Forward basing is useful if you have the right personnel and equipment in position. However, much of what we currently have forward based in Europe is still designed to stop the Soviets (who no longer exist) from coming through the Fulda Gap (not exactly a realistic scenario anymore). Those M1 tanks are damned hard to deploy anywhere very quickly - a C-17 can carry only one of them and a C-5 can carry two if you're willing to have a tanker handy at all times.

Where forward basing comes up short is when the host country refuses to allow you to conduct operations from their soil, as is currently the case in Germany and Saudi Arabia. There's also the issue of training - many host countries are less tolerant of the noise and disruption posed by training than they used to be.

The military is looking at the forward-basing verses rapid deployment issue very closely. For example, they're testing lighter armored vehicles that can be airlifted to where they're needed more efficiently than M1s. They're buying a lot of C-17s, too.

Logistics is key to winning any significant military engagement. It's been said that "amateurs talk about tactics, experts talk about logistics" and I believe that's true.