Logistics Experts Try to Pull Off Afghanistan "Miracle"

(AP Photo/US Air Force)

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with a roomful of military logistics experts – or "loggies" – Tuesday, sitting around a long wooden table as the meeting was simulcasted around the building and the country.

The logisticians have been asked to pull off a near-miracle, to hear them describe it. In their words, they have to "force-flow" 30,000 new U.S. troops into Afghanistan, per President Barack Obama's orders. That's not counting 7,000 new NATO troops as well.

Admiral Mike Mullen already said in congressional testimony that it's more likely they'll only get to the 20,000 or 25,000 mark by the end of next summer. But he was meeting with the military's top movement experts to make sure it doesn't slip any further.

"I hope you have a Plan B," he said, as the armored vehicle expert described his headaches trying to get enough mine-resistant armored personnel carriers (MRAPs) into the country.

"You're going to have to make some tough choices," he added, as he listened to the complex issues – not enough air lift, not enough storage space, too many troops from too many nations coming in at once. Those tough choices include options like making a group of incoming troops cool their heels in Kyrgyzstan or the Gulf to make way for an MRAP delivery bound for Helmand.

The main problem is that almost everything has to come in by air, so Bagram Airport becomes a choke point.

Army engineers explained to the admiral that they're trying to figure out how to de-mine enough of the airport hinterlands to build "ramp space," where everything from new MRAPs to pallets of water need can be unloaded and stored en route to reaching the troops wherever they're going.

They also plan to expand "bed spaces" from 2,000 to 6,000 at Manas Airbase in Kyrgyzstan – a major staging point for troops before flying in to Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul.

"What we are pressing to do is getting here as fast as we can," Mullen said later, as he did a battlefield circulation of forward operating bases around Kabul.

"We are very comfortable on the front end, on the first 16,000 troops, but we are working the details of the other 14,000," he said. "We are going to try to get the vast majority of the force here in the July-August time frame. So we'll see."

The planning team also has to figure out how to get a basic infrastructure in place in the field before many of those troops arrive – most headed to the south. In many areas, new bases must be built from scratch to meet Gen. Stanley McChrystal's strategy of embedding his troops with, or closer to the Afghan population, to give them a sense of security, and protect them from the Taliban in order to win their trust.

"Build it lean," Mullen told the assembled officers. That means plywood floors, not concrete – nothing built to last. "This is no-kidding expeditionary," he added. "We're not staying here forever."

[truth-b-toll]

GRAND EXERCISE IN FUTILITY...

[supertheory]

I'm at Bagram right now and it is beyond packed. It definetly does become a chokehold here. I have been here a week waiting on a flight to my base. Housing is pretty much at capacity. And this is all before any increase in troop level

[WiseWidget]

Yes, in this massive rerun of propaganda techniques we will see it all again. Soon reporters will show our soldiers at work acting as skilled social workers saving those terrible people in Afghanistan from their culture. Of course this will happen when they are not busy blasting the sands around them with random gunfire. Billions of dollars will go missing because no one knows how to add or subtract or can even remember who received the money. And think ahead about all of that equipment which will be left when we leave-more billions down the drain. You will be able to see it all each day when you go to the soup kitchen where they have a TV. Don't feel bad if you miss an episode-this program will go on forever.

[pensacola8-2009]

This news release is just simply a "show". Troop movements of 30,000 were done in the past without fanfare or publicity.

It may be a new thing for the current generation, but the older generation move far more troops and equipment with less capable vehicles at their disposal.

[roach9703]

Having such a tight chockpoint of delivery in a guerilla racked area is very scary. How many troops will be needed just to keep this area secure in this deployment phase?