Army Experiences with Deployment Planning in Operation Desert Shield

Abstract : During the six months of Operation Desert Shield (ODS), the U.S. Army selected nearly 300,000 troops and over 1,000,000 tons of equipment and supplies for deployment to Saudi Arabia. It informed the U.S. Transportation Command of where and when those troops, equipment, and supplies would be massed for intertheater movement, and then moved the troops and cargoes to those ports of embarkation. It loaded the ships. And, after the troops and cargoes were airlifted and sealifted to their ports of debarkation on the Arabian peninsula, Army personnel received the aircraft, unloaded over 400 ships, remated troops with their equipment and supplies, and organized transport to move the reconstituted units into combat positions. They also provided many of those services to elements of the Marines and other Services.