Chapter 9 naval logistics
World War I and World War II approached in scope what has since been
defined as total war, a conflict in which the entire resources of the participant
countries are called upon for victory. Such emphasis on logistics made these
wars unique in the history of the world. Modern logistics may be said to have
begun in World War I, when the United States was required to support a large
American expeditionary force in Europe.
With the exception of antisubmarine warfare along the Atlantic seaboard, World
War II was mostly fought thousands of miles from the United States, and
logistics became the key to victory. In fact, it took twelve tons of food and
equipment to supply each soldier sent overseas, and another ton every month
to keep him going.
Today, just as it has since World War II, military planning must consider
logistics along with strategy and tactics. Strategy, as was discussed earlier in
this book, is concerned with the general plan for the employment of the fighting
forces. Tactics involves the specific maneuvers and techniques of fighting—the
operational execution of the strategic plan. Logistics at the national level refers
to the total process by which the resources of a nation, both material and
human, are mobilized and directed toward achieving military goals. Thus, while
strategy provides the scheme for the conduct of military operations, logistics
provides the means.
Logistics as it applies to the support of naval ships and the shore establishment
is referred to as naval logistics. The following sections offer a brief look at some
of the areas of concern in modern naval logistics.
Logistics Planning
Should total war come, the whole national economy would have to be mobilized
efficiently. The U.S. national economy is complex. The experience of the last
century has indicated that logistics problems of the future probably cannot be
solved by plans made hurriedly under stress of war.
Believing that any future war would require total effort and place great strain on
our economy, Congress incorporated the lessons of World War II into the
national security organization. The National Security Act of 1947 recognized
clearly that responsibility for national security is a matter of concern for the
entire nation and is not confined to the military forces alone. This act provided
for a comprehensive U.S. security program integrating policies, procedures, and
functions of all elements of the government related to national security.
The Secretary of Defense advises the President concerning the coordination of
military, industrial, and civilian mobilization. This includes manpower, effective
use of natural and industrial resources for military needs, and the organization
of the national economy for war. Similar to the principles of war discussed in
chapter 5 that apply to all types of combat, there are certain principles of
logistics that come into play in logistics planning at all levels. These are:
Responsiveness—providing the right support at the right time, at the right place
Simplicity—avoiding unnecessary complexity in preparing, planning, and
conducting logistic operations
Flexibility—adapting logistic support to changing conditions
Economy—employing logistic support assets effectively
Attainability—acquiring the minimum essential logistics support to begin combat
operations
Sustainability—providing logistics support for the duration of the operation
Survivability—ensuring that the logistic infrastructure survives in spite of
degradation and battle damage
Within the Department of the Navy, logistics planning is the responsibility of the
operational commander, who must ensure that his or her logistics experts
coordinate all operational and logistical plans.
When given a mission, the commander’s planning staff analyzes the situation,
developing and proposing several possible alternative courses of action. The
commander then selects from these the one he or she judges most likely to
succeed. In many cases, logistic limitations and plans will become the deciding
factor.
Functional Areas of Logistics
All logistics plans take into account six functional areas:
Supply—design, procurement, contracting, receipt, storage, inventory control,
and issuance of end items (ships, planes, tanks, etc.), spare parts, and
consumables
Maintenance—actions necessary to preserve, repair, and ensure continued
operation and effectiveness of equipment, both afloat and ashore
Transportation—the movement of units, personnel, equipment, and supplies
from the point of origin to the final destination
Engineering—the construction, damage repair, combat engineering, and
maintenance of facilities
Health services—the provision of medical and dental supplies, blood and blood
products, and facilities and services in both combat and noncombat
environments
Other services—the provision of administrative and personnel support to
operational forces, including recordkeeping, disbursing, food services, and legal
services
The products of these six functional areas, when properly taken into account in
the commander’s operational planning, provide effective logistic support to the
operating forces.
Elements of Logistics
Within each of the functional areas described above, there are four elements of
logistics that come into play.
Acquisition
This element pertains to procurement of commodities, such as food, petroleum,
oils, and lubricants (POL), and repair parts; facilities, such as buildings and
piers; ordnance, such as missiles, ammunition, and mines; and major weapons
and end items, such as ships, aircraft, and electronic systems. For the Navy the
principal acquisition organizations are the various systems commands, the
Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the General Services Administration (GSA),
and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFACENGCOM).
