Section Front Front Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By MICHAEL R. McKAY | |
|
If anyone knows defense logistics, it's Air Force Gen. John W. Handy, head
of the U.S. Transportation Command. TRANSCOM is the Department of Defense
unit that arranges the road, rail, air, and sea shipment of defense cargoes
in wartime. On Oct. 8, Gen. Handy went before the House Armed Services Committee's Oversight Panel on the Merchant Marine and made a compelling case for a strong U.S. merchant fleet. He also offered a strong endorsement of timely renewal of the Maritime Security Program, both in prepared testimony and in response to questions from lawmakers, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, the California Republican who chairs the panel. Authorized in the Maritime Security Act of 1996, the Maritime Security Program provides limited direct operating assistance to a limited number of U.S.-flag commercial cargo ships for a limited time and guarantees DOD access to the tonnage for sealift in national security emergencies. The MSP sustains 47 vessels in foreign trade, including seven ships manned by AMO engine and deck officers. By all accounts, the MSP is a good deal for everyone, including U.S. taxpayers. But, under the authorizing law, the program will expire at midnight on Sept. 30, 2005, the end of the fiscal year. AMO, the Seafarers International Union, the Masters, Mates & Pilots, and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association recently proposed to the oversight panel that the MSP be renewed well in advance of its lapse date, that the program be authorized for 20 years, that the number of eligible ships be increased from 47 to 60, and that the per-ship MSP stipend be increased from $2.1 million a year to $3.5 million a year. Our joint proposal was endorsed at the time by principal U.S.-flag ship operators. During his testimony, Gen. Handy did not endorse specific ways to extend or expand the MSP, recommending instead that the legislative mechanics emerge from "consensus" among ship U.S. ship operators, seagoing unions and shipyards. However, the General did say MSP renewal ought to be taken up sooner rather than later, and he echoed the union-employer proposal's call for a larger fleet, both to ensure sufficient sealift-suited tonnage and to stall further loss of skilled civilian seafaring labor. TRANSCOM is "fairly comfortable" with the current MSP fleet of 47 ships, Gen. Handy said in response to a question from Rep. Hunter. However, the size of the MSP fleet was determined not by actual DOD need, but by "the amount of money in the original MSP authorization in '96," Gen. Handy explained, according to a transcript of the hearing. The agency wants "50 to 60 ships," which would make the program "more viable," he continued. "I certainly could endorse increasing capability to get closer to the 60-ship number that we have targeted for you." Asked by Maine Democratic Rep. Tom Allen about the impact of MSP on the civilian American seafaring labor base, Gen. Handy noted that the number of licensed officers and unlicensed crew members available for sealift and other support services has declined in recent years along with the active privately owned and operated U.S. merchant fleet. He said any program that supports U.S. merchant ships in peacetime helps ensure manpower for DOD's "organic" sealift fleet and the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force back-up ships in defense emergencies. "A lot of the discussions about MSP reauthorization ultimately have an impact on mariner availability," Gen. Handy told the panel. "The lack of viable U.S. shipping determines the success or viability of the mariner pool, and so we're concerned ... about the numbers of mariners that might be out there and useful to us." Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) also raised the maritime manpower issue. Gen. Handy told her that the U.S. could be short an estimated 3,000 officers and crew members to meet defense requirements in 2005. "Every endeavor that we can take to sustain and increase where possible that U.S. mariner pool, we're certainly in favor of and endorse." He added moments later: "One of the great values of a program like MSP is it does help preclude any further denigration of that (U.S. fleet and crew) capability." When Rep. Hunter asked if TRANSCOM supports raising the annual per-ship payout under the MSP, Gen. Handy replied: "That's something that industry and we need to continue to work on. But those offsets were targeted at the mariner differential--you know, the differential between a U.S. mariner and a foreign mariner. Those costs are bound to go up, have gone up. And so any reauthorization ... ought to look at those costs and try to help mitigate the impact on the industry." There was much more to the discussion, and all of the topics raised will be in focus again as the oversight panel crafts its Maritime Security Program reauthorization package. Legislation will not surface until next year, and Rep. Hunter--a friend of the U.S. merchant fleet and the American maritime industries--expects to attach it to the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill. Gen. Handy and TRANSCOM will leave the details to the lawmakers and their staffs, to U.S.-flag ship operators and seagoing unions, and to U.S. shipbuilders. But the agency's endorsement of MSP renewal and possible expansion will make it a lot easier to get the agreed-upon legislation through the appropriate channels in the House. |
|
|
|
Front Page
|
|