United States Transportation Command The United States Transportation Command ( USTRANSCOM ) is one of nine unified commands of the United States Department of Defense . The mission of USTRANSCOM is to provide air , land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense , both in time of peace and time of war . USTRANSCOM , located at Scott Air Force Base Illinois , was established in 1987 . As the single manager of America ' s global defense transportation system , USTRANSCOM is tasked with the coordination of people and transportation assets to allow the US to project and sustain forces , whenever , wherever , and for as long as they are needed . The current commander of USTRANSCOM is General William M . Fraser III , USAF . He took over command on October 17 , 2011 . Components . USTRANSCOM coordinates missions worldwide using both military and commercial transportation resources . It is composed of three service component commands : The Air Force ' s Air Mobility Command , the Navy ' s Military Sealift Command and the Army ' s Surface Deployment and Distribution Command . The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command which was part of the former U . S . Joint Forces Command disestablished as of 4 August 2011 and is now part of the U . S . Transportation Command . Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) , the air component of USTRANSCOM , is also located at Scott AFB . The AMC fleet can provide refueling capability and deliver people and cargo anywhere around the globe in a matter of hours . Aircraft assets of the command include : C - 17 Globemaster III , C - 5 Galaxy , C - 130 Hercules , KC - 135 Stratotanker , and KC - 10 Extender . Additional long - range airlift aircraft are available during national emergencies through the Civil Reserve Air Fleet , a fleet of commercial aircraft committed to support the transportation of military forces and material in times of crisis . Military Sealift Command ( MSC ) USTRANSCOM ' s sealift component , provides efficient sea transportation worldwide for DoD in peace and war . Located in Washington , D . C . , MSC uses a mixture of government - owned and commercial ships for three primary functions : Surge sealift , principally used to move unit equipment from the United States to theaters of operations all over the world ; prepositioned sealift , comes under USTRANSCOM ' s command once the ships have been released into the common - user fleet ; and sustainment sealift , the life line to keep deployed forces continuously supplied . MSC assets include Fast Sealift and Ready Reserve Force ships . In addition , MSC charters and books space on commercial ships . Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command ( SDDC ) , located at Scott Air Force Base , Illinois , with its Operations Center ( G - 3 ) at Fort Eustis , Virginia ( scheduled under Base Realignment and Closure to move to Scott AFB in late 2010 ) , is the overland lift component and primary surface distribution manager for USTRANSCOM . SDDC ' s mission is to provide global surface deployment command and control and distribution operations to meet National Security Objectives in peace and war . SDDC has a presence in 24 water ports worldwide . In an average year , SDDC manages and directs the movement of 3 . 7 million measurement ton s ( 4 . 2 million m³ ) of ocean cargo , 500 , 000 personal - property moves , 600 , 000 domestic freight shipments , 72 , 000 privately owned vehicles and 518 , 000 passengers . SDDC assets include 10 , 000 containers and 1 , 350 railroad car s . Within the United States , the SDDC works with the Federal Highway Administration to designate the Strategic Highway Network . Joint Operational Support Airlift Center ( JOSAC ) specializes in the airlift of senior defense officials within the continental United States . JOSAC is located at Scott Air Force Base , Illinois . The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command ( JECC ) provides mission - tailored , ready joint capability packages to combatant commanders in order to facilitate rapid establishment of joint force headquarters , fulfill Global Response Force execution and bridge joint operational requirements . JECC is located at Naval Station Norfolk , Virginia . JECC is divided into three subordinate joint commands that provide capabilities across seven unique functional areas to bring tailored , mission - specific forces to a joint force commander within hours of notification . The JECC subordinate joint commands are : History . World War II , the Berlin blockade , the Korean War , and the Vietnam War all demonstrated the need for the United States to maintain a capable and ready transportation system for national security . In 1978 , however , command post exercise Nifty Nugget exposed great gaps in understanding between military and civilian participants : mobilization and deployment plans fell apart , and as a result , the United States and its NATO allies " lost the war " . Two major recommendations came out of Nifty Nugget . First , the Transportation Operating Agencies ( later called the Transportation Component Commands ) should have a direct reporting chain to the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( JCS ) . Second , the JCS should establish a single manager for deployment and execution . As a result , the JCS formed the Joint Deployment Agency ( JDA ) at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in 1979 . Despite its many successes , the JDA could not handle the job . Although the JDA had responsibility for integrating deployment procedures , it did not have authority to direct the Transportation Operating Agencies or Unified and Specified Commanders in Chief to take corrective actions , keep databases current , or adhere to milestones . According to several independent studies on transportation , the Department of Defense ( DOD ) needed to consolidate transportation . Consequently , President Ronald Reagan on 18 April 1987 ordered the Secretary of Defense to establish a Unified Transportation Command ( UTC ) , a directive made possible in part by the Goldwater - Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 , which revoked the law