Archives
Recent
Logistics
The tenth anniversary of the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) has produced an expected flood of articles and blogs discussing the events and decisions that led up to the invasion of Iraq as well as lessons learned from this war. Not surprisingly, most of them have focused on questions of politics,
. . . Read more
Date:
3/22/2013
If the Department of Defense (DoD) were a private corporation it would be number one in the world in terms of its logistics system, supply chain and inventory, ahead of Walmart, Costco or McDonald’s. The Pentagon spends some $200 billion annually on logistics and maintenance alone and $400 billion
. . . Read more
Date:
12/12/2012
The mission in Iraq is over. Some 500 U.S. bases and facilities have been closed and virtually all U.S. troops have been withdrawn. There were almost no incidents of any kind associated with the withdrawal. It seems that getting out was a lot easier than getting in.
Or was it? Operation Iraqi
. . . Read more
Date:
12/15/2011
The defense department's logistics system and supply chain face unprecedented challenges. Most obvious is the continuing and growing pressure on defense budgets. Pentagon officials have begun to focus on reducing costs in the supply chain in their attempts to cope with budget woes. There is the
. . . Read more
Date:
11/30/2011
U.S. defense spending has gone through a series of “boom and bust” cycles since the Korean War began in 1950. The typical way that downturns in defense spending are addressed is by reducing procurement, cutting personnel and eliminating or not modernizing infrastructure. Already the knives are out
. . . Read more
Date:
7/20/2011
There have been many reports, studies and books written about the lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan for the conduct of irregular warfare. The military services are embedding the combat lessons learned in their operating concepts, doctrine, tactics and force structure.
Less well documented and
. . . Read more
Date:
6/8/2010
Of all the places to fight a war, Afghanistan would be almost last on anyone’s list. There are all the well-documented problems: awful terrain, primitive infrastructure, fragmented social and political structures, the ravages of thirty years of conflict and predatory neighbors. Afghanistan is also
. . . Read more
Date:
5/26/2010