Ninety-five percent of US equipment and forces deploy to OCONUS theaters via sealift. The countries that are the most likely theaters for regional conflict have limited airport and seaport facilities and, as a result, become chokepoints. The possible threats to forces and equipment at the limited ports around the world make the seaport of debarkation (SPOD) a critical vulnerability for the operational commander. As the US draws down the size of its force forward deployed the ability to rapidly project power becomes imperative to the accomplishment of the National Security Strategy. Sealift is an integral part of the solution and as such the operational commander must plan for actions at the port in the same manner that he plans for all other combat operations. The rise in the threat of asymmetrical attacks on his force when they are most vulnerable makes force protection at the SPOD critical. The threats vary from the use of WMD to safety hazards and all of the threats can be reduced by starting with well planned and expertly executed reception, staging, onward movement and integration (RSO&I) operations at the SPOD. It is the responsibility of the operational commander and his planners to identify possible threats, plan for smooth operations at the SPOD and enact procedures to reduce the threat to the force at the SPOD. An error during the initial deployment of forces can be almost impossible to correct once hostilities have commenced.
Seaport of Debarkation: A Critical Vulnerability for the Operational Commander
2003
23 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Engineering Index Backfile | 1914
|UAV and the Operational Commander
NTIS | 2002
|SLUB | 2011
|