The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps        able U.S. ground forces and major deploy-
have standing preparations to provide such         ments will still be required in the post cold war
support, but moving the equipment, supplies,       world.  In Saudi Arabia, unlike Europe or
and personnel takes time. For example, the         Korea, the U.S. did not have significant ground
large stocks of ordnance required for an air       forces or equipment on scene. The U.S. was
strike campaign must generally come by sea.        faced with a major expeditionary operation in
In DESERT SHIELD/STORM, the transporta-            which speed of deployment was potentially
tion time was minimized because of the fore-       crucial.

sight in P~~P~Oa~ri0j~i.~~~ ordnance       ships         The U.S. was generally well-prepared

prepositioning ships with USMC air ordnance        for a major expeditionary operation. Creation
arrived on 14 August -7 days after the de-         of the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), along
ployment order.  Two Afloat Prepositioned          with major improvements in expeditionary
Force ships carrying USAF ordnance arrived         capabilities in the 1980s - particularly strate-
in theater between 17 August and 19 August.        gic sealift - provided a solid force structure
                                                   on which to base DESERT SHIELD/STORM.
       The experience in DESERT SHIELD/            Specific mobility enhancement programs in-
STORM has validated the Services' aviation         cluded:
deployment concepts. The Navy and Marine
Corps fulfilled their assigned role in the Se-         * AFLOAT PREPOSITIONED SHIPS
quencing of joint airpower - the early arrival           (APS).  Eleven ships, carrying  ord-
of combat-ready, sustainable airpower.        In         nance, supplies, and fuel for the Army
DESERT SHIELD/STORM, as in any major                     and Air Force, plus one ship carrying a
air-land campaign, the Air Force provided the            naval field hospital. These ships are
majority of fixed-wing aircraft.                         continuously manned by civilian crews
                                                         under contract to the Military Sealift
       Even after the initial buildup was com-           Command (MSC). Since initial deploy-
plete, however, Navy and Marine airpower                 ment, most of the ships have been sta-
remained important elements of total U.S.                tioned at Diego Garcia in the Indian
airpower. One reason was limitation on facili-           Ocean, but they can be quickly reposi-
ties.  Even the numerous airfields of Saudi              tioned in response to a crisis elsewhere
Arabia and other Gulf states could only oper-            in the world.
ate so many aircraft. The three aircraft carriers
on scene in early September provided 2Q% of
the total combat airpower. The three addi-             * MARITIME      PREPOSITIONING
tional carrier battle groups deployed in re-             SHIPS (MPS). Thirteen ships, carrying
sponse to the CINCs' request as part of the              unit equipment and 30 days of supplies
reinforcing buildup prior to the air war further         for three Marine Expeditionary Brigades
increased the Navy's contribution.        Marine         (MEBs).  The ships form three MPS
aircraft not only added to overall numbers, but          squadrons, which are normally based
were integral to Marine air-ground task forces           in Guam, Diego Garcia, and the Atlan-
(MAGTFs).                                                tic. They are manned continuously with

THE BUILDUP OF GROUND FORCES.                            MSC.
DESERT SHIELD I STORM illustrated that siz-

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