Getting It There Is Only Half the Battle: At the Bright Star exercise in Egypt, US Transportation Command rolled out a new task force capability that they say should improve the initial flow of forces and cargo within a theater of operations. The Joint Task Force-Port Opening—a combination of Air Force, Army, and Navy assets—sets up an initial theater distribution pipeline—getting supplies and equipment moved off the airfield or out of the port and into the hands of combatants. Once more traditional logistics forces arrive in theater, the JTF-PO transfers the work to them. TRANSCOM can deploy a JTF-PO within hours.
The roles and missions executed by Air Force warriors are essential to the nation’s security. Yet after three decades of constant demand and minimal replenishment, our Air Force is too small and too old. It needs to be rebuilt. The Trump administration and Congress must fund that modernization to ensure…