Military Sealift Command

Fleet Oiler Program N031

The Combat Logistics Force was 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 CLF is the American equivalent of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary. These MSC ships are painted haze gray and can be easily identified by the blue and gold horizontal bands around the top of their central smokestack.

The Combat Logistics Force was formerly called the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force.^[16] After a 2012 reorganization, this program now maintains the 32 government-operated fleet underway replenishment ships from the former Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF). Fleet replenishment oilers form the Oilers Program N031, while the dry cargo/ammunition ships and fast combat support ships were separated to Explosive Program N036.

Fleet Oiler Program ship types;^[17]

• Fleet Replenishment Oilers (T-AO) Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler
• Fleet Replenishment Oilers (T-AO) John Lewis-class replenishment oiler

Special Mission Program N032

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 among the specialized services this program supports. Special mission ships work for several different US Navy customers, including the Naval Sea Systems Command and the Oceanographer of the Navy. These ships like those of the NFAF are painted haze gray with blue and gold stack bands.

After a 2012 reorganization, this program now maintains all of its 24 contract-operated ships involved in missile range instrumentation, ocean surveillance, submarine and special warfare support, oceanographic survey, and navigation test support. Some of its ships were transferred to the new Service Support program.^[14]

Special Mission ship types;^[18]

• Missile Range Instrumentation Ship (T-AGM)
• Navigation Test Support Ship (T-AGS)
• Ocean Surveillance Ships (T-AGOS)
• Oceanographic Survey Ships (T-AGS)
• Submarine and Special Warfare Support (T-AGSE)
• Sea-based X-band Radar (SBX)

Strategic Sealift Program N033

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 need. Part the prepositioning strategy is forward presence and power projection. Prepositioning extends the reach of operations, isolates conflicts away from the United States, allows for a swift response to conflict, and reduces time and resources delegated to transporting cargo.^[19] 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 two aviation support ships kept in reduced operating status. These ships wear civilian livery, and are only designated "USNS" if government-owned; those chartered from civilian owners are either "SS" or "MV". Two Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ships (T-AKE) are included in the program in a Reduced Operational Status (ROS).

Strategic Sealift Program ship types;^[20]

• Air Force Container Ships (T-AK)
• Army Container Ships (T-AK)
• Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ships (T-AKE)
• Aviation Logistics Support Ship (T-AVB)
• Break-Bulk Ships (T-AK)
• Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-On/Roll-Off Ships (T-AKR)
• Marine Corps Container and Roll-On/Roll-Off Ships (T-AK/T-AKR)
• Expeditionary Transfer Dock (T-ESD)

Tow, Salvage, Tender, and Hospital Ship Program N034

Formerly Service Support (PM4) it consists of fleet ocean tugs, rescue and salvage ships, submarines tenders, and hospitals ships formerly from the NFAF.^[14] Command ships and cable layers were transferred to the N037 program.

Service Support ship types;^[21]

• Fleet Ocean Tugs (T-ATF)
• Rescue/Salvage Ships (T-ARS)
• Submarine Tender (AS)
• Hospital Ships (T-AH)

Sealift Program N035

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 through the use of commercial charter vessels, Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off ships, and the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force, including the eight former MSC fast sealift ships. Sealift is divided into three separate project offices: Tanker Project Office, Dry Cargo Project Office and the Surge Project Office.

Sealift Program Ship Types;^[22]

• Dry Cargo Ships (T-AK)
• Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-On/Roll-Off Ships (T-AKR)
• Tankers (T-AOT)

Combat Logistics Force Program N036

Formerly the Fleet Ordnance and Dry Cargo (PM6), it is composed of twelve Dry Cargo/Ammunition ships and two Fast Combat Support ships. Dry Cargo and Ammunition ships, or T-AKEs, were designed to replenish dry and refrigerated stores as well as ordnance. They have replaced combat stores ships and ammunition ships incorporating the capabilities of both platforms into one hull. These multi-product ships increase the delivery capability to provide food, fuel, spare parts, ammunition and potable water to the U.S. Navy and allies' ships. Fast Combat Support Ships or T-AOEs provide parts, supplies and fuel at sea.

Combat Logistics Force Ship Types;^[23]

• Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ships (T-AKE)
• Fast Combat Supply (T-AOE)

Expeditionary Mobile Base, Amphibious Command Ship, and Cable Layer Program N037

Formerly the Afloat Staging Command Support (PM7) program, it is composed of the Expeditionary Mobile Base ships (replacement for the Afloat Forward Staging Base), the Amphibious Command Ship Mount Whitney, and the cable layer Zeus.

Afloat Staging Command Support Program Ship Types;^[24]

• Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB) – (ESD subvariant)
• Amphibious command ship (LCC)
• Cable layer (T-ARC)

Expeditionary Fast Transport Program N038

This consists of the class of ships formerly known as the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program but was changed to (EPF) in September 2015. The Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) program is a cooperative effort for a high-speed, shallow draft vessel intended for rapid intratheater transport of medium-sized cargo payloads. The EPF will reach speeds of 35–45 knots (65–83 km/h; 40–52 mph) and will allow for the rapid transit and deployment of conventional or special forces as well as equipment and supplies.

