Logistics Transformation

The shift in U.S. defense strategy and the transformation of the Army must be matched by a similar transformation in logistics. The Service-centric, hierarchical logistical organizations that relied upon requisitions and historical consumption rates was ill-suited to supply or support strategically deploying forces in simultaneous actions across the breadth and depth of the battlespace. The new way of warfare requires a logistics system with the same characteristics as the tactical forces: speed, maneuver- in-depth, adaptability, agility, flexibility and battlespace situational awareness. It must be responsive in a timely manner to the needs of far-flung forces and do so without creating new "Iron Mountains" or establishing a large footprint that may be vulnerable to attack and will certainly be expensive. What the Army is doing for itself must eventually evolve into a fully joint logistics system. This monograph evaluates Army Logistics Transformation vis-ŕ-vis Army Transformation. History serves as the stage setter to establish a framework that supports and establishes the importance and significance of logistics transformation. At issue is the changing nature of logistics structures and concepts of support that were developed for a Cold War Army and that continue to evolve to meet support requirements within an asymmetric warfare environment.