Military Sealift Command
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| Established: | July 9, 1949 |
| Activated: | |
| Renamed: | 1970 |
| Commander: | Rear Admiral Robert D. Reilly Jr, USN March 2006 |
| Component of: | United States Navy |
| Reports to: | United States Transportation Command |
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is a United States Navy (USN) organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
Military Sealift Command ships are civilian manned, and are referred to be as being in service, rather than in commission. Some, owned by the United States Government, have the prefix USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship, whilst others, on charter or equivalent, are simply the normal merchant MV or SS. Their hull numbers have the prefix T- in addition to the normal hull number that an equivalent commissioned ship in the USN would have.
Four programs comprise Military Sealift Command: Sealift, Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF), Special Mission, and Prepositioning. The Sealift program provides the bulk of the MSC's supply-carrying operation and operates tankers for fuel transport and dry-cargo ships that transport equipment, vehicles, helicopters, ammunition, and supplies. The NFAF’s role is to directly replenish ships that are underway at sea, enabling them to deploy for long periods of time without having to come to port. The Special Mission program operates vessels for unique military and federal government tasks, such as submarine support and missile flight data collection and tracking. The Prepositioning program sustains the U.S. military's forward presence strategy by deploying supply ships in key areas of the ocean before it is actually needed.
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[edit] Mission
The United States Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It is a component of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command is one of three component commands reporting to the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM).
[edit] History
[edit] Military Sea Transportation prior to 1949
As early as 1847, the Army and Navy chartered American merchant ships separately. Following the Mexican-American War, Brigadier General Thomas S. Jesup, Quartermaster of the Army, recommended that the Navy be given responsibility for all water transportation requirements for the military. However, each service mananaged their own sea transportation throughout the 1800s and both World Wars.
In World War II, four different government agencies conducted military sealift functions, the Naval Transportation Service, the Army Transport Service, the U. S. Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration, and the Fleet Support Services. To oversee these organizations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) established the Joint Military Transportation Command.
[edit] Military Sea Transportation Service
On December 15, 1948, the Secretary of Defense James Forrestal issued a statement, "all military sea transport including Army transports would be placed under Navy command." Issues with funding held up the transfer of the functions to the Navy. The new Secretary of Defense, Louis Johnson, issued a memorandum on July 12, 1949 that detailed service responsibilities and the funding of the new Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS).[1]
MSTS became the single managing agency for the Department of Defense's ocean transportation needs. The command assumed responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all military services as well as for other government agencies.
Only nine months after its creation, MSTS responded to the challenge of the Korean War. On July 6, 1950, only eleven days after the initial invasion of South Korea by North Korean troops, MSTS deployed the 24th Infantry Division for duty in Japan to Pusan, South Korea. In addition to transporting troops and combat equipment to and from Korea, command ships supplied US bases and Distant Early Warning line construction sites and supported US nation building efforts from Europe and Africa, to the Far East.
The 1960s brought the conflict in Southeast Asia. From 1965 to 1969 MSTS moved almost 54 million tons of combat equipment and supplies and almost 8 million long tons of fuel to Vietnam. The Vietnam War era also marked the last use of MSC troop ships for personnel movement. Currently, most U.S. troops are prepositioned by air.
[edit] Military Sealift Command
MSTS was renamed Military Sealift Command (MSC) in 1970.
Through the 1970s and 1980s MSC provided the Department of Defense with ocean transportation as part of U.S. deterrent efforts during the Cold War years.
During the first Persian Gulf War, consisting of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, MSC distinguished itself as the largest source of defense transportation of any nation involved. Command resources were tasked to deliver more than 12 million tons (11 million metric tons) of wheeled and tracked vehicles, helicopters, ammunition, dry cargo, fuel and other supplies and equipment during the war. At the high point of the war, more than 230 government-owned and chartered ships delivering the largest part of the international arsenal that defeated Iraq.
MSC was also involved in the second Persian Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, delivering 61 million square feet (5.7 km²) of cargo and 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m³) of fuel by the end of the first year.
[edit] Command structure
Military Sealift Command is organized around four programs:
- Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force or NFAF
- Special Missions
- Prepositioning
- Sealift
[edit] Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force
The Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force is the part of the MSC most associated with directly supporting the Navy. In 1972, a study concluded that it would be cheaper for civilians to man USN support vessels such as tankers and stores ships. The NFAF is the American equivalent of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary. These MSC ships are painted battleship-grey (except for the hospital ships USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and USNS Comfort (T-AH-20)) and can be easily identified by the blue and gold horizontal bands around the top of their central smokestack.
[edit] Special Missions
Military Sealift Command's Special Mission Program controls 24 ships that provide operating platforms and services for unique US military and federal government missions. Oceanographic and hydrographic surveys, underwater surveillance, missile flight data collection and tracking, acoustic research and submarine support are just a few of the specialized services this program supports. Special mission ships work for several different U.S. Navy customers, including the Naval Sea Systems Command and the Oceanographer of the Navy.
[edit] Prepositioning
Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program is an element in the US's triad of power projection into the 21st century - sea shield, sea strike and sea basing. As a key element of sea basing, afloat prepositioning provides the military equipment and supplies for a contingency forward deployed in key ocean areas before it is needed. The MSC Prepositioning Program supports the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and the Defense Logistics Agency. Prepositioning ships remain at sea, ready to deploy on short-notice the vital equipment, fuel and supplies to initially support military forces in the event of a contingency. The Prepositioning Program consists of 34 at-sea ships plus 2 aviation support ships kept in reduced operating status.
[edit] Sealift
The mission of the Sealift Program is to provide ocean transportation to the Department of Defense by meeting its sealift requirements in peace, contingency, and war with quality, efficient cost effective assets and centralized management. This is achieved partly by use of Fast Sealift Ships.
Sealift is divided into three separate project offices: Tanker Project Office, Dry Cargo Project Office and the Surge Project Office.
[edit] See also
[edit] References and links
- This article includes text from the public domain Military Sealift Command Official Homepage.
