Ready to Fight Tonight: An Analysis of Army Supply Chain Readiness
Open Access
- Author:
- Weaver, Kylie
- Area of Honors:
- Supply Chain and Information Systems
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Robert Alexander Novack, Thesis Supervisor
John C Spychalski, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Closed-loop supply chain
power projection
Army
great power competition
prepositioned stocks
Organic Industrial Base - Abstract:
- The purpose of this thesis is to explore the current Army supply chain infrastructure and practices in place related to their efficiency as part of a potential force projection against a near-peer in a high-end conventional war. The threat of near-peer competitors has come to be a common phrase used in defense circles as the United States military planners and policymakers look to the future of armed conflict. This thesis is primarily focused on Army capabilities, but due to the joint nature of warfighting and the structure of the Department of Defense, it is necessary to examine some of the military logistics infrastructures beyond that which belongs solely to the Army. Additionally, it is necessary to recognize that this work does address the capabilities of nations like Russia and China that make them near-peer competitors but does not evaluate the efficacy of current U.S. foreign policy towards them as that goes beyond the scope of this work. Due to the nature of this information this body of work is based solely on open-source information like the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, congressional testimony, think tank reports, and unclassified documents. Based on the findings of this research, it is clear that the three largest challenges for Army supply chain readiness are the munitions supply chain, the need to balance readiness and modernization efforts, and the lack of reliable and secured 5G mobile technology. All three of these issues stem from years of budgetary uncertainty and lack of investment in emerging technologies and their application for use by the military.