What the Professionals Are Studying

While military fanboys and uber-patriotic milbloggers are going gaga over SEAL trials and rogue intel programs, the real heavy mental lifting is trying to figure out how to move a metric shitload of gear out of Iraq.

As the U.S. military starts a drawdown of troops in Iraq, it finds itself in the midst of the largest logistical movement of weapons, vehicles and other equipment since the build-up to World War II, according to the general in charge of the operation.

Millions of pieces of equipment, from large mine resistant troop carriers and Humvees to the smallest of pieces like cots and combat radios, are being thoroughly scrutinized as they come out of Iraq and mostly sent to the war effort thousands of miles away in Afghanistan to help in the troop build up there, according to the commander of the operation, Lt. Gen. William Webster.

Webster spoke Friday from his base in Kuwait to reporters at the Pentagon. He said the main effort is to get the rest of the 30,000 additional troops and their equipment into Afghanistan as ordered by President Obama last year while the U.S. downsizes its presence in Iraq to 50,000 troops this year and none by the end of 2011.

As more troops arrive in Afghanistan, however, overcrowding and equipment shortage has become a problem for commanders and so Webster's team must also continue focusing on getting that equipment out of Iraq and into Afghanistan.

He said about 2.8 million pieces of equipment are being moved out of Iraq as part of the gradual drawdown of U.S. forces there.

As the equipment is moved, the military has to make a decision on what to do with each piece: put it in Afghanistan, ship it back to the U.S. or leave it in Iraq.

By: Brant