Situation Report:
The MPF Ships
Overseas Prepositioning--
By DAVID S. HUFF
David S. Huff is manager of Advanced Projects, Support Ships, and Craft
in the Navy's Program Executive
Office for Expeditionary Warfare.
For well more than a century, U.S. defense policy has been based--initially
as an accident of geography, but in more recent years as a carefully
calculated national strategy--on the concept of forward deployment. In
practice, that strategy has meant that, in any international conflict
involving the use of U.S. forces, virtually all of the fighting has taken
place on foreign soil rather than in the U.S. homeland. The Japanese
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, although not really
an exception to the rule, brought home to the American people, and to
U.S. contingency planners, the wisdom of the forward-deployment policy.
In World War II, though, the United States had time to rebuild and rearm.
In today's era of fast-paced conflict, made exponentially more lethal
by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the luxury of time
is no longer available. As in the Gulf War, the almost immediate airlift
of troops to overseas areas of potential crisis is still possible, but
the simultaneous airlift of the supplies needed by those troops--hundreds
of thousands of tons of supplies, in most if not all scenarios--is not
possible. The solution to this problem that has been developed by U.S.
planners is to: (1) preposition huge caches of military supplies and
equipment--particularly oversized equipment that could not be carried
by transport aircraft--overseas, either in secure land sites or aboard
ship; (2) airlift troops to overseas areas of potential conflict as soon
as possible after the start of an international crisis endangering U.S.
political, economic, and/or military interests; (3) join the troops with
their equipment as close as possible to the area of crisis; and (4) sustain
the troops thereafter with additional equipment and consumables of all
types transported from the United States in U.S.-flag merchant ships
and/or the Defense Department's in-house sealift ships--which are owned,
operated, and managed by the Military Sealift Command (MSC). The article
on the following pages discusses some of the principal components of,
and concepts governing, the prepositioned sealift force.
Maritime Prepositioning Force
In 1979, the secretary of Defense approved plans to initiate what became
known as the Maritime Prepositioning Ship (MPS) program to forward-deploy
U.S. Marine Corps vehicles, equipment, supplies, and ammunition in ships
throughout the world in support of Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs)
assigned to contingency operations. In the mid-1980s, 13 self-sustaining
roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) container ships were chartered by the Military
Sealift Command (MSC) to conduct this mission. Ships of three separate
classes (MV Corporal Louis V. Hague Jr., SS Sergeant Matej Kocak, and
MV Second Lieutenant John P. Bobo) are currently on-station, attached
to MPS squadrons (MPSRONs) in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and
the Western Pacific. Each MPSRON can support up to 17,300 MAGTF personnel
for up to 30 days during initial operations. This concept of force deployment,
coupled with strategic airlift, to "marry" forces with equipment, greatly
reduces force closure time in response to critical events overseas.
Maritime Prepositioning Force (Enhanced)
The experience gained from MPS operations during Operation Desert Storm,
and from various peacetime evolutions, pointed out the need to add specific
new MPSRON cargo, such as the supplies and equipment needed to build
and sustain an expeditionary airfield and/or a naval expeditionary medical
support system, and to support a Navy Mobile Construction Battalion.
A corollary need was to restore the cargo stowage area lost due to increases
in equipment size and quantities. To address these needs, Congress authorized
the acquisition and conversion of one Maritime Prepositioning Force (Enhanced)
(MPF(E)) ship for each MPSRON to significantly augment the warfighting
capabilities available to support the unified commanders in chief (CINCs).
All three MPF(E) ships authorized--USNS First Lieutenant Harry L. Martin
(T-AK 3015), USNS Lance Corporal Roy M. Wheat (T-AK 3016), and USNS Gunnery
Sergeant Fred W. Stockham (T-AK 3017)--have been or will be delivered
to MSC in the near future. These new assets are combination RO/RO-container
ships capable of long-term stowage of Marine Corps equipment in environmentally
controlled spaces. They can off-load their cargo either pierside or at
anchor in seas up to state 3, and launch amphibious vehicles via a submerged
stern ramp. Each ship is capable of carrying the lighterage needed to
support cargo operations. Vital statistics for the MPF(E) ships are listed
in the box on this page.
Among the specific new capabilities introduced to each MAGTF with the
deployment of the MPF(E) ships are the following:
* Expeditionary Airfield (EAF). An EAF provides the flexibility needed
to allow the force commander to order a variety of airfield configurations
to suit the tactical situation. The modular runway can be up to 3,800
feet in length with parking spaces for 75 aircraft and enough fueling
stations to service all of them. Runway lights, to permit night operations,
and arresting gear also are provided.
* Naval Expeditionary Medical Support System (NEMSS). Staffed by 940
Sailors, the NEMSS can be fully operational in 10 days. This expeditionary
hospital consists of six operating tables as well as 80 intensive-care
and 420 acute-care beds. The NEMSS provides in-situ state-of-the-art
medical care for personnel engaged in remote areas.
* Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB). The NMCB, which is capable
of carrying out numerous vertical and horizontal construction missions,
will be able to build troop billeting facilities and both refueling and
ammunition supply points, to clear main supply routes, and to provide
other construction support as needed.
National Strategic Asset:
Blount Island, Fla.
Blount Island, located on the St. John's River near Jacksonville, Fla.,
is the home port for MPF ships when they return to the continental United
States. MPF vessels offload MAGTF equipment at Blount Island for maintenance
and reorganization for future deployment as dictated by circumstances,
then proceed to whatever shipyard is available for maintenance and upkeep
operations, following which they return to Blount Island for cargo loadout
and redeployment. The Blount Island facility provides a centralized and
secure location for the conduct of these critical MPF support evolutions.
Operational Maneuver
from the Sea (OMFTS) and
Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future) (MFP(F))
For today's MPF to successfully operate, a secure area must first be
established to permit the arrival and offloading of ships and aircraft.
The strategy envisioned by the Marine Corps' OMFTS concept requires a
more robust capability than is now available with the ships currently
deployed. MPF(F), the next-generation MPS, will contribute to the forward-presence
and power-projection capabilities needed to support the four pillars
of future MPF/OMFTS operations. The MPF(F) ships will have the following
capabilities:
* Force closure: MPF(F) ships will provide for the enroute arrival and
assembly of the prepositioning force. Marines will deploy via a combination
of surface craft and strategic, theater, and tactical airlift aircraft
to rendezvous with the prepositioning platforms while enroute to the
operating area. To facilitate this process, the MPF(F) ships will incorporate
air and surface interface points, as well as personnel billeting and
support facilities. Easy access to equipment for inspection, maintenance,
and selection of tactical loads to support arrival and assembly in the
objective area in a combat-ready configuration will be among the other
key features of the MPF(F) ships.
* Amphibious Task Force (ATF) Interoperability: MPF(F) ships will enhance
OMFTS effectiveness by using selective offload capabilities to reinforce
the assault echelon of an ATF. Within the overall power-projection mission,
MPF(F) ships will be able to interface with the ATF and should also be
able to interoperate with, and potentially provide maintenance support
for, ATF aircraft, assault craft, and advanced amphibious assault vehicles.
MPF(F) ships will possess versatility through a combination of their
lighterage capabilities, cargo-handling systems (including selective
offload equipment and supplies), and the C4I interfaces needed to reinforce
the striking power of the ATF.
* Sustainment: MPF(F) ships will contribute to sustainment by serving
as a sea-base for logistics support. These ships are expected to employ
an automated inventory-management system that can receive, store, maintain,
manage, and deploy the equipment and supplies required for the sustained
logistics support of naval operations. This will be accomplished independently
or as a larger sea-based logistics effort. The ships' onboard cargo-handling
and delivery systems will provide selective offload of supplies, be compatible
with naval and commercial delivery systems, and incorporate the means
to deliver this support ashore.
* Reconstitution and redeployment: MPF(F) ships will conduct in-theater,
at-sea reconstitution and redeployment without the requirement for extensive
material maintenance or replenishment at a strategic sustainment base.
The ability to rapidly reconstitute the MPF MAGTF will permit immediate
employment in follow-on missions.
In addition to these requirements, MPF(F) ships must be able to: (a)
perform their offload mission in up to sea state 3; (b) perform essential
ship functions in up to sea state 5; and (c) survive in up to sea state
8. They also must be able to operate in U.S., foreign, and international
waters in full compliance with existing U.S. and international laws,
and to safely navigate and access a wide range of ports worldwide. They
also must be able to conduct RO/RO and Lift-on/Lift-off operations in
the majority of worldwide commercial marine cargo terminals as well as
at anchor.
A significant second step in the MPF(F) program timeline occurred on
25 May 2001 when Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark signed the
Navy's MPF(F) Mission Needs Statement. That signing initiated the next
phase of the acquisition process that will lead to design development
and ship/systems acquisition. Navy officials are confident that the long-term
outcome of this process will be the building of a much improved Maritime
Prepositioned Force able not only to meet all U.S. forward-deployment
requirements but also possessing the flexibility needed to support all
facets of amphibious operations well into the 21st century. *
QDR Places Greater Emphasis on Peacetime Forward Deterrence
"A multifaceted approach to deterrence is needed. Such an approach requires
forces and capabilities that provide the President with a wider range
of military options to discourage aggression or any form of coercion.
In particular, it places emphasis on peacetime forward deterrence in
critical areas of the world. ... [The Defense Department's] new planning
construct calls for maintaining regionally tailored forces forward-stationed
and -deployed in Europe, Northeast Asia, the East Asian littoral, and
the Middle East/Southwest Asia. ... A key objective of U.S. transformation
efforts ... will be to increase the capabilities of its forward forces,
thereby improving their deterrent effect and possibly allowing for reallocation
of forces now dedicated to reinforcement to other missions. ... The secretary
of the Navy will develop new concepts of maritime prepositioning, high-speed
sealift, and new amphibious capabilities for the Marine Corps."
From the Quadrennial Defense Review Report, 30 September 2001
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