Legislation could avert RRF budget, fleet cuts

Legislation could avert RRF budget, fleet cuts

Abercrombie-Miller amendment to defense authorization bill would require five-year plan

A reduction of the U.S. Ready Reserve Force would be averted under an amendment to a defense authorization bill in the House of Representatives.

Hawaii Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Michigan Republican Rep. Candice Miller filed the amendment May 3, days after the drastic budget-driven plan to pare the reserve sealift fleet was made known to the eight U.S.-flagged ship operating companies that manage the RRF under Maritime Administration charter. MARAD told the companies that the fleet reduction would be completed gradually by the end of fiscal 2007 in September 2007.

The Abercrombie-Miller amendment--attached to a Department of Defense spending measure approved by the House Armed Services Committee--would require DOD to consult with the Department of Transportation on a five-year plan for "maintaining the capability of the Ready Reserve Force ... necessary to support (DOD) wartime missions and support civilian authority missions." The plan would have to be submitted to Congress "not later than March 1, 2007."

The amendment would also require MARAD--an agency in DOT--to "maintain 58 vessels in the Ready Reserve Force" until 45 days after the five-year reserve sealift plan is sent to the House and Senate.

The House was expected to approve the Abercrombie-Miller amendment. Because the Senate's defense authorization measure does not include comparable language, the issue will have to be settled in House and Senate conference, and the House-Senate conference report would have to be approved in both chambers.

MARAD, an agency in the Department of Transportation, owns the Ready Reserve Force, which is kept in varied readiness states in U.S. ports for breakout as needed. However, the RRF is funded through DOD, and the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command controls the ships once they are underway. MARAD was said to be opposed to the planned RRF fleet reduction.

A statement from the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) in DOD said four geared containerships, two barge-carrying LASH vessels and four tankers--including one offshore petroleum discharge system tanker, or OPDS--would be axed in the initial round in fiscal 2006, which ends at midnight next Sept. 30.

"There are10 vessels scheduled for removal from the RRF this fiscal year," the TRANSCOM statement said. "Of those 10 ships, four RO/RO vessels are being considered for replacement with a commercial contingency contract. The remaining six ships have military unique missions." The statement paralleled reports that MARAD had surveyed U.S.-flagged shipping companies on the availability of at least 300,000 square feet of roll-on/roll-off capacity that may be available for government use.

TRANSCOM "continually evaluates the size and composition of the strategic sealift fleet," including the Ready Reserve Force, the MSC and MSC-chartered fleets, and the Maritime Security Fleet of 60 commercial ships participating in the Maritime Security Program, the statement said. "As our organic fleet ages and becomes less relevant to current and anticipated missions, we act to tailor the fleet and recapitalize needed capabilities as appropriate."

But some companies managing RRF vessels said they had been told by MARAD that 14 ships would be dropped initially, and that the total could climb to 26 vessels.

Under charters awarded by MARAD in July 2005, four companies that have collective bargaining agreements with American Maritime Officers--Crowley Liner Services Inc., Pacific Gulf Marine, Ocean Duchess Inc. and Interocean American Shipping Corp.--manage a combined 28 Ready Reserve Force ships. The AMO-manned mix includes 12 roll-on/roll-off ships, seven auxiliary crane ships, five tankers, two aviation logistics support ships and two barge carriers.

"The Ready Reserve Force is a critical and proven national asset," said AMO National Executive Vice President Tom Bethel. "The fleet has demonstrated its value not only in sealift service during Operations Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom, but in relief and reconstruction service along the U.S. Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the area last summer and fall. The fleet's civilian officers and crews are the world's best-trained seafaring professionals, dedicated Americans who can be counted on no matter what the circumstances.

"History and current events have already made a clear case for a full-strength Ready Reserve Force," Bethel said.

He added: "Each seagoing union has a stake in this issue, and each seagoing union mobilized its legislative staff when the alarm sounded. Each union is grateful to Neil Abercrombie and Candice Miller for their timely response. But this is as much a national security issue as it is a jobs issue."

Bethel cautioned against "putting faith in rumors, which always circulate in cases like this--we are working this issue, and we will keep AMO members current with as much accurate and complete information as possible."

News of the planned Ready Reserve Force fleet reduction could bring new political focus on proposals to keep reserve ships exclusively for natural disaster relief and reconstruction service and to broaden the Maritime Security Program.

Under the MSP, qualified ocean-going U.S.-flagged merchant ships draw limited direct operating aid each year while serving international trade markets. In exchange, the ships, their officers and crews, and all intermodal and logistics support systems owned or leased by the participating companies are available on demand to the Department of Defense for military support services during national emergencies.

In its current form, the MSP is authorized through 2015, but the money must be appropriated each year. A broader Maritime Security Program must be authorized by Congress.

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