We are pleased to present this inaugural issue of the Journal of Defense Analytics and Logistics (JDAL).The JDAL will promote and foster discussion and proliferation of new theory and applications across the logistics, operations research, data analytics and supply chain management space, particularly as that space intersects with the defense community.One might ask why introduce this journal now with the plethora of publishing outlets that are already available.The answer is that the community still lacks an outlet for rigorously reviewed, high quality work focused on the unique analytical and logistical challenges faced by the defense community.To this end, we will bring together key research and practical applications, making the work available not only to the academic community but also to the defense community that this research supports.Defense analytics supports a wide range of theory and applications.The growth of operations research since the Second World War has been quite dramatic.Early works firmly established quantitative approaches based on mathematical programming and probabilistic modeling, as well as modeling and simulation and statistical modeling.Current "buzz words" (such as big data and machine learning) represent the new "toolisms" that will dominate defense analysis and discussion for some time.The JDAL welcomes work in both the old and the new techniques, particularly as those works help evolve the defense establishment toward the beneficial employment of these analytical techniques.Governments across the globe spend a combined US$1.76tn on defense.For instance, with an annual budget of nearly US$600bn, the US Department of Defense (DoD) represents the largest government expenditure in the world, representing 54 per cent of discretionary US spending in 2015.Indeed, the US DoD alone manages a US$309bn supply chain, and several of the largest public companies in the world support the global defense industry.Since the dawn of human conflict, logistics capabilities and supply chain management have been used to enable defense power projection.Modern supply chains incorporate information technology, resiliency and other technological and administrative innovations to meet the challenges of an ever-changing military-industrial complex.As the digitization of the supply chain becomes a reality, there is also a need to incorporate data science and analytical breakthroughs to provide greater supply chain insights and enhanced decisionmaking abilities.A focus on these latest technologies is encouraged.That said, the JDAL will be looking for cutting-edge theories and implementations in any area impacting the defense-industrial logistics complex.We developed the JDAL review process for regular research papers around a doubleblind review process; neither the authors nor the reviewers are made aware of the other's identity during the review process.This approach removes potential biases in the review process, thereby retaining quality and objectivity.At JDAL, we believe in a traditional peerreview process versus the convoluted and inefficient "peer-writing" process that seems to be used by many top journals today.We wish to report research findings based on the

Editorial: Welcome to the Journal of Defense Analytics and Logistics

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