Military

Statement of Chairman Roscoe Bartlett
Subcommittee on Projection Forces
Hearing on Airlift and Sealift

This afternoon the Projection Forces Subcommittee meets to receive testimony from General John W. Handy, United States Air Force, Commander of the United States Transportation Command.  Our hearing today will focus on the current and future state of our airlift and sealift transportation forces.

Over the past ten years, the United States has reduced its Cold War infrastructure, and closed two-thirds of its forward bases.  This means that to maintain the same level of global engagement, U.S. forces must deploy more frequently and over greater distances.

During an average week, the United States Transportation Command, or USTRANSCOM, operates air mobility missions transiting 52 countries, operates in 22 military ocean ports in 13 countries, and has 20 chartered military ships underway.  Thirty-six additional government-owned and chartered vessels, loaded with military cargo, are strategically pre-positioned around the world, significantly increasing the responsiveness of urgently needed U.S. military equipment and supplies during a time of crisis.  During peacetime, USTRANSCOM frequently finds itself operating at levels during day-to-day operations that closely parallel those of a contingency. 

Today, we are engaged in contingency operations.  USTRANSCOM is the key enabler, ensuring that combat forces and equipment are available to support Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.  In fact, Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom now rank as the largest passenger airlift in history.  Only the Berlin Airlift exceeds it in terms of the number of missions and tonnage flown.  It's important to note that TRANSCOM currently combines these wartime missions with other worldwide war on terror operations such as support for detainee operations in Guantanamo Bay, additional contingency and peacekeeping operations around the globe, and exercises which are vitally important to keep our forces trained and ready. 

In the 1990's the Department of Defense undertook a series of studies to quantify requirements and identify shortfalls in the Department's wartime transportation needs.  After some refinement of earlier studies, the most recent study, Mobility Requirements Study 2005, or MRS-05, was completed in 2001.  This analysis concluded that pre-positioning, surge sealift, inter-theater lift, and continental United States transportation assets are largely satisfactory, but the earlier airlift requirement of 49.7 million ton miles per day needed to be raised to 54.5 million ton miles per day.  Although some MRS-05 scenarios generated airlift requirements up to 67 million ton miles per day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Theater Commanders agreed that the requirement for 54.5 million ton miles per day would be the minimum moderate risk capability to support the National Military Strategy.   I am particularly concerned about today's airlift force structure since our current airlift force provides only about 44.7 million ton miles per day-a shortfall of 9.8 million ton miles.    Additionally, I note that MRS-05 study was conducted before September 11, 2001, and our airlift and sealift needs for the on-going global war on terror have not yet been fully assessed. 

General Handy, we look forward to your testimony today to help us understand the current status and future requirements of our airlift and sealift transportation forces as we continue the Global War on Terrorism. 

###

Do Not Sell My Personal Information