Strykers redeploy on new high-speed vessel
FORT EUSTIS, Va. (Army News Service, Aug. 14, 2002) - The Army's future force met what some believe is the future of Army transportation when elements of a Stryker Brigade Combat Team were transported up the west coast this week on a new high-speed vessel.
The HSV-X1 Joint Venture, a giant wave-piercing catamaran, transported soldiers, Stryker armored vehicles and equipment from California to Tacoma, Wash.
The Stryker task force had just finished its participation in Millennium Challenge 02 and the Army Transformation Experiment at Fort Irwin's National Training Center.
The Strykers were loaded onto the high-speed vessel at Port Hueneme, Calif., Aug. 11, and they arrived back at Fort Lewis, Wash., Aug. 13.
The Army leased the Joint Venture last year to assess the capabilities of this type of technology for future procurement, officials said.
This was the Army's first demonstration of the high-speed vessel's ability to transport complete packages of combat-ready soldiers with their equipment, Transportation Corps officials reported.
The ability to transport units intact will greatly reduce the need for large-scale on-shore reception, staging, onward movement and integration of soldiers, vehicles and equipment, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mike Wichterman, operations officer, 7th Transportation Group. Reducing the logistics footprint is paramount as the Army transforms to a faster, stronger, more lethal force, he said.
"For each fighter in the force today, we have a combat service support soldier making sure he's got the beans, bullets, water and fuel needed to carry on the fight," Wichterman said. "The objective theater support vessel will give us a much broader package of dominant maneuver, allowing us to transport the combat unit sets as a complete package. We'll be able to insert them without the need for a large combat service support soldier package to assist on the shore executing reception, staging, and onward movement."
The objective vessel will also have a state-of-the-art C4ISR suite (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance suite) on board, giving commanders the ability to obtain real-time information to plan and rehearse the mission while underway, he added.
"Commanders will be able to maintain situational awareness with their higher headquarters, receiving the same intelligence updates, changes to the operational plan and supporting information," he said. "They can make major changes to the plans while en route to their destination, and be more effective, more lethal in the process."
In October, the Army leased the Joint Venture, a commercial ferry modified for the military, to assess the capability of high-speed vessels to meet the need for faster, more maneuverable watercraft with shallow draft and large cargo capacity.
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are also testing similar vessels for service specific missions.
The 313-foot aluminum catamaran is capable of traveling at speeds greater than 40 knots. It can carry 850 short tons and accommodate 363 personnel, including crew. It is approximately four times faster than vessels currently in the Army watercraft fleet, Wichterman said.
Since April, the vessel has been used to move equipment and personnel in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
"That was an excellent opportunity for the Army to test the capabilities of high-speed watercraft," said Chief Warrant Officer Billy Davis, the Army skipper of the vessel. "We put the vessel through its paces and were able to gather data in an actual operational environment."
Army combat developers will use the data gathered during the year-long lease period to define the requirements for Theater Support Vessels, the Army's objective high-speed vessels, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Scott Aimi, Combat Developer assigned to the Combined Arms Support Command, Directorate for Combat Developments for Transportation, Fort Lee, Va. His organization assesses everything from the propulsion system to crew accommodations.
"Our recommendations can be as simple as adding more personal storage space for the crew or changing the deck covering so it's less slippery," Aimi said. "However, a major addition to future vessels will be cargo roller system like that on the C-17. The system will facilitate the Army's next step in seamless distribution - the capability to handle pre-formed and interchangeable packaging, pallets, containers which are compatible with modern load handling systems on military vehicles."
The future Theater Support Vessels will transport units in hours instead of days, said the Army's chief of transportation, Maj. Gen. Robert T. Dail.
Faster watercraft promise greater payload throughput, as well as the ability for combatant commanders to rapidly reposition and mass assets within a theater of operations, Dail said.
"Shallower draft and greater maneuverability will allow a commander to use austere or degraded ports and bypass predictable choke points, diminishing asymmetrical advantages held by an enemy," Dail said.
"The ability to choose the time and place to quickly initiate action and deliver a complete package of soldiers, equipment, fully fueled and with ammunition will allow a combatant commander to gain and maintain operational momentum and positional advantage over an adversary," he said.
(Editor's note: Information obtained from the Fort Eustis Public Affairs Office.)
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