“United States Navy is entrusted by the citizens of this country with the first line of our national defense, the burden of this responsibility is enormous,” shared Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and 49th Chief of Supply Corps Rear. Adm. Pete Stamatopoulos. “Our end of this covenant of trust with the American people is simple; we are charged to build and operate the best possible fighting force to protect their lives, property and freedoms.”
Since 1795, when the Supply Corps was assigned the task of supporting the Navy’s first six frigates, its duties and responsibilities have kept pace with the expanding scope of the modern Navy's mission. Supplying the Navy with items essential to the operation of modern ships, aircraft and facilities, and providing fuel, food, transportation, clothing, and services to the men and women of the Navy in an effective, expeditious, and economical manner demands the dedication and know-how of an expertly trained and highly skilled officer Corps.
“A broad perspective is integral to maintaining our Navy’s competitive advantage in a dynamic strategic environment,” explained Stamatopoulos. “For Supply Corps personnel, this means knowing and understanding our systems, processes and their interconnectivity, and leveraging that knowledge to build strong teams to ensure the expeditious delivery of services and material solutions to the warfighter.”
Logistics has long been recognized as an essential function of premiere fighting forces throughout history as noted by luminaries such as:
“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics…” -- Sun Tzu, 544-496 BC, Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer of The Art of War, and,
“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” – Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1890-1969, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and statesman who also served as the 34th president of the United States.
The foundation of logistics to the warfighter is also established with the armed forces own policy, regulation and instructions:
“Logistics sets the campaign's operational limits.” -- Joint Pub 1, Joint Warfare of the U.S. Armed Forces, June 2020.
“Seldom will all logistics principles exert equal influence; usually one or two will dominate in any given situation. Identifying those principles that have priority in a specific situation is essential to establishing effective support.” -- Joint Pub 4-0, Doctrine for Logistics Support of Joint Operations, May, 2019.
To meet these demands, the Supply Corps requires its more than 2,200 active duty officers to be schooled and experienced in a variety of disciplines such as inventory control, financial management, contracting, information systems, operations analysis, material and operational logistics, fuels management, and physical distribution. Equipped with this knowledge, these officers serve on nearly every afloat platform, in nearly every expeditionary environment, and at hundreds of shore installations worldwide, acting as force multipliers for a global logistics network. They work to provide oversight and guidance to the supply enlisted community numbering an estimated 6,500 Culinary Specialists, 7,700 Logistics Specialists, and 2,100 Retail Services Specialists.
The Supply Corps' history is the story of its people, those who served first as naval agents, and eventually as Supply Corps officers. Over the years, the men and women of the Supply Corps have come to exemplify the characteristics of ingenuity, creativity, perseverance, and dedication in their efforts to provide service to the Fleet. Each of their stories has a place in the context of American naval history and reflects the struggle of the nation to evolve into the world's most modern and efficient sea power.
This week, Supply Corps Senior leaders will collaborate in person to discuss numerous topics to strengthen the Corps’ focus on sustaining the warfighter and will align under three main themes: Get Real, Get Better, getting real about self-assessment, knowing capabilities and limitations, embracing the red, having the courage to identify problems and implement solutions, being accountable, fixing root causes and quickly elevating barriers; a long-term program that will become an integral part of our culture; Sustaining the Warfighter, everything the Supply Community does must produce measurable mission oriented results, have impact from the deck plates to the to the Combatant Commands to the success of our allies and partners; Transforming the Supply Corps Community, the supply community has the most comprehensive view of the end-to-end supply chain across the whole of Navy and Joint Force and also has some deep, underlying issues which need to be identified and resolved, always learning, adapting and innovating to advance the mission.
“It’s long been my belief that we are unable to realize our professional potential without a solid understanding of our place within the greater logistics enterprise,” Stamatopoulos added. “If we fully comprehend the ways in which our efforts impact organizations, systems and processes outside our immediate field of view, we certainly expand our technical proficiency, but more importantly, we become better leaders and decision makers.”
"We are a great Navy because of our people. We are a global Navy because of logistics." – Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations from September 29, 2007 to September 22, 2011.
NAVSUP is headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics and Sailor & family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars. Learn more at www.navsup.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/navsup and https://twitter.com/navsupsyscom.