Tampa, FL- Napoleon Bonaparte famously said that "An army marches on its stomach." This is wisdom not lost upon the men and women who came together at the Regional Lo-gistics Symposium hosted by U.S. Army Central in Tampa, Florida from March 20-24. The symposium brought together representatives from 8 partner nations to discuss how best to improve the common goal of sustaining the fighting soldier. This goal en-compasses issues ranging from food and finances to medical and munitions.

A common theme throughout the symposium was the importance of building better distribution networks, because having stockpiles of supplies doesn't mean much to the warfighter if you cannot send it to the frontline.

Building these distribution networks requires a lot of planning to ensure that the networks are safe and reliable; a necessity in times of conflict. "Ultimately we want security and stability, and ultimately that is going to be owned by a group of nations," said Brig. Gen. Christopher Lawson, USARCENT's Chief of Sustainment, "and this gives them the opportunity to figure it out."

Along with developing distribution networks, the partner nation representatives and ARCENT personnel listened to guest lecturers speak on issues such as how to participate in military sales to foreign nations, as well as providing aid to disaster stricken regions. The participants also took the opportunity to inspect several U.S. military pieces of equipment put on display, such as a mobile kitchen, one item that will ensure that wherever an army marches they will always have their stomachs full.