Sustainment of Army Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Major Findings and Recommendations

Eric Peltz, Marc Robbins, Kenneth Girardini, Rick Eden, John Halliday, Jeffrey Angers

ResearchPublished Dec 13, 2005

By virtually every account, the major combat operations of Operation Iraqi Freedom that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime in the spring of 2003 were a remarkable success. Yet there is a general belief within the Army and the broader defense community, supported by RAND Arroyo Center’s analysis, that this success was achieved despite logistics problems that hampered materiel sustainment. However, moving beyond the initial impressions that emerged quickly following operations, Arroyo’s research has indicated that forces and sustainment capabilities were sufficiently robust to overcome the problems and effectively execute missions. This monograph describes how well the Department of Defense logistics system supported Army forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom, documents the major reasons for shortfalls in performance, provides recommendations for improvement, and points to questions raised with respect to the design of future forces.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 2005
  • Pages: 152
  • Document Number: MG-342-A

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Peltz, Eric, Marc Robbins, Kenneth Girardini, Rick Eden, John Halliday, and Jeffrey Angers, Sustainment of Army Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom: Major Findings and Recommendations. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2005. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG342.html.
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The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Army and conducted by the RAND Arroyo Center.

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