Steve Geary

The logistics industry’s trusted source for award-winning editorial content, including new analysis, business strategies, case studies, and video of distribution operations.

When it’s your job to figure out what military logistics capability the U.S. will need three to five years out, it helps to have a can do attitude. Fortunately, Lt. Gen. Robert Ruark believes there is always a solution to a problem.

You may not think of the military as a wellspring of logistics innovation. But the Defense Department has a long history of developing (and implementing) cutting-edge tools. Here are just a few examples.

In partnership with a local firm—one with a firm grasp of logistics—Ace Hardware will open its first hardware store in Afghanistan next year.

In 2009, Dr. Stephen Rutner put his teaching career on hold for his second tour at the Port of Ash Shuaibah in Kuwait. Today, he’s back in the classroom with tales from the war zone—in the most literal sense.

As conventional warfare gives way to the era of the swarming, flexible, agile fighting force, big changes are in store for the battalions responsible for clothing, feeding and equipping the troops. Here’s how the Pentagon is transforming a sluggish supply chain into a streamlined hypernetworked model for the digital age.