The VII Corps Deployment to Saudi Arabia: An Analysis of Deployment Transportation Planning and Management

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of planning management of transportation in deploying large forces by analyzing the VII (US) Corps' deployment in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991. The VII Corps deployed without benefit of a contingency plan and initially discounted the importance of transportation planning and management. As the deployment faltered, the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army, Europe and 7th Army (USAREUR), directed his staff to assume planning and management responsibility. The study provides the historical context of the deployment, reviews deployment doctrine, compares doctrinal and actual organization in place, and recounts experiences that shaped the USAREUR's staff's concepts about moving large forces. It provides examples of how planning and management impacted the speed and time phasing of the forces. It provides evidence that doctrine worked when it was followed and that principles such as unity of effort, coordination, planning, and central management require more command attention during deployment. It outlines lessons to be learned and changes that should be made in technology and organizational equipment. Logistics, Transportation, VII Corps, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Deployment.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 04, 1993
Accession Number
ADA273988

Entities

People

  • Harry S. Hamilton

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Armored Personnel Carriers
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Deployment
  • Lessons Learned
  • Logistics
  • Middle East
  • Military Transportation
  • Personnel Management
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Southwest Asia
  • Transportation
  • United States Transportation Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.