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.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
