"Business Week" described the Gulf War as "the largest military logistics operation in history", entailing an unprecedented deployment of troops and supplies halfway around the world. Here is a firsthand account of the supply effort that led to the dramatic Allied victory in the Gulf, written by the general who spearheaded the remarkable undertaking. General Pagonis recounts the Gulf War from the first fateful telephone call, to the mobilization of 550,000 troops and the shipment of 7,000,000 tons of supplies, to the enormously complex challenge of bringing home a half million soldiers and their equipment. Numerous leadership and logistics lessons can be gleaned from his experience. Pagonis describes his battlefield innovations as well as his inspirational leadership style. Using historical examples and current business practice, he makes a strong case for better leadership and better logistics, both in the military and in the private sector. In the Gulf War, leadership and logistics came together, and extraordinary goals were achieved. Pagonis demonstrated what senior managers of world-class companies now recognize: good logistics is an important source of competitive advantage. "Moving Mountains" offers lessons for all organizations facing major operational challenges.
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.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
