United States Sealift Forces

v.1.0 September 30, 2001

 

Ravi Rikhye

 

More detailed information is available at www.msc.navy.mil . Because of the current situation, the website is no longer providing information on movements of Sealift Force ships.

 

United States sealift forces come under the Military Sealift Command and fall into three categories:

• Afloat Prepositioning Program
• Sealift Program
• Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (covered next week)

 

Afloat Prepositioning Program

This program has 37 ships in three elements:

• Maritime Preposition Ships (US Marine Corps; 3 MEB)
• Combat Preposition Force (US Army, 1 heavy brigade)
• Logistic Preposition Ships (Fuel, ammunition, aviation support)

 

Maritime Preposition Ships

This element has 14 ships in three squadrons.  Each squadron can support a Marine Expeditionary Brigade of 17,600 troops for 30 days.

• Maritime Preposition Squadron One – Mediterranean, five ships
• Maritime Preposition Squadron Two – Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia, five ships
• Maritime Preposition Squadron Three – Pacific, Guam/Saipan, four ships

Three more ships will be added, one to each squadron.

 

Combat Preposition Force

This force has 13 ships and is building up to 15.  It supports an Army heavy brigade of 6,000 for 15 days, plus initial combat support elements for 38. Its ships are dispersed under the command of the 3 Maritime Preposition Squadrons.  At full strength, the force will consist of:

• 8 LMSRs
• 4 Container ships
• 2 Heavy lift ships
• 1 Crane ship

The LMSR is a Large Medium Speed Ro/Ro.  By 2002, the total LMSRs will be 19.  The balance11 will augment naval sealift capabilities.  An LMSR can carry 100 tanks and APCs, which equip a tank battalion, and 900 vehicles.

Note on LMSRs: All 8 ships form Afloat Preposition Squadron 4, an asset of US 3^rd Army.  The ships have no permanent home-port and are stationed in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.  The HQ staff is at Diego Garcia.

Logistic Preposition Force

This force has 9 ships:

• 3 ammunition ships for USAF (2 at Diego Garcia and 1 in the Mediterranean)
• 1 USN ammunition ship (Diego Garcia)
• 3 POL ships for the US Defense Logistics Agency (2 at Diego Garcia, 1 in the Pacific)
• 2 Aviation Support Ships in reduced operating status, providing intermediate maintenance support for US Marine Corps aviation.

 

Sealift Program

This program has three elements. All ships are chartered to, or in wartime come under, Military Sealift Command:

• Dry Cargo Project Office (16 ships, carry engineer/construction equipment, military vehicles, aircraft, and ammunition).
• Tanker Project Office (15 tankers; more can be chartered as needed).
• Surge Project Office

Surge Project Office

This office has three elements:

• Fast Sealift Ships (96 hours readiness, 8 ships of 30+ knots, carry equipment for one mechanized division).
• Surge LMSR (96 hours readiness, 8 ships, increasing to 11, can carry a tank battalion’s AFVs plus 900 vehicles)
• Ready Reserve Force

Ready Reserve Force

This has 76 ships maintained by the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration.  Ships are on 4-day readiness (all Ro-Ros), 5-, 10-, and 20-days readiness. Ships on 4-day readiness generally have a permanent complement of 10 sailors. The ships are held at three sites:

• James River, Ft. Eustis (near Newport News, Virginia)
• Neches River (Beaumont, Texas)
• Suisun Bay (Concord, California)

 

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All content © 2001 Ravi Rikhye. Reproduction in any form prohibited without express permission.