An apology letter from a combat arms soldier to the logisticians he mistreated
Turns out there's more to war than shooting? Who knew???
This edition of Rough Terrain is dedicated to Dom Calata. A husband, dad, soldier, sheriff, and a friend. May you be at peace, Dom. ‘til Valhalla.
An Army Marches On Its Stomach
I’ve been reading Trent Telenko, who has quickly become the internet’s subject matter expert on the logistics of the war in Ukraine. The dude is nailing some really great insights on why Russia’s offensive keeps struggling to accomplish its limited objectives despite looking like it has an overwhelming superiority in combat power. How exactly is Goliath failing to kicks David’s ass? Trent’s analysis provides some answers.
There are a number of reasons, but Trent pulls back the curtain on one critical vulnerability of Russia’s - its weak supply chain. Its armed forces have made massive investments in weapons systems but failed to match those investments with the necessary maintenance and resupply to keep those war rigs movin’. Hoses are rotting, tires are blowing, and convoys are getting stuck in the mud. Adding up the numerous small degradations across its fleet of vehicles that have compounded over years of under-investment, we’re finding that what looks to be a very impressive military isn’t quite what we thought it was cracked up to be. Go read his tweet history, it’s full of good stuff. For example, his deep dive on the differences between Russian and American military trucks’ choice in material for their beds and how small things like this are contributing to Russia’s continued struggles.
Trent got me thinking a lot. Not just about how critical logistics is for any combat operation. But also for how I’ve treated logistics and supply chain in my career in the Army. I have some mea culpas…
I served in the active Army for 9 years. Adding the time at West Point, which was Army-ish, most of my adulthood was in uniform. I was all-in. The Army was my tribe. Being the young, impressionable, and idealist man that I was, I drank the Kool-Aid HARD and wrapped myself in the culture of machismo that the Army promotes. Which means I participated in one of the dumber traditions of the military, the act of shitting on anyone who wasn’t a part of my group. Namely, the folks in the supply chain side of the Army.
For those less familiar with the Armed Services, it’s not a perfectly uniform (bad pun) society. There are rivalries, as each group struggles to make itself the most important in the eyes of the rest. Army hates Navy, Navy hates Air Force, everyone laughs at Space Force, and the Marines eat crayons in the corner. Stuff like that. But across all the services, there’s a general division between those who are “front line” and those that aren’t. Between the infantry/armor/calvary/special operations types and ordnance/maintenance/transportation/quartermaster types. This rivalry is as old as time, each side shouting at each other, beating their chest that they’re more important than the other. And I definitely did that.
In my first 4 years in the Army, I was a combat engineer. We used to psych each other up about how dangerous our job was, gleefully reciting facts like the mortality rate of combat engineers in Vietnam being 90% (Was that true? We didn’t care, it fit the narrative). When I joined the Special Forces, this fervor only intensified, as now I was a member of the Regiment that fought longer and harder, in more miserable conditions, than any other part of the Army. In my mind, I was, therefore, better than anyone else. Especially those “rear echelon mother f*ckers” who didn’t have the guts to fight. Who gives a shit about supply chains when you just need to close with and destroy the enemy, am I right?
I wasn’t this guy. But I was closer to this guy than I care to admit
What a silly boy I was.
Now, every military needs folks like I was. Lots of them. That’s largely who makes up the military. Who else besides a bunch of teenagers and early 20 year-olds can actually get excited about running towards a machine gun that’s firing straight at them? That’s generally agreed upon as a bad thing to do.
Yet it’s also something that at times needs to be done. Must be done. The fate of the unit, your fellow service members, and the nation’s interests may rest on charging that machine gun.
So you’ve got to find the right sort of person for this rather unique and dangerous job. Hence, a culture that celebrates the nobility of sacrifice, honor above comfort, and a willingness to go towards harm. When you’ve got this sort of culture and a bunch of adult-but-just-barely guys who drink it up every day but aren’t mature enough to understand its nuances (like appreciating someone has to feed you and move you to the right place so you can run at that machine gun), you’re bound to have some issues. You get people like Young Cy.
Young Cy scoffed at the idea that logistics mattered and certainly wouldn’t have listened to someone like Trent. Young Cy didn’t appreciate why every Monday, his platoon did maintenance in the motor pool, checking and testing their M113s to see if everything functioned properly. Young Cy had his head up his own ass.
Thankfully, I’ve gotten older.
Perhaps wiser too?
Since the Covid era began, the global supply chain has entered the zeitgeist. Memes of the EverGiven stuck in the Suez Canal (and corresponding children’s book), people fighting over the last roll of toilet paper at the store, and soaring gas prices have all contributed to everyone suddenly caring a LOT about how their stuff gets moved around. And subsequently started appreciating how hard it is to do it well (if it’s done at all).
So imagine how that difficulty gets multiplied when people are shooting at you.
Through a series of unplanned life events, I’m now at a supply chain technology company. I am deep deep deep rear echelon. Young Cy would be appalled. And even within my supply chain technology company, I’m far apart from the actual work done on the supply chain.
The change of scenery has mellowed me out a lot. Helped me appreciate the other side. Helped me see some harsh truths about what I thought was important.
Logistics wins wars. General Omar Bradley famously said, “amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics”. I knew that quote as early as West Point but my smooth brain found a way to skate past that inconvenience as I watched Black Hawk Down for the 17th time. I even distinctly remember writing a paper for my military history class (got an A on it, nbd) that cited Napoleon, who said “an army marches on its stomach”. The truth was staring me in the face for a long time and I ignored it.
Well, I’m not ignoring it any longer. The Ukrainians are still in this fight because apparently, the Russian military has a lot of Young Cys in its ranks. People who concern themselves only with the maneuver of infantry battalions and not with the resupply of those battalions.
War doesn’t work like that. If you want to be in the fight for more than 3 days, you need people who care deeply about solving the problems of how to get more fuel, food, and bullets. I didn’t appreciate that as a young man, full of piss and vinegar, thinking all I needed was my rifle and the guys next to me. Now, I know just how fruitless any undertaking by the military is without a deep level of logistical expertise. Something that the Russian military doesn’t have. Frankly, something a lot of large organizations (military or otherwise) don’t have. One of the US military’s superpowers is its unrivaled ability to get a hell of a lot of people and equipment across the world in a blink of an eye and sustain them once they get there. That capability doesn’t get built overnight. It’s due to generations of relentless, professional efforts from logisticians.
People I now greatly respect and tip my hat to.
At least one guy over there gets it
Rapid Fire
Stuff I find interesting from around the web
It was a rule at Amazon that every machine learning algorithm that was deployed into production had to be actively monitored. No “set it and forget it”, as the smallest error or omission in the algorithm could have massive financial implications. Recall a few years back that Amazon got in hot water after it had to discontinue a model in its recruiting software that was found to be biased. Well, this news from the FTC shows that there may be a new era of enforcement coming where companies are forced to not just discontinue but outright destroy algorithms is found to be in violation of the law. I imagine a lot more rigor and scrutiny coming for ML models.
Shout out to my daughter Avery for selling 1000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies!! She earned her own Nintendo Switch plus a bunch of other swag. And she did it all despite massive shortfalls in inventory, as even the Girl Scouts are struggling with supply chain problems right now! #prouddadmoment
Recently stumbled onto Benn Stancil’s blog and it’s a gold mine for data enthusiasts. 5 out of 5 stars
This tweet made me feel attacked
The battle cry of every PM everywhere
Consultants are the worst. THE. WORST.
Very insightful Cy! Look forward to many more.