Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

transportation concept must include surface lines of
communication (LOC) from CR to the OJE area of
operations. Many planners believed that success of the
operations depended on three things: a quick deployment;
keeping American soldiers safe; and providing reliable
surface re-supply of high-priority, outsized, or overweight
cargo on a regular schedule. In order to accomplish the
latter, Colonel Kubiszewski and his OJE transportation
planning staff developed plans for EAGLE EXPRESS.
Hauling cargo over EAGLE EXPRESS became the
battalion’s first of six missions in support of OJE. As events
matured, trucks assigned to the 6966th Civilian Support
Center, my German counterpart within the TRANSCOM,
picked up most of my battalion’s theater support mission so
that we could dedicate more trucks to deployment and
re-supply operations. EAGLE EXPRESS was divided into
three legs extending nearly 1,000 miles through Germany,
Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. To
provide overnight rest and maintenance facilities along
EAGLE EXPRESS, the planning cell planned for two
Convoy Support Centers (CSC)—to be manned and
operated by my battalion. To be established later, rest stops
in Taszar, Hungary, and Slavonski Brod, Croatia, would be
manned/operated by other units, although we would have
liaison personnel at them to coordinate movement of our
assets.
Conceptually, the CSCs had to support and service
convoys of up to 150 soldiers and 50 vehicles per day. The
United States contracted for billeting, meals, facilities, and
fuel. At the request of the U.S. Army through German and
Austrian liaisons at the 21st TAACOM, the German
Bundeswehr and the Austrian Government made available
the Prince Leopold Kaserne in Regensburg, Germany, and
the Benedek Kaserne in Bruck, Austria, sites with the
resources to support the U.S. convoy requirements. Their
locations also coincided nicely with daily operating-time
restrictions imposed on drivers by USAREUR in view of the
harsh winter driving conditions. These rules dictated that
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