Mobility forces comprise the airlift and sealift forces that transport military personnel and materiel throughout the world. Airlift provides a flexible, responsive means of rapidly deploying and sustaining forces in distant regions, while sealift allows the deployment of large numbers of heavy forces as well as fuel and supplies. In many instances, forces are able to draw on equipment and materiel prepositioned at sea or on land near the location of a crisis, so prepositioning is also considered a mobility program. Aerial-refueling forces contribute to mobility by permitting the nonstop deployment of tactical air and bomber forces and by extending the range of airlift aircraft when en route bases are not available. In operations ranging from humanitarian relief to armed combat, mobility forces enable the United States to deploy forces quickly and sustain them until their mission is complete. In the post-Cold War era, the drawdown of U.S. troop strength overseas and the increasing number of unstable situations abroad combine to place a high value on mobility forces.
MOBILITY MISSIONS
Mobility forces play a central role in the U.S. defense strategy. They are a vital component of the nation's response to contingencies ranging from emergency evacuations of U.S. citizens to major regional conflicts (MRCs). In peacetime, they contribute to overseas presence and humanitarian assistance missions.
Major Regional Conflicts
Mobility forces are key to the deployment and sustainment of U.S. forces in MRCs. Should a conflict erupt with little warning, the United States would want to respond promptly and with sufficient strength to help indigenous forces halt the aggression and restore the peace. Airlift, augmented by prepositioning, would carry out the initial deployments, which would consist primarily of aviation forces, light ground forces, and some heavier ground elements. The remaining heavy combat forces would follow by sea.
Intratheater mobility forces would move arriving forces to initial operating locations, support them over the course of the conflict, and redeploy them as necessary to meet operational demands. In addition, intratheater forces perform a variety of special missions, such as airdrops and medical evacuations.
Intervention and Peace Operations
Though smaller in scale than a major regional conflict, interventions and peace operations can still place heavy demands on mobility forces. As in a major conflict, mobility forces would contribute both to the initial deployment and to the sustainment of the operation. Depending on the location, significant amounts of materiel might have to be moved, particularly if U.S. forces were sent to a region where the infrastructure was limited and host nation support was either lacking or not immediately available.
Humanitarian Assistance
Mobility forces often are first on the scene with humanitarian assistance, bringing relief workers and supplies. The ability to respond rapidly to crises worldwide is a key requirement of this mission, as is the ability to operate in austere environments. During 1994, U.S. mobility forces played major roles in relief efforts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Overseas Presence
In the course of their training, mobility forces move supplies on a regular basis to U.S. troops stationed overseas. Additionally, mobility forces are an integral part of military exercise programs, which help train U.S. forces and those of friends and allies, signal the United States' interest in the security of nations and regions overseas, and demonstrate the nation's ability to move forces quickly to those areas. The prepositioning of equipment and materiel also is a strong symbol of the United States' commitment to particular nations or regions.
MOBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The Mobility Requirements Study (MRS), completed in 1992, defined mobility requirements for the post-Cold War era. It considered scenarios involving major regional conflicts in Southwest Asia or Korea, concurrent conflicts in those locations, and lesser regional contingencies. To meet projected mobility needs, the study recommended the procurement of 120 C-17 aircraft, acquisition of additional medium-speed sealift vessels and afloat prepositioning ships, and enhancements to the ability to move forces to ports of embarkation in the United States. The Bottom-Up Review (BUR) reaffirmed the value of such enhancements and identified a need for additional prepositioning in Southwest Asia and Korea, to improve capabilities for very short-warning or nearly simultaneous conflicts. At the same time, the BUR made a number of changes in the overall force structure and defense strategy that had implications for mobility. Accordingly, over the past year, the Department has updated the MRS to reflect those changes, particularly as they relate to the employment of U.S. forces in major regional conflicts.
As noted earlier, mobility forces would be heavily involved in all phases of a major conflict, contributing both to the deployment and sustainment of combat forces. Immediately upon a decision to commit forces, ground units and aviation support elements would be dispatched to the region from bases in the United States and abroad. These forces would deploy by air, and would draw the bulk of their equipment and supplies from stocks prepositioned for them on land or afloat. They would be joined in the theater by additional Marine ground units arriving on amphibious ships. Combat aircraft would self-deploy, relying on tankers for aerial-refueling support en route to their destination. These early-deploying forces, operating in conjunction with naval units at sea, would mount an initial defense and secure ports and airfields for the arrival of additional forces.
