Around four o'clock in the afternoon, John received a call from Bradley asking him to come to his office. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Pushing open the door to the division commander's office, John found that the "Big Three" of the 82nd Division - Bradley, Ridgway, and Swain - were all there.

"John, Matthew just told us, you asked him for a number of men? Is there something wrong with the logistics? "Bradley's biggest concern right now is that something will go wrong when the new recruits come in at the end of the month. As soon as he heard Ridgway say that John was looking for someone for him, Bradley's first reaction was that the logistics of the 82nd Division had not been done well. Otherwise, how could John be in a hurry to ask for manpower on the first day of his tenure, and dozens of them as soon as he took office.

"Nothing is a big problem, Omar. Steve had done a good job before, he was a good logistics officer. While John alleges Bradley and the others' worries, he doesn't forget to praise Major Steve by the way.

"That's good." Bradley and Ridgway and Swain all breathed a sigh of relief. "Steve has the ability, but he hasn't done any specific logistics before, so we're worried about what could go wrong."

"Rest assured, Omar. The logistics will definitely not hold back the 82nd Division. John swore to Bradley.

"Well, you're an expert in this area, and of course we can trust you." Bradley was still not quite impressed with John's ability, "But, John, we're glad you got into the job so quickly. But before we can give you people, we need to know what you're going to do for them? ”

"I understand, in fact, I was going to hand you a written plan the day after tomorrow." Of course, John knew that the transfer of personnel had to go through the formal procedures, so he hurriedly explained with a smile: "It's just that I happened to hear Matthew talk about the 505th Regiment at noon, so I mentioned it in passing." ”

"Since everyone is here, tell us about your plan first." Brigadier General Swain interjected. He hadn't dealt with John before, but he'd been hearing from Bradley and Ridgway that the young colonel had a knack for logistics. Out of curiosity, he wanted to know what John wanted to do with such fanfare.

"Okay, General." John knew that with his knowledge of the 82nd Division, it would be difficult for him to come up with a well-thought-out plan for logistical reform on his own. He had planned to wait for the plan to take shape before consulting Bradley and the others, but since they wanted to hear it now, he didn't care.

"Two years ago, I submitted a memorandum to Chief of Staff Marshall on the reform of the Army's logistics system. It mentions recommendations to improve the transparency of military supplies, reduce the delivery time, and build a professional logistics team. My plan this time is mainly based on these three points......"

"Chief of Staff Marshall had a high opinion of John's memo at the time. It was on the basis of the recommendations contained in that memorandum that General Arnold established the Statistical Control Service in the Army Air Corps. The 3rd Army's pilot logistical reform, which began last year, also referred to some of John's original views. Bradley, who had seen a copy of the memo, listened to John's introduction and whispered explanations to Ridgway and Swain.

"I also heard General Arnold say at the meeting that since the establishment of the Statistics Control Office, the Army Air Corps has increased its flight capacity by 35 per cent, and the time spent waiting for repair parts has been cut in half." When Ridgway was first transferred to the Operational Planning Division of the General Staff, John was helping to set up the Statistics Control Office in the Army Air Corps. That's when he heard about John's reputation as a "logistics expert".

Brigadier General Swain had heard of these situations for the first time. Surprised, he became more interested in John's plan.

"As a first step, I plan to strengthen and upgrade the logistics system at the division level, dividing it into three independent units: a storage center, a transportation center, and a deployment center." John paused, giving Bradley and the others time to digest and absorb it, and then he explained the functions of the three units one by one.

"The function of the storage unit is to inventory, register, classify, optimize and store all the materials of the division, which is the first step for us to make assets transparent. The divisional transportation center needs about 200 transport trucks and fuel tankers to form several reinforced logistics detachments to be responsible for the distribution of materials between the combat unit division and the regiments. The dispatch center is responsible for receiving and processing orders from combat units and arranging material distribution plans. ”

"The purpose of this is to form a new material management process. The combat unit only needs to submit the shortage and type of materials to the deployment center, and the deployment center will issue a deployment order to the storage center according to the previously mastered material reserves, and arrange and adjust the transportation plan of the transportation center. The storage center does not have direct contact with combat units, the transportation center is only responsible for distribution, and the deployment center only deals with digital and does not touch specific materials. ”

"Isn't that more complicated than the previous process?" Brigadier General Swain said with some puzzlement: "And the number of personnel needed has also increased. Isn't logistical reform about streamlining the logistical structure? ”

"General, on the surface, the new logistics system is more complex than before. However, once the operation is mature, the time for combat units to obtain material supplies will be greatly shortened, and the accuracy will be greatly improved. John patiently explained: "This system is fundamentally different from what we are currently using, it is a dynamic replenishment mode, which is based on the needs of combat units. ”

Seeing that Swain still didn't quite understand, John tried to explain with specific examples what precise logistics and dynamic supply are.

"Now the logistics department usually does not know what exactly the company needs and how much it needs. And the quartermaster sergeants of those companies are also used to either not having new parts for months, or a whole bunch of them. With the new logistical supply system, they only need to monitor and review the shortages every week, and then fill out a list with the dispatch center telling them what they need, how much, when they need it, and where to ship it. The dispatch center will allocate materials and arrange distribution according to specific needs, so as to minimize waste and rationalize the use of transportation capacity. ”

Swain figured out if he didn't, John didn't, but Bradley had a new question. "Wait, you're saying that in the future, the division's logistics department will directly connect with the companies, right?"

"Yes. This is another benefit of the new logistics system. We can greatly reduce the level of logistics management. In the future, there will be no need to reserve large quantities of materials at the regimental level, and their car company capacity can also be greatly liberated. ”

"Are you sure you won't have a problem docking directly with the company?" Ridgway was also a little skeptical.

"Don't worry, Matthew. According to what I have learned from Europe, the average material consumption of a British infantry division for a day of combat is about 320 tons. Even if we consume more than theirs. On this basis, we can fully afford 650 tons. John remembers very well that historically, the material consumption of American divisions rarely exceeded 500 tons a day.

After carefully interrogating John for more than an hour, Bradley finally nodded and agreed that John should first make some "fine-tuning" of the logistics system of the 82nd Division. As for when it will be called "reform", it will need to wait for the approval of John's plan from above. However, Bradley has hinted that he will communicate the matter with Chief of Staff Marshall.

Before leaving, Bradley asked one last question: "That's right, John." What are you going to do with the officers that Matthew has allocated to you? Going to a newly formed blending center? ”

"If those people have a foundation in accounting or mathematics or statistics, I will consider it." John replied with a smile: "In fact, the biggest difficulty in logistics reform is not in the three centers, but in getting grassroots commanders, quartermasters and soldiers to get used to this new logistics supply model." As you can see, this is much more detailed and complex than the previous one. I need to train a group of people who are familiar with the operation of the new system for each combat unit. ”