War buildup stresses transportation system: Pentagon must reassess strategic mobility requirements, says Gen. Handy.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

The chief of U.S. military transportation will ask the Pentagon to reevaluate its requirements for aircraft, ships and land vehicles needed to move forces and supplies to multiple conflicts around the world.

The transportation system could not handle two simultaneous conflicts, in addition to a host of smaller operations where U.S. forces now are deployed, such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo, said Air Force Gen. John W Handy, head of the U.S. Transportation Command.

"As you continue all the other missions, [the transportation problem] is of great concern," said Handy. "What if something were to happen in North Korea, of a crisis nature, we would have to swing a great number of the forces we have extended towards Southwest Asia to support any movement toward the Pacific." With the assets available today, he said, "You can't do both simultaneously."

A report completed more than two years ago--called Mobility Requirements Study 2005-concluded that the United States needs to be able to move the equivalent of 54.5 million ton-miles per day to meet the Bush administration's national security strategy, outlined in the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review.

The war on terrorism that started in September 2001 made the results of the MRS 2005 obsolete. That is why the Defense Department should set a more realistic requirement, likely to be much higher than 54.5 million ton-miles per day, said Handy.

The MRS 2005 study essentially was overtaken by events, Handy told National Defense. It predates the September 11 attacks, the creation of the Northern Command, and a "good number of decisions the nation has made since 9/11."

Million ton-miles a day is a standard metric used to gauge the capability to push cargo. The 54.5 figure, Handy said, "is exactly the wrong number. We don't know yet what the right number is. It is going to be larger."

Meanwhile, said Handy, "We have asked for a new study and are waiting for the endorsement of the Defense Department."

Handy said that TRANSCOM never has been able to meet the 54.5 million ton miles a day, so mobility shortfalls will deepen after the requirement is revised upwards.

"We will keep doing what we do now," he said. "Strain the system and stretch out our delivery timelines." The requirement set in the MRS 2005 study could be met if TRANSCOM had a fleet of 222 C-17 Globemaster and 52 refurbished C-5 Galaxy heavy-lift airplanes, said Handy. The current fleet has 89 C-17s, 118 outdated C-5s and 69 cold-war era...