As the buildup continued, heavy combat and support forces would begin arriving by sea, with fast sealift ships making the first deliveries. Airlift would continue moving personnel and high-priority supplies and equipment into the theater. Once sufficient forces were available, a large-scale, air-land counteroffensive would be launched. Mobility forces would provide critical support for this phase of the operation, delivering reinforcements and any additional equipment and supplies needed to sustain combat.
FORCE STRUCTURE AND CAPABILITIES
The Department of Defense has a long-standing policy of relying on commercial transportation resources to the maximum extent possible in meeting military requirements. Today, DoD depends almost entirely on commercial ground and rail systems to move forces to ports of embarkation in the United States. Commercial aircraft provide the majority of passenger airlift capacity and make a significant contribution to the movement of military cargo, while merchant ships provide most of the capacity to move containerized cargo by sea. There are, however, certain militarily-unique capabilities that the civil sector cannot provide. Mobility forces supply those capabilities as well as carry out missions in circumstances where the commercial sector cannot respond at all or cannot do so quickly enough.
Airlift
The Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) consists of passenger and cargo aircraft that commercial carriers have agreed to make available for DoD's use in times of crisis. In return for their participation in CRAF, carriers are given preference for DoD's peacetime passenger and cargo business and are guaranteed that the burden of carrying out a deployment will be spread fairly among all participants.
Calling up CRAF Stage I aircraft provides DoD access to about 9 percent of the passenger capacity in the long-range U.S. commercial fleet and 19 percent of the cargo capacity. With the addition of Stage II aircraft, those figures rise to 28 percent and 47 percent, respectively. Aircraft from Stage III bring the CRAF contribution, as a share of total U.S. long-range commercial aircraft capacity, to 41 percent for passengers and nearly 72 percent for cargo.
Stages I and II of CRAF are activated by the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Transportation Command, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense. Activation of Stage III requires a declaration of national emergency by the President or Congress. Accordingly, Stage III aircraft would be called on only for the most demanding military deployments.
Although civil aircraft provide important capabilities, there are some essential characteristics they do not have. Most importantly, they cannot carry the full range of military equipment. Of the cargo that would have to be moved by air in a major regional conflict (including bulk cargo), only about 45 percent of the total tonnage would fit into the largest commercial cargo aircraft. Smaller aircraft could load only about 35 percent. Examples of equipment that cannot be accommodated in commercial aircraft are tanks, air defense weapons, many helicopters, and most trucks. Additionally, civil aircraft cannot air-drop cargo or personnel or provide specialized capabilities, such as the very rapid off-load required in combat situations. Commercial planes also require relatively long runways and specialized material-handling equipment and therefore cannot operate effectively on austere airfields.
Military aircraft provide the full range of these capabilities. Today, the military fleet consists of 104 C-5s (primary aircraft inventory, or PAI), 199 PAI C-141s, 12 PAI C-17s, and 415 PAI C-130s. These aircraft are assigned to active, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve squadrons. The C-5s and C-141s in active squadrons are flown by both active and reserve associate crews. For lesser regional conflicts, humanitarian assistance, and peacekeeping operations, only active-duty crews and reserve crews serving on a voluntary basis normally would be available.
C-141s are nearing the end of their projected service life; indeed, a significant inspection and repair program is under way to keep these aircraft in operation until they can be replaced. In 1993, the wing on a C-141 was disassembled and examined in support of a review conducted by an Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Damage found during that test and in a subsequent examination of the entire fleet resulted in the imposition of payload restrictions. The wing problems have since been corrected, and all of the aircraft were returned to unrestricted service last year.
The chart below shows the current and projected contribution of military and CRAF aircraft to total U.S. intertheater airlift capacity.
