Maritime Pre-Positioning Force-Future: Bill Payer or Sea Basing Enabler?
2008
Grotewold, William R.
Actions at sea no longer suffice to influence world events; actions from the sea must impact events ashore. The U.S. Navy has been slow to embrace this paradigm shift because of resource implications, interservice and intraservice rivalry, and a service culture which favors large blue water ships. The sea basing concept must be reexamined by all services to actualize the concept's true potential. The Maritime Prepositioning Force-Future (MPF-F) program, envisioned as a key enabler of sea basing, may be funded through further cuts in amphibious ships or fall victim to an untenable Navy ship building plan. Premature consideration of cost issues hindered MPF-F program development. Although existing Maritime Pre-positioning Force (MPF) ships provide a robust and essential capability, MPF-F ships will enable the rapid constitution of forces at sea and provide logistic support to forces ashore. Neither MPF nor MPF-F can conduct independent forcible entry operations. Given the demonstrated capability and success of the current Maritime Pre-Positioning Squadron (MPS) program, a wide disparity in definitions of sea basing, and a disputed programmatic link between amphibious ships and MPF-F, acquisition of MPF-F should be delayed.
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