By: Lt Col Caitlin Oviatt
Bomber Escort: A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., takes off from Morón Air Base, Spain, as part of Bomber Task Force Europe 26-1 Nov. 19, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Codie Trimble)
You will not find it hard to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Throughout history, airpower strategists have grappled with the role of airpower in war. Today, anticipating a mix of peer adversary threats, the USAF Future Operating Concept highlights the current role of airpower in supporting the joint force by concentrating airpower, focusing on winning a series of simultaneous and interdependent fights.[i] While each fight is crucial to achieving a victorious end state, two key battles are closely linked to airpower’s role in logistics, specifically in the Indo-Pacific theater: the struggle to enter the theater and then to sustain operations. Overcoming these force flow and sustainment challenges is imperative to any distant domain fight, especially in a highly contested environment. Logistics serves as the backbone of any military operation, including air operations. In the 21st century, airpower will play a crucial role in supporting the joint warfighting domain by projecting force into the theater and sustaining operations long enough to win.
F-16A Fighting Falcon, F-15C Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft fly over burning oil field sites in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. (U.S. Air Force archive photo)
Force Project: The Fight to get into Theater
While the US has conducted continuous global operations for decades, it has primarily projected power to the Middle East for the last 35 years. Operation Desert Storm served as an inflection point, both in demonstrating the long-awaited capabilities of airpower and equally served as a testament to the orchestration of logistics that enabled the operations.[ii] Since then, years of US investment, overseas basing, infrastructure, and overflight support from partners and allies have enabled a massive force build up with well-established logistics hubs in the Middle East.[iii] As with any operation, the ability to rapidly project power at speed and scale; and deliver military personnel and equipment to combat is critical. In this instance, the US has controlled the airspace and projected force into a relatively uncontested environment, doing so on a predictable and scheduled operations tempo. However, the aerial logistical equation differs in the contested Indo-Pacific theater, even with access, basing, and overflight permissions in place.
The US is challenging the People’s Republic of China (PRC) revisionist actions across multiple domains and spheres of influence, with the assumed military flashpoint being the invasion of Taiwan. To complicate the US response, the PRC is investing in capabilities to deny the US ability to project power into the Indo-Pacific theater. Investing in a layered anti-access/aerial denial system with long-range hypersonic missiles and advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) networks, the PRC aims to deny US access to the region, making any military intervention action a challenging feat to overcome.
Logistics via airpower will play a crucial role in US counter efforts. First, the anticipation of the strategic deployment process, which involves the reception, staging, and onward movement of equipment and forces into the theater of operations, is key. Next, the fight to gain future force access and maneuver within the theater will depend on Airmen identifying expeditionary avenues, such as amphibious landings, to offload equipment, personnel, and supplies as quickly as possible, to enable the start of operations. While sealift will play an equally important role, airpower will be used for the rapid movement of high priority personnel and cargo as it is the most expedient mode of travel. The utilization of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet will be a part of the airpower campaign to garner an increase in capacity and maneuvering options to conduct both offensive and defensive operations while trying to get the force into the theater. Additionally, just as dispersed and prepositioned stocks, scattered airfields, and resilient refueling capabilities will be essential for generating airpower during a short-term invasion, sustainment capabilities will be equally as important in a prolonged fight.
331st Transportation Company (Modular Causeway System) inserts a temporary 560 meter (1,840 foot) Trident Pier into Anmyeon Beach on the west coast of the Republic of Korea during exercise Combined Joint Logistics Over the Shore (LOTS) 2015. ANMYEON BEACH, Republic of Korea (June 29, 2015). (U.S. Navy Photo by LT Russell Wolfkiel/Released)
Sustainment: The Fight to Sustain
No war begins its opening assault with the anticipation of a prolonged war. Throughout history, sustainment has been shown to have a direct influence on battles and campaigns, with the Russia-Ukraine war underscoring that sentiment. Russia’s infamous 40-mile convoy outside Kyiv and Russian soldiers lacking gear and looting grocery stores emphasize the need to sustain combat.[iv] Whether due to poor planning or faulty assumptions, the inability to sustain ground combat through adequate ammunition, fuel, food, or additional troops negated any tactical battlefield gains. Any prolonged war will require the need to acquire, store, and disperse larger quantities of supplies to maintain a rapid reconstitution posture to apply combat pressure.
