In February 1956 at the Pacific Fleet Supply Conference, Captain E. K. Scofield stressed some aspects of mobile supply support operations in the Western Pacific that vividly illustrate the growing impact of the Navy's strategic commitments upon existing logistic systems.l Captain Scofield described how the increasingly large geographic range of fleet operations and the dispersal of ships in the East Asian ports have magnified the task of supply support. order to meet scattered fleet units at widely dispersed underway replenishment areas. Consequently, the frequency is reduced with which task force ships can be resupplied in port or at sea by the few fleet issue ships in WestPac.
The meaning of this situation has grown increasingly clear. It has stimulated efforts to augment the fleet issue capabilities of repair ships and tenders. It lent impetus to the conversion of the USS CASTOR (AKS 1) into a one-stop supply ship carrying both technical repair parts and general stores type material. It has increased the need for maximum self-endurance of individual ships. It has meant greater reliance by the fleet upon overseas shore bases for resupply support. It has placed a premium upon the foresight of ship's supply officers in planning their replenishment and upon their initiative in making purchases from indigenous sources.
The most significant aspect of the situation described by Captain Scofield, however, is that it is not a temporary one. It is as permanent as is the use of modern weapons. It is as enduring as a r e the basic concepts of U. S. national policy. Problems of naval logistics today are a logical outgrowth of the global strategy that supports American policy in the nuclear age. U. S. policy derives its continuity from a determination to prevent the Eurasian land mass from coming under the domination of one nation or a coalition of nations hostile to the United States. The unfriendly competition between the Sino-Soviet and the Western powers basically is a struggle for control of the areas along the borders of Europe and Asia? The Mobile support groups must be away from normal port anchorages for longer periods in *Manuscript