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

by William G. Pagonis, Jeffrey L. Cruikshank

Business Week described the Gulf War as the largest military logistics operation in history. It entailed an unprecedented deployment of troops and supplies halfway around the world--a management job that Norman Schwarzkopf hailed as an absolutely gigantic accomplishment. 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 troops and the shipment of 7,000,000 tons of supplies, to the enormously complex challenge of bringing home a half million soldiers and their equipment. His highly effective management techniques apply to information flow, time management, motivation, customer service, and organizational design. Using historical examples--from Alexander the Great to the Israeli Army--and current business practice, he makes a strong case for better leadership and better logistics, both in the military and in the private sector. In the Gulf War, leadership and logistics came together, and extraordinary goals were achieved. Also available in hardcover; ISBN 0875843603, $29.95.

Genres: Military Fiction, Leadership, History, Military History, Middle East, Nonfiction, American History

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book that details General Pagonis's leadership lessons and sustainment/logistics lessons from the onset of Desert Shield, through Desert Storm, and into the redeployment operations of Desert Farewell. Some highlights:
-Observations that we were lucky to fight an adversary with no navy or real air force to contend with, hence movement into theater was uncontested
-Trust the TPFDD; what you think you need right now, may not be what you need a week or a month from now, maintain a wide perspective and protect future operations
-The army needs more HETs and Material Handling Equipment, (we still do), we can't always rely on the ability to contract for them in theater
-Armies Eat and Armies Drive
-Don't gloss over the value of MWR
-Don't gloss over the value of medals, coins, and other awards...the military doesn't offer instant promotions, changes in title, or cash bonuses...use the tools that you have
-Treasure disagreements, and resolve them

[Paulo Mendes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was moved to buy this book because of a position in Logistics I’ve been recently designated to. That’s why I read it with “logistic eyes”. And yes, I get some invaluable lessons on it. But, at the same time, it has some important lessons on leadership. The way General Pagonis led his team and interacted with his superiors made clear his passion for his work. I don’t know anything else about him, my only view of the General comes from this book, so, my comments come from it. He seems to be a leader who has passion for his work. And from my point of view some important attitudes throughout the huge complex mission he was assigned to came out from that passion. From this emerged, for example, his constant atitude of providing all goods necessary to meet the troops’ needs, as well as to give them some sort of comfort. And the way he gave himself to the mission resulted the following: troops had their needs met, with some level of comfort; his team had voice and the exact amount of autonomy to deal with day-to-day issues; communication among people in the logistic structure flowed smoothly; and eventually the logistic support was the key for the Coalition success in the Campaign. Great lessons on logistics and great lessons in leadership.

[Felipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story. It's enjoyable to hear from his personal point of view all the technical aspect of preparing for a war. His leadership style is unique and refeshing. Being innovative in Militar structure is a big challenge and little changes such as 3x5 cards are not easy to implement.
His leadership vision on how to train people is in my opinion very forward-looking; even private sector is not fully understanding the benefits of that.
Overall a highly recommended text for every senior leader looking for fresh ideas and inspiration!

[Brooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pagonis was head of Logistics for the 1990 Gulf War. The book was weak on specifics (probably because of military secrets) and heavy on platitudes which mostly were not related to logistics. I wanted to read the book because I thought it would be fascinating to figure out how they were able to do this job. Here are the few specifics. The Army has five huge pre-positions ships at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. So, basically they airlifted the troops and married that up with the material from the ships. The bigger challenge in some ways was the withdraw. The book had a tone of defense since it took two years to pull out all of the US hardware and people. Basically, they had to re-pack all the containers and pre-positioning ships, remove all of the potentially insect filled dirt from all the equipment, seal it, and stage for shipment. The Saudi’s required the US to remove everything that they had installed in the desert. But the devil is in the details and this book was lacking. He basically was in the right place – Fort Benning, GA when the head of the initial planning pulled him in because he needed a logistics guy. He ended flying to Saudi as a minor mission (help with Saudi relations) but no formal logistics organization could be brought over because logistics was at a lower priority than fighting units. So the first few days as dozens of planes of US soldiers are arriving in the middle of the desert, he steps in and sets up housing, busing, and the million other details of organization. The armed forces of the US have become heavily reliant of cilivian contractors for everything. In Europe, they have dormant contracts for the hundreds of items they need. If there is a need, they have pre-arranged contracts to provide items – trucks, tents, food, wood. In the middle east, these were not arranged and he had some anecdotes about Middle East customs and business – pricing based on need, lack of contract understanding, dozens of middle men offering the same group of trucks for rent. Some of the platitudes – management by walking around, constant simple communication (he uses index cards but today we use e-mail), develop your people.

