Theater Army Support Command: Support for the Non-Forward Deployed Force

During operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the 22d Support Command of the U.S. Third Army/Army Forces Central Command was not organized or employed in accordance with current Army doctrine. It was formed similarly to and functioned much like a Theater Army Support Command or TASCOM, an element of force structure that had been eliminated almost twenty years earlier. This study is based upon a thorough review of the evolution of both the doctrine and force structure at the theater level that brought the Army to the combat service support position in which it found itself on the eve of Desert Shield. From that foundation, it evaluates the utility of the TASCOM in supporting a force without the benefit of a forward deployed logistical structure and projects some recommendations for the future under the new AirLand Operations doctrine.