Linking Logistics and Operations

A Case Study of World War II Air Power

Jack Stockfisch

Published 1991

This Note describes how operators learned to use and logisticians learned to support air power during World War II. They had to cope with great uncertainty given the fact that prewar models of air operations were falsified by wartime reality. More often than not, aircraft types were used in ways and for missions that differed from what designers and prewar planners had in mind. The "learning periods" of three distinct American and British uses of air power are examined: the support of ground fighting in the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe, the predominantly naval and amphibious Pacific campaigns, and the strategic bombardment efforts against Germany and Japan. Lessons inferred from this experience are related to the Air Force's current effort to develop a logistics concept of operations.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1991
  • Pages: 72
  • Document Number: N-3200-AF

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Stockfisch, Jack, Linking Logistics and Operations: A Case Study of World War II Air Power. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1991. https://www.rand.org/pubs/notes/N3200.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND note series. The note was a product of RAND from 1979 to 1993 that reported miscellaneous outputs of sponsored research for general distribution.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.