Logistics Reform and the Military Strategy of the United States
Kan, Robert C.
Synopsis "Logistics Reform and the Military Strategy of the United States"
Over the past several years several major issues, two of which are the premise that a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is underway and that the national defense share of federal resources should be reduced, have led DOD to undertake what has been termed a "Revolution in Defense Logistics." This revolution is intended to develop a more efficient and effective "vision for the logistics concepts that will support the style of warfare the RMA envisions in our future."The purpose of this paper is to review DOD's plan and its progress by analyzing the fundamental changes identified in a speech by the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology. The central thesis in exploring this topic is to assess whether these "revolutionary changes" represent a true revolution in the military effectiveness and strategic thinking of RMA-style warfare of the future or primarily a way to improve the cost-efficiency of U.S. armed forces in order to free up funding for other purposes. The study was conducted primarily by review of operational and logistics doctrine, lessons learned from recent contingencies and current writings on logistics support to warfighting forces of the future. As a result of this study, while these changes are touted as revolutionary thinking, overall it appears most of the initiatives actually represent evolutionary changes which primarily affect cost-efficiency rather than true RMA-type changes in logistics thinking.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
