Mathew B. Ridgway: A Western Way Of War

There does exist a “Western Way of War” characterised by innovations and technological advancement, training and discipline as well as restraint and values of Western countries that have enabled them to exert hegemony over their non-Western adversaries through the centuries. However, at its most fundamental level, it is the West’s ability to project its power over long distances and sustain their forces once they arrive that has allowed the West to bring all the other Western Way of War characteristics to the enemy. Without a mastery of logistics, honed over 2,000 years of experience, the West could not have become the most powerful, preeminent military and cultural force in the world today. From the Punic Wars to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the

Ridgway, a general during World War II once observed, "What throws you in combat is rarely the fact that "your tactical scheme was wrong but that you failed to think through the hard cold facts of logistics." Logistics is the key element in western warfare, more so in the 21th century than ever before. The Wests’ success on the modern battlefield has been dictated by how well a commander has managed available logistical support. The United States success in major wars and several minor wars or conflicts in the 20th century are linked more directly to the ability to mobilize and bring to bear economic and industrial power than any level of strategic or tactical design. Operations during the Gulf War to liberate Iraq illustrate this point. Long before the Allied offensive could start, professional logisticians had to gather and transport men and materiel and provide for the sustained flow of supplies and equipment that throughout history has made possible the conduct of war. Commanders and their staffs inventoried their stocks, essayed the kind and quantities of equipment and supplies required for operations in the severe desert climate, and coordinated their movement plans with national and international logistics networks. The first victory in the Persian Gulf War was getting the forces there and making certain they had what they required to fight. It was after these logistic considerations that commanders would initiate offensive

Logistics to a large extent has given non-Western forces their most impossible problems. Most of the wars that have not occurred, such as the Egyptian invasion of Libya in the 1970s, have been foiled by difficulties of supply and maintenance. Non-Western armies have a relatively acute shortage of the kind of leaders with managerial expertise to oversee their logistical support. Characteristically, high-quality leaders are siphoned off to man the more prestigious combat arms while the less-gifted or less-politically connected are fobbed off on support functions. Third World armies typically operate in environments where the local infrastructure of roads and railroads are lacking or in poor repair. The ability of the logistician to transport supplies to his troops is thus hampered. Furthermore, Third World armies tend to have more severe maintenance difficulties. This is because they tend to depend on external suppliers for spare parts and inadequate organizational depth to sustain complex supply and maintenance systems. Recent experience of wars between non-Western powers indicates Superpower intervention in logistical support often dictates the outcome of the conflict. Instances include the US resupply of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Soviet resupply in the Somali-Ethiopian War and the US support to the Mujahidin in Afghanistan. During the