Current military doctrine calls for establishing relatively small battlefield depots or "supply nodes" near the front to quickly deliver critical supplies to front-line troops, rather than building large, semi-permanent warehouse complexes. Captured airfields are sometimes used for this purpose, allowing the use of C-17 transport planes and heavy-lift helicopters to bring in supplies rapidly.
"The issue," Jackson said, "is the last tactical mile."
The small depots are abandoned as troops move forward, or left with a small guard contingent to maintain them for the withdrawal of troops at the end of the conflict.
The Marines have established one such "forward arming and refueling point" not far from their forward lines. It provides fuel for the corps' helicopters and combat vehicles and replaces rockets and machine-gun ammunition consumed in the fighting.
Troops fighting in desert conditions also consume gigantic quantities of water, several quarts per day per soldier. For the most part, that is being hauled in on tractor-trailers, but logistics officers are also planning to deliver purification equipment so that local water can be used.
Coburn said that he believed that General Tommy Franks, the overall commander of the Iraq force, has enough troops to prosecute the war and protect his supply lines. He said that supply troops, mechanics and combat engineers are in many cases capable of defending themselves.
But there is a clear difference in the battlefield training of a combat soldier or pilot and that of a truck mechanic, even one in uniform carrying a rifle. As a result, commanders are moving to give the more vulnerable supply troops added protection.
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