Iran and the Hidden Cost of Wartime Access

Air Force aircraft taking off from a base in the Middle East, March 2026 U. Air Force RACHEL METZ is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University. More & Download Print unlock this feature or Sign in. Save Sign in and save to read later Copy This is a subscriber-only feature. or Sign in. Chicago MLA APSA APA Chicago Cite not available at the moment MLA Cite not available at the moment APSA Cite not available at the moment APA Cite not available at the moment Request reprint permissions here. Second, combat operations require support; in military terminology, tooth requires tail. Large-scale combat operations expend huge amounts of fuel and ammunition. Tanks and aircraft need maintenance and spare parts. Soldiers need food and water, medical assistance, and evacuation. Sustaining combat operations requires high volumes of cargo, large numbers of replenishment vehicles to carry the cargo, and crews to operate them. The greater the distance from the depots to the front, the longer the supply lines and the more transport assets required. Even large and capable militaries can quickly hit the limit of their logistical capacity, particularly when they prioritize flashier combat systems over unglamorous support capabilities. The United States has managed to overcome these obstacles. It has formally acquired strategically located territory such as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and invested in long-range weapons systems and naval aviation. But wartime access—decisions —has been the foundation of Washington’s strategy to project and sustain combat power in all corners of the world. In theory, states should struggle to project military power far away. States grant wartime access when they allow militaries to transit their territory and conduct combat and combat support operations from inside their borders. States can restrict access in several ways. They can, for example, allow support operations but not combat operations, or defensive operations but not offensive operations. They can allow access to airspace and nothing else. They can deny wartime access altogether. Since World War II, the United States has operated from or owned hundreds of military bases and installations around the world. States that allow the U. S. military to operate from inside their borders in peacetime often allow it to fight wars from inside their borders, as well. And many states from which the United States military does not operate in peacetime have granted the United States wartime access.