Post by Moses on Dec 16, 2004 17:13:09 GMT -5
With roads perilous, Iraq airlifts increase
By Eric Schmitt The New York Times
Thursday, December 16, 2004
WASHINGTON Responding to the threat of roadside bombings and ambushes of American ground convoys in Iraq, the U.S. air force is sharply expanding its airlift of equipment and supplies to bases inside the country to reduce the amount of military cargo hauled over land routes, according to air force officials.
Dozens of air force C-130 and C-17 transports, as well as contracted commercial aircraft, are now ferrying about 450 tons of cargo a day, including spare parts, food, water, medical supplies and other matériel that normally moves by truck or trailers, a 30 percent increase in the past month.
Even trucks are sometimes shipped in by air.
In just the past month, the increased air operations have kept more than 400 trucks and about 1,050 drivers with military escorts off the most dangerous roads in Iraq, an air force spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Caldwell, said on Tuesday.
American military convoys have been suffering about 100 deaths and wounds a month.
The increased airlift operations started in early November at the urging of General John Jumper, the air force chief of staff, who told reporters on Tuesday that he threw "a little fit" when he learned on a visit to Iraq last month that air and ground commanders were not sufficiently focused on finding ways that the air force could reduce the number of ground convoys, especially in the treacherous Sunni-dominated areas north and west of Baghdad.
"Taking the trucks off the most dangerous routes where we have most of the trouble has become a goal," Jumper said. "We're all working toward that."
Flying cargo is more expensive and less efficient than hauling supplies over land, but the air force's decision reflects the judgment of air and ground commanders that the insurgency will continue to pose a lethal threat to American supply lines, and that extraordinary steps must be taken to ensure the safe flow of cargo and to reduce casualties.
The increased airlift started well before soldiers in Kuwait complained last week to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that they were being sent to combat in Iraq without enough armored equipment to protect them. but Jumper's comments reinforce the concern that military personnel, from troops in the field to members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expressing over one of the most dangerous missions in Iraq.
The stepped-up airlift operations were first reported on Sunday by The Washington Post. Jumper and other air force officials gave new details on Tuesday.
Jumper and army officials emphasized that ground convoys would continue to be the transport of choice because of the large volume of matériel that flows primarily from huge logistics bases in Kuwait north to staging areas in Iraq. Until early November, the military was operating an average of 215 convoys and 3,000 vehicles a day.
"What you have is giant piles of stuff that are being taken by convoys," Jumper said.
He said that the air force would be flying supplies and equipment that had been carried over the riskiest routes.
Over the last month, for example, the air force has flown 44 six-ton armored Humvees to Baghdad from Kuwait, saving the army from making several drives over dangerous highways and roads, Caldwell said. A C-130 aircraft can carry two armored Humvees.
Instead of flying only to major bases, like Balad, 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, north of Baghdad, and trucking supplies to outlying areas from there, the air force will now fly directly to more remote bases, like Al Asad in the western Iraqi desert, Caldwell said.
Jumper also said that he would not rule out the possibility of airdrops or landing on roadways, if needed.
He acknowledged that the new operations would add fuel costs and other expenses to the $4.4 billion monthly price tag of the Iraq operation. But, he said, "I'm totally disinterested in the cost. It will be paid for. We'll do what it takes."
By Eric Schmitt The New York Times
Thursday, December 16, 2004
WASHINGTON Responding to the threat of roadside bombings and ambushes of American ground convoys in Iraq, the U.S. air force is sharply expanding its airlift of equipment and supplies to bases inside the country to reduce the amount of military cargo hauled over land routes, according to air force officials.
Dozens of air force C-130 and C-17 transports, as well as contracted commercial aircraft, are now ferrying about 450 tons of cargo a day, including spare parts, food, water, medical supplies and other matériel that normally moves by truck or trailers, a 30 percent increase in the past month.
Even trucks are sometimes shipped in by air.
In just the past month, the increased air operations have kept more than 400 trucks and about 1,050 drivers with military escorts off the most dangerous roads in Iraq, an air force spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Caldwell, said on Tuesday.
American military convoys have been suffering about 100 deaths and wounds a month.
The increased airlift operations started in early November at the urging of General John Jumper, the air force chief of staff, who told reporters on Tuesday that he threw "a little fit" when he learned on a visit to Iraq last month that air and ground commanders were not sufficiently focused on finding ways that the air force could reduce the number of ground convoys, especially in the treacherous Sunni-dominated areas north and west of Baghdad.
"Taking the trucks off the most dangerous routes where we have most of the trouble has become a goal," Jumper said. "We're all working toward that."
Flying cargo is more expensive and less efficient than hauling supplies over land, but the air force's decision reflects the judgment of air and ground commanders that the insurgency will continue to pose a lethal threat to American supply lines, and that extraordinary steps must be taken to ensure the safe flow of cargo and to reduce casualties.
The increased airlift started well before soldiers in Kuwait complained last week to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that they were being sent to combat in Iraq without enough armored equipment to protect them. but Jumper's comments reinforce the concern that military personnel, from troops in the field to members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are expressing over one of the most dangerous missions in Iraq.
The stepped-up airlift operations were first reported on Sunday by The Washington Post. Jumper and other air force officials gave new details on Tuesday.
Jumper and army officials emphasized that ground convoys would continue to be the transport of choice because of the large volume of matériel that flows primarily from huge logistics bases in Kuwait north to staging areas in Iraq. Until early November, the military was operating an average of 215 convoys and 3,000 vehicles a day.
"What you have is giant piles of stuff that are being taken by convoys," Jumper said.
He said that the air force would be flying supplies and equipment that had been carried over the riskiest routes.
Over the last month, for example, the air force has flown 44 six-ton armored Humvees to Baghdad from Kuwait, saving the army from making several drives over dangerous highways and roads, Caldwell said. A C-130 aircraft can carry two armored Humvees.
Instead of flying only to major bases, like Balad, 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, north of Baghdad, and trucking supplies to outlying areas from there, the air force will now fly directly to more remote bases, like Al Asad in the western Iraqi desert, Caldwell said.
Jumper also said that he would not rule out the possibility of airdrops or landing on roadways, if needed.
He acknowledged that the new operations would add fuel costs and other expenses to the $4.4 billion monthly price tag of the Iraq operation. But, he said, "I'm totally disinterested in the cost. It will be paid for. We'll do what it takes."
