Customer Reviews

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

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As a logistician, I bought this book in the expectation that it would enhance my professional knowledge. It didn't, and it didn't stay on my bookshelf, either.
Written for the general reader in the profession of management, this book will enlighten no one in the profession of arms. The treatment of military logistics is all too shallow (and the treatment of the author all too deep).
Gus Pagonis did a magnificent job in the Gulf under incredibly difficult conditions. I had hoped that this work would tell us in some detail how he did it. But no. I suspect his editors at the Harvard University Press had a lot to do with that. It's too bad the publisher wasn't Presidio Press or some other house that understands military affairs.

From a military history point of view, logisticians get far too little credit for allowing the front line to even exist. Lt. Gen. Pagonis' book does attempt to offer some insight into the challenges of supplying the Army's needs as it built up during Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91, and then through Desert Storm. Very little is said about the withdrawal process of Desert Farewell.

The problems with this book are that it is too much centered around a business school philosophy book- not to take too much away from the success that Pagonis had, but it seems less about the challenges of supply in a hostile environment than a depiction of how to solve problems. I greatly respect the efforts and solutions that Pagonis encountered and defeated, but wish this was more a military-oriented book and less of a business school effort.

Regardless of these issues, Moving Mountains will give a reader some appreciation for all of the tasks and unsung duties by the rear echelon forces in combat, and how the Army has developed its ability to deal with any potential environments it may find itself in the future.

The best book to date on military logistics.Explains in detail how the U.S. Army was able to accomplish it's mission in supplying over half a million troops when and where it was needed.Gen.Pagonis has written an excellent guide for officers and NCO's involved in logistics.

While the victory in the gulf war of 1991 was obviously an accomplishment, it was perhaps most of all an achievement of logistics. Moving Mountains tells the story of that achievement and of the General who lead it.

The book included a number of biographical references about General Pagonis. Fortunately these are kept brief. Pagonis's life, outside of the military seems to be largely unremarkable. In the military Pagonis reached a high rank. The text provides no clues as to what made him a success as an officer.

Once the text turns to the gulf war it becomes much more absorbing. The descriptions of the early stages of the build up are interesting. So are some of the descriptions of the interactions with a few of his subordinates.

The last chapter is a summary, or list of prescriptions of how to manage. These range from being specific to the military to being so general as to be trite and meaningless. There is nothing in between.

In the end this book was fairly boring. It might be of interest to students of the gulf war, or to those in the military who might face similar situations.

Anyone interested in buying this book must understand two things up front:

1. This book is written by a professional soldier and not a business school professor.
2. This book is one man's account of his duties and opinions on the subject of logistics and is not intended to be a textbook on the subject of logistics or a war novel.

If you understand these two things before you by the book then you will find this book to be very interesting as it is one of the few books written on military logistics. Moreover, you will gain insight into as to how General Pagonis used his personal leadership style to manage the logistical challenges of the first Gulf War. For someone wanting to learn about the nuts and bolts of logistics this book isn't for you. However, for those of you who want to gain an understanding of how logistics can impact the success or failure of a war while picking up a few words of wisdom in leadership from one of the best in the business will enjoy this book. I have read this book twice and I enjoyed it each time. Although I couldn't use much of the material from the book in my MBA classes, I was able to apply some of the information from this book while I was earning a graduate certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Penn State.

I bought this book several years ago, as I was interested in reading from a general in logistics his memoirs on Dessert Storm.

I did not approach this book seeking specific textbook information on:

- Desert Storm
- Military Logistics

From experience, the books that are written by those who participated in events we (ordinary people) may never get to see, always teaches us something we can never see in the texbooks. Therefore this book met ny expectations.

I guess its easy to take for granted that if the US has the biggest army in the world, somehow all it operational inputs are a given for any state of action. This is true, but we must not overlook that this happens because of a non-glamorous activity that is called logistics. At the start of the book Gen. Pagonis gives us a very useful definition of logistics "Logistics is the careful integration of transportation, supply, warehousing, contracting and automation into a coherent functional area; in a way hat prevents suboptimization of any of these activities; and in a way that permits and enhances the accomplishments of a given goal, objective, or mission".

