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The chief of U.S. transportation command says he is worried daily that advanced, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles will show up on the battlefield in Afghanistan or along the routes to fly there that could threaten strategic airlift. In particular, classified State Dept. cables have voiced concerns about Chinese weapons and trainers having connections with the Taliban. “Today [that threat] could change,” says Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb. “I want us to stay ahead of it, with all of our international partners, [by being aware] these things might happen. We don’t talk a lot about it, we readjust. Even though it’s not...

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill., Dec. 4, 2006 -- A Post-It note over one of the computers in the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center here says, “Nothing happens until something moves.” You get a feeling for this saying and the mission of U.S. Transportation Command at the Balad Air Base-Anaconda Logistics Support Area complex in Iraq. Located northwest of Baghdad, the complex is the heart of logistics for coalition forces in Iraq. In 2003, it was a runway, some bombed buildings and dust. Today, it is a military city, with C-17s offloading cargo, C-130s picking up goods, a full...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2006 – Officials at U.S. Transportation Command headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., call themselves the "ing" command, because they're always supporting other commands. They call the geographic combatant commands the "ed" commands, because they're the ones supported, Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Kenneth J. McQuiston, the command's senior enlisted leader, told his peers from the "ed" commands here today. Senior enlisted leaders from combatant commands and the service senior enlisted advisors and their spouses are meeting in the Pentagon this week at the invitation of Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted...

Supporting the warfighter is "job No. 1" for U.S. Transportation Command, the TRANSCOM deputy commander said here today. The command's mission, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gary H. Hughey said, is to provide responsive, reliable and synchronized transportation support. The focus "as it should be, is on the warfighting combatant commanders," he added. TRANSCOM has the "unique capability to project a force anywhere in the world at the time of our choosing," said the general. "It enables this nation to take the fight to our enemies wherever they plot, plan or hide." Hughey said it also allows the United States to...

Logistics Lessons By George Cahlink gcahlink@govexec.com Troops, equipment and supplies moved faster and more efficiently to war in Iraq than in any previous conflict. Now military planners must build on that success. hile troops raced toward Baghdad this spring, digital maps hanging from a wall inside the Joint Mobility Operations Center at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., blinked updates every four minutes to show the path cargo planes and ships were taking to the Middle East. During the height of the war in Iraq, every one of the military’s 450 daily cargo flights and more than 120 cargo ships...