The US Army is preparing to fight in Europe, but can it even get there?

[rangerrebew]

The US Army is preparing to fight in Europe, but can it even get there?
By: David B. Larter   21 hours ago
 

WASHINGTON — With Russia’s reemergence as a menace in Europe, the U.S. Army has been laying the foundations to fight once again on the continent it defended through most of the 20th century. But if war were to break out tomorrow, the U.S. military could be hard-pressed to move the number of tanks, heavy guns and equipment needed to face off with Russian forces.

And even if the Army could get there in numbers, then the real problems would start: how would the U.S. sustain them?

The U.S. sealift capacity — the ships that would ultimately be used to transport Army equipment from the states to Europe or Asia — is orders of magnitude smaller than it was during World War II. Combine that with the fact that the commercial shipbuilding industry in the U.S. is all but gone, and the U.S. can’t launch the kind of massive buildup of logistics ships it undertook during wartime decades ago.

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/10/08/the-army-is-preparing-to-fight-in-europe-but-can-it-even-get-there/

[skeeter]

The consequences of relying exclusively on the global economy.

[Fishrrman]

Commandeer cruise ships -- they have huge carrying capacity.

[rangerrebew]

Instead of sinking aircraft carriers to make coral reefs or selling them for scrap, the military could keep one or two around for a ready reserve to haul troops.  They have at least 5,000 racks and if the offices are cleared,and the working spaces cleared, I'll bet they could add another 5 - 10,000 places to sleep.