Boost for Army library

Saw this article in the ALA newsletter. The newspaper is from Petersburg, VA.

FORT LEE - The Army Logistics University Library officially accepted one of the most comprehensive collections of logistical documentation ever donated to an Army professional development school. Retired Lt. Gen. William "Gus" Pagonis donated a collection he has had in his possession since the end of the Persian Gulf War. The documents, reports and videos detail the logistics behind the war effort known as Operation Desert Storm.

"Every briefing, every interview was taped," Pagonis said during the ceremony yesterday. "I was hoping that by doing that, we wouldn't make the same mistakes twice."


Pagonis said that in his role as the chief logistician under Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he asked several historians within the National Guard and Army Reserve to document the operations. Those operations in 1990 and 1991 included bringing equipment to the area, moving two divisions behind enemy lines and setting up logistics stations. The moves were some of the largest ever accomplished by an Army. Pagonis said he even drew on history to make the moves possible with the logistics stations. The inspiration for that came from antiquity.


"Alexander the Great would leave logistics camps as he conquered the known world at that time so that he didn't have to go very far back for supplies," Pagonis said.

He added that Schwarzkopf asked if there were more modern examples, to which Pagonis cited the British in the North African campaign of World War II. Pagonis said that while the British faced defeat through most of that campaign, they kept their supplies close at hand. German Gen. Edwin Rommell did not and ended up losing the campaign. For the U.S. in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, there was a seven-month buildup to the 100-hour war.

"It was one of the greatest coups in history," Pagonis said. "Logistics is what made it work."

One of Napoleon's great mistakes was moving into territories with no supply planning; bad logistics.

He added that of all the casualties suffered, approximately two-thirds were logisticians. Pagonis said that the records were never his. "I was just holding on to them," he said of the documents, maps and tapes.

John Shields, research librarian at Army Logistics University, said that because Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield were such important operations, it's good to have primary documents. "In these operations, he really made logistics come together," Shields said. Shields added that the Army Logistics Library has never had anything like this donated or added to its collection before. "We're very excited about it."

Maj. Gen. James E. Chambers said that he's hopeful the library will soon have other important document collections added to it, perhaps from other wars such as World War II. Shields said that the library is still formulating how the documents will be added to the catalog. As part of the special collections, all the items will be able to be used by students at the Army Logistics University and members of the public who wish to do research.

"We won't let it circulate though," Shields said.