President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks at Naval Station Norfolk on March 28, 2020. US Navy Photo
USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) pushed off from Naval Station Norfolk, Va., minutes after remarks from President Donald Trump praising the whole of government effort to fight the COVID-19 effort. Read More
USNI News Graphic
These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of March 23, 2020, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship. Read More
USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) moors to the pier at Naval Base San Diego upon returning from Pacific Partnership 2018. US Navy Photo
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) was a hub of activity Thursday, as it took on a crew of civilian mariners and supplies ahead of deploying to assist West Coast civilian medical facilities hammered by COVID-19 cases. Read More
A fleet of military vehicles wait pier side in preparation of Exercise Saber Strike 16 in Riga, Latvia, June 4, 2016. The vehicles were transported by a British Roll-On, Roll-Off ship from Norway for the exercise. US Marine Corps photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) wants to know why the U.S. military’s surge sealift capability has yet to augment its aging fleet’s capabilities with used cargo ships. Read More
The Military Sealift Command maritime prepositioning ship USNS Sgt. William R. Button (T-AK 3012) is moored off the coast of Latvia for the Saber Strike 17 Maritime Prepositioning Force offload operations on May, 25, 2017. US Navy photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A National Maritime Strategy, expected to address the various deficiencies facing the nation’s sealift capacity, is finished and awaiting final approval, a top sealift official said last week.
A UH-60 Black Hawk is raised from Military Sealift Command’s voyage-charter, general-purpose, heavy-lift vessel MV Ocean Grand at the pier in Sattahip, Thailand, Aug. 17, during an offload of equipment that will be used during exercise Hanuman Guardian 2018.
An aging and inactive government fleet dependent on a shrinking pool of merchant mariners to get underway is how a new report describes the U.S. military’s strategic sealift capability.
National Defense Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay, Calif. in 2014. US Navy
ARLINGTON, Va. — When U.S. Transportation Command tested the ability of the nation’s maritime Ready Reserve Force to set sail on short notice, only about 40 percent of the vessels deemed ready were able to leave port. Read More
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) transits the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy pays a steep price keeping an aircraft carrier with escorts on station to deter attacks on oil tanker traffic operating in and around the Persian Gulf as part of the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, according to a new report. The ongoing carrier operations in the region are not only pricey for the U.S. Navy but also creates the potential to disrupt energy markets if a confrontation escalates. Read More
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NORFOLK (Sept. 21, 2019) Military Sealift Command large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) vessel USNS Benavidez (T-AKR 306), departs Lambert’s Point Shipyard alongside USNS Mendonca (T-AKR 303) for Turbo Activation. Navy photo
Running dark and nearly silent, last month a convoy of Military Sealift Command ships practiced delivering people and gear to the fight as part of a large U.S. Transportation Command surge sealift capability stress test.
RRF vessel SS Cornhusker State off the coast of Haiti, February 2010. MARAD Photo
This post was updated to properly identify the Ready Reserve Force. An earlier version included an incorrect title of the force.
THE PENTAGON — U.S. Transportation Command started the largest turbo activation of the Ready Reserve Force since 2003 to stress-test the military’s ability to quickly deploy the cargo ships required for a massive troop movement.
