas, which became service commands; and the six supply arms and services, which became known as the technical services. The Army Service Forces was initially known as the United States Army Services of Supply but the name was changed on 12 March 1943, as it was felt that the term "supply" did not accurately describe the broad range of its activities. The Army Service Forces was abolished on 11 June 1946 and most of its functions were taken over by the War Department General Staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British logistics in the Falklands War</span> 1982 combat service support operations

The 1982 British military campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands depended on complex logistical arrangements. The logistical difficulties of operating 7,000 nautical miles from home were formidable. The Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands came at a time when the Royal Navy was experiencing a reduction in its amphibious capability, but it still possessed the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and Invincible, the landing platform dock (LPD) ships HMS Fearless and Intrepid, and six landing ship logistics (LSL) ships. To provide the necessary logistic support, the Royal Navy's ships were augmented by ships taken up from trade (STUFT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Train (military)</span> Collection of military transport

In military contexts, a train is the logistical transport elements accompanying a military force. Often called a supply train or baggage train, it has the job of providing materiel for their associated combat forces when in the field. When focused on provision of field artillery and its ammunition, it may be termed an artillery train. For sieges, the addition of siege engines to an artillery train was called a siege train. These military terms predate, and do not imply a railway train, though railways are often employed for modern logistics, and can include armoured trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Pusan Perimeter logistics</span> Part of Korean War

Logistics in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter during the Korean War played a decisive role in the battle. Efficient logistics, the management of personnel and materiel, supported United Nations (UN) supply lines while the North Koreans' routes of supply were steadily reduced and cut off. UN logistics improved throughout the Battle of Inchon and the defeat of the North Korean army at Busan.

Logistics in World War I was the organising and delivery of supplies to the armed forces of World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation</span>

Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation was the Army command structure and distributed port infrastructure in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia supporting the movement of personnel and cargo overseas. It had been activated as the Newport News Port of Embarkation in World War I, deactivated, then reactivated on 15 June 1942.

The term combat service support is utilized by numerous military organizations throughout the world to describe entities that provide direct and indirect sustainment services to the groups that engage in combat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British logistics in the Normandy campaign</span> Supplies services during World War II

British logistics played a key role in the success of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France in June 1944. The objective of the campaign was to secure a lodgement on the mainland of Europe for further operations. The Allies had to land sufficient forces to overcome the initial opposition and build them up faster than the Germans could respond. Planning for this operation had begun in 1942. The Anglo-Canadian force, the 21st Army Group, consisted of the British Second Army and Canadian First Army. Between them, they had six armoured divisions, ten infantry divisions, two airborne divisions, nine independent armoured brigades and two commando brigades. Logistical units included six supply unit headquarters, 25 Base Supply Depots (BSDs), 83 Detail Issue Depots (DIDs), 25 field bakeries, 14 field butcheries and 18 port detachments. The army group was supported over the beaches and through the Mulberry artificial port specially constructed for the purpose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">INTERFET logistics</span> Logistical support of the International Force East Timor

The logistical support of the multinational International Force East Timor (INTERFET) peacekeeping mission in 1999 and 2000 involved, at its peak, 11,693 personnel from 23 countries. Of these 5,697 were from Australia, making it the largest deployment of Australian forces overseas since the Vietnam War. INTERFET was unusual in that it was led by Australia, casting the country in a wholly unfamiliar role. The logistics and support areas of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) had been subject to deep cuts in the 1990s. The ADF had not anticipated being committed to such a large peacekeeping mission, and was unprepared to support an Australian force projection of this size, much less act as lead nation of an international coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American logistics in the Northern France campaign</span> Supplies services during World War II

American logistics in the Northern France campaign played a key role in the Allied invasion of northwest Europe during World War II. In the first seven weeks after D-Day, the Allied advance was slower than anticipated in the Operation Overlord plan because the well-handled and determined German opposition exploited the defensive value of the Normandy bocage country. The Northern France campaign officially commenced on 25 July, the day First United States Army began Operation Cobra, which saw the breakout from the Normandy lodgment, and ended on 14 September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allied logistics in the Southern France campaign</span> 1944 logistics plan during World War II

Logistics played a key role in the success of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France during World War II that commenced with the US Seventh Army landings on the French Riviera on 15 August 1944. On 12 September, the Seventh Army made contact with Allied forces that had landed in Normandy earlier that year as part of Operation Overlord. The supporting logistical organizations continued to operate separately, with the Southern Line of Communications supporting the Seventh Army drawing its supplies from the North African Theater of Operations until it merged with the Communications Zone of the European Theater of Operations on 20 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad front versus narrow front controversy in World War II</span> Wartime debate among Allies

The broad front versus narrow front controversy in World War II arose after General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, decided to advance into Germany on a broad front in 1944, against the suggestions of his principal subordinates, Lieutenant Generals Omar Bradley and George S. Patton and Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, who argued instead to stage competing advances on narrow fronts. The decision was controversial initially because the British government wanted to raise the profile of the minority British contingent in what was by then an overwhelmingly American army, and they perceived that a British-led thrust to Berlin would achieve this aim. Montgomery's strident advocacy raised political and nationalistic complications that strained the wartime alliance. During the subsequent Cold War, suggestions were made that the Soviet presence in Eastern Europe may have been reduced had Eisenhower sent a narrow-front thrust to race the USSR to Berlin in 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American transportation in the Siegfried Line campaign</span> American logistics in Europe in World War II

American transportation played a crucial part in the military logistics of the World War II Siegfried Line campaign, which ran from the end of the expulsion of the German armies from Normandy in mid-September 1944 until December 1944, when the American Army was engulfed by the German Ardennes offensive. In August 1944, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected to continue the pursuit of the retreating German forces beyond the Seine instead of pausing to build up supplies and establish the lines of communication as called for in the original Operation Overlord plan. The subsequent advance to the German border stretched the American logistical system to its breaking point, and the advance came to a halt in mid-September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of military logistics</span>

The history of military logistics goes back to Neolithic times. The most basic requirements of an army are food and water. Early armies were equipped with weapons used for hunting like spears, knives, axes and bows and arrows, and were small due to the practical difficulty of supplying a large number of soldiers. Large armies began to appear in the Iron Age. Animals such as horses, oxen, camels and even elephants were used to carry supplies. Food, water and fodder for the animals could usually be found or purchased in the field. The Roman Empire and Maurya Empire in India built networks of roads, but it was far less expensive to transport by sea than by road. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century there was the shift in Western Europe away from a centrally organised army.

References

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.