[Garrett Burnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting for what it was—a cross between an autobiography and how-to management book. Gus Pagonis led the US logistics effort during the first Gulf War. He filled the book with interesting anecdotes. However, he had something nice to say about everyone (though I don't want to harangue the guy for being positive...in fact that's part of why he was so successful).

I hoped to learn some details about logistics and supply chain management. I didn't get much of that. General Pagonis includes some general leadership strategies at the end. The more interesting ones that seemed to reflect the general's personality were worthwhile (playing basketball with his troops, for example). The others are bland like cod without tartar sauce.

It's short and there's enough good stuff that it's worth reading.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the lessons in leadership and how those same lesson can be used in business.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

In between the Vietnam War and the Global War on Terror the United States military successfully prosecuted, and experienced, what I would call "catastrophic success" in the Gulf War. Personally I have often overlooked it when studying military history due to more looking at it as a minor blip on the radar - a rare win that was perhaps (as I ignorantly may have considered) borne out of luck. Too often have I tied it to directly to the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq that followed. Mentally I thought that perhaps the Gulf War shouldn't have been looked at so fondly since the coalition did not fully capitalize and remove Saddam then and there. Regardless, I have re-thought my previous assumptions in recent years and now recognize that the Gulf War presents an excellent case study of the exact type of military campaigns that we SHOULD celebrate and study thoroughly as military planners.

This book specifically covers the massive logistics that went in to the preparation, execution, and redeployment of forces throughout Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Desert Farewell. Personally I was not familiar with LTG Gus Pagonis prior to discovering this book over the summer and now I am simply blown away by the fact that so few students of military history could even tell you who the lead logistician of this war was.

The book includes his upbringing, experiences in Vietnam, and his other military experiences which ultimate culminate in his role in the Gulf. The book is very accessible to both non-military readers as well as senior military strategists. It is all told through the contextual lens of logistics. I would say this is a must read for anyone who is entering the field of logistics (civilian or military), or any student of history that wants to see what "right looks like" in prosecuting warfare.

[Dustin Kochensparger · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent business book grounded in the realities of the logistical planning for the Gulf War. Though dated at this point, much of the foundation holds true, and is a great lesson in practical organizational management. Weaker is the layout of the book, which is 2/3 an interesting look at the writers history and journey, with a then speedy push at the end to reveal the lessons of the story. While I enjoyed the narrative at the front, i found myself wishing the lessons were more strongly incorporated into the flow, instead of as a follow on once the story (and war) was complete. Still a very interesting book about one of the least appreciated or understand elements of the modern military, and I do recommend it!

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recounting his experience as the senior logistician supporting Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM, Lt. General William Pagonis shares his insights on leadership & logistics through the war.

Starting with his background and earlier Army career--including combat service in Vietnam, it's interesting to see how his background shaped his perspective later on in the Middle East.

Would absolutely recommend for someone who's particularly interested in how the U.S. Military supported these operations from a logistics perspective.

[Matthew Ader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic work - giving equal insight into sustainment practices and Gen. Pagonis' own thoughts on leadership. It's an excellent history and management primer rolled into one. Highly recommend.

[Heather]

This books looks fascinating. I found out about it in my Developing Management Skills book.

[Michael Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on leadership and logistics by the general who delivered all the stuff his boss, Norman Schwarzkopf, needed to win the 1991 Gulf War.

[Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong start and interesting insights into the Gulf War but gets inevitably bogged down in management theorems.