Hawk,
Please excuse the interruption of a lurquer.
I can't remember from whence came the quote to the effect that "Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics". Ray is trying to lead you in that direction when he talks about staging, resupply, etc. We have no logistics capabilities to compare to Desert Shield/Storm. You cannot resupply an airborne/airmobile brigade by air alone. You need a port and/or a reliable source of overland supply, neither of which are readily available at this point. Even then, when we start to accumulate supplies in fuel and ammunition dumps in any country, we must siphon off grunts to defend these lucrative targets.
Add these logistic challenges to the fact that it is VERY difficult to generate high sortie rates from carriers at the ranges we are operating at. At the most, tacair in support of ground troops would have an hour or less on station. The inbrief and orientation would eat up some of that time, so it creates a situation back on the carrier decks not unlike a thousand angels dancing on the head of a pin...recovery, rearming, refueling, remanning, and launching upwards of 75 or more aircraft, all of which need fuel and ammunition and spare parts supplied to the carrier from another source. They kept this up for years in Vietnam, but with a larger number of carriers. However, we also had fixed bases and a much shorter line of supply back to the Philippines.
We have a very difficult and challenging problem...sorry that I am considered too old to be of service in working and exorcising the problem.
In my heart of hearts, I know that the titles of two books are foremost in the minds of all that are working the problem: A Bridge Too Far and Blackhawk Down.
May God bless us with an insight as to how to crack this very challenging nut...and, may we the people of this great nation have the patience not to rush the cadence, but wait patiently while our leaders sort it out. Rome wasn't built in a day...neither was our independence won in three weeks...may we be as morally strong as our forebearers.
Keep the faith!.....Semper Fi! Joe K...... |
