If War Breaks Out In Europe, U.S. Military Leaders Worry They Might Not Get There In Time

SCMP/Washington Post: On the road to war with Russia, traffic may be biggest US enemy

Basic logistical challenges such as narrow roads, flimsy bridges and a tangle of bureaucracy mean Nato troops and weaponry could be too slow to move should Russia launch a lightning seizure of Nato territory in the Baltics.

US commanders are worried that if they had to head off a conflict with Russia, the most powerful military in the world could get stuck in a traffic jam.

Humvees could snarl behind plodding semis on narrow roads as they made their way east across Europe. US tanks could crush rusting bridges too weak to hold their weight. Troops could be held up by officious passport-checkers and stubborn railway companies.

Although many barriers would drop away if there were a declaration of war, the hazy period before a military engagement would present a major problem. Nato has just a skeleton force deployed to its member countries that share a border with Russia. Backup forces would need to traverse hundreds of miles. And the delays – a mixture of bureaucracy, bad planning and decaying infrastructure – could enable Russia to seize Nato territory in the Baltics while US Army planners were still filling out the 17 forms needed to cross Germany and into Poland.

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WNU Editor: If war breaks out between NATO and Russia .... traffic jams will be the least of everyone's worries.

The U.S. Lacks The Logistics To Move Needed Supplies In The Event Of A Major War

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.