When they looked at Transportation Command, they saw it essentially as a link in the supply, distribution, and transportation chain. They wanted to make that linkage more efficient. Their point was not altogether without merit, but their perspective was wrong. The logistics mission deserves its own priority and identity. However, the same is true of the Transportation Command mission.
Air mobility consists of airlift and aerial refueling.
In the Gulf War of 1991 and the limited Desert Strike operation in September 1996, it was refueling by tankers along the way that made it possible for bombers to fly nonstop from bases in the United States and deliver their ordnance in Southwest Asia. Without aerial refueling, the national strategy of rapid global response to crisis would not be possible. Airlift is in constant demand to support forces and operations of all kinds, but it can also be an operational mission in itself. The classic example is the Berlin Airlift, of which this year begins the 50th anniversary. In June 1948, the Soviet Union shut off road, rail, and barge access to Berlin in an attempt to force out the western powers and absorb Berlin into the Soviet sector.