Fuel

In an operation such as the one just conclued in Iraq, the primary commodity consumed is petroleum mostly diesel and jet fuel. The M1 tank and the helicopters are powered by turbine engines while most of the other other equipment is diesel powered. The Army has eliminated all its gasoline engined equipment in order to simplify fueling logistics. I don't know for sure, but I assume the Marine Corps has done the same. Even so, the amounts of fuel required to move a heavy Division boggles the mind. An M1 doesn't get miles per gallon. It gets gallons per mile and it is not shut down while parked so is always burning fuel. The same is true for most other combat vehicles while the logistics vehicles essentially operate 24/7. The battalions in the Division have organic fuel vehicles (around 2500 gallons per transporter) that provide fuel directly to the battalion's combat vehicles and other equipment. These assets move with the battalion and stay fairly close to the fighting forces. They generally have a one day supply of fuel. (My fuels experience is limited, so if I am wrong on the battalion's basic load, sorry). The battalion's organic assets must be resupplied daily. This is done via a combination of Division Support Command and Corps level fuel resupply tankers (5000 gal). As the supply lines stretch out as they did very quickly in Iraq, the turnaround time on resupply gets longer and longer as the tankers must travel further to get refilled from where ever the fuel is stored.


The soldiers operating the fuels resupply lines work extremely long hours even during exercises since the resupply capability is marginal under ideal conditions and there is no such thing as ideal conditions during anything associated with military operations. Soldiers become exhausted and disoriented. The Army tries to have two people in every truck. This allows some rest, but there is little or no true rest. On top of driving the trucks, the log soldiers provide their own security so it is not like the second person is a commercial driver napping in the "sleeper".

Logistics equipment is the most neglected item in the Army. It is not glamourous and usually has no constituency. Given the choice of another tank or 30 fuel tankers, the Army buys the tank. The trucks hauling fuel in Iraq were fielded in the mid-80s on average. They were and are excellent trucks, but they are old.

Logistics units are the last on the list to get new equipment and the equipment authorization tables provide less communications equipment per soldier than any of the combat arms units get. Combine that with the fact that the log units are moving constantly and not always as units, command and control is very difficult.

In my opinion, it is not by chance that the first POWs of the Iraq war were log soldiers.