Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War

Traditionally the most unglamorous and under-appreciated facet of the military, logistics comprises transportation; oil and fuel management; food, water and ammunition supply; and many other day-to-day needs that must be met before an army can fight. U.S. Army Lieutenant-General Pagonis presents a definitive case study of modern logistics in the context of the Gulf war. With unprecedented speed and efficiency, Pagonis's 22nd Support Command moved nearly 500,000 soldiers and seven million tons of supplies halfway around the world, a feat that General H. Norman Schwarzkopf called ``absolutely gigantic.'' Here Pagonis provides a virtual textbook of logistical problem-solving in such arcane areas as organizing recreational activities for several thousand men and women under the host-nation's severe religious and social constraints, as well as such conventional problems as whether to construct an overpass at the Mother of all Intersections. Pagonis makes many useful comments, of interest to the private business sector, about time management, delegation of authority and boss-to-staff communications. Photos. 50,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Oct.)