Bring Wartime Logistics into the 21st Century

[thedrifter]

10-27-2003

Bring Wartime Logistics into the 21st Century



By Ralf W. Zimmermann



Now that the Prez demands more money to sustain the war on terror, one should seriously ask on what the government plans to spend the exorbitant amount of $87 billion.



As a former warfighter, I don?t want my hard-earned tax money lining the pockets of greedy industrialists and financing useless homeland defense gimmicks or superfluous bureaucracies. While I consider the president?s request outrageously excessive, I appreciate to see more of the emergency bucks spent on equipment and facilities, protecting the lives of American troops and making their existence during deployments more bearable.



One issue that must immediately addressed ? both financially and organizationally ? is the need to replace the military?s outdated Cold War logistics pipeline with leaner, more responsive options. Appropriately controlled at lower levels, ?just-in-time? and ?pinpoint? logistics assures that our soldiers get what they need and on time by short-circuiting the outdated logistics bureaucracies.



Unfortunately, the paper killers are desperately hanging on for job security and administrative power, while field unit readiness suffers. The bureaucrats don?t get it: To quickly bring smaller and rapidly deployable units up to snuff for increased short-fused missions and deployments, commanders must have the freedom to order equipment directly from sources that can deliver to frontline locations. Critical supplies must arrive within hours and days ? not weeks or months! This isn?t rocket science ? our modern Internet economy already delivers a great deal of services exactly in that fashion via UPS, Federal Express and other expeditious delivery means.



From the letters I?ve recently received from the troops, it seems that old-time loggies are trying their utmost to turn back the clocks, while our men and women warriors bleed and sweat.



For months, units in Iraq were critically short of building materials for showers, latrines and air-conditioners for cooling tents. Worse, the troops suffered from a debilitating shortage of spare parts and lubricants for combat vehicles. No matter how good we claim our equipment is, it will break in heat over 115 degrees Fahrenheit and with desert sands grinding in engines and breaking down seals and bearings.

And despite what the guys in charge tell us, lots of our combat gear isn?t as new as advertised. During my tour as skipper of 1-68 Armor at Fort Carson Colo., I recall that none of our hand-me-down M1A1 Abrams tanks was younger than 12 years of age.



It?s inexcusable if critical parts and lubricants can?t be delivered to deployed units within days, especially during combat. When combat readiness and soldiers? lives are at stake, supply shipments should go directly from the source to operating units. Why send the stuff through multiple layers of storage facilities, just because a paper plan says so?

Could some of the mentioned essentials, aside from parts, be locally procured and paid for? Sure ? but that would require much better security and a functioning Iraqi economy. One deployed logistics NCO explained to me that it takes about 14 troops per procurement trip from his supply point to Baghdad today. Most of the 14 are security personnel, ensuring that the local purchase mission won?t end up getting smoked in an RPG ambush.

And while we?re talking of ambushes and protection against them, many troops ask why they have never received sufficient amounts of ballistic blankets to line the floors of our soft-skinned vehicles, such as the Hummers and trucks. Readily available in the United States, they should have become an immediate delivery priority, no matter what the monetary cost in making them or flying them into theater. If these protective blankets save lives, ship them on Air Force One!

Is there a solution to the procurement and supply dilemma? You bet, there is! Stop the infighting at the Defense Logistics Agency and streamline the process. Use more ?just-in time? logistics. While civilian contractors run a good portion of the ?just-in-time? system, not all contractors are crooks. Many are former military people who really care about the troops as well as wanting to make a profit.



While applying the proper checks and balances, the Pentagon should give these contract people an opportunity to compete with the old system. Fair competition usually reveals clear advantages and system failures. The biggest failure, however, would be that our combat forces continue to be hampered in performing their missions, and young Americans unnecessarily lose their lives because people in air-conditioned offices can?t swallow their pride.



Good logistics is the lifeblood of any modern, mechanized force. It is imperative that the U.S. military ensure that the logistical ?blood? flows unimpeded and not through an outdated system with cracks and holes.



Lt. Col. Ralf W. Zimmermann, U.S. Army (Ret.) has returned to SFTT.org as a DefenseWatch Contributing Editor. The son of a German World War II Panzer commander, he served in the U.S. Army for 20 years. Zimm received the Bronze Star for valor during Operation Desert Storm and commanded 1-68 Armor Battalion before his retirement in January 2000. His recent novel, ?Brotherhood of Iron,? dealing with the German soldier in World War II is directly available from www.iUniverse.com and through most major book dealers. Zimm can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net. His website is at www.home.earthlink.net/~r6zimm.

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Sempers,

Roger