From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Military logistics is the art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:

• Design, development, acquisition, storage, distribution, maintenance, evacuation, and disposition of material.
• Movement, evacuation, and hospitalization of personnel.
• Acquisition or construction, maintenance, operation, and disposition of facilities.
• Acquisition or furnishing of services.

The word "logistics" is derived from the Greek adjective logistikos meaning "skilled in calculating." The first administrative use of the word was in Roman and Byzantine times when there was a military administrative official with the title Logista. At that time, the word apparently implied a skill involved in mathematical computations. Research indicates that its first use in relation to an organized military administrative science was by the French writer, Antoine-Henri Jomini, who, in 1838, devised a theory of war on the trinity of strategy, ground tactics, and logistics. The French still use the words logistique and loger with the meaning "to quarter."

The military activity known as logistics probably is as old as war itself. In the early history of man when the first wars were fought, each man had to find his own food, stones, and knotted clubs. Each warrior was his own logistician. Not until later, when fighters joined as groups and fighting groups became larger, was there any basis for designating certain men to specialize in providing food and weapons to the combatants. The men who provided support to the fighters constituted the first logistics organization.

Logistics is not an exact science. No mathematical formula or set of tables tells precisely what supplies or services will be needed, where and when they will be needed, or the best way to provide them. Responsible officials must make judgments on these matters, using intuition and scientifically weighing alternatives as the situation requires and permits. Their judgments must be based not only upon professional knowledge of the numerous aspects of logistics itself but also upon an understanding of the interplay of closely related military considerations such as strategy, tactics, intelligence, training, personnel, and finance.

In major military conflicts, logistics matters are often crucial in deciding the overall outcome of wars. For instance, tonnage war - the bulk sinking of cargo ships - was a crucial factor in World War II. The failure of the German Navy to sink enough cargo in the Second Battle of the Atlantic allowed Britain to stay in the war; by contrast, the successful disruption of Japanese maritime trade in the Pacific effectively crippled its economy and thus its military production capabilities. More generally, protecting one's own supply lines and attacking those of an enemy is a fundamental military strategy.

Military logistics has pioneered a number of techniques that have since become widely deployed in the commercial world. Operations research grew out of WWII military logistics efforts.

• Airlift (military)
• Sealift
• Military Supply Chain Management