“Never before … had there been an invasion armada the equal of the 1,600 seagoing ships carrying 545,000 American GIs and Marines that streamed across the Pacific,” wrote historian Robert Leckie in Delivered From Evil: The Saga of World War II. The battle of the Pacific during WWII was no doubt depending on logistics and military strategy. The United States had never before supplied an operation 7,500 miles away. For Quartermasters to supply Class I,II, III, and IV items, the pacific proved to be force projection on a grand scale.
The ability to generate was not a major issue for the US. However, the process of procurement must have been a difficult task to do proper inspections, supply management, and administrative work to correctly inventory the supplies needed to then be transported to the pacific. Quartermasters had to deal with issues relating to proper storage. Almost all items required at least some care in packaging and handling, and protection from the elements before they are being transported.
In class, we discuss generate, transport, and sustainment, and what makes the Pacific operation so unique is that the US never before had to transport such massive amount of goods over a distant such as the Pacific. Indeed perishable foods such as fresh meat, vegetables, and dairy products required even more protection, so the techniques and procedures created to ensure the Pacific campaign would be successful shows how the Quartermaster Corps and overall logistics grew during WWII. What makes the Pacific campaign even more unique is long lines of communication that place heavy burden on ship’s security. The longer ships had to travel, the more vulnerable they are to the enemy.
When the island was finally taken over by the United States, the military found the Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters that stretched 450 meters to sustain 4,000 people. It is interesting to see how the enemy at the time sustained their troops, but with the discovery of underground headquarters with locations to feed and store 4,000 personnel, it truly is amazing to see the ingenuity that both sides displayed logistically in trying to sustain their forces.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
A Look Back in Time: Supplying the Pacific
“Never before … had there been an invasion armada the equal of the 1,600 seagoing ships carrying 545,000 American GIs and Marines that streamed across the Pacific,” wrote historian Robert Leckie in Delivered From Evil: The Saga of World War II. The battle of the Pacific during WWII was no doubt depending on logistics and military strategy. The United States had never before supplied an operation 7,500 miles away. For Quartermasters to supply Class I,II, III, and IV items, the pacific proved to be force projection on a grand scale.
The ability to generate was not a major issue for the US. However, the process of procurement must have been a difficult task to do proper inspections, supply management, and administrative work to correctly inventory the supplies needed to then be transported to the pacific. Quartermasters had to deal with issues relating to proper storage. Almost all items required at least some care in packaging and handling, and protection from the elements before they are being transported.
In class, we discuss generate, transport, and sustainment, and what makes the Pacific operation so unique is that the US never before had to transport such massive amount of goods over a distant such as the Pacific. Indeed perishable foods such as fresh meat, vegetables, and dairy products required even more protection, so the techniques and procedures created to ensure the Pacific campaign would be successful shows how the Quartermaster Corps and overall logistics grew during WWII. What makes the Pacific campaign even more unique is long lines of communication that place heavy burden on ship’s security. The longer ships had to travel, the more vulnerable they are to the enemy.
When the island was finally taken over by the United States, the military found the Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters that stretched 450 meters to sustain 4,000 people. It is interesting to see how the enemy at the time sustained their troops, but with the discovery of underground headquarters with locations to feed and store 4,000 personnel, it truly is amazing to see the ingenuity that both sides displayed logistically in trying to sustain their forces.
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Our military's logistic capabilities during WWII were indeed revolutionary considering the we had to adapt and overcome to barriers that came with supplying such a massive force. We had no choice but to welcome change in order to sustain our operations. BUT to think that our enemy used their terrain to their advantage in such an innovative way; that is revolutionary. Their underground system was so effective for hiding and supplying that the last Japanese soldier to surrender came almost 30 years after the war was over: 1947. Check out Wikipedia for more info on Hiroo Onoda.
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