FIGURE 4.1

Principal nodes in today's logistics system.

will make these improvements essential. In addition, OMFTS will impose new demands on the logistics system, and it is to these new demands that the committee addresses its attention.

Figure 4.1 depicts a typical logistics structure for supporting today's Marine Corps operations. Combat units have, in their own combat trains, a capability to meet immediate needs for fuel, ammunition, and other supplies. That capability for most units is modest, consisting of several cargo trucks and trailers and a 1,200-gallon fuel tanker that are usually in a battalion's headquarters and services company. For some units, however, the capability is substantial: for example, in an artillery battalion it includes forklifts and trucks for hauling ammunition; in a tank battalion it includes mobile assault bridging and several fuel tankers.

The combat service support detachment (CSSD) is an ad hoc, mission-tailored organization created from the supply, maintenance, engineering, transport, and medical battalions of a force service support group. It provides the forward logistics support to deployed units. The flexibility inherent in the CSSD concept allows many variations in organizational makeup and employment: large or small, ground- or air-deployed, mobile or stationary.