Military’s Key Goals: Getting There Is Half the Battle

The initial phase of the U.S.-led military operation will be largely an exercise in logistics--supplying and setting up the troops and equipment that will carry out the relief mission. Here is a rundown on what it will take:

Four ships based at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean arrive off the Somali coast with supplies and equipment for the operation. The vessels carry everything from bulldozers to medical supplies and ammunition.

First wave of troops secures and begins to improve facilities at Mogadishu airport, which currently is open only six hours a day and can accommodate only two flights every 24 hours--far below what military leaders will require. American engineers will need to expand the apron and build a major staging area. C-5 and C-141 cargo planes will begin landing supplies as soon as the airport is secured.

U.S. troops secure and begin improving harbor facilities to receive military supplies.

Navy establishes fuel transport lines across the Atlantic and from the Mediterranean Sea to help keep vehicles and aircraft running.

Air Force begins ferrying troops and equipment to Somalia. Experts say at least 750 flights will probably be needed to carry 27,000 additional soldiers and Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton and the Army’s 10th Mountain Light Infantry from Ft. Drum, N.Y., and their equipment.

Supply elements continue to deliver military equipment on the ground as the size of the operation expands.

U.S. troops clear the major roadways in southern Somalia and establish food-distribution posts to help get international aid shipments directly to starving Somalis.