Contracted mariners crewing ships such as the Ready Reserve Force’s MV Cape Hudson need better training for operations in contested environments. (Photo: USN)
The civilian angle – the US needs to improve training for mariners in contested environments
A recent report by the US DoD’s Inspector General has questioned the adequacy of training provided to civilian personnel who would directly support ‘surge’ sealift missions.
Dated 9 July, the report acknowledges that sealift is how the US transports most of its military equipment overseas. In most scenarios, that movement is conducted by Military Sealift Command (MSC), which operates around 125 civilian-crewed ships that replenish USN vessels, conduct specialised missions, strategically preposition combat cargo around the world and move military equipment and supplies used by deployed forces and coalition partners... Continues below
This analysis article originally appeared in August's Decisive Edge Military Training Newsletter.
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In performing this function, MSC’s civilian mariners serve on multiple ship classes, ranging from Expeditionary Fast Transport Vessels (T-EPF) to Fast Combat Support Vessels (T-AOE).
One of the scenarios that can confront MSC movements involves so-called ‘contested environments’ (CE), which the report describes as ‘a hostile or uncertain environment where host government forces do not have territory and population controls in the intended operational area’.
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While MSC’s civilian mariners are credited with the skills to operate in a CE, a major conflict could cause the DoD to call on additional capability in the form of its surge sealift fleet: 48 vessels owned and maintained by the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD), also known as the Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF).
MARAD credits the RRF with ‘nearly 50% of government-owned surge sealift capability’, primarily supporting transport of army and USMC equipment during critical surge periods in the period before commercial ships can be secured for similar support.
It is the training provided to these civilian contract mariners in the RRF that is highlighted in the DoD report.
Acknowledging that contract mariners, when activated, receive ‘as-needed CE training from MSC tactical advisors’ and are ‘allowed to take MSC operations courses with CE topics’, the report observes that the latter training was not actually required.
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Moreover, it points to a lack of agreement between MSC and MARAD officials on specifics of the CE training, summarizing: ‘As a result, MARAD contract mariners serving in a CE may not be fully prepared to successfully support DoD surge sealift missions in a CE.’
The Inspector General’s report recommends that the MSC commander, in coordination with the MARAD administrator, ‘develop and implement an agreed-upon approach for defining CE training requirements for MARAD contract mariners in accordance with the Strategic Sealift Program Guidance and develop the associated training programme’.
Determining the right balance of skills for civilians deployed on essentially military tasks in what might become a combat zone has always been a delicate task, and in this instance, better inter-agency cooperation is clearly required to properly prepare the mariners in question.
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