[PISANO]

Of course it could have been avoided. If the Navy had sufficient AO's to refuel ships at sea the Cole would never had to go into port to refuel in the first place.

[Cboldt]

If the Navy had sufficient AO's to refuel ships at sea the Cole would never had to go into port to refuel in the first place.

That's another good point. I heard, but haven't followed up to confirm, that she was half full, and the port call was NOT necessary. Rather, the port call was to show some sort of show of goodwill, e.g., "We'll buy YOUR fuel."

[detch]

The DoD Commission reported that there WERE SUFFICIENT refuelling assets to allow refuelling at sea. This port visit to a high threat port was a "show the flag" that CENTCOM wanted to make happen. Can somebody find and confirm that the USS COLE had sufficient fuel GOING INTO the port of Aden to make it to the Northern Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. I had heard that the ship already had plenty of fuel on board.