Latest news with #JointLogisticsOver-the-Shore
American Military News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
1 US service member killed, 62 injured in Biden's Gaza pier failure
A new Defense Department Office of Inspector General report shows that former President Joe Biden's failed Gaza pier mission resulted in the death of one U.S. service member and left 62 other service members injured. The report also showed that the failed Gaza pier mission caused at least $31 million in military equipment damage. According to the Defense Department Office of Inspector General's report, U.S. Central Command reported 62 injuries as part of the Biden administration's humanitarian aid Gaza pier mission, which was labeled 'Operation Neptune Solace.' The report indicated that it was not clear whether the 62 injuries occurred 'during the performance of duties or resulted off duty or from pre-existing medical conditions.' The Pentagon watchdog's report claimed that the U.S. Army and Navy were not properly prepared for the Biden administration's Gaza pier mission and faced 'low equipment mission-capable rates and low manning and training levels.' 'The Army and Navy did not allocate sufficient maintenance, manning, [or] training,' the report stated. The Pentagon watchdog also claimed that the Army and Navy 'did not organize, train, and equip to a common joint standard' for the Gaza pier operation. READ MORE: Pics: US soldier dies from failed Gaza pier injury The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General determined that the Gaza pier mission resulted in 27 watercraft and other military equipment sustaining damage that cost the U.S. military roughly $31 million to repair. 'Army- and Navy-specific equipment, including watercraft, piers, and causeways, as well as command, control, and communications systems was not interoperable,' the report stated. Following the release of the Defense Department Office of Inspector General's report, CNN commentator Scott Jennings tweeted, 'One of the biggest Biden embarrassments – the half baked Gaza Aid Pier. $230 million. 20 days in use. And now we find out it injured 60+ US soldiers. One soldier died! All to placate terrorists & their sympathizers in the Democratic Party. Insane scandal.' The Defense Department Office of Inspector General warned that the Pentagon faces 'potential challenges in global operations' that require Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) capability. The report noted, 'Insufficient manning, training, and materiel readiness at the Military Service level, coupled with the lack of integration and the interoperability of JLOTS capability and capacity at the Joint level, reduced the DoD's effectiveness by repeatedly encountering known challenges and inefficiencies in JLOTS operations and exercises, including Operation Neptune Solace in Gaza.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ill-fated Gaza pier mission lacked sufficient training, equipment: IG
In March 2024, then-President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would create a new pathway for international aid into war-torn Gaza: a floating pier system operated by the Army and Navy known as Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS. Later that month, construction was underway on the pier; but it was unceremoniously shut down for good in July, having spent only 20 days active amid equipment failures and insurmountable sea conditions. Now, a new report from the Defense Department's independent watchdog reveals just how ill-prepared the military services were to build the floating pier to Gaza. It found, among other things, mission planners failed to identify environmental factors, such as beach conditions and sea states, likely to affect the success of JLOTS; Army and Navy equipment was not interoperable and caused damage when combined; and cuts to training and resources further challenged the operation's success. The DOD Office of Inspector General report, dated Friday, recommends the creation of a new working group focused on JLOTS, a report to the defense secretary and the Joint Staff identifying gaps in its capabilities and better communication between the services, particularly through U.S. Transportation Command, which coordinated the mission. What did the US military's Gaza aid pier actually accomplish? The JLOTS pier, built under the mission name Operation Neptune Solace, was not a complete failure. During its operational period, it delivered some 19.4 million pounds of food aid to Gaza, enough to feed half a million Palestinian civilians for a month. But the IG found that its usefulness was badly curtailed by planning and resourcing failures, some of which had been observed for years prior to the mission. While DOD had run 11 JLOTS exercises in the decade prior to the Gaza operation, the 84-page report found, neither the Army nor the Navy JLOTS packages met service standards for mission readiness, including equipment mission-capable rates. The actual readiness rates and unit manning shortages are redacted in the report, but it does note that the lack of resourcing had clear consequences. 'According to [U.S. Army 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary)] officials, manning shortages delayed the deployment of some Army watercraft for Operation Neptune Solace,' investigators wrote. Officials with Navy Beach Group One, investigators added, said the unit 'had to pull together every person they could to sufficiently staff vessels in accordance with Navy requirements.' Between 2018 and 2023, the Army and Navy had completed major divestments of equipment the JLOTS system required, it found, including roughly half the Army's watercraft, or 64 out of 134, and one of the Navy's two JLOTS-capable units, Amphibious Construction Battalion 2. Officials in units involved with the deployment to Gaza 'expressed concern at the Services' divestment of JLOTS capabilities and stated their belief that the DoD's current JLOTS capabilities were not sufficient to meet projected needs,' the report found. And the JLOTS training that had occurred at the DOD level had not trouble-shot a major problem with the Gaza deployment: the fact that the Army and Navy equipment was not meant to be used together. Both Army and Navy officials, the report said, had cited issues with the other service's pier gear. The Improved Navy Lighterage System, or INLS, and the Army's roll-on, roll-off discharge facility — both versions of floating docks — sat at different heights in the water. The Navy gear warped Army boat ramps, while the Army boats punched 'a bunch of holes' into Navy docks, officials told investigators. An image published in the report shows an Army vessel with gouges in the base and the words 'total loss' spray-painted on the side. While the Army's damage assessment is redacted, the Navy reported