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Our requirement in sealift is to move one-million short tons of unit equipment to Southwest Asia within 90 days. Currently, 89% of that requirement can be met, but unlike airlift we see no future ramp-up in this capability. In fact, the prognosis for sealift, shