<I'd really like to see someone do a cost analysis comparing the current Cold War-leftover concept of "forward basing" with a scenario of mobilizing a number of "police actions" around the planet, all of which must start with all personnel and materiel in the States.

You and me both, good buddy.

A great deal of thought is currently going on in the U.S. military about dealing with the post Cold War world. I'm only catching the edge of it in my readings, and I can see that major changes are being considered. Bad news is the tremendous inertia of the military system which resists any real changes. Look at the stupendous difficulty that was faced in getting rid of the Crusader gun, a device that was designed for Cold War tactics. And that was just one system. The role of every branch of the service and every technology has to be reviewed in light of how modern wars must be fought.

Interesting times.