Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: skidrow@ceres.ucsc.edu
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Diego Garcia
Message-ID: <1990Aug14.033823.8987@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 14 Aug 90 03:38:23 GMT
References: <1990Aug9.015845.8381@cbnews.att.com>
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From: skidrow@ceres.ucsc.edu

DAN.S.SULLIVAN@OFFICE.WANG.COM (Dan Sullivan) writes:

>From: Dan Sullivan <DAN.S.SULLIVAN@OFFICE.WANG.COM>
>  In the last several days I have heard comments like the follwowing:
>"The runways at Diego Garcia have been extended to support larger
>aircraft" and "... B-52 launched from Diego Garcia"
>  I am confused. I thought Diego Garcia was a very small base that was
>used as a listening post.  What exactly is Diego Garcia?
>thanks, in advance
>dan sullivan


	Diego Garcia is a small (very) island in the Indian Ocean that
	functions as the forward pre-positioning base for U.S. military
	supplies, including hardware and ammo for forces operating in
	the Persian Gulf region.  Originally in the early-80s, DoD planners
	requested several Persian Gulf states for permission to either
	base forward units or accept stockpiles of equipment for the
	R.D.F and other units, but were turned down by most for political
	reasons.  (except for Oman, but then not a great deal of it either)

	Finally, the British effectively transferred control of one of
	their protectorates, Diego Garcia, to the U.S. for this expressed
	purpose.  However, it is way out (3000 miles) from the Middle East
	but is the closest _secure_ site.

	For the past decade, the military has been accumulating enough
	equipment and supplies to keep a sizeable no. of troops operational
	in the Middle East.  Diego Garcia is meant only as a pre-positioning
	site in aiding top get ground forces quicker to their destinations
	and cannot substain a prolonged exercise.

	At Diego Garciam you have Navy Seabees constructing more and more
	facilities, and a nominal complement of cargo ships loaded and ready
	to go.  I'd imagine at the current pace of deployment into Saudi
	Arabia, that most of the stores have been sent forward.


						- Gary M. Lin
						  Computer Engineering, UCSC

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