Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War

by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and William G. Pagonis

Book Overview

Business Week described the Gulf War as the largest military logistics operation in history, entailing an unprecedented deployment of troops and supplies halfway around the world. Here is a firsthand account of the supply effort that led to the dramatic Allied victory in the Gulf, written by the general who spearheaded the remarkable undertaking. General Pagonis recounts the Gulf War from the first fateful telephone call, to the mobilization of 550,000...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0875843603
• ISBN13: 9780875843605
• Release Date: August 1992
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Good book on organizational logistics, management and a tale of a gigantic work

I bought this book several years ago, as I was interested in reading from a general in logistics his memoirs on Dessert Storm. I did not approach this book seeking specific textbook information on: - Desert Storm - Military Logistics From experience, the books that are written by those who participated in events we (ordinary people) may never get to see, always teaches us something we can never see in the texbooks. Therefore this book met ny expectations. I guess its easy to take for granted that if the US has the biggest army in the world, somehow all it operational inputs are a given for any state of action. This is true, but we must not overlook that this happens because of a non-glamorous activity that is called logistics. At the start of the book Gen. Pagonis gives us a very useful definition of logistics "Logistics is the careful integration of transportation, supply, warehousing, contracting and automation into a coherent functional area; in a way hat prevents suboptimization of any of these activities; and in a way that permits and enhances the accomplishments of a given goal, objective, or mission". It is interesting that through out the book we see specific cases of how each of the ideas in the above definition came to be. What really is a case of suboptimation was the Desert Storm war.. talk about an overkill.. americans won that war in 2 days yet they brought enough firepower to fight 10 WWIII!!! I am rereading the book and still find it illuminating. When I was in the corporate world, basically all major clots in the accomplishments of any objective can be attributed to lack of proper logistics, if you want sucess you have to think logistically (not logically) or be surrounded by someone like Gen. Pagonis who is!! BTW the story is fascinating since it debunks the myth that the real glory of war is in fancy strategy, in here strategy is a consequence of logistics. When I read this the 2nd invasion of Irak was years to come, I wonder what the logistic now is, certainly does not sem like the same overkill can be used.

Instructive thoughts from a top logistician

General Pagonis has written a very informative book about his experience in the 1990-91 Gulf War with an emphasis on the lessons that the civilian bussiness sector can derive from it. Without a doubt he was a most capable officer for the job he undertook and his on the spot promotion to Lt General proved the great value of his work. The best parts of the book were those where Pagonis came close to General Shwarzkopf, either to receive laconic instructions or to guarantee that everything will be ready on time for the great outflanking maneuver he planned. Pagonis is a living example of what Greeks can achieve when they work inside a meritocracy system, open to talents like the american model (the complete opposite of what Greek political system encourages in our country in the last decades), and he gives many tips for the military and civilian logistician, like the stand-up morning meetings, the use of the 3X5 cards for the flow of information, the "ghostbusters" idea of mobile problem solvers, the great value of the vision in the leader's mind and how it can be materialised in the lower echelons and many more. Although I would like to learn more about the myriad details of army logistics, I understand that Pagonis' target was not to drawn his readers into the sea of information he handled but to outline the principles of his command and management style. I would recommend reading Douglas Menarchik's excellent "Powerlift" as a more data heavy companion to Pagonis' book.

Easy to read and understand

Anyone interested in buying this book must understand two things up front:1. This book is written by a professional soldier and not a business school professor.2. This book is one man's account of his duties and opinions on the subject of logistics and is not intended to be a textbook on the subject of logistics or a war novel.If you understand these two things before you by the book then you will find this book to be very interesting as it is one of the few books written on military logistics. Moreover, you will gain insight into as to how General Pagonis used his personal leadership style to manage the logistical challenges of the first Gulf War. For someone wanting to learn about the nuts and bolts of logistics this book isn't for you. However, for those of you who want to gain an understanding of how logistics can impact the success or failure of a war while picking up a few words of wisdom in leadership from one of the best in the business will enjoy this book. I have read this book twice and I enjoyed it each time. Although I couldn't use much of the material from the book in my MBA classes, I was able to apply some of the information from this book while I was earning a graduate certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Penn State.

A must read for all military personel involved in logistics

The best book to date on military logistics.Explains in detail how the U.S. Army was able to accomplish it's mission in supplying over half a million troops when and where it was needed.Gen.Pagonis has written an excellent guide for officers and NCO's involved in logistics.

Description of the supply logistics for Desert Storm

An excellent anecdotal book on logistics by the retired general who deployed the massive resources for American military participation in the Persian Gulf.