Military logistics

Around 1670, the French King Louis XIV created the position of Maréchal des logis, an officer responsible for planning marches, establishing camp sites, and regulating transport and supply.

In Logistics in World War II: Final Report of the Army Service Forces, Lieutenant General LeRoy Lutes, the commanding general of the Army Service Forces, gave the term a more expansive definition: The word "logistics" has been given many different shades of meaning.

In this sense, logistics includes procurement, storage, and distribution of equipment and supplies; transport of troops and cargo by land, sea, and air; construction and maintenance of facilities; communication by wire, radio, and the mails; care of the sick and wounded; and the induction, classification, assignment, welfare and separation of personnel.

In its most comprehensive sense, the aspects of military operations which deal with:In the 1960s, the term "logistics" began to be used in the business world,[2] where it means physical distribution and supply chain management.

[24] Since ancient times, troops had carried rations and personal equipment such as weapons, armour, cooking gear and bedrolls.

[16] Roads facilitate the movement of wheeled vehicles, and travel by river or sea permits the carriage of large volumes of supplies.

[25] This allowed the army some measure of self-sufficiency, and until the development of faster firing weapons in the 19th century most of the ammunition a soldier needed for an entire campaign could be carried on their person or in wagons accompanying the troops.

[26] Starting with the Industrial Revolution, new technological, technical and administrative advances permitted supplies to be transported at speeds and over distances never before possible.

At the same time, mechanisation, with motor vehicles replacing animals, created a demand for fuel and spare parts, neither of which could be obtained locally.

This led to a "logistical revolution" which began in the 20th century and drastically improved the capabilities of modern armies while making them highly dependent on this method.

[15] Early armies were equipped with weapons used for hunting like spears, knives, axes and bows and arrows,[28] and rarely exceeded 20,000 men due to the practical difficulty of supplying a large number of soldiers.

[34][25] After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century there was the shift from a centrally organised army to a combination of military forces made up of local troops.

[35] Feudalism was a distributed military logistics system where magnates of the households drew upon their own resources for men and equipment.

This differed from earlier operations living off the land in the size of the forces involved, and because the primary motivation was the emperor's desire for mobility.

[41] The nineteenth century witnessed technological developments that facilitated immense improvements to the storage, handling and transportation of supplies which made it easier to support and army from the rear.

[43] At the same time, the advent of industrial warfare in the form of bolt-action rifles, machine guns and quick-firing artillery sent ammunition consumption soaring during the First World War.

Although modern communications and information technology may have blurred the distinction between them,[50] the three-level hierarchy is deeply embedded in the organisational structure of military forces.

[58] The location of a supply depot could involve multiple considerations and constraints, such as the access to road, rail and sea transport, and travel times to desired delivery destinations.

[59][60] The United States Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense call this methodology the Analysis of Alternatives, and require it for military acquisitions.

[66] Forecasting of casualties in combat is more difficult, as past experience may not be a reliable guide to future losses, but is required for planning by the medical services.

There are also models for inventory management that can be used to scheduling and quantity of orders, and stock levels, taking into account factors such as storage capacity, demand rates and delivery lead times.