Klaus, J: Strategic Mobility Innovation: Options and Oversig

Since the George W. Bush Administration announced its proposal to reduce theU.S. military overseas basing posture, strategic mobility has been the topic of manypolicy discussions. The Administration's identification of transformation as a majorgoal for the Department of Defense (DOD), technological advances, the QuadrennialDefense Review (QDR) deployment goals, and anti-access issues also have relevancewith regard to the topic of strategic mobility. The issue for the 109th Congress is todetermine which investments should be pursued today to develop strategic mobilityplatforms to meet tomorrow's National Security Strategy requirements. Several studies pertain to strategic mobility innovation. The DOD's MobilityRequirements Study - 2005, the Department of Army's Advanced Mobility ConceptsStudy (AMCS), the Institute of Defense Analyses' Assessment of the AMCS, aDefense Science Board (DSB) Mobility Study, and the DOD's TransformationPlanning Guidance. These studies along with current U.S. strategic mobilityinventories and strategic mobility funding trends all pertain to the discussion. Theyexamine issues such as DOD's million-ton-mile per day requirement, future mobilityconcepts and feasibilities, the importance of decreasing the Services' deploymentfootprint, transformation roadmaps, the DOD's current strategic mobility inventories,and airlift/sealift future funding trends. Research identifies at least 11 potential strategic mobility platforms, whichinclude four sealift vehicles and seven airlift vehicles.