A newly released watchdog investigation into President Joe Biden’s mission last year to deliver aid to Gaza via a military logistics system known as JLOTS has confirmed years of cost cuts left the system seriously imperiled and military officials also failed to properly plan for the effort.
In the spring of 2024, in the wake of a massive Israeli campaign that left much of Gaza destroyed, Biden ordered that the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, be used to construct a pier in the war-torn region to deliver millions of tons of aid to starving residents.
The pier, operated by the Army and Navy, ultimately helped offload nearly 20 million pounds of aid. But a stream of issues, breakdowns, injured service members and delays led to concerns about the Army’s ability to build the piers and the health of the service’s watercraft community.
Now, the Defense Department inspector general, in a report released Tuesday, found the Army and Navy didn’t put enough money into maintaining the systems and U.S. Transportation Command — a top Pentagon command overseen by a four-star general — didn’t do enough to set standards or minimum requirements for the two services.
The Pentagon “possessed the capability to conduct JLOTS operations and exercises, but reductions in capacity resulted in challenges to effectively perform these missions,” according to the report.
However, the findings are not new to those who worked in and around the JLOTS systems.
A Military.com investigation found the Army’s watercraft elements may not have been ready for prime time. The capability, which had lingered in obscurity for a half-century, was suddenly stress-tested when it was tasked with one of the Pentagon’s highest-profile missions in years.
Several experts and former community insiders told Military.com last year that the system, while capable, has suffered from funding shortfalls throughout the 20 years of the Global War on Terrorism.
The report confirmed that, noting that in the last 10 years — from 2014 to 2024 — the Army cut about $23 million from its operations and maintenance budget for the system. The Navy cut $69 million.
