Lifeblood of War: Supply, Recovery and Salvage

Supply and logistics (in the most basic of terms, the act of moving supplies) is the chief mechanic that drives warfare, the current conflict in Ukraine being a prime example of the principle in action. In the words of Major General Julian Thompson, CB, OBE (commander of 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands War), supply and logistics are, quite literally, the “Lifeblood of War.”

To give our non-military readers a very basic overview, the better to understand the problem, let’s take a brief look at the framework of supply in the military sphere.

Warfare destroys and wastes whatever it touches – both people and equipment. People can be recovered (where that can be possible) through medical treatment and counseling.

But what about equipment?

Everything a military force needs – the “beans, bullets and band-aides,” if you like – can be categorized, ordered, received, inventoried, issued and turned back in at will. The trouble is getting all of those actions to work in sync, on time, and (hopefully) in something close to the right amounts. For the most part, your humble author is happy to stick with the US Armed Forces system, not simply because it is what I am used to, but because it is more precise than comparable systems, while also not being overly cluttered.

The US Armed Forces “Classes of Supply” are as follows:

• Class I – Rations – Subsistence (food and drinking water), gratuitous (free) health and comfort items
• Class II – Clothing And Equipment – individual equipment, tentage, some aerial delivery equipment, organizational tool sets and kits, hand tools, unclassified maps, administrative and housekeeping supplies and equipment
• Class III – POL – Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants (POL) (package and bulk): Petroleum, fuels, lubricants, hydraulic and insulating oils, preservatives, liquids and gases, bulk chemical products, coolants, deicer and antifreeze compounds, components, and additives of petroleum and chemical products, and coal
• Class IV – Construction materials, including installed equipment and all fortification and barrier materials
• Class V – Ammunition of all types, bombs, explosives, mines, fuses, detonators, pyrotechnics, missiles, rockets, propellants, and associated items
• Class VI – Personal demand items (such as health and hygiene products, soaps and toothpaste, writing material, snack food, beverages, cigarettes, batteries, alcohol, and cameras—nonmilitary sales items)
• Class VII – Major end items such as missile and rocket launchers, tanks, mobile machine shops, some parachute systems and vehicles
• Class VIII – Medical material (equipment and consumables) including repair parts particular to medical equipment
  **Class VIIIa – Medical consumable supplies not including blood & blood products
  **Class VIIIb – Blood & blood components (whole blood, platelets, plasma, packed red cells, etc.
• Class IX – Repair parts and components to include kits, assemblies, and sub-assemblies (repairable or non-repairable) required for maintenance support of all equipment
• Class X – Material to support nonmilitary programs such as agriculture and economic development (not included in Classes I through IX)
• Miscellaneous – Water, salvage, and captured material

My only real complaint about this list is the last item, because the only true “miscellaneous” items are truly ‘scrap‘ materials. Thus, I use the following, in addition:

Class XI – Non-potable Water

Class XII – Captured/Recovered Material

Of these, “Class XI” (Non-potable water), is the simplest: Non-potable (i.e., non-drinkable) water is fine for washing equipment, fire-fighting and for flushing out waste.

Class XII (Captured/Recovered Material) are the various detritus that can be scraped up from a battlefield, including enemy material. The process for handling this class of gear (whether from a friendly, liberated, requisitioned or enemy source) is as follows:

• a. The materiel is brought into a receiving yard, where it is identified, categorized and assessed for serviceability. Anything of direct and immediate interest to Intelligence goes straight to them. For everything else, we move on to…
• b. Type Classification and Field Stock Number Registry: Materiel recovered and brought in should have a tag applied to them, then be classified with a temporary Stock Number, first, using the Supply Classifications as listed above to categorize the item. Then, after applying a two-digit number for the supply class, add one of the following qualifiers after the class to the item tag:
  • (x) – Material recovered from allied/friendly military sources
    (y) – Captured/Liberated enemy material
    (z) – “DIY”, improvised, ad hoc or requisitioned from civilian sources

Then, add the appropriate qualifier from the following list:

• (A) – Ready To Issue; the item can be issued immediately, with minimal servicing and/or repainting. It should be tagged, and placed into an appropriate storage slot
• (B) – PM Required; minor maintenance/clean-up required prior to reissue. This should be forwarded to the appropriate maintenance queue
• (C) – Major Repairs Required; the item is repairable, but is dead-lined until it can be repaired. This should also be forwarded to the appropriate maintenance queue
• (D) – Sub-Assembly Salvageable; the complete item is too damaged to reissue as a complete unit, but can be broken down into its constituent sub-assemblies (i.e., brake drums, alternators, engines, various major components, etc.) to issue in order to repair other items. This process should be commenced immediately, using either unit specialists, or civilians hired on contract.
• (E) – Scrap; the item is damaged to the point where it can no longer be used. This material should be towed or set out of the way, and should either be returned to a manufacturing area for re-smelting/recovery, or sold off. Depending on the material, it may be able to be repurposed into engineering barrier or shelter material.

This hypothesized “Class XII” was actually a major activity of the US Army‘s Quartermaster Corps in World War 2, at least in the European Theater, as it created a not-insignificant cost-saving for the United States. (Learn more here: YouTube 1 and YouTube 2)