Logistics, Old School

It’s funny, I’ve had logistics on my mind quite a bit lately.  It’s funny, because I never gave a lot of thought to it when I was in the Army. I was usually on the receiving end of logistics. Other people had to make sure that I was fed and watered, had all the ammo, fuel and spare parts I needed. While I was vaguely aware of how most of it worked, I actually spent most of my time studying other topics, like leadership and maneuver. It wasn’t until after I left the Army I started giving a lot of in-depth thought to the topic. And now, it seems that every time I turn around, I see another lesson on the constraints that logistics impose on a force.

AW1 Tim, whom I normally think of as an Anti-Submarine Warfare guy, is also something of an expert on the Civil War. And he’s got  a great post that shows not only the rations for a soldier in that war, but if you read down to the bottom, shows just how that ration can impose very real constraints on the schemes of maneuver available to a commander.