Army Watercraft Restructuring Plan
In 1999, the Chief of Transportation (COT), MG Mortensen, requested a Doctrine, Training, Leadership, Organization, Material, and Soldiers (DTLOMS) analysis of the Army watercraft program with the following guidance: (1) position Army watercraft for strategic and operational response, (2) ensure the quantity and type watercraft to support commander in chief (CINC) requirements, (3) balance the force structure without degrading capability, and (4) modernize and sustain the fleet while focusing on future investments. The Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) conducted the study, the Army Watercraft Restructuring Plan (AWRP), and published final results in November 2001.
HQDA approved the Army Watercraft Restructuring Concept Plan in 2000. The plans recommends developing CONUS and OCONUS watercraft support packages to improve strategic and operational responsiveness to the CINCs. The intent is to reduce and balance the force structure through increased multi-component (COMPO 1 & 3) units. It will modernize the fleet through divestments, modifications, enhancements, and upgrades, and investing R&D and procurement funding to enhance future capabilities. The concept plan divests 135 selected legacy craft, and invests in Theater Support Vessel (TSV); Joint Modular Lighterage System (JMLS); Rapidly Installed Breakwater (RIB); and Harbormaster Command and Control Center (HCCC).
Defense Planning Guidance 2001-2005 directs the Services to program for one wet and one dry cargo JLOTS exercise per year, as well as, to develop a Sea State 3 (SS3) capability. The Army, in concert with the Navy, is developing equipment to provide a SS3 capability through the Joint Modular Lighterage System (JLMS) and the SS3 crane.
The Army LOTS and watercraft initiatives plan for the prepositioning (stored) and forward stationing (crewed) of support packages of Army watercraft in CINC AORs to support JLOTS operations, intra-theater lift of forces and sustainment, and port opening, recovery, and salvage activities. An afloat package of prepositioned causeway systems and port opening equipment aboard strategic sealift supports the packages for the simultaneous discharge of two LMSRs in the stream and provides terminal service equipment for port operations.
Modernization efforts will significantly enhance the existing fleet with modifications, extended service plan (ESP) work, and Communication, Electronic and Navigation (CEN) upgrades geared toward Joint communications interoperability. Investments in R&D and procurement center on the Theater Logistics Vessel (TLV), Joint Modular Lighter System (JMLS), Harbormaster Control and Communications Center (HCCC), and the Rapidly Installed Breakwater System (RIB). Both JMLS and RIB are SS3 mitigation enablers. Achieving LOTS and watercraft objectives improves the speed and efficiency in delivering early combat and support capability to the warfighter in austere off-loading environments.
In October 2001, BG Parker, the Director, the Army G4, Force Projection and Distribution Directorate (DALO-FPD), requested that CAA initiate CA4WRP I to determine the impact of implementing the AWRP on logistic support vessels (LSV), landing craft utility (LCU) vessels, and 128-foot large tug (LT) boats, in terms of deployment tempo (DEPTEMPO). MG Dail, the current COT, requested CA4WRP II in November 2001, narrowing the focus to the impact of the AWRP on LSVs and LCUs in terms of DEPTEMPO and training opportunities lost, with particular emphasis on 8th Brigade training supported by the 7th Transportation Group.
In April 2002, two 110-ton Army tugboats were lifted from the water at Fort Story, Virginia, and placed on the deck of an Army logistics support vessel (LSV). The operation, involving watercraft and personnel from several 7th Transportation Group units at Fort Eustis and Fort Story, Virginia, was significant not only because it was the first super-heavy lift of its kind, but also because it had a real-world purpose of moving vital Army assets to where they were needed. The tugboats were to be transported to Hythe, England, as part of the Army's Watercraft Restructuring Plan. The decision was made to transport them onboard an LSV because it would be cost effective and the 7th Group had the assets to make it happen in a timely manner.
In June and July 2002, in accordance with the mandates of the Army watercraft restructuring program (AWRP), the 8th and 329th Transportation Companies were both inactivated. The 24th Battalion had lost its fleet of LCUs. It still retained the two LSVs (LSV1 and LSV6), crewed by the 335th and 411th Detachments, as well as the TSV. Both LSVs were still stationed out of the Kuwait Naval Base where they sailed to various destinations in the Persian Gulf to the Horn of Africa in support APS repositioning, sustainment stock replenishment.
Under the Army Watercraft Restructuring Program, AFSC directed the establishment of Watercraft Equipment Base - Yokohama North Dock (WEB-YND), Yokohama, Japan. Prepositioned in the PACOM theater at WEB-YND are 27 watercraft and a Modular Causeway System. A contractor was in place at the beginning of FY03 to begin conducting maintenance on the forward stored watercraft and associated equipment. The following watercraft will constitute the current, end state configuration for Watercraft Equipment Base - Yokohama North Dock, Yokohama, Japan:
- 10 Landing Craft Utility
- 9 Landing Craft Mechanized
- 2 Large Tugs
- 4 Small Tugs
- 1 Derrick Barge
- 1 Floating Causeway
- 1 Gas Barge
- 1 Roll On Roll Off Discharge Facility
- 1 Causeway Ferry
APS-3, CEB-Hythe also identified Kuwait Naval Base as a site for establishing Watercraft Equipment Base-Kuwait Naval Base (WEB-KNB) to be completed in FY04. Final planning continued throughout FY03 in preparation for prepositioning an identical watercraft package in the CENTCOM theater at Kuwait Naval Base (KNB) in FY04.
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