Is Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore a Viable Capability?

The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review Report QDR places an emphasis on expeditionary forces and reducing the United States footprint overseas. Although Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore JLOTS is not specifically mentioned in the QDR, it is the enabler that makes this objective achievable. JLOTS is the process of loading and unloading of ships without the benefit of a deep draft capable, fixed port facility. JLOTS is a very complex operation involving many different ship types and sizes moving equipment and cargo from the sea to in most cases a bare beach. It can be very dangerous and is susceptible to even slight changes in weather. JLOTS is not a viable capability due to its extreme susceptibility to environmental factors, a failure to implement lessons learned and recommendations for improvement, and inadequate training opportunities. This paper details improvements that should be made to JLOTS to make it a more efficient process. However due to the environmental sensitivity of JLOTS, these recommendations can only mitigate the problem of JLOTS not being viable and do not resolve the problem altogether.