Operational logistics graduate education at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, May-June, 2003 by Jonathan B. Haynes

Operational logistics--chances are, many junior officers would not be able to define it, let alone discuss it. After all, who can blame them? The majority of a Supply Corps officer's early years are oriented almost exclusively toward shipboard supply. Our careers begin with the Basic Qualification Course, after which most of us go to afloat division officer billets. Then we proceed to our first shore tour, where we may serve in fleet support billets with direct links to shipboard supply. Next, as graduates of the Supply Officer Department Head Course, we head to sea again to become shipboard supply officers. Depending on our shore assignments, it could be 8 to 10 years before we are even exposed to the greater world of logistics outside the lifelines of a ship.

The beginning of my own career mirrors this same focus of shipboard supply. However, my tour on board a flagship was the turning point in my career. The fleet logistics support officer helped me realize that shipboard supply was just one functional area within the larger world of logistics. While I was focusing on running the ship's Supply Department, he was busy coordinating and providing theater logistics support to operating forces. While I planned shipboard load-outs, he planned sustainment of large naval forces at war. Both of us worked aboard the same ship, yet we lived in two vastly different worlds of logistics.

Only a few years later, I now find myself fully immersed in the world of operational logistics at Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific (COMLOG WESTPAC/CTF-73) located in Singapore. As the logistics readiness officer, my duties include the daily support of operating forces, as well as deliberate and contingency planning. This primarily entails the development, assessment, and execution of logistics and mobility plans for surface ships deployed to 7th Fleet. It also involves coordinating Combat Logistics Force (CLF) operations to replenish ordnance, fuel, provisions, stores, mail, and high priority parts.

Furthermore, I conduct research and analysis of major issues concerning logistics infrastructure, logistics operations, and CLF force structure and size. Fortunately, the operational logistics curriculum at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., gave me a solid foundation to begin my tour at COMLOG WESTPAC/CTF-73.

The Operational Logistics program (Curriculum 361) is offered by the Operations Research Department at NPS. Graduates of the program earn a master's degree in operations research and are awarded both the operational logistics (3212P, formerly XX43P) and the operations analysis (3211P, formerly XX42P) subspecialty codes. Additionally, the program includes Naval War College courses to permit students to complete JPME Phase I requirements in conjunction with their academic endeavors. The program facilitates the integration of Navy Supply Corps officers into the gamut of joint and operational logistics billets. So what is "operations research", anyway?

Operations research is a scientific method of providing commanders with a quantitative basis for making decisions regarding operations under their control. The origins of operations research may be traced to the British at the onset of World War II. They assembled a group of scientists specifically to analyze military problems and develop effective solutions.

By now, you may be wondering how that relates to logistics. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the etymology of "logistics" as originating from several words: the French word logistique--the art of calculating; the Greek word logistikE --the art of calculating; and the Greek work logos--reason. Thus, quantitative analysis goes hand-in-hand with logistics.

To be eligible for the operational logistics curriculum, you should have an Academic Profile Code (APC) of at least 325. While the completion of undergraduate mathematics through single variable differential and integral calculus is desired, prospective students who do not meet these prerequisites may be accepted into the program if their undergraduate records and other factors indicate exceptional potential for completion. In fact, as of the Fall 2002 quarter, two-thirds of the twenty-nine Supply Corps officers who had enrolled in or completed the program had nontechnical backgrounds. One of the secrets of their success was attending a refresher quarter prior to beginning the core curriculum. The refresher quarter provides students with an introduction to operations research and gives students a solid mathematics foundation prior to beginning the core curriculum.

The core curriculum is eight quarters in length and consists of classes in fundamental operations research skills (optimization, simulation, and data analysis), military logistics, and Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) Phase I. Atypical course of study is shown in Figure 1.

The final graduation requirement and capstone of the program is the thesis. Students are encouraged to find a sponsoring command that needs a real-world problem analyzed. The classes in the fifth quarter of instruction are condensed to allow for a six-week thesis experience tour.