Expeditionary Fast Transport Program Ship Types;^[24]

• Expeditionary Fast Transport [formerly Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV)

Military sea transportation prior to 1949

As early as 1847, both the U.S. Army and U.S. 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 managed their own sea transportation throughout the nineteenth century and both World Wars.

In World War II, four government agencies conducted military sealift functions, the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), 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.

Military Sea Transportation Service

On 15 December 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 12 July 1949 that detailed service responsibilities and the funding of the new Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS).^[29]

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. The new command set up subcomponents, for example, Military Sea Transportation Service Pacific (ComMSTSPac).

Nine months after its creation, MSTS responded to the challenge of the Korean War. On 6 July 1950, 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 South Vietnam. The Vietnam War era also marked the last use of MSC troop ships for personnel movement. Currently, most US troops are prepositioned by air.

Military Sealift Command

MSTS was renamed Military Sealift Command (MSC) in 1970. In 1971 Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt proposed the use of MSC ships for direct support of the fleet at sea. Heretofore, these civilian-crewed ships had only been used for point to point transport of cargo. To determine the feasibility of this concept, Admiral Zumwalt directed the formation of a special study group to recommend how the navy could better utilize the MSC fleet to save both manpower and money. The high cost of training personnel after the advent of the all-volunteer navy made it imperative that seagoing personnel be assigned to complex warships of the fleet whenever possible. The study concluded that significant savings could be achieved if civilian mariners could be substituted for uniformed navy sailors in fleet support ships.

In 1972 a joint U.S. Navy-Maritime Administration project called "Charger Log" was established to test whether or not a union-crewed merchant ship could provide some or all of the fleet support services normally provided by navy oilers. Extensive trials were conducted using the civilian crewed merchant tanker SS Erna Elizabeth equipped with both alongside and astern fueling gear to test the feasibility of augmenting (not replacing) the service force with ships of the U.S. Merchant Marine. The success of 'Charger Log' contributed to the formation of the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force.

The navy oiler USS Taluga (AO-62) was the first fleet-support ship to be placed under MSC control.^[30] Decommissioned on 4 May 1972, she was transferred to the MSC and redesignated T-AO-62. After its transfer, the ship underwent a thorough overhaul that included refurbishment of equipment, gear, and refueling rigs, modification of crew quarters, and the removal of armaments. She entered service with a crew of 105 civilian mariners hired by the government augmented by a sixteen-member naval complement.

The shortage of multiproduct replenishment ships in the early 1970s led to the development of an improvised system for dispensing fuel from ammunition and stores ships that allowed them to transfer fuel to smaller combatants. Neither type of ship had cargo fuel, but each could share its own fuel with destroyers and frigates in an emergency. The lack of sufficient numbers of AOEs or AORs precluded the deployment of these types in support of any of the surface warfare groups, which were generally composed of destroyers and frigates. The old saying that necessity is the mother of invention proved to be true when Rear Admiral John Johnson devised a practical solution to the shortage of fuel-carrying UNREP ships based on the modification of existing cargo transfer gear on ammunition and stores ships. As commander Task Force 73 (the service force of the Seventh Fleet) in 1973, Admiral Johnson had to contend with the problem of how to provide logistic support for the two Seventh Fleet destroyers deployed to the Indian Ocean for an extended period of time. The answer was to turn the USS Kiska (AE-35) into a mini multiproduct ship by adding two cargo reefer boxes as deck cargo and outfitting it with a jury-rigged fuel station. The latter was achieved by temporarily rigging a 7-inch fuel hose to the starboard side cargo station—the one closest to the ship's fuel receiving raiser. The highline was used as a span wire, and fuel hose saddles were supported from a wire whip from a nearby hauling winch or a fiber whip from a nearby gypsy. Fuel was pumped from the ship's own fuel bunkers to the receiving ship alongside using the fuel-transfer pump normally carried aboard the AE. The pumping rate was considerably less than that of a fleet oiler and, while workable, contained many drawbacks.

By the time the USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) entered service on 19 December 1986, the Navy had transferred the five Second World War vintage tankers of the Mispillion class and the six 1950s-built Neosho-class fleet oilers to the Military Sealift Command.

Through the 1970s and 1980s MSC provided the Department of Defense with ocean transportation. 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 delivered more than 12 million tons (11 million metric tonnes) 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 delivered the largest part of the international arsenal that defeated Saddam Hussein in Iraq. MSC was also involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, delivering 61,000,000 square feet (5.7 km²) of cargo and 1,100,000,000 US gallons (4,200,000 m³) of fuel by the end of the first year.

In August 2017, the Government Accountability Office issued a report detailing readiness issues that limited at-sea mission capabilities, prompting an investigation from the Department of Defense's Inspector General.^[31]