So Many, So Much, So Far, So Fast

345 Pages·2000·59 MB·English

SO Many, So Much, So Far,

So Fast

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Strategic Deployment for Operation

Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Matthews, James K.
So Many, so much, so far, so fast: United States Transportation
Command and strategic deployment for Operation Desert Shield/Desert
Storm/ James K. Matthews, Cora J. Holt
p. cm. .
Based on v. 1 of: Desert Shield/Desert Storm, 7 August 1990 - 10
March 199 1 / United States Transportation Command. 1992
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States. Transportation Command--History--Persian Gulf
War, 199 1. 2. Persian Gulf War, 199 l--Logistics--United States.
I. Holt, Cora J. II. United States, Transportation Command.
Office of History. III. Desert Shield/Desert Storm, 7 August
1990 - 10 March 1991. Volume 1.
IV. Title
DS79.744.L64M38 1995 95-47485
956.7044’24--dc20 CIP
This volume is an official publication of the Office of the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States Transportation Command, but
the views expressed are strictly those of the authors.
THE CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20318
FOREWORD
Strategic mobility, the capability to transport military forces rapidly across
intercontinental distances into an operational theater, lies at the heart of US
military strategy. Nowhere has the importance of strategic mobility been more
evident than in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the military response to the
Iraqi seizure of Kuwait that began in August 1990 and ended in March 199 1.
This study presents a detailed analysis of how the Defense Transportation
System (DTS)--the United States Transportation Command, its service
components, and the civilian transportation industry--provided the strategic
mobility that enabled the United States and its allies to assemble an overwhelming
military force to defeat Iraq and free Kuwait. It is also a tribute to the hard work
and dedication of the military and civilian personnel who ran the DTS during the
operation.
This volume is the first major history of a joint operation to be published
by the Joint History Office and supports the efforts of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to
promote a greater understanding of the joint system. I recommend it to military
planners, operators, and logisticians, as well as to readers interested in joint and
combined operations.
HN M. SHALIKASHVILI
the Joint Chiefs of Staff
THE AUTHORS

Dr. James K. Matthews is the Director of the United
States Transportation Command Research Center and
serves as Special Staff Assistant to the command’s
senior staff. In his 17 years of government service, he
has worked as a staff historian at Headquarters
Strategic Air Command and Headquarters Air Force
Communications Command. More recently, he served
as the Command Historian for the Military Airlift
Command and the United States Transportation
Command. He received his doctorate in history in
198 1 from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Cora J. Holt is the United States Transportation
Command Freedom of Information and Privacy Act
Officer. In her 25 years of government service, she
has served with the Department of Agriculture, the Air
Force’s 3504th Recruiting Group, and at the
Headquarters Air Force Communications Command
History Office. Previous to her current position, she
was the Writer/Editor in the United States
Transportation Command Research Center. She
received her bachelor of science degree in 1986 from
Park College, Parkville, Missouri.
PREFACE

