From a to B

This title addresses military and economic applications of logistics. It is based on extensive firsthand reporting in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, Latin America, and across the United States. It illuminates the human story behind a variety of daunting logistical undertakings. Logistics includes the planning and practice of moving 'stuff' - raw materials, tools, finished products, and even people - from one place to another. It carried American settlers over the sparsely populated Great Plains to connect the East Coast to the West Coast and has underpinned our domestic prosperity ever since. It also solidified the global power and influence of the United States by guaranteeing our ability to rapidly reinforce Europe in the world wars, by helping us win the Cold War, and by enabling the current U.S. military to fight two wars at once. Further, logistics undergirds the world economy as swelling populations vie for shrinking resources, including energy, water, arable land, food, and cheap labor. Natural disasters urgently increase such demand. From A to B is the story of modern American logistics, which will continue to shape the nation's role in this century. This book begins with a U.S. Army transportation company in Iraq during the height of insurgent attacks on American supply networks. Then it tours the complex, colorful landscape of the shipyards, railways, highways, airports, classrooms, corporate boardrooms, and laboratories that make up our transportation culture. With competition stiffening and our national transportation infrastructure crumbling, we must find ways to move resources and products even more efficiently if we are to thrive. "From A to B" presents this challenge.