U.S. tanks, trucks and other military equipment, which arrived by ship, are unloaded in the harbour of Bremerhaven, Germany January 8, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimme
Breaking Defense: Not Enough C-17s, Tankers Or Ships For Hot War: TRANSCOM
WASHINGTON: Believe it or not, the global command responsible for getting weapons, fuel, and food to troops had, until recently, never used a war game for planning. Nor did Transportation Command factor into its plans the possibility that transport ships would be sunk and transport planes would be shot down . On top of that, TRANSCOM doesn’t have enough ships, airborne tankers or cargo aircraft to get a large number of troops to a battlefield and sustain them.
That was the bracing testimony this morning by Air Force Gen. Darren McDew, head of Transportation Command.
Sen. John McCain, a former naval aviator with a penchant for things nautical, noted during today’s hearing before his committee that the U.S. is “already 10 ships short of the current requirement — enough to move two full armored combat brigade combat teams.”
And the Air Force component of TRANSCOM can only move one brigade combat team to a theater of operation like Korea in C-17s and C-5s. “We can do 200 C-17s,” Gen. McDew.
“I doubt there’s a conflict in Korea for which one brigade combat team would be sufficient,” McCain noted wryly.
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WNU Editor: I guess in the event of a major war, the U.S. government will be using private contractors and shipping companies to move their supplies.
