Unlike physics or literature, strategy does not comprise an academic discipline, per se. It is, in every way, an interdisciplinary enterprise. For some, this can pose a problem—for others, a golden opportunity. Lt Col Rob Bearden is of the latter sort.

As he might put it, in war resources are always a concern. Ordinarily, the fear is that “we won’t have enough,” but can one have too much? In other words, what risks do commanders assume when they enjoy an abundance of resources? This is not an abstract question. In 2011 some 43 forward operating bases in Afghanistan relied...

According to the United States Air Force’s (USAF) Air Mobility Command (AMC), in 2011 some 43 forward operating bases (FOB) in Afghanistan relied exclusively on aerial resupply.¹ At the same time, data from US Air Forces Central (USAFCENT) reveal that supplies airdropped into Afghanistan have doubled each year since 2006 to reach a height of 75.9 million pounds in 2011, and an Air Force Magazine daily report noted that AMC was “on track to drop 90 million pounds” of supplies for 2012.² Such statistics represent either moments for celebration or moments for pause and reflection. From the perspective of someone...

Nearly 60 years after the French surrender at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the name of this otherwise obscure valley and village in northern Vietnam remains etched in the collective memory of military historians and students of warfare alike. The same is true for strategists, logisticians, and tacticians who review and study this battle in hopes of avoiding the mistakes for which it is notorious and capitalizing on its otherwise forgotten successes. It continues to be a key subject of interest for military and civilian historians as evidenced by the publication of exhaustive scholarly works well into the twenty-first...

Following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, international peace efforts in Geneva ended the Indochina War and established a demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Vietnam. The Geneva Accords went on to mandate free and fair elections within two years that would establish a unified Vietnamese state. Ultimately, this was not to be, and even as the United States attempted to fill the vacuum left by the French in South Vietnam, the communist state of North Vietnam, aided by Viet Cong paramilitary elements, strove instead to establish a unified communist state. In an effort to stem the perceived...

The events of 11 September 2001 will remain forever etched in the memories of all who witnessed them. For the United States, they signaled the start of more than a decade of continuous combat operations beginning with Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in early October 2001 and continuing with Operation Iraqi Freedom starting in March 2003. While neither of these operations produced a twenty-first-century version of Dien Bien Phu or Khe Sanh, both relied heavily upon airlift and witnessed an increasing reliance upon airlift as a sole means of supply.¹

Despite the fact that Enduring Freedom was the first operation...

Given that moral hazard is the danger that an insured agent will increase his or her exposure to risk and that the case studies considered illustrate that moral hazard is rife in airlift operations, reducing this phenomenon demands attention. It is important to note that, as already shown, moral hazard in airlift operations is not a determinant of the success of those operations and that moral hazard in these instances has no necessary implications for the value—good, bad, or otherwise—of the operations. Thus, it is possible for moral hazard to exist and have an operation turn out well...