Oh goody! We are not flying MRAPs from Charleston, S.C. to Afghanistan at the moment.

[unhappycamper]

Army tries new shipping route for M-ATVs
By Kate Brannen - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 18, 2010 15:29:50 EDT

The Army has found a new way to transport its MRAP-All Terrain Vehicles to Afghanistan, according to the service’s top logistician.

Up until a week ago, the Army had been flying the vehicles directly from its integration facility in Charleston, S.C., said Lt. Gen. Mitchell Stevenson, deputy chief of staff for logistics.

On March 8, the Army began a “multimodal concept of operations,” dividing the long trip up using ships and aircraft, Stevenson said.

“We sent 130 M-ATVs by ship,” to a U.S. ally in southwest Asia, said Stevenson, who declined to name the country. Once the vehicles arrive, they will be loaded onto a C-17 aircraft and flown six hours to Afghanistan. The whole trip takes about three weeks and is less expensive, he said.

“The nice part about that concept of operations is that the C-17s can make multiple turns in a day and it’s a lot easier than flying that one leg all the way from the United States,” he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/army_afghanistan_matv_shipping_031810w/



unhappycamper comment: Can you imagine that? The United States has been flying at least 11 daily C-17/C-5 flights since 2001 from Charleston, S.C. to Afghanistan to deliver big things. Eleven flights a day for almost 3,300 days. Ka ching.

[Tippy]

1. Dam I wonder what that cost the taxpayers...?

[unhappycamper]

3. I tried to work out how many gallons of gas each 22,000 mile flight used.

I even got into fuel economy of the new C-5M engine but finally just gave it up. Ditto for the C-17.

11 flights a day is the only concrete information I have.

[NJmaverick]

8. Those vehicles saved lives, how could you be even thinking of saving money

at the cost of soldier's lives?

[Arctic Dave]

16. Not sending them their in the first place would have saved more lives and money.

Just a thought while you are building your pyramid.

[Arctic Dave]

17. dupe

[Sal Minella]

2. Ooops.

===================================
That page has gone AWOL!

404 Error: File not found
===================================

Somebody didn't want us reading that, I guess. For some reason. Or other.

[unhappycamper]

4. Try this link:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/army_afghanistan_matv_shipping_031810w/

[Sal Minella]

5. Link works. Thanks

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/army_afghanistan_matv_shipping_031810w/

[Mari333]

6. and they wring their hands about the country being bankrupt

knr

[NYC_SKP]

7. MRAP? Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles? Weighing 2 to 5 times as much as a HUMVEE?

During the late sixties, early seventies, I recall seeing daily large military aircraft flying over our ranch on the way to Southeast Asia.

If they're lowering costs with this new delivery mode, I'm encouraged that they are trying (for a change) to do things more economically, and maybe this is an indication that the MRAPs aren't needed as urgently as they might otherwise be.

:shrug:

[NJmaverick]

10. Your second part is correct. They were urgently needed to save lives

so they military spared no expense in getting them out there. At this point the need is less urgent to they can now go by sea and save money with out costing lives.

[unhappycamper]

11. Or perhaps the economic end is near and they want to suck as many bucks out the Treasury

as possible.

[Historic NY]

9. The saving alone probably pays for more than a few new MRAPS..

[NJmaverick]

12. They were flown because getting them there sooner saved lives

now they have enough where they can save money be shipping them and not risk soldier's lives

[Bigmack]

13. So the only choice is to spend ...

massive bucks to fly those white elephants over there, eh?

How about we stop sending troops to worthless shitholes for unattainable goals?

Then we don't have to fly heavy stuff to protect them.

Now that's a saving!

[NJmaverick]

15. If we are to initiate an immediate retreat thousands of Afghans would be killed

by the Taliban. Good idea to invade or not we now have a moral obligation to finish the job.

[Bigmack]

18. We should number our responses and save all the ..

keystrokes.

I'll start.... #14 If we stay, thousands of Afghans will be killed.

#15 Morality demands that we leave those poor people alone.

I'll arbitrarily number your "Good idea to invade or not, we now have......" #12

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Junk meets junkyard.