A Defense Science Board task force on “survivable logistics” suggests the U.S. military has a way to go to be prepared for future conflict.

“Logistics demand must be reduced, and research, development, technology and engineering funding must be increased,” the report says. “To enable resiliency and complicate an adversary’s targeting, it is imperative that logistics concepts of operations be revised to align with anticipated future joint operating concepts.”

At home, efforts are underway to make military installations more protected and self-reliant if communication links, utilities, food and other supplies are cut off, but more needs to be done to protect the industrial base, the board says in the report released late last year.

The report also calls for realistic exercises that challenge logistics capabilities, recommends better pre-position of equipment, better cooperation with commercial partners and calls for restructuring the military to create a more integrated capability.

“The future of warfare is rapidly changing, and the DoD will need to adapt quickly to prepare for conditions less favorable to the United States than existed in the past, wrote Craig Fields, the science board chairman who recommends modernizing joint logistics as a “necessary and critical first step.”

Retired Army Gen. Paul Kern and retired Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb co-chaired the survivable logistics task force.

An unclassified executive summary of the 2018 report: https://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2010s/SurvLog_FinalReport_ExSumm.pdf