Opinion: We've forgotten some things about logistics

Here are some things we used to know about logistics, tactics and leadership but seem to have forgotten.

Civil War Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest on winning cavalry tactics: “Get there firstest with the mostest.”

Russian presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov: “Today, the winner on the battlefield is the one who is open to innovation, more open to the most rapid implementation.”

U.S. Gen. Omar Bradley: “Amateurs study strategy, professionals study logistics.”

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs: “If you can’t give enough weapons to Ukraine, how are you gonna win against China?”

To examine just one aspect of the logistics problem faced by armies in a modern land war, consider the 155mm ammunition problem in Ukraine. That 155mm ammunition is critical to both sides. Today, multiple sources agree that while the Russians are shooting 10,000 rounds per day, Ukraine can respond with only 2,000.

The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is the largest producer of 155mm ammunition in the U.S. At the beginning of 2022, the plant was producing roughly 7,000 shells per month.

In March 2024, the U.S. was producing approximately 28,000 155 mm rounds per month, and recently reached 37,000 per month.

Even if all 155mm rounds produced were sent to Ukraine, they would have 19 days of ammunition.

This scenario would leave no 155mm ammo for U.S. military training and none for Israel.

CNN reports that Russia, on the other hand, is producing about 250,000 artillery shells per month, or about 3 million a year. U.S. and Europe production combined can only make about 1.2 million rounds per year.

Do the math.

Business Insider interviewed an American veteran who fought in Ukraine. He said the U.S. “kind of forgot what it means to actually fight a war.” U.S. training has long been heavily focused on fighting insurgents in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the Russian Ministry of Defense shakeup, blogger Simplicius the Thinker notes, “I have been outspoken in the past about the fact that much of Russia’s military structure at the onset of the SMO (Special Military Operation) was a rusty, sometimes decrepit and even corrupt, carryover from the past. Years of low intensity operation or no hostilities generally results in the buildup of laziness, useless generals who stuff their pockets or sit on positions they view as sinecures rather than meritoriously earning their keep.”

Build factories. Train for modern war. Get rid of generals, not troops.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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