Logistics in a 360 degree war zone

Ralph Peters:

IMMENSE — there's no better word for it. The scale of our military's effort to support our troops in Iraq is a great American success story. And it's ignored. Not only by critics, but even by those who keep faith with our struggle.

Media attention centers on front-line troops. And they deserve every bit of credit they get. But the tip of the spear has a long shaft behind it. The infantryman leading a patrol couldn't do it without tens of thousands of other troops working far from the cameras and headlines.

And the work is hard. Living conditions are tough. And in the kind of wars we fight today, the front line is everywhere, anyway.

Here in Kuwait, the support effort's led by the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC). The acronym may sound bureaucratic, but it represents flesh and blood — the best our country has to offer. CFLCC moves the troops to and from Iraq, runs the supply convoys, unloads the ships (then loads them again), repairs vehicles damaged in Iraq — and even conducts special combat training for units headed north.

It's an Army outfit. But in today's environment, that increasingly means "joint." Our operations in Kuwait are staffed by soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen, active duty and reserve. Twelve thousand of them. Pulling together, they move mountains. Literally.

The numbers tell the story best. Consider just a few of the outfit's accomplishments over the past 16 months:

* 590,000 troops moved in and out of Iraq.

* 100,000,000 (yes, 100 million) miles driven by nearly 50,000 convoys.

* 160,000 major pieces of equipment and 25,000,000 tons of cargo processed in and out of Kuwait.

* 140,000,000 (yes, million) meals served.

* 66,000 vehicles power-washed (Our troops have to make sure that no germs or contaminants are carried back to the United States — you bet that today's military operations are more complex than amateurs imagine).

* 20,000 allied troops from 27 countries also had CFLCC's support as they moved into Iraq to support Coalition operations.

...

There is more. You cannot win a war without these guys. They are involved in the fight more than in most wars because the enemy avoids contact with frontline units and focuses on what he perceives to be soft targets.