damage to 27 boats and INLS equipment totaling about $31 million. U.S. Central Command reported that 62 U.S. personnel were also injured during Neptune Solace, the IG reported, although the manner of the injuries and how they took place was not provided. One service member died as a result of injuries sustained during non-combat duties on the mission. Army Sgt. Quandarius Stanley died in October after being critically injured in May when high winds and heavy seas damaged the pier, causing four Army vessels to become beached, The Associated Press reported at the time. A photo published in the DOD IG report shows damage to an Army boat inflicted by a Navy dock component during the Gaza pier mission. (U.S. Army 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) via DoD IG.) Army and Navy communication systems weren't interoperable either, the report found — a problem highlighted in earlier JLOTS exercises. As a result, the services were sometimes left without secure communications, according to the IG. On top of insufficient training and equipping, planning also fell short, the IG found. Despite clear sea state limits established for JLOTS, planners in the services and Geographic Combatant Commands 'did not fully identify or consider mission-specific requirements, such as beach conditions, average sea states, and other factors likely to affect the ability to successfully conduct a JLOTS operation,' and lacked information specific to the Gaza region. The report recommended the Army and the Navy individually review their JLOTS capabilities and determine what changes need to be made to meet mission requirements, which service leaders agreed with. It also called on U.S. Transportation Command to develop JLOTS mission-essential task lists and establish other measures to ensure JLOTS missions had the resources they needed. While TRANSCOM partially concurred, the IG stated its responses did not address how the command planned to better fulfill its coordinating responsibilities for JLOTS. It requested TRANSCOM submit a full report detailing such a plan within 30 days. Editor's note: This report has been updated to reflect the date of Sgt. Quandarius Stanley's death.
Telegraph
14-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Chinese ‘invasion barges' spotted on drills for first time
Chinese 'D-Day style' barges have been spotted practising what appear to be amphibious landings in the South China Sea. Footage shows the Chinese navy exercising the huge special landing barges, which defence analysts warn could prove critical in the event of a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. The Shuiqiao barges, which seemingly draw inspiration from the Mulberry harbours built for the Normandy landings in 1944, have long road bridges measuring up to 120m (394ft) extending from their bows. The bridges act as a floating, retractable pier that could be used to rapidly unload tanks, fighting vehicles, heavy equipment or troops from ships on to enemy shores. They may also allow Beijing's forces to bypass beach defences or to reach beaches previously considered unsuitable for amphibious landings. China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has piled military pressure on the self-governing island in recent years, deploying warships and fighter jets to simulate a future blockade and an invasion. Open-source analysts had previously spotted three to five of the special purpose barges being built in Guangzhou shipyard in southern China. According to Naval News, each barge took just a few months to complete, although they have been in development since 2022. The footage – which first emerged on Chinese social media platforms before it was deleted – was taken close to China's naval headquarters in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, 600 miles south of Taiwan. 'Tailor-made for an amphibious assault' The barges appear 'tailor-made for an amphibious assault', according to HI Sutton, a naval analyst who first reported on the barges in January, arguing they could be an 'early warning sign' of a potential invasion of Taiwan. 'It is possible that these ships can be explained away as having a civilian role. But the construction of so many, much larger than similar civilian vessels seen before, makes this implausible,' he wrote in Naval News. Dr Emma Salisbury, a sea power research fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, believes the barges could be the missing piece of the puzzle for a possible invasion of Taiwan. She told The Telegraph: 'A core problem for the PRC [China] in invading Taiwan is getting the necessary heavy equipment over the Strait – and the solution to that problem is what we are seeing with these barges. 'While landing forces on contested shores is always going to be difficult, these barges look to be ideal for moving tanks, armoured vehicles, and the like quickly and safely on to shore.' The fact that Beijing has permitted details of these barges to become public signals the threat China poses in the region, she said. The barges provide broadly the same function as the US military's Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system (JLOTS) which it used in a failed attempt to deliver aid to Gaza last year. The floating, interlocking humanitarian pier was only operational for 20 days owing to weather, technical and security problems. China's version could also be vulnerable to high winds and seas and – in the case of an invasion of Taiwan – an easy target to destroy, according to Timothy R. Heath, a senior international defence researcher at RAND. 'The slow moving barges are easily targeted so they are unlikely to survive in the middle of a battle on the beaches,' he told The Telegraph. He added: 'The PLA has many better suited military-grade amphibious assault ships that could carry out similar tasks of unloading armoured vehicles.' Mr Heath argued the barges are more likely to be used to deliver humanitarian supplies to disaster-struck regions with poor port infrastructure. Yet, alarm bells should still be ringing in Taipei and Washington, warned Tom Shugart, a defence analyst and former submariner. The new footage, he argued on X, does not suggest an attack is imminent, but there should be fears 'for when they've fully tested these and perhaps built many more'. It comes amid growing concerns over China's rapidly growing naval fleet as part of its race to become a global maritime power. A new report suggests China has built the equivalent of the entire Royal Navy in just a few years, overtaking the US Navy in terms of hull count and nearing its fleet tonnage. Between 2019 and 2023, four shipyards in the country – Dalian, Guangzhou, Jiangnan and Hudong-Zhonghua – produced at least 39 warships, which is more than the Royal Navy's battle force fleet, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