Aerial Refueling
For FY 1995, the long-range aerial-refueling fleet consists of 478 PAI KC-135s and 54 PAI KC-10s. These aircraft support the deployment and employment of conventional forces, with the KC-135 force also providing airborne-refueling support for nuclear-armed bombers. The KC-135 and KC-10 also can carry cargo, with the latter aircraft possessing a significant capability to perform airlift and tanker missions simultaneously. More than half of the aircraft in the KC-135 force are operated by the reserve component. All KC-10s are maintained in the active force; these aircraft are flown by both active and reserve associate crews.
Table VI-17 shows the current and projected inventory of long-range tankers.
Sealift
Sealift capacity comes from three sources: ships operating in commercial trade, commercial ships under long-term charter to the Department, and government-owned ships maintained in reserve status. These vessels provide three primary types of capacity: container capacity, which is useful primarily for moving supplies; roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) capacity (measured in square footage), which is needed to move the equipment of combat units; and tanker capacity, for fuels. In addition, the older breakbulk ships in the inventory can move both military equipment and supplies.
The U.S.-flag commercial fleet contains 248 ships with military utility. These include 127 dry cargo ships, 119 tankers, and two passenger ships. Another 116 vessels that could contribute to military missions -- 45 dry cargo ships, 64 tankers, and seven passenger ships -- are maintained in the effective U.S. control (EUSC) fleet. EUSC ships are owned by U.S. companies or their foreign subsidiaries and registered in nations whose laws do not preclude the ships' requisitioning. Although DoD would prefer to use U.S.-flag vessels with U.S. crews, much of the available tanker capacity is in the EUSC fleet.
Currently, DoD is chartering 10 dry cargo ships and 15 tankers from commercial operators to transport military cargoes to locations not accessible by regular commercial service. The number of ships under charter for these purposes varies little from year to year.
For more than a decade now, the proportion of containerships in the commercial fleet has been increasing. Although these ships are well suited to the movement of most military supplies and munitions, they cannot carry most types of unit equipment without the installation of adaptive devices. Even with those devices, the time required to deploy unit equipment in containerships taken from trade can be half again as long as that required on government-owned RO/RO ships -- a delay that is militarily unacceptable. Therefore, to meet the very demanding deployment timetables of regional contingencies, it is necessary to acquire RO/RO and similar ships and maintain them in a high state of readiness.
Today, the government maintains 90 dry cargo ships, seven tankers, and four passenger ships in reserve status for use in military operations:
The chart above shows the current and projected contribution of each source of sealift to moving unit equipment. Also shown is the RO/RO capacity (square footage) recommended in the 1994 update of the MRS for the deployment of forces in two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts. As mentioned earlier, commercial ships can be used to move most sustainment cargoes. Today, the U.S.-flag and EUSC fleets have more than twice the capacity needed to meet the sustainment demands of two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts.
Prepositioning
By prepositioning unit equipment and war reserve materiel afloat and ashore near potential operating locations, the United States increases the number of forces that can be deployed and supported quickly in a crisis. This year, DoD is using 31 ships for afloat prepositioning. Of these, 21 have been chartered from the commercial fleet and 10 come from the RRF:
INCREASING CAPABILITIES TO MEET FUTURE CHALLENGES
The Department has embarked on an ambitious modernization program to replace obsolete mobility forces and achieve the force deployment goals established in the Bottom-Up Review. The mobility capabilities needed to meet these objectives were defined in the 1994 update of the MRS, known formally as the Mobility Requirements Study Bottom-Up Review Update, or MRS BURU.
Airlift Programs
Based on the results of the MRS BURU, DoD has established an intertheater airlift objective of between 49 and 52 million ton-miles per day of cargo capacity. The precise amount of airlift needed will depend on the level of prepositioning that can be achieved in Southwest Asia and Korea. DoD is continuing to evaluate prepositioning options, as well as other potential warfighting enhancements, that could result in changes to the airlift objective.
Airlift investments in coming years will focus on replacing the aging fleet of C-141 intertheater aircraft. Production of the C-17 transport, the planned successor to the C-141, remains capped at 40 planes while the Department monitors the progress of the prime contractor in correcting technical problems and improving cost and schedule performance. Under a parallel program, the Department is assessing the capabilities and costs of non-developmental airlift aircraft (NDAA) that could supplement or complement the C-17. A review by the Defense Acquisition Board in November 1995 will examine the results of both the C-17 program and the NDAA competition. Through this approach, the Department expects to reach a decision by the end of 1995 on the most cost-effective mix of airlift aircraft for meeting future needs.