prohibiting consolidation of military transportation functions . The UTC Implementation Plan ( IP ) outlined the new unified command ' s responsibilities , functions , and organization . Christened United States Transportation Command ( USTRANSCOM ) , its mission was to " provide global air , sea and land transportation to meet national security needs " . It had three transportation component commands — the Air Force ' s Military Airlift Command ( replaced by Air Mobility Command in 1992 ) , the Navy ' s Military Sealift Command , and the Army ' s Military Traffic Management Command , ( renamed Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command in 2004 ) . The JDA ' s missions and functions transferred to USTRANSCOM on 18 April 1987 , when the agency became the command ' s Directorate of Deployment . Additionally , the IP located the command at Scott AFB , to take advantage of Military Airlift Command ' s expertise in command and control . On 22 June 1987 , the President nominated Air Force Gen . Duane H . Cassidy as the first Commander , USTRANSCOM , and on 1 July the Senate confirmed the recommendation , thus activating the command at Scott . The commander of USTRANSCOM received operational direction from the National Command Authority ( NCA ) through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . USTRANSCOM appeared , at first glance , to be the long sought after remedy for DOD ' s fragmented and often criticized transportation system . Its establishment gave the United States , for the first time , a four - star , unified combatant commander to serve as single - point - of - contact for Defense Transportation System ( DTS ) customers and to act as advocate for the DTS in DOD and before Congress . But it soon became apparent that , in reality , the nation ' s newest unified command was created half - baked . The IP allowed the Services to retain their single - manager charters for their respective transportation modes . Even more restrictive , the document limited USTRANSCOM ' s authorities primarily to wartime . As a result , during peacetime , USTRANSCOM ' s component commands continued to operate day - to - day much as they did in the past . They controlled their industrial funds and maintained responsibility for service - unique missions , service - oriented procurement and maintenance scheduling , and DOD charters during peacetime single - manager transportation operations . They also continued to have operational control of forces . It took a wartime test by fire , Desert Shield / Desert Storm , to bring to maturity a fully operational , peacetime and wartime , USTRANSCOM . The strategic deployment for Desert Shield / Desert Storm ranks among the largest in history . USTRANSCOM , in concert with its components , moved to the United States Central Command area of responsibility nearly 504 , 000 passengers , 3 . 7 million measurement tons ( 4 . 2 million m³ ) of dry cargo , and of petroleum products in approximately seven months . This equated roughly to the deployment and sustainment of two Army corps , two Marine Corps expeditionary forces , and 28 Air Force tactical fighter squadrons . The DOD learned much from the deployment to the Persian Gulf , and foremost among those lessons was that USTRANSCOM and its component commands needed to operate in peacetime as they would in wartime . Consequently , on 14 February 1992 , the Secretary of Defense gave USTRANSCOM a new charter . Stating the command ' s mission to be " to provide air , land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense , both in time of peace and time of war , " the charter greatly expanded the authorities of the USTRANSCOM commander . Under it , the Service Secretaries assigned the components to the USTRANSCOM commander in peace and war . In addition , the military departments assigned to him , under his combatant command , all transportation assets except those that were service - unique or theater - assigned . The charter also made the USTRANSCOM commander DOD ' s single - manager for transportation , other than service - unique and theater - assigned assets . Because USTRANSCOM must respond quickly in support of US objectives worldwide , the command must focus its attention across the full spectrum of support from humanitarian operations to contingencies . In 1995 , USTRANSCOM supported 76 humanitarian missions and 94 Joint Chiefs of Staff exercises , visiting approximately 80 percent of the 192 countries . Since Desert Shield / Desert Storm , USTRANSCOM has continued to prove its worth during contingencies — such as Desert Thunder ( enforcement of UN resolutions in Iraq ) and Allied Force ( NATO operations against Serbia ) - - and peacekeeping endeavors — for example , Restore Hope ( Somalia ) , Support Hope ( Rwanda ) , Uphold Democracy ( Haiti ) , Joint Endeavor ( Bosnia - Herzegovina ) , and Joint Guardian ( Kosovo ) . Likewise , the command has supported numerous humanitarian relief operations transporting relief supplies to victims of natural disasters at home and abroad . After the 9 / 11 terrorist attacks , USTRANSCOM became a vital partner in the United States ' Global War On Terrorism supporting the warfighter in Operation Enduring Freedom ( Afghanistan ) and Operation Iraqi Freedom ( Iraq ) . From October 2001 to the present , USTRANSCOM , its components , and its national partners have transported over 2 . 2 million passengers and nearly of cargo in support of the war on terrorism . On 16 September 2003 Secretary of Defense Donald H . Rumsfeld designated the Commander , USTRANSCOM as the Distribution Process Owner ( DPO ) to serve " as the single entity to direct and supervise execution of the Strategic Distribution system " in order to " improve the overall efficiency and interoperability of distribution related activities — deployment , sustainment and redeployment support during peace and war . " With the most capable and ready air , land , and sea strategic mobility forces in the world , and with the authorities as the DPO , USTRANSCOM will continue to support the United States and its allies , in peace and war . Sources . " This article includes text from the public domain " USTRANSCOM Official Homepage .