[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 6 (November–December 1970), pages 20–21. The text, including any biographical note, is reproduced as faithfully as possible to enable searchability. To view any images and charts in the article, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS and the bulletin’s archives at asu.army.mil/alog/.]
A SELF-SUFFICIENT LOGISTICS SYSTEM is forecast for the Republic of Vietnam's military forces by mid-1973. Just as more and more Vietnamese combat units replace U.S. and allied fighting men in the continuing Vietnamization program, the Vietnam logistics system is being geared to assume the increasing burdens of supply and maintenance.
While most reports deal with the Vietnamization of tactical or combat units — the replacement of U.S. and allied combat units with Vietnamese units — little has been said about similar progress in the Vietnamese logistics system to support its armed forces.
Military officials note that South Vietnamese agencies already handle most of their own logistics requirements. The logistics system is supplying and distributing materials ranging from uniforms to weapons and ammunition for the nation’s regular military units and territorial security forces in all 44 provinces. The Vietnamese logistics system still requires assistance in meeting its airlift requirements and some equipment repairs are still performed out-of-country.
A principal element in achieving logistics self-sufficiency, officials say, is the upgrading of the more technically exacting supply and maintenance facilities. With a continuing flow of weapons and equipment into Vietnam to modernize all its combat forces, logistics experts point out that within a year or two this larger stock of items will require repairs or major overhauls due to regular wartime usage. Depots must be prepared to meet this dramatic increase in maintenance activity.
The Republic of Vietnam’s logistics system is currently organized into five area logistics commands with national depots in Saigon for quartermaster, ordnance, signal, transportation, medical, and engineer services.
An eighteen-month, $30.6 million program is underway to upgrade the facilities and equipment of the Vietnamese military’s key equipment-rebuild depots. This program, when completed in mid-1971, will provide the tools and facilities Vietnamese logisticians need to insure the combat effectiveness of their armed forces.
Along with the improved facilities an increase in personnel will be required to handle the growing workload. Officials estimate that an additional 1,100 local civilian employees will be needed in the depots next year. This increased personnel requirement will reduce the unemployment that is likely to result as U.S. units are withdrawn and American firms complete their programs in Vietnam.
South Vietnam's logistics self-sufficiency is seen as another step toward insuring the effectiveness of that nation's combat forces in stemming Communist aggression.
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