Most people have seen this quote, which has been attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Amateurs talk tactics; professionals talk logistics. Sadly, Eisenhower never actually said it, but that doesn’t diminish the wisdom of the statement. It is true, whoever invented the phrase. Nonetheless, too many decisionmakers continue to look at the immediate (tactics) as opposed to the important (logistics). In other words, there is a strong bias toward looking at current activity rather than appreciating the long-term importance of Logistics, and a key component of logistics is infrastructure.

As a young and inexperienced armoured reconnaissance officer, I didn’t really understand or appreciate the logistical tail that allowed my troop to do its job.* My inexperience caused me to ignore the issue. Why worry? The Squadron Sergeant Major magically appeared whenever I needed fuel, rations, repairs or anything else. By the time I was a student at the Canadian Army Staff College, the lights were beginning to come on in my mind. By the time I was a student at the Bundeswehr’s Führungsakademie, I was in awe of what my friends who were logistics officers were capable of doing.

That was when I was in the military. Once I left and went to a “real” job. I soon learned how the entire globe depended on logistical infrastructure, transportation capacity, and skilled logisticians to continue to spin on its axis. We are all guilty of complaining when something we want or need is not available, but we blithely accept that the electricity works continually, water runs when we turn on the tap, our credit cards allow us to pay for things with a mere tap at a counter, and billions of seemingly mundane transactions go on all around us without anyone breaking a sweat. Nothing could be further from the truth. Experts in transportation, planning, shipping, trucking, supply management, and dozens of other specialties are “sweating” the details 24/7, 365 days a year.

As I write, the US president and the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party are breaking bread in Beijing. Many, many, qualities separate these two leaders, but arguably the single most important one is that the former has no idea what logistics means, and the latter has proven repeatedly that he knows exactly what it means. The Chinese have spent decades building factories, ports, airports and commercial facilities — not only in China, but around the globe.

German historian Fritz Fischer, in his 1961 book Griff nach der Weltmacht, argued that Germany provoked World War I in a vainglorious “lunge for world power”. Arguably, the Nazis tried again in the 1930s. China is in the process of doing the same now, but rather than lunge for power, it is creeping its way insidiously into every economy, large and small. By building relationships with both friends and adversaries (contrary to what the US method of insulting long-time friends and allies) China has slowly made itself a vital component of almost every nation’s economy. I know this is a bold statement but try buying a battery, a solar panel, a bike, or even a small kitchen appliance that isn’t made in China.

The lesson to be learned from watching the difference between these two national leaders (I hesitate to call Trump a leader but technically he is) is nothing new. If you were asleep in elementary school and missed it, read the Aesop’s Fable titled The Ant and the Grasshopper. If we wanted to rewrite this fable for the current situation we might call it The Day Trader and the Logistician. The US president is obsessed with the stock market; the Chinese leader is building relationships and opening new trade routes on six of the seven continents.

PS: The smartest soldier I ever had the honour to serve with was both an airborne hard-ass, and a world-class logistician. I’m proud to call Colonel (Ret’d) Gord Grant, CD a friend.

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* I have addressed this issue in at least three of my books. I call it the pig in the python problem and talk about it in Praxis Tacticum: The Art, Science and Practice of Military Tactics and Not Dead: A Case for Tanks in the Modern Battlespace.