Logistics history: lessons for transforming logistics

Air Force Journal of Logistics, Summer, 2004

The issue of technology is becoming the forefront of American procurement and acquisition issues. As the Germans did in 1935, America now enjoys a technological superiority over friend and foe alike. At the present, there is no match for American technological know-how and application. Yet, this technology is only as good as its application.

As the Air Force begins its fourth major transformation in 11 years, there are some striking similarities between what it currently faces and those challenges faced by World War II Germany. Notable among them is a strong sense of nationalism. Currently, there is no real centralized control over the US Armed Forces acquisition program. As it was for the Germans in 1935, US Armed Forces currently follow separate stovepipes for acquisition of weapon systems. For the Germans, the result was an egregious waste of valuable and limited resources, both natural resources and dollars. The Air Force, today, faces much the same challenge as the Luftwaffe, specifically determining mission and needs. As the Luftwaffe vacillated between a fighter and bomber, the same struggle goes on today in the US Air Force. While not a concern for the Luftwaffe, the American conundrum is compounded by the oft-overlooked integration of space into the battlespace. This merely compounds the larger issue facing the Air Force today, that of identity.