ARTICLE

April 2004

War Realities Call for New Approach to Logistics

by Lawrence P. Farrell, Jr.

The “joint” nature of current military operations means that, more than ever, the services must not only bring jointness into their war-fighting concepts and acquisition programs, but also into their logistics operations.

The United States, for decades, has served as the world’s model for how to plan and execute military logistics, but it’s clear that the growing demands of global deployments and rapid-response operations call for changes in how the nation supports and sustains its forces.

The current logistics apparatus was suited ideally to the battlefields of the Cold War, with more clearly defined frontlines. It does not work as well in battle zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where there are no definite frontlines, where there are non-contiguous operations, and where the logistics force easily can be engaged by the enemy.

One of the major logistics challenges in Iraq, for example, has been the support and sustainment of forces fighting in small units, far away from their bases. It is not enough to ship supplies just to the nearest seaport or airfield. Nor can we solely depend on just-in-time concepts for fast-moving tactical forces. The current scenarios require a logistics infrastructure that can deliver supplies to the “last tactical mile” and communications at the tactical level. Complicating matters further, the truck convoys that deliver those supplies often have borne the brunt of the enemy attacks—in the form of rocket-propelled grenades, road-side bombs and mines.

Although the Army, so far, has experienced most of the logistics problems, this is an area that will require all the services to work together and develop an effective joint concept for combat support operations.

At the recent NDIA Logistics Symposium, in Reno, Nev., senior leaders from the Defense Department, Joint Staff, and other key government and industry organizations outlined the challenges facing their community. In short, there is an urgent need to improve “end-to-end” distribution of supplies, and do it in a way that does not excessively drive up costs.

In light of logistics problems in Iraq, last year the Defense Department took steps to bring about change. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directed that the U.S. Transportation Command become the “distribution process owner” for all the military services.

In recent weeks, the U.S. Central Command, TRANSCOM, the Defense Logistics Agency and other organizations, have dispatched a team of experts to Kuwait, to help transform the deployment and distribution process, and eliminate the seams between strategic and operational logistics. Called the CENTCOM Deployment and Distribution Operations Center, this pilot program promises to fill many of the existing gaps in the system.

The mission of the CDDOC is particularly critical now, as the CENTCOM area of operations will see a rotation of forces involving more than 250,000 troops and one million tons of cargo—the largest ever movement of forces and equipment in such a compressed span of time. Historically, the throughput of forces and material beyond the strategic ports have posed the biggest difficulties. The CDDOC will focus on synchronizing and eliminating the gaps between the strategic and operational levels—mitigating bottlenecks at critical points and ensuring unimpeded throughput of forces, equipment and cargo.

The CDDOC team is truly joint. It has representatives from each service’s material commands, TRANSCOM, U.S. Joint Forces Command and the Defense Logistics Agency.

As the distribution process owner, TRANSCOM will become the “go to” logistics organization for regional commanders. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gary H. Hughey, deputy commander of TRANSCOM, noted that the command’s new responsibility is a tall order. “This new designation is very challenging,” he said. “We’ve seen improvement in speed and reliability in getting what it is you’ve ordered from the factory to the foxhole. One person is virtually responsible to the combatant commander.”

On the technology side, there are several key gaps that will need to be filled to achieve a joint end-to-end logistics process. The most pressing priorities include providing adequate communications systems for the entire logistics force to stay connected, installing ID tags that enable “in-transit visibility” of every item, and the development of data standards so that a single real-time logistics database can support all services and coalition allies, in a secure environment.

The term that best summarizes the desired end-state is “agile logistics.” As was noted by Dr. David Spong, president of Aerospace Support for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, logistics is about the survival of those who can most quickly process information and instantaneously respond.

In the private sector, to be sure, there are numerous examples of how to execute highly efficient logistics operations. Firms such as Caterpillar and Wal-Mart have become business-school case studies for others to emulate. The realities of combat, however, often are not compatible with the clockwork efficiency found in industry. But there is certainly a lot we can learn from these corporate models.

What we see happening in the Middle East could be just the beginning of a long march to a new way of doing business in the Defense Department, with the services increasingly working together, not only in joint war fighting but also in logistics and support operations.

Please email me your comments to Lfarrell@ndia.org

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