Bundles are released over the Pacific Ocean from the cargo bay of a C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 374th Air Expeditionary Wing, during an airdrop as part of Operation Christmas Drop 2025 at the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Dec. 10, 2025. While the longest-running humanitarian mission in the Department of War, Operation Christmas Drop serves as a valuable training opportunity for aircrew in low-level flight, precision airdrop techniques and logistical coordination – skills critical to achieve rapid, global airlift missions in the U.S. Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexzandra Gracey)
When preparing for the Indo-Pacific fight and countering the PRC’s advantage of shorter supply chains, the US must prepare for a prolonged endeavor. This becomes an even more complex task when contending against the tyranny of distance. Airpower’s role in sustainment operations will be critical as it provides more expedited replenishment options. However, large-scale conflict in the Indo-Pacific will require a theater sustainment plan that uses US bases in Guam and Hawaii, as well as in-theater allies and coalition partners, to formulate resilient supply lines and multi-domain transportation options for distribution to include commercial airlines.[v] In a full-scale war, delivery times can be a matter of life or death, with airlift being the most expeditious avenue for replenishment of supplies. To support airpower’s sustainment role, redefining or adding more advanced capabilities such as aerial delivery or producing UAVs for supply transport is likely a necessary advancement needed to address sustainment in the Indo-Pacific theater.
In the 21st century, one of airpower’s roles will be to support logistics, enabling the fight to gain access to the theater and sustain the joint fight. Many great leaders and military generals underscored the importance of logistics, but often in hindsight. While several airpower battles will need to be won to deliver victory in a peer adversary conflict, logistics operations cannot continue to be overlooked in planning and must be more intertwined with strategy. Failing to understand the silent relationship between logistics and victory, as well as airpower’s enabling role, may risk the inevitable and somber sound of defeat.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the US Government.
About the Author
Lt Col Caitlin Oviatt is the Commander, 55th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Offutt AFB. She and her team provide logistics for Air Combat Command’s largest wing and the Air Force’s second largest wing in support of RC-135 ISR operations, Air Force Global Strike Command’s 95th Wing, the 557th Weather Wing, and USSTRATCOM. Prior to command, she was an Air Force Strategic Policy Fellow in Washington, D.C. serving as the Department of Defense’s representative embedded in the Department of Transportation’s Office of Intelligence, Security, and Emergency Response (S-60). She is also a graduate of the Air Force Institute of Technology where she earned a master’s degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
Works Cited
[i] “Air_Force_Future_Operating_Concept_EXSUM_FINAL.Pdf,” n.d., accessed September 1, 2025, https://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/2023SAF/Air_Force_Future_Operating_Concept_EXSUM_FINAL.pdf.
[ii] “Desert Storm’s Unheeded Lessons,” Air & Space Forces Magazine, n.d., accessed September 7, 2025, https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/desert-storms-unheeded-lessons/.
[iii] Mariel Ferragamo Merrow Diana Roy,Jonathan Masters,Will, “U.S. Forces in the Middle East: Mapping the Military Presence | Council on Foreign Relations,” accessed September 7, 2025, https://www.cfr.org/article/us-forces-middle-east-mapping-military-presence.
[iv] dpeleschuk, “What’s behind Russia’s Logistical Mess in Ukraine? A US Army Engineer Looks at the Tactical Level.,” Atlantic Council, March 21, 2022, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/whats-behind-russias-logistical-mess-in-ukraine-a-us-army-engineer-looks-at-the-tactical-level/.
[v] “Supporting Indo-Pacific Sustainment: Regional Stability Requires Close Cooperation With Allies, Partners,” AUSA, August 24, 2023, https://www.ausa.org/articles/supporting-indo-pacific-sustainment-regional-stability-requires-close-cooperation-allies.