Operational Level Logistics: An Examination of U.S. Army Logistical Doctrine for the Operational Level of War

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This monograph examines three World War II campaigns. The 1941 German Operation Barbarossa (Central Army Group), Soviet Belorussian Campaign of 1944, and Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945 are used to illustrate five operational logistics tenets: line of support, staging, altering lines of communication, sustainment priorities, and force expansion. The doctrinal analysis compares current U.S. logistics doctrine in Field Manuals 100-5, 100-16 and 100-10 to determine if U.S. doctrine adequately addresses the operational level of logistics. Conclusions derived from this study include: the five tenets are valid, but a sixth, logistical preparation, is needed. U.S. Army doctrine needs to address operational level logistics more completely. This monograph concludes that greater understanding of operational level logistics is required. Understanding can be increased by teaching operational level logistics in the logistical schools and expanding logistical field manuals to include application and planning of logistics at the operational level of war.