December 17, 2024: The United States does not have enough ships to support military operations in the Pacific. While the Marine Corps would be involved in the Pacific, most of the military manpower would be provided by the army. A growing problem is the shrinking U.S. Army transport fleet. The army has always had some ships of its own, for moving troops and equipment and for managing amphibious operations or a major port operation overseas that needs to happen very quickly. This is a tradition, and a necessity, that goes back to the American Revolution. In 2024 the army is still seeking sufficient shipping to support a Pacific Ocean campaign, The army was able to obtain only eight 6,000 ton LSV/Logistics Support Vessel. The LSV is similar to the famous World War II era LST (Landing Ship Tank). The LSVs are the largest transport ships the army operates. The current army naval force consists of over 130 vessels. These ships are mainly for port operations or landing craft. What is missing are freighters, tankers and troop ships to get the army and its supplies to the combat zone.

The U.S. Army has always owned ships, usually tugs and coastal craft for assisting in moving supplies. During World War II, the U.S. Army actually had more ships, with more tonnage, than the U.S. Navy. By 2000 the Army had only about 295 ships. Nearly 20 years later that number fell to 130. Back then the decision was to buy more, mainly to speed up the deployment of units to overseas hot spots. During the 1991 Gulf War, it took the Army 150 days to move five divisions by sea to the Persian Gulf. It actually took 205 days to move all the combat and support units to the Gulf.

In 2000 the army plan was to buy three LSVs. These are actually LSTs and can carry 24 M-1 tanks and deliver them right to a beach. At that time the Army already had six LSVs. The Army also went on to buy high speed (80 kilometers an hour) catamaran ferries that can move twenty tanks some 2,000 kilometers. The LSVs and 20 larger Roll On/Roll Off transports would be used to pre-position armored brigades worth of equipment off potential hot spots. Just add the troops, get the equipment ashore, and you're ready for war. All these army ships were needed after September 11, 2001. With terrorism threat, the army has returned to obtaining shipping that can be quickly chartered. That worked after 2000 because the enemy was unable to threaten ships and charters, with their civilian crews, were willing to do the work.

There is another potential complication. In the past, the United States often got called on by its allies during military crises. The allies did not need much help with weapons or combat, but with logistics. The U.S. has been, for nearly a century, the world leader in moving military personnel and cargo to where it is needed and doing so under the most trying conditions of nature or enemy interference. Unless there is a major naval threat, which requires a major military operation to protect shipping, the U.S. is still the most experienced at quickly organizing a major military logistics effort.

The United States spends nearly $2 billion a year to move military personnel and material. This does not include additional spending for war related logistics. The level of activity, and length of time the U.S. has been at it make access to American logistics resources and specialists something much sought after by American allies. While the allies appreciate having American aircraft or ships move stuff for them, often it’s just the excellent and experienced advice from the Americans that is needed. What the army still needs is ships that can quickly and in large quantities land material somewhere that does not have a major port nearby. That’s where LSVs, LCUs and LCMs are essential. These ships are essential for getting the goods from ship to shore no matter where the shore is and when port facilities are inadequate.

The most visible American military logistics organization is the U.S. Transportation Command/USTRANSCOM or Transcom for short. The air force component is AMC/Air Mobility Command, the navy contribution is MSC/Military Sealift Command. The army contributes its expertise in handling the last mile of using ground and river/canal transport to get material from ships to the end-user.

Since World War II military logistics has evolved from a largely army chore to one that depends much more on air freight. It was during World War II that the United States found it had a talent and capacity for truly massive and unprecedented logistical efforts on a global basis. Most of this was run by the army, which had more ships under its control than the navy. The army ships and coastal craft were mostly for logistics and that fleet of over 110,000 vessels contained very few warships. After World War II the navy got control of the army fleet and the Army Air Force became a separate service and developed a huge fleet of air freighters. The army developed several generations of trucks and innovations like rapidly built temporary pipelines and a global network of transportation contractors.

These days the largest component of Transcom is AMC. Most of the Transcom personnel are reservists or civilians, and a lot of the actual cargo moving is done by aircraft, ships and trucks hired for the occasion.

AMC and the army move more tonnage, but if you want something moved anywhere very fast, which is common in wartime, AMC gets it done. AMC does this with a fleet of 1,100 aircraft. In 2011, when there were still a lot of American troops in the Middle East and Afghanistan, AMC carried out 105,000 sorties, 20 percent of them aerial refueling, the rest moving personnel and freight. MSC moved 502,000 measurement tons of cargo as well as 6.6 million tons of fuel.

The army transport type shipping is still needed as a reserve capability. Many of the army ships are operated by reserve units, where these part-time soldiers maintain skills that are needed in an emergency when time is at a premium. That has been the experience of the army in every conflict the United States has been involved with for over a century.