Gen. Van Ovost meets with USEUCOM and USAFRICOM

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (14 Dec. 2022) – U.S. Air Force (USAF) Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander, U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), met with U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander, U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Belgium on Monday. On Tuesday, she met with USAF Lt. Gen. Steven Basham, deputy commander, USEUCOM and USAF Lt. Gen. Kirk Smith, deputy commander, U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) at their respective headquarters in Germany. She also met with logistics officers and other senior staff members from both commands.

Meetings focused on logistics requirements and planning; access, basing and overflight (ABO) issues; agreements to facilitate ABO; and challenges faced when moving people, supplies and equipment around the world. 

The visit to USEUCOM follows on the heels of the command’s participation in the Joint European Time-Phased Force Flow Deployment and Sustainment Series 3.0, a wargaming exercise designed to rehearse large allied unit movements in times of crisis. The exercise challenged logisticians to overcome practical constraints that arise from moving large combat forces and their required sustainment. 

USTRANSCOM and USEUCOM have tirelessly worked hand in hand, along with allies and partners, to ensure Ukraine receives the aid necessary to defend themselves. Over the last year, via thousands of trucks, more than a hundred trains, 50 ships, and 900 flights, more than 226 million pounds of cargo and equipment, including over a million artillery rounds, tens of millions of small arms rounds, plus anti-armor systems and ammunition, air defense systems and missiles, body armor, and even helicopters and patrol boats have been delivered.

While providing this incredible level of support to NATO and Ukraine, USTRANSCOM continues to execute missions across the globe – including in the USAFRICOM area of responsibility.  

Africa's vast size and limited road and rail network present unique challenges. With limited airlift capacity at its disposal, command logistics planners leverage membership and participation in the Africa Distribution Network Forum (ADNF) to share airlift capacity with willing and capable partners. Recently, USTRANSCOM employed a Commercial Multi-Modal contract to move 1.3 million pounds of cargo as part of ADNF operations coordinated by USAFRICOM. Since early 2021, U.S. Africa Command has supported nine partner nations across 27 missions and in return, partner nations have supported several U.S. missions.

Van Ovost’s reason for visiting both USEUCOM and USAFRICOM was to better understand and align USTRANSCOM’s ability to deploy, maneuver, and sustain forces and to address evolving security challenges in an integrated manner. While in Europe, she also spent time thanking the people of each command for their contributions.

USTRANSCOM exists as a warfighting combatant command to project and sustain military power at a time and place of the nation’s choosing. Powered by dedicated men and women, USTRANSCOM underwrites the lethality of the Joint Force, advances American interests around the globe, and provides our nation's leaders with strategic flexibility to select from multiple options, while creating multiple dilemmas for our adversaries.

USEUCOM is responsible for U.S. military operations across Europe, portions of Asia and the Middle East, the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean. USEUCOM is comprised of more than 64,000 military and civilian personnel and works closely with NATO Allies and partners. The command is one of two U.S. forward-deployed geographic combatant commands headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

USAFRICOM, with partners, counters transnational threats and malign actors, strengthens security forces and responds to crises in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity.