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The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

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3. Sustainment of Units <strong>Abroad</strong>, <strong>and</strong><br />

4. Civil Sector Support.<br />

Joint <strong>and</strong> Mobile Logistics.<br />

Mobility is the true test of a supply system.<br />

Captain Sir Basil Liddel Hart,<br />

Thoughts on War, 1944<br />

Development of Joint Logistics (联合后勤保障, abbrevi<strong>at</strong>ed<br />

as 联合后勤) <strong>and</strong> Mobile logistics (机动后<br />

勤) or mobile support (移动保障) to support China’s<br />

ability to project military power by applying l<strong>and</strong>,<br />

sea, air, <strong>and</strong> space capabilities has progressed since<br />

1999 when GLD director Wang Ke initi<strong>at</strong>ed key logistics<br />

reforms. 54 Since 2000, joint logistics reforms have<br />

helped elimin<strong>at</strong>e duplic<strong>at</strong>e logistics facilities <strong>and</strong> services,<br />

streamline links in the logistics system, develop<br />

a more r<strong>at</strong>ional system of distribution of logistics resources,<br />

<strong>and</strong> achieve substantial cost savings. Nonetheless,<br />

it remains a work in progress with successes<br />

in limited areas of common support, but still lacking<br />

effective applic<strong>at</strong>ion to the oper<strong>at</strong>ional level.<br />

Beginning in the l<strong>at</strong>e 1990s, the <strong>PLA</strong> took concrete<br />

steps to develop joint <strong>and</strong> mobile logistics capabilities.<br />

55 On January 24, 1999, President Jiang Zemin<br />

signed the <strong>PLA</strong> Joint Campaign Program (referred to<br />

as the Number 13 <strong>PLA</strong> Comb<strong>at</strong> Order), which initi<strong>at</strong>ed<br />

training <strong>and</strong> organiz<strong>at</strong>ion for Joint Oper<strong>at</strong>ions. <strong>The</strong><br />

following year, joint logistics departments were cre<strong>at</strong>ed<br />

in all seven MRs. <strong>The</strong> initial step for developing<br />

joint logistics was the “two joining <strong>and</strong> one base” (两<br />

结合一个基础) initi<strong>at</strong>ive, which merged MR logistics<br />

resources <strong>and</strong> organiz<strong>at</strong>ions, as well as common use<br />

of support capabilities. 56 After this, General Wang Ke,<br />

570

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