By Air or By Sea

No matter how brilliant a leader's tactics, how well-trained the troops, or how powerful their weapons, if they can not get to the fight, those things hardly matter. To get forces into a theater quickly they must be flown, along with their equipment. The C-17 is important because it can land on dirt airfields - an increasingly important feature, given recent deployments to remote areas. Other critical aircraft include the mammoth C-5 Galaxy. While airlift if vital, sealift is equally critical, especially in extended military operations. Ships, with their large holds, carry the bulk of outsized military equipment, such as tanks and artillery pieces. While the military's air and sea transport fleets appear large to outsiders, they would be nowhere nearly large enough to handle the demands placed on them during a major military conflict.