Transforming for Distribution Based Logistics

Lieutenant General Christianson, Army G-4, in his White Paper, Joint and Expeditionary Logistics for a Campaign Quality Army, urgently calls for "a single focus on the simple task of guaranteeing delivery--on time, every time. The Army must have a distribution system that reaches from the Soldier at the tip of the spear to the source of support, wherever that may be." Unfortunately, our current Army logistics organizational structure does not facilitate effective distribution. It creates inefficiencies through organizational seams and sub-optimization. Military distribution is defined as 'the activities that enable the flow of material from the source to the end user, or from end to end, to include transportation or movement, distribution inventory, warehousing, packaging, materials handling, and order entry.' These activities serve to ensure that the right things are delivered to the right place at the right time. In the Army, these activities are performed by a variety of different organizations, commands and echelons. Fortunately the logistics community is beginning to discuss distribution holistically as opposed focusing on individual branches. Viewing supply and transportation not as separate functions on the battlefield but as two elements of a common distribution system is the basis for distribution-based logistics (DBL). Similarly, Army units that conduct distribution must be unified under a single command that manages the distribution system from source to end-user.