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Logistics

Human nature and history are filled with many concepts of duality. Within the construct of war, there is perhaps no better reflection of this duality than the relationship between logistics and operations. The Doctrine for Logistics Support of Joint Operations (DOD Joint Publication 4.0) states that “Operations and logistics are inseparable facets of war. Although logistics plans are derived from operational goals, neither can claim primacy” (Department of Defense, 1992, p. 11).

For military purposes, a workable aggregate definition of logistics based on current doctrine could be specified as

the science and art of planning and conducting the movement, support, and servicing of forces to include those aspects of military operations that deal with the design and development, acquisition or construction, storage, movement, distribution, evacuation, maintenance, hospitalization and disposition of material, personnel, and facilities for the purposes of generating combat power (the total means of destructive, constructive, and information capabilities that a military unit or formation can apply at a given time) and extending operational reach (the distance and duration across which a unit can successfully employ military capabilities) across time and distance to achieve military objectives.

It is the significance of generating combat power and extending operational reach that connects logistics with operations and forms the basis for an evolution of logistical models and strategies from ancient warfare to contemporary conflicts. Throughout this evolution, principles of military logistics have been codified covering the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. Future logistical problems will be met with 21st-century solutions to ever increase the readiness and reach of operational forces.

With the emergence of organized societies, the concept of war and the associated need for military logistics emerged. The rise of standing armies to defend empires and add to them through conquest required housing, equipping, and supplying military forces on a continual basis. For the sake of simplicity, the history of military logistics is divided into three periods—ancient, modern, and postmodern—and two systems: garrison (or fixed facilities) and field.

Logistics in Ancient Times

From the time of the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (ca. 3500 BCE) through 16th-century Europe, the tried-and-true logistical methods of supplying an army were requisitioning (contracting), foraging, and pillaging. Early empires and city-states maintained a small number of standing, professional soldiers backed by a semitrained portion of the population ranging from 1% to 10%. By contracting with commercial enterprises, the state ensured that the standing force was maintained and that the armaments were stored, so that the size of the army could be expanded when necessary. Requisitioning was also used when a mobile army passed through the territory of an ally or a recently conquered foe. Payment on receipt or a promise to pay later placated most hostile feelings. On marches outside friendly lands, an army on the move foraged from wild resources or pillaged those of its enemy.

The success or failure of these campaigns depended on the skill of the leaders in organizing the procurement of supplies by coin or sword. The size of armies in garrison was dictated more by internal societal structure than by logistical requirements; there are accounts of some empires maintaining armies with a total strength of 250,000 or more. However, the size of ancient armies was relatively small when in the field, since living off the land (or your enemy) meant a limited area to pillage and required movement once the resources of an area were consumed. History records few field armies during this period exceeding 50,000 men.

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