Pacific Pathways: Maintaining Freedom of Maneuver Through Reception, Staging, and Onward Movement

Since 2014, the 8th Theater Sustainment Command along with its enterprise partners have been refining these critical operations through USARPAC's Pacific Pathways. " -Maj. Gen. Susan A. Davidson, 8th Theater Sustainment Command Pacific Pathways is not a single event but, rather, a sequenced execution of multiple exercises at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, geographic combatant command, and Army service component command levels. Logisticians must work through 16 time zones, limited infrastructure, reduced access, cross-border security, extended lines of communication, lowcapacity transportation networks, and language and interoperability challenges, all while operating in the most natural-disaster-prone area of the world. Relationships Intratheater and intertheater movements require a complex mix of strategic and tactical traffic management that balances host-nation processes with the multinational movement control functions of an allied force. Many key planning considerations, including the allocation and staging of vehicles and equipment, the location of convoy support centers, and convoy highway clearances require coordination and official approval from the host nation's movement control equivalent and civil and military authorities.