ABSTRACT
Pre-positioning of supplies and commitment of United States (US) forces overseas is thus essential but falls short of meeting the strategic needs of the United States. Hence the crucial need for US airlift and sealift. Airlift can be augmented with planes drawn from the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. In any case, the C-17 is too late a development to remedy, the immediate and pressing lack of enough airlift. The Congressionally Mandated Mobility Study took into account pre-positioned stockpiles abroad and the eventual contribution of sealift. The Military Sealift Command reports that 90 percent of the supplies needed to sustain US troops in combat must be conveyed by sea. The Military Sealift Command of the US Navy directly owned or chartered 29 cargo ships and 31 tankers in 1981. The Sealift Readiness Program does commit 207 active merchant ships to meet military needs in an emergency.
