European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Operation desert shield Iran a Tun act of v a a Syria s France closed iraqi Oil pipeline massing troops on its Border with Iraq b sending troops for the International Force sending seven ships troops but separate from International Force Australia a sending ships to help isolate i Pakistan voted to Send forces Denmark allowing merchant ships in Mediterranean to help Supply International Force soviet Union like France sending ships that will operate Oul Sido the International Force has about 8,000 advisors in Iraq other source department of defense wire reports Greece Spain Portugal amp Italy a allowing . To use airspace amp bases for Gulf operations Belgium the Netherlands West Germany a sending ships Lor support and rom 3 5 but i to pointing up another logistical problem the Navy has enough fast transport ships to move Only one mechanized division. That is a fraction of the total Force that the Bush administration plans to Send to the Middle East. A. Also military transportation planners said the 15 hour flights from the East coast Are wearing Down flight Crews half of whom arc reservists unlike the Vietnam War in which there was a slow steady buildup of forces the deployment of forces to saudi Arabia is Rushing Forward spurred by concerns that a sizable ground Ince be landed there before Iraq Cun begin a wide at Lack. The movement of forces to bands Arabia raises questions about the governments com rejment to less flashy Malar programs Winch uni to the Soi program or new strategic Wolf Ems. Gamer Little attention m a a a spending. C a a ales tart me essential to a a sir the United  has Only eight Iasi sea lift ships capable of carrying heavy armoured equipment to the Gulf in about two weeks. It takes eight of these ships to carry a mechanized division according to the military sea lift a cd. Regular freighters would take about twice As Long to make the journey in Savannah Gaon monday the troop ship Capella left port carrying tanks and other equipment for the 24th Mech inf div two sister ships the Bellatrix and the Altair continued loading equipment Tor the 24th. Just last year the Pentagon rebuffed a congressional efforts to buy four More fast ships. Congress approved $600 million in spending for the vessels but defense Secretary Dick Cheney shifted the Money to other programs. So far none of the remaining $375 million has been spent. The army has Long complained that the Navy is reluctant to finance sea lifts preferring instead to spend Money on warships. The Navy has maintained that sea lifts Are a Quot National Quot responsibility and that the maritime administration should be responsible for encouraging commercial ships that could to used during wartime to move Materiel a. Quot if you Don t have the equipment to do the Job it just takes longer Quot said Gen. Duane h Cassidy who Ron Rod last year As head of the . Trans corny the joint services command responsible for air and sea lifts. The military Airlift corny is using Mammy two types of cargo planes to carry troops and Malenzi from the United states 230 c-141s. Each capable of carrying 200 troops and 34 tons of equipment and 110 c-5s, each capable of carrying 345 troops and 130 tons of equipment. A in addition the military is using smaller c 130s to ferry troops and equipment inside saudi Arabia at a saudi air base on monday according to a Pool report on the saudi situation maj Gen Donald l a Furnan the acting chief of stall Lor Central corny Forward the command operation for american troops said trans Ped planes Wen Landing about every 10 minutes carrying troops and equipment Hie Pool reporters were restricted from disclosing the location of the base the eight civilian manned Fust sea lift ships that the Navy has activated carry the tanks personnel earner and helicopters besides the three ships already in Savannah a oudh fast Seal ill the regulus is steaming toward tie1 Georjia pert from Violet la. In addition the Navy has activated four Large freighters from in ready Reserve Fleet of 32 vessels the freighters have been sent to Pavale so Yards m Norfolk a. To prepare Thorn for service 1 he freighters which Are older and slower than the fast sea lifts Vail also carry the heavier equipment Quot the read Reserve ships Are older More difficult to Load and More prone to maintenance problems Quot said Cassidy who is now a vice president of logistics technology at the Cox Corpa Richmond based transportation company a August 15, 1990 the stars and stripes