Logistics has always been around

Since humans began waging war, logistics has been indispensable. There has always been a need for experts who know how to fix weapons beyond the soldier’s ability to repair or who are able to supply an army with the goods it needs.

Until the 18^th century, the troops chiefly lived off whatever the land and the local population could provide. As industrialisation progressed, weapons technology became ever more complex, while the armies and the distances they covered grew ever larger. This resulted in a steady increase in the demand for the resources needed to keep weapon systems in full working order or restore them. For instance, one of the reasons that Napoleon was defeated in the Russian campaign was because the Russian czar had left behind only scorched earth. Napoleon’s soldiers could find nothing to eat, and the Russian winter did the rest.