A navy floating pier ordered by then-President Joseph R. Biden to ship humanitarian assist to Palestinians within the Gaza Strip was practical for barely 20 days earlier than the trouble was scrubbed following the loss of life of a servicemember, dozens of accidents and the injury or lack of tens of tens of millions of {dollars} value of essential gear battered by heavy storms.
President Biden handed the doomed mission to Defense Department officers throughout his 2024 State of the Union deal with.
The navy’s floating piers, generally known as JLOTS, or joint logistics over-the-shore, are supposed to allow the supply of cargo from ship to shore utilizing particular watercraft and different gear in areas the place fixed-port amenities are usually not accessible.
However the navy planners behind Operation Neptune Solace, the Department of Defense Inspector Basic stated in its scathing report launched this week, failed to think about mission-specific necessities, together with seashore and sea situations.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the GOP chairman of the Senate Armed Companies Committee, stated the IG report confirms the preliminary criticism final yr of the JLOTS mission.
“Biden’s Gaza pier was an ill-conceived, ineffective, and wasteful boondoggle that put American troops in danger and did not ship any significant help to civilians in Gaza,” Sen. Wicker stated in a press release. “It’s clear the Biden administration’s resolution to construct the pier was pushed by political calculations as an alternative of prudent planning.”
The IG report says the Military and Navy slashed assets between 2014-2024 for the few remaining JLOTS-capable models, decreasing upkeep and coaching assets needed for them to fulfill mission-capable and manning requirements for future operations.
They recognized 11 cases when officers from the Military, Navy, or U.S. Transportation Command recognized an absence of enough planning for potential future JLOTS operations.
The Biden administration claimed that the mission would end result within the supply of provisions enough to feed a minimum of 1.5 million Palestinians over three months. The “Gaza Pier” finally delivered meals assist for about 450,000 Palestinians earlier than it was decommissioned.
“The [Defense Department] skilled a number of challenges throughout Operation Neptune Solace and whereas performing JLOTS workouts,” stated Deputy Inspector Basic Michael Roark. “The DoD should enhance and study from these earlier deployments and workouts to fulfill the calls for of future JLOTS missions.”
