Contested Logistics Certificate - Curriculum 189

The Contested Logistics Certificate provides a rigorous, applied education in the planning, analysis, and execution of military logistics in contested operational environments. The certificate integrates quantitative modeling, inventory and supply chain theory, and operational planning to prepare students to support force deployment and sustainment against peer and near-peer adversaries.

Students develop foundational knowledge of operational logistics at the operational level of warfare, combining analytical tools with historical and qualitative perspectives to address uncertainty, adversarial action, and organizational complexity. The certificate emphasizes inventory and supply chain decision models, including demand forecasting, inventory prioritization, and cost-service tradeoffs, with specific adaptation to military supply systems.

Building on this foundation, students apply quantitative logistics models to contested environments, with particular attention to logistics network resilience and sustainement, including fuel sourcing, distribution, and consumption across multiple transportation modes. The certificate culminates in an applied planning exercise in which students develop operational-level logistics products—such as Annex D and Time-Phased Force Deployment Data (TPFDD)—for a notional large-scale military operation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Throughout the certificate, students engage in case-based analysis and collaborative problem-solving, integrating analytical rigor with operational judgment to support current and future military logistics challenges.

Outcomes

1. Explain and apply the conceptual foundations of operational logistics across the levels of warfare, integrating historical context, doctrine, and contemporary military operations.
2. Analyze and model military logistics systems using quantitative methods, including demand forecasting, inventory models, logistics networks, and resources sharing, to support deployment and sustainment decisions under uncertainty.
3. Design and evaluate inventory and supply chain policies that balance cost, service, resilience, and fragility, with specific application to military supply chains and contested operational environments.
4. Assess logistics information requirements and systems, including supply chain information systems and identification technologies, and evaluate their role in enabling visibility, coordination, and decision-making.
5. Develop and compare logistics strategies and courses of action to support operations against peer and near-peer adversaries, accounting for adversary action, infrastructure constraints, geopolitical context, and industrial base considerations.
6. Evaluate the structure, resilience, and vulnerability of logistics networks, including energy supply chains and multimodal lines of supply, and assess their performance in contested environments.
7. Integrate logistics planning with operational design, synthesizing deployment and sustainment plans (e.g., Annex D, TPFDD) and predicting their operational effectiveness and influence on adversary decision-making.
8. Apply interdisciplinary analysis and professional judgment to real-world contested logistics problems, communicating findings clearly through collaborative analysis and written products intended for senior leaders and policymakers.

Course Requirements

The following courses are required:

Course Number	Title	Credits	Lecture Hours	Lab Hours
OM3401	Principles of Operational Logistics		4	0
OM4411	Inventory and Supply Chain Management		4
OM4421	Logistics Models and Applications		4	0
OM4431	Contested Logistics Planning		2	2