By James Kitfield
In late August, Americans watched as the last U.S. combat brigade rolled out of Iraq, officially ending Operation Iraqi Freedom. The withdrawal of 50,000 troops and the closing or transferring of hundreds of military bases in Iraq this year is one of the largest post-combat redeployments of U.S. forces in decades.
Remarkably, the withdrawal from Iraq that culminated on August 31 was not even the primary focus of the support officers at U.S. Central Command. They were more concerned with the flooding that had deluged huge swaths of Pakistan, displacing millions of people and restricting one of two major supply arteries in the south that support roughly 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan.
There's an old military adage that amateurs talk strategy, while professionals talk logistics. The simultaneous withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq and the surge of more than 30,000 troops into Afghanistan is a case study in modern military logistics destined for future textbooks. For an early review of the largest such movement in recent years, National Journal Correspondent James Kitfield spoke with Lt. Gen. Mitchell Stevenson, Army deputy chief of staff for logistics.
Subscribers to National Journal can read the full interview here.
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Responded on November 18, 2010 1:43 PM
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Responded on December 21, 2010 7:52 AM
Lisa
Very interessting, in my opionion it was about time that we move from Iraq out. Hope we don't stay long in Afghanistan. Lisa
Responded on August 19, 2011 1:50 PM
condominium
condo : i think we need to remember our past and move on instead of holding to it for so long... :s
Responded on August 23, 2011 6:36 PM
max leo
It's a big deal to move 50,000+30,000 troops with their sweet and other equipments. I have a friend who was deployed in Iraq and he told me that this process of moving troops is one of the most important thing in modern military. I compared this to the process of moving an entire city population from one place to another with their vehicles, and other belongings. I agree that Lt. Gen. Mitchell Stevenson has to be mentioned not only in textbooks for modern military logistics but in all logistic courses.
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Lieutenant General Mitchell H. Stevenson is quoted as saying "My job is to support our Soldiers in the field. We are at war, and supporting the wonderful Soldiers of our Army who are prosecuting that war so brilliantly is our first priority." I suppose moving them out is support of sorts.
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