So Many, So Much, So Far, So Fast is based on Volume I of the United States
Transportation Command’s (USTRANSCOM’s) 1990 Annual History titled
“Desert Shield/Desert Storm, 7 August 1990-l 0 March 199 1.”
This updated version differs greatly from the earlier one. Chapters I, II, III, VII,
and the Conclusion have been completely rewritten and new material
incorporated into the text. Sections added include: “Chain of Command” and
“Intransit Visibility” in Chapter II; “KC-10 Extender,” “Allied Support of US
Airlift, ” “Mail, Gifts, and Channel Airlift, ” “Refugee Evacuation, Patriot Missile
Deployment to Israel, and US Airlift Support for Allies,” “Commercial Airlift
Insurance Coverage,” and “Airlift Sustainment Cargo Backlog” in Chapter III;
“Delivery of Petroleum Products,” “Foreign Flag Balkers,” and “Desert Storm
Force Closures” in Chapter IV; and “Reliability, Safety, and Labor” in Chapter
V. Additionally, we have added a dozen new tables to the narrative and moved
numerous former appendices into the text. Throughout the work, we have
integrated reviewer comments, materials from recent research, and interviews,
including an oral history with Air Force General Hansford T. Johnson,
USTRANSCOM’s Commander in Chief during Desert Shield/Desert
Storm. Documents cited in chapter endnotes are located in the command’s
archives.
Our assistants deserve special mention for their effort on this project. Much of
the credit for our extensive Desert Shield/Desert Storm document collection is
due to Naval Reserve Captain Thomas C. Soraghan who augmented the
USTRANSCOM History Office during the operation. Mr. Kevin D. Safford, our
summer hire, used his computer wizardry to convert appendices from our
outdated software to a newer application. Likewise, we are grateful to our office
co-worker Lynnette E. Percival for her data automation and editing
expertise. Air Force Reserve Colonel Leslie F. O’Neal, Naval Reserve Captains
Robert W. Scott and E. Paul Skoropowski, and Naval Reserve Commanders John
Whiteley and Mark D. Hagen made substantive editorial contributions to the
document. We are especially indebted to our general editors Margaret J. Nigra,
from the USTRANSCOM Research Center, and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel
Juliette C. Finkenauer, from the Joint History Office, for preparing the
manuscript for publication. Most importantly, our thanks to the many
USTRANSCOM troops who supported the work of their historians during the war
and after. If they are pleased with our effort, we consider it a success.
Color Image, 12342 Conway Road, Creve Coeur, Missouri, 61341, designed and
produced the maps, softbound cover, and dust cover.
JAMES K. MATTHEWS CORA J. HOLT
General Hansford T. .Johnson, USAF
Commander in Chit$ United States Transportation command
and
Commander in Chkf; Military Airltft Command
September 1989-August 1992
Secretary of Defense Richard B. “Dick” Cheney
and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin L. Powell, USA
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA
Commander in Chief,
United States Central Command
November 1988”August 1991
...
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page.. ................................................................................................... i

...

Foreword ..................................................................................................................... 111

The Authors .................................................................................................................. iv

Preface ......................................................................................................................... V

Table of Contents ......................................................................................... ix

List of Tables ................................................................................................................ xii

...

List of Photographs ......... .............................................................................................. x111

Chronology .................................................................................................................. xvii

Chapter I - Introduction

Nifty Nugget and the Joint Deployment Agency ............................................... 1

Formation of United States Transportation Command.. .................................... 2

Notes ...................................................................................................................... 8

Chapter II - Strategic Deployment Management

Chain of Command.. ............................................................................................. 11

Strategic Lift Accomplishments .......................................................................... 12

Fortuitous Circumstances ..................................................................................... 18

Deliberate and Execution Planning ........................................................... 19

Intransit Visibility ................................................................................................ 26

Notes ...................................................................................................................... 30

Chapter III - Airlift
Overview ................................................................................................................ 37

Operations

US Strategic Airlift Fleet ............................................................................... 37

KC- 10 Extender ............................................................................................... 49

Navy C-9 Aircraft.. ......................................................................................... 50

Allied Support of US Airlift.. ........................................................................ 51

Refugee Evacuation, Patriot Missile Deployment to Israel, and US

Airlift Support for Allies.. ........................................................................ 57

Desert Express and European Desert Express .............................................. 59

Mail, Gifts, and Channel Airlift .................................................................... 60

Aeromedical Airlift, Planning, and Regulating.. .......................................... 66

Tactical Airlift ................................................................................................. 68

Assessment

Military Airlift Command Fleet.. ................................................................... 69

463L Pallets.. ................................................................................................... 75

The C-17 Aircraft and En Route Basing for Strategic Airlift Aircraft.. .... 77

Civil Reserve Air Fleet.. ................................................................................. 79

Commercial Airlift Insurance Coverage ....................................................... 82

Airlift Sustainment Cargo Backlog ............................................................... 84

Notes ...................................................................................................................... 88

ix