It is interesting that through out the book we see specific cases of how each of the ideas in the above definition came to be. What really is a case of suboptimation was the Desert Storm war.. talk about an overkill.. americans won that war in 2 days yet they brought enough firepower to fight 10 WWIII!!!

I am rereading the book and still find it illuminating. When I was in the corporate world, basically all major clots in the accomplishments of any objective can be attributed to lack of proper logistics, if you want sucess you have to think logistically (not logically) or be surrounded by someone like Gen. Pagonis who is!! BTW the story is fascinating since it debunks the myth that the real glory of war is in fancy strategy, in here strategy is a consequence of logistics.

When I read this the 2nd invasion of Irak was years to come, I wonder what the logistic now is, certainly does not sem like the same overkill can be used.

This truly is a fascinating account of just how the United States military was able to move 500,000 troops and all their equipment halfwar across the world, fight a war, and then bring it all home. The numbers and statistics of the effort are truly stunning.

I am no logisticians and perhaps have missed some of the finer points of leadership as a logistician that this book apparently provides. Nevertheless, it can be an interesting for anyone who is interested in just how the US military works and what a complex organization it really is.

Gen. Pagonis only has one flaw - his ego. He really does talk himself up in this book. If one should trust his account of his military career he singlehandedly saved an entire company from annihilation in Vietnam, preserved the M1 Abrams tank program from Congressional hostility, and then did the entire logistical planning and execution surrounding Desert Storm.

But if one disregards Pagonis ego this is a great book.

I read this book during the time I was doing my MBA. Many of the sources in the course of study having to do with production management referenced this text. Consequently I read it of my own volition. The techniques and tactics that Gus Pagonis detail are invaluable to anyone dealing with mentoring subordinates, coordinating multivariate product flows and needing to beat Murphy at his own game.

I bought another copy for my nephew who (as of this writing) is now a first Lt in the US Army.

First, let's clear something up. This is NOT a textbook on logistics, nor is it a history of the first Iraq war. Rather, it is a book about effective leadership. It is also about change management. If you want to improve your leadership skills, then I highly recommend this book. I first read it in 1995, as I write this review in 2010, the notes I took then still resonate.

If you are faced with a monumental task with a short timeline, then this book should be relevant to you.

For example, General Pagonis writes about the importance of building a vision, acting upon it, setting goals related to it, then getting your directs to set objectives that support those goals.

He also discusses the importance of communication. Although the book was written long before the rise of social media, his points about communication are still valid.

But then he goes further and covers points I don't often seen discussed in other books or media.

All in all, a good investment, especially since it's available in paperback now.

General Pagonis has written a very informative book about his experience in the 1990-91 Gulf War with an emphasis on the lessons that the civilian bussiness sector can derive from it. Without a doubt he was a most capable officer for the job he undertook and his on the spot promotion to Lt General proved the great value of his work. The best parts of the book were those where Pagonis came close to General Shwarzkopf, either to receive laconic instructions or to guarantee that everything will be ready on time for the great outflanking maneuver he planned. Pagonis is a living example of what Greeks can achieve when they work inside a meritocracy system, open to talents like the american model (the complete opposite of what Greek political system encourages in our country in the last decades), and he gives many tips for the military and civilian logistician, like the stand-up morning meetings, the use of the 3X5 cards for the flow of information, the "ghostbusters" idea of mobile problem solvers, the great value of the vision in the leader's mind and how it can be materialised in the lower echelons and many more. Although I would like to learn more about the myriad details of army logistics, I understand that Pagonis' target was not to drawn his readers into the sea of information he handled but to outline the principles of his command and management style. I would recommend reading Douglas Menarchik's excellent "Powerlift" as a more data heavy companion to Pagonis' book.