Setting the Theater: U.S. Sustainment Operations in the Pacific during World War II - Rivalry, War Plan Orange, Pearl Harbor, Materiel Structures, Understanding the Geography and Tyranny of Distance

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. In order to maintain momentum during any campaign in the Pacific theater, the huge demand and volume for requirements must overcome the vast travel times and distances that necessitate an operational approach to synchronize sustainment in depth through joint sequential operations to secure and develop key nodes while maintaining steady lines of communications. This is done through the joint defense and seizure of key logistical locations followed by mixed ground, sea, and air engineering developments to critical infrastructure facilitating support to combat operations throughout the theater by a carefully timed distribution system. The United States has been involved in the Pacific for over a century, and the need to understand the geography and tyranny of distance is only one characteristic of the theater. Understanding the importance of posturing and setting the theater for deterrence, successful defense, and sustainment is even more crucial. The positioning of U.S. military forces and capabilities around the world reinforces an international order and permits rapid response to emerging threats.

The Pacific is vast; there is more than eight thousand miles between Hollywood, California and Bollywood, India. Unfortunately, the space between those bookends is rife with security issues due to territorial disputes, increased military capabilities, illegal trafficking, violent extremist groups supporting sub-state criminal activity, and increasing cyber-attacks with little dissuasion. These challenges highlight the significant role played by U.S. ground forces, including the Army, the Marines, and U.S. Special Operations Forces, as they conduct persistent shaping activities in the area. Ground forces perform key engagements executing strategic guidance underneath United States Pacific Command (USPACOM). All their operations and actions require logistics to support these efforts and ultimately to help the United States achieve its strategic aims. In order to maintain momentum during any campaign in the Pacific theater, the huge demand and volume for requirements must overcome the vast travel times and distances that necessitate an operational approach to synchronize sustainment in depth through joint sequential operations and secure and develop key nodes while maintaining steady lines of communications. This is done through the joint defense and seizure of key logistical locations followed by mixed ground, sea, and air engineering developments to critical infrastructure facilitating support to combat operations throughout the theater by a carefully timed distribution system.

Operational art, as defined in Joint Publication (JP) 3-0, Joint Operations, is the use of creative thinking by commanders and staffs to design strategies and campaigns and to organize major operations by employing military forces. It requires a broad vision, anticipation, and an ability to plan, execute, and assess the operating environment. Army Doctrinal Publication (ADP) 3-0, Unified Land Operations, defines operational art as the pursuit of strategic objectives, in part or in whole, through the arrangement of tactical actions in space, time, and purpose. The National Military Strategy, published in June 2015, states that U.S. military forces and capabilities postured around the world reinforce an international order and calls for positioning forces to respond to threats rapidly should they emerge. Sustainment calculations, when conducted appropriately, yield realistic expectations of feasibility and risks. Threats could pose a greater danger by giving an enemy time to gain a relative advantage if the theater lacks specific friendly capabilities to defend U.S. interests.