The U.S. Navy reportedly will face challenges supporting and transporting its own forces after sidelining 17 ships due to a shortage of civilian mariners.
Military Sealift Command (MSC) relies on ships that are owned and operated by the government and/or contractors to move forces with their vehicles, equipment and material.
Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, the MSC commander, last week said the docking of more than a dozen ships was meant to give overworked and understaffed civilian mariners a break, Military.com reported.
"That number's based on again the number of mariners that we need to get us to 95% [manning]," Sobeck told reporters during a call Thursday morning, USNI News reported. "It is aligning the force so that we are most ready and that we are getting after the fleet requirements."
Sobeck said MSC was trying to hire and retain more mariners to improve the ratio needed for all vessels to crew and eventually bring the sidelined ships back into active service.
In August, USNI News reported MSC had drafted a plan to remove the crews from 17 Navy support ships due to a lack of qualified mariners to operate the vessels.
On Thursday, Sobeck said the plan would be implemented "over the next two years."
"As those mariners start coming back and we start building the bench is when we'll bring ships back as they finish up their extended maintenance and go through," Sobeck said. "Again, the intent is to get 95% onboard all ships and to have overdue reliefs in a way that is no more than seven days.
"And that's both in operational and in the shipyards, to not have a vast number that leave the ships during shipyards. And we keep about 70% onboard for that to maintain the quality and oversight that we need, but also to get the training and developmental [skills] that we want."
One result of the MSC sidelining the ships is that some support for the Marine Corps will not be available.
A Marine Corps official familiar with the plan told Military.com that the service was made aware of the MSC's plan in August "and had concerns with it then."
"If this workforce initiative is a rebrand of the original MSC reset, then 16 of the 17 ships have direct Marine Corps equities," the official told Military.com.
The official added that the "reset" plan included sidelining a combination that included of 12 fast transports for Marines and equipment.
"Without these ships, Marine stand-in forces and Marine Expeditionary Units will lack sea-based transportation, basing, and support capabilities during a strategically vital period for training and readiness," the official said.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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