Military Logistics in the 21st Century

A new book explores the nexus of strategy and logistics, as well as the challenges and opportunities in the conduct of military logistics in the 21st century.

Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics. Attributed to General Omar Bradley

Welcome to the next entry in my examination and celebration of books!

In his excellent blog Logistics in War, military logistics expert and Australian Army officer Dave Beaumont describes logistics as follows:

Logistics, the means of strategy and tactics, determines what is practically possible in war. Its nature is expressed in operational choices and decisions, and is fundamental to military preparedness. Therefore, understanding its nature is vital to commanders and institutional leaders.

Dave is part of a community of experts who discuss and advocate for deeper thinking about military logistics, and the role it plays in shaping and informing the development of strategy and military operations. Unfortunately, this community of logistics experts is much, much smaller than those who comment on other topics more interesting to the media. But, the work of Dave and his fellow logisticians remains as vital, if not more so, than that of many other military ‘experts’ commenting on modern war and the impacts of new technologies and weapons.

Therefore, this new book from Howgate Publishing called Professionals Talk Logistics: Sustaining Strategy and Operations, is a timely addition to the much too-small literature on this topic. Edited by Steve “Doctrine Man” Leonard and Jon Klug, the book has chapters that cover off on the many human and technical aspects of modern logistics operations. Importantly, chapters in the book explore how logistics shapes strategic options and strategy execution, as well as the operational level of war.

This is not Steve and Jon’s first collaboration. Their previous book, Power Up, examined leadership through the lens of the modern superhero genre. Before that, in To Boldly Go, strategy and leadership in the 21st century was explored through the context of science fiction. (Full disclosure: I have chapters in each of these books, as well as a chapter in Professionals Talk Logistics).

To celebrate the release of Professionals Talk Logistics, I thought I would conduct a short Q & A with Steve and Jon to discuss the origins of the book, and why this topic is so important.

1. Can both of you, without referring back to the book, explain why we should care about military logistics?

I made this point in the first chapter. Logistics is what made the great captains of history great. Those early empires were possible because the great captains who led them understood how to sustain the long campaigns necessary to build and maintain them. At the operational and strategic levels of war, success is made possible by the purposeful synchronization of logistics. That's proven true throughout history — when you address the art of war, concepts like reach and culmination are inherently tied to logistics. So, when we shortcut logistics — the resources that fuel military strategy — we handicap our ability to achieve our desired goals.

2. Does the conduct of military logistics have lessons or insights for those who are outside the military?

Absolutely. The successful execution of strategy relies on the ability to balance limited resources in space and time. This is something I spend a lot of time instilling in my business strategy students — you will never have all of the resources you need all of the time, so the successful strategist is one who learns how to balance requirements and capabilities, ways and means. In the military context, it's finding that delicate balance between "just in time" and "just in case." The same principle applies for strategist outside the military.

3. What were the drivers for you to bring together so many authors to talk about this topic in a single book?

Well, we're lazy. Seriously, this is a subject that benefits from a wide variety of perspectives, people who have experienced war in all its various forms and understand the challenges of sustaining it. The broader those perspectives, the better. Even as a career logistician and strategist, much of my experience is limited to sustaining the tactical (division and below) fight, and from a decidedly Western perspective. We broke that mold here, and for good reason. Those added voices bring a richness and diversity to the knowledge base.

4. Why is this subject relevant now?

I think it's always been relevant, but in an era where we're seriously concerned with another conflict in the Pacific, it's especially relevant. We learned a lot of valuable lessons about sustaining warfare across vast distances in the Pacific during World War II. That was 80 years ago. Today, we struggle with basic warfighting tasks like operating a floating pier in rough seas, something that we absolutely have to be capable of executing if we're conducting land-based operations in the Pacific. Regaining that knowledge makes this subject all the more relevant to us now and in the future.

5. What were the most challenging, and most enjoyable, elements of editing this new book?

Obviously, the challenge comes with assembling the team and getting everyone working toward a common goal. Once you've done that, the writing and editing seem to fall into place relatively quickly. This is our fifth project together and I think we've got that part handled quite well. The enjoyment comes with watching the book cross the finish line. There's just something about seeing another book on the shelf, something satisfying.

*****

A year ago, the National Bureau of Asian Research dedicated an entire edition of their journal, Asia Policy, to this topic. The particular focus was the issue of logistics in the event of a war over Taiwan.

Despite facing critical munitions shortages and growing political divisiveness over the substantial financial burden of this policy, the West’s resupply of the Ukrainian military during Ukraine’s current war with Russia has—so far—been a success. Major obstacles distinguish the Taiwan scenario.

Not all logistics operations are the same. Significant geographical, political, cultural and industrial factors can influence how logistic support is undertaken in different wars and military operations. The exploration of the breadth and depth of logistics is one of the strengths of this new book edited by Steve and Jon. It explores modern logistics from many different angles. Be it human or technical, large or small scale, Europe or the Pacific, this book covers it.

I thoroughly recommend this book to all those who are interested in how military logistics supports and shapes strategy and military operations. Professionals Talk Logistics, published by Howgate Publishing, is now available in paperback, hardback and e-book formats.