Humanitarian Logistics

Abstract

Humanitarian crises evolve from either protracted situations such as civil wars and famine, or sudden-onset disasters such as major terror attacks, earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods [1]. Epidemics could either be considered protracted situations (e.g., Cholera in Africa) or a sudden outburst of a highly infectious and fatal disease (e.g., Ebola in West Africa in 2014). Crises could be localized (e.g., an earthquake affecting a single small region) or disperse, such as a wide-spread epidemic. Responding to humanitarian crises and handling their aftermath require a large and coordinated effort by government agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), donors, and industry. However, being typically one of the largest, best equipped, disciplined, and trained organizations, the military takes a major role in such events. Military forces are usually the first significant entity at the scene of a disaster and many on-going relief operations rely on the logistic capabilities of military forces. For example, many disasters occur in littoral regions and the US Navy, with its unique capabilities, is usually one of the first to respond. Thus, humanitarian logistics – from supplying food and equipment to providing medical help – is an important military OpLog mission.