Enhancements in intratheater capability will come with the introduction later in this decade of the new J version of the C-130 tactical transport. The upgraded model incorporates a redesigned two-crew-member flight station, a modern-technology engine and propeller system, and an integrated digital avionics subsystem. The C-130J will provide significant operating and support cost savings over older C-130 models, which it is slated to replace. Funds to begin production of the aircraft are requested this year.
Sealift and Afloat Prepositioning Programs
The Mobility Requirements Study recommended acquiring an additional 5 million square feet of shipping capacity, both to preposition equipment for a heavy Army brigade and to augment surge shipping capability, in order to meet the objective of deploying a heavy Army corps within 75 days. That requirement, which was validated by the MRS BURU, will be achieved through the acquisition of 19 LMSRs. As currently envisioned, the LMSR program will provide 2 million square feet of afloat prepositioning space for Army combat and support equipment, and 3 million square feet of transport space for early-deploying heavy Army divisions and their support equipment. The amount of LMSR capacity dedicated to prepositioning may increase in the future if requirements dictate. The FY 1996-2001 program includes $2.5 billion in ship construction funds for the LMSR program.
The Mobility Requirements Study also recommended an expansion of the RO/RO capacity of the RRF by roughly 2.8 million square feet to help meet surge demands early in a deployment. That translates into a total requirement for 36 RO/RO vessels. The RRF currently includes 29 such ships, and one additional vessel was purchased in FY 1995. Funds are requested in FY 1996 for two more ships, and the Department hopes to acquire the remaining four vessels over the next several years.
The Departments of Defense and Transportation have worked closely together to improve the readiness of RRF ships following their use in the Gulf War. Sustaining the higher readiness levels that have been achieved will require stable investments in the RRF in the years ahead. Beginning in FY 1996, the Ready Reserve Force will be financed through the National Defense Sealift Fund (NDSF), which is administered by DoD. Funding for the force will therefore appear in the DoD budget rather than in the budget request for the Department of Transportation. Moving the RRF into the defense budget will further consolidate sealift funding in the NDSF, allowing RRF requests to be considered in the context of other military-related sealift programs. The Maritime Administration will continue to manage the RRF, as it has in the past.
Programs for Prepositioning Ashore
The Army is in the process of restructuring its unit equipment prepositioning worldwide. Four heavy brigade sets of prepositioned equipment will be maintained in central Europe -- down from the nine sets prepositioned during the Cold War years. This materiel will ensure the United States' ability to meet commitments to NATO's multinational corps and rapid-reaction forces. A fifth brigade set, in Italy, is available for use on NATO's southern flank or elsewhere in the region. In Southwest Asia, the battalion set of equipment already in Kuwait is being expanded to brigade size. Negotiations are under way with other nations in the region to preposition a second brigade set and divisional support equipment. These two sets, in combination with the brigade set afloat, will provide the capability to deploy an entire heavy division rapidly to Southwest Asia. In addition, an agreement was reached with the Republic of Korea in 1994 to preposition equipment for a heavy Army brigade in that nation. Together with the forces that routinely are deployed in Korea, this will enable a full division to be fielded quickly in the event of a crisis. In combination, these programs will achieve the prepositioning objectives established in the Bottom-Up Review.
The Department is seeking allied or alliance funding for all prepositioning projects. Projects in Europe are eligible for some support from the NATO Infrastructure Fund, but the United States must contribute its full share to the fund if these and other high-priority projects are to receive financing. Similarly in Southwest Asia, although the United States continues to seek burdensharing from the Gulf states, congressional support for military construction of storage facilities in that region is key to the success of the nation's global prepositioning strategy.
A robust mobility capability is essential to meeting post-Cold War demands with fewer forces and a reduced permanent overseas presence. The FY 1996-2001 program continues the long-standing partnership between the Department of Defense and the transportation industry, depending primarily on the private sector for the capabilities it can provide and using defense funds to buy capabilities that have little or no commercial utility. In combination, DoD's programs and those of DOT for the RRF and the commercial fleet ensure that the United States will be able to respond promptly and effectively in situations ranging from natural disaster to major war.