Distribution
This element concerns the methods used to get logistics support to the
operating forces, taking into account what is being moved, its origin and
destination, the lift assets available, and the urgency assigned. A single unified
combatant command, the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), is
in overall charge of strategic transportation for all U.S. armed services. For
deployed forces, as was discussed in chapter 2, some 90 percent or more of all
all their heavy-lift logistics requirements would be delivered via sealift by
civilian-crewed Navy and chartered merchant ships under the purview of the
Military Sealift Command (MSC). High-priority cargo, mail, and passengers are
transported by strategic airlift provided by the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command,
and ground transport is the responsibility of the Army’s Surface Deployment and
Distribution Command. All three of these are component operational commands
under USTRANSCOM. Once in theater, further transportation is provided by
MSC combat logistic force ships and by boats, vehicles, and aircraft of the other
two component service commands.
Sustainment
This element pertains to the provision of adequate logistic support to permit
continuous operations without interruption for as long as required. Forward-
deployed naval forces carry with them sufficient initial stocks to support
operations, but these must be replenished as they are consumed. Establishing
and maintaining a reliable flow of war matériel (military supplies, ordnance, and
related equipment), resources, and support services to operating forces is
accomplished through the operation and management of supply systems, naval
maintenance assets, and bases. In the Navy this element is a primary
responsibility of the Naval Supply Systems Command, and for the Marine
Corps, the Marine Corps Logistic Command.
Disposition
This element concerns the handling, storage, retrograde (war matériel
subsequently removed from a theater of operations), and disposal of matériel
and resources. A major aspect of disposition is the avoidance of any damage to
the environment, especially by oil pollution or other hazardous materials. The
Navy oil spill response team is one of the largest in existence and has deployed
to every major U.S. marine oil spill in the last three decades, along with
personnel of the Coast Guard, the primary government service responsible for
oil-pollution response in U.S. waters. The process of disposition begins with the
first piece of equipment or major item that must be removed from the operating
theater for repair, replacement, or as excess for further distribution, and ends
when the last forces depart, which are often the naval forces assigned to most
operations.
The foregoing principles, functional areas, and elements of logistics are the
building blocks upon which all effective logistics planning is done. All of these
must be taken into account in order for any naval operation of any size to be
successful.
Logistics in Modern Warfare
Each of the U.S. geographic combatant commands and the major
subcommands within them have formalized contingency plans for what their
forces would do and how they would be supported logistically in the event of
hostilities within their areas of responsibility. In recognition of the long surface
transportation time required to reach various locations in the western Pacific
and Indian Ocean regions, large stocks of war supplies and ammunition have
been preloaded on board cargo ships predeployed at key locations in these
theaters.
These prepositioning ships consist of some twenty-five U.S. government–
owned or chartered U.S.-flag cargo and auxiliary ships, plus two helicopter
repair ships activated from the Maritime Administration’s Ready Reserve Force,
all operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC). They are organized into
two Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) squadrons, each comprising six to
eight ships loaded with gear to support a Marine air-ground task force
(MAGTF), and an additional eleven ships dedicated to the support of each
military service. Each MPF squadron carries sufficient equipment and supplies
to sustain more than 16,000 Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Navy personnel
for up to 30 days. Though there is some risk of capture of these ships and their
supplies by potential enemies should hostilities break out, the necessity of
timely resupply of U.S. and allied forces already in theater overrides this
concern. Such prepositioned stocks would, it is hoped, be sufficient to sustain
military operations until further resupply could be accomplished, most likely by
seaborne transport from the United States.
The methods and timing of resupply in any future general war are of growing
concern to U.S. planners today because fuel and ammunition and other key
consumables would be rapidly expended in the first days of conflict. In addition,
the continued availability of cargo ships and tankers for wartime needs is
questionable given the steady decline of the U.S. merchant marine in recent
years. Almost certainly, one major consequence of the shortage of available
merchant ships in any large-scale future war would be a severe reduction of
civil air transportation, since most large U.S. airliners would be needed to carry
military supplies and personnel. Continuous analysis and planning are required
to ensure adequate logistic support of all U.S. and allied armed forces in any
future war scenario.
Critical Thinking
1. List the advantages and disadvantages of prepositioning war matériel in
various locations throughout the world. Based on your list, are such stocks a
good or bad idea?
2. There are logistics billets on the staffs of most major commands both afloat
and ashore. Should these billets be filled by individuals whose entire careers
are spent in logistics, or by individuals who have more generalized backgrounds
in operations and other warfare specialties? Give the rationale for your choice.
Study Guide Questions
1. When did modern logistics begin?
2. What is the relationship between strategy, tactics, and logistics?
3. What will probably have to be done from the logistics standpoint if the
United States becomes involved in total war?
4. What are the seven principles of logistics that must be reflected in
logistics planning at all levels?
5. What are the six functional areas of logistics?
6. What are the four elements of logistics that come into play in each
functional area?
7. A. What are Maritime Prepositioned Force ships?
B. What are the prepositioned stocks of war matériel they carry
intended to do?
New Vocabulary
Logistics war matériel
Commodities retrograde
End items MPF squadrons
Prepositioned stocks
