Reengineering Defense Transportation
Abstract
Contingency plans often fail to give due consideration to transportation and logistics. It is assumed that troops and equipment will get there when needed, and that ports, airfields, roads, and railways will be available and secure from interdiction. These assumptions are dangerous. Today much of the core airlift fleet is degraded or nonoperational, merchant ships and their crews are dwindling, and commercial airlines are pulling out of the Civil Reserve Airlift Fleet. The U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) consolidated the efforts of the Military Sealift, Military Traffic Management, and Air Mobility Commands in times of war and peace. Like a single-stop travel agency, TRANSCOM is endeavoring to provide capabilities to deploy forces by various modes of transport from anywhere in the United States and to supply them with the wherewithal to win the next war. Reengineering the defense transportation system will give customers -- the Armed Forces -- the type of quality service offered by the private sector, or perhaps better. Soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coast guard personnel -- active and Reserve -- as well as members of the civil service and the commercial transport industries, have ensured a strong and robust defense transportation system throughout our Nation's history. For those who today go in harm's way, TRANSCOM pledges to develop a new system that lives up to Winston Churchill's dictum: "Victory is the beautiful bright coloured flower. Transport is the stem without which it could never have blossomed."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA528899
Entities
People
- Ronald R. Fogleman