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Afloat prepositioning: Key to U.S. war fighters' rapid response

MSC PAO 03-12
March 28, 2003
For more information, contact:
Marge Holtz or Cristina McGlew
(202)685-5055

Violence erupts thousands of miles away from the nearest U.S. military base, yet troops and equipment are called upon to keep the peace and restore order. When minutes can mean the difference between life and death, the U.S. armed forces must be able to respond swiftly when requested to do so. Military Sealift Command's afloat prepositioning ships are an essential element in the military's ability to respond.

Afloat prepositioning means having the equipment and supplies for a contingency aboard ships at sea in key ocean locations before they are needed. The MSC Prepositioning Program provides this vital, timely support to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the Defense Logistics Agency. Prepositioned 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 war or contingency anywhere in the world.

The concept of prepositioning is not new. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1978 and Iranian mobs stormed the U.S. embassy taking 66 people hostage in Teheran in 1979, President Jimmy Carter announced a new American policy in 1980 that came to be called the Carter Doctrine. During his State of the Union Address Carter warned that an attempt by an outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States and any such assault would be repelled by any means necessary.

In 1979, President Carter's secretary of defense approved the creation of a Maritime Prepositioning Ship Program supporting the U.S. Marine Corps in the Department of Defense Navy Program Objective Memorandum. By 1980, MSC designated seven ships as part of the Near Term Repositioning Force. The equipment-laden ships headed to the British island of Diego Garcia where a staff maintained the ships in a high state of readiness so that they could deploy within 24 hours to possible contingency locations including the Middle East and unite with the awaiting troops.

By 1983, the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps signed a Memorandum of Agreement establishing the concept of operations for maritime prepositioning in support of the Marine Corps.

MSC's prepositioning force proved invaluable during the Persian Gulf War. Prepositioned ships provided the initial equipment and fuel for U.S. forces deployed to the region. A number of the ships were then used as floating storage and the rest were used to move cargo between ports.

Recognizing the need for fully modern ships properly configured to carry and preposition high-priority military equipment after the 1991 Gulf War, Congress appropriated $5.4 billion from fiscal years 1990 through 1999 to construct and convert additional strategic sealift and prepositioning platforms. Nineteen large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships were funded to meet the goals of the 1992 Mobility Requirements Study, which called for an additional five million square feet of sealift capacity -- two million square feet for prepositioning requirements and three million for surge capability.

Currently, MSC's Prepositioning Program has 42 ships, including 40 that usually operate in the Mediterranean Sea, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and Guam/Saipan in the western Pacific Ocean. The remaining two ships are aviation support ships generally maintained in reduced operating status in the United States. Thirty-four of these ships are currently supporting the president's global war on terrorism -- 13 ships are still strategically prepositioned and 21 of the ships have been designated as common user ships in support of sealift operations. For decades, MSC's prepositioning concept has played a vital role in the U.S. military's ability to respond efficiently and effectively.

Military Sealift Command, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense, normally operates about 120 civilian-crewed, noncombatant ships around the world. Today, MSC's fleet has grown to more that 200 ships as additional vessels have been chartered and activated in support of the president's war on terrorism. MSC ship missions vary from the transport and afloat prepositioning of defense cargo to underway replenishment and other direct support to Navy ships at sea and at-sea data collection for the U.S. military and other U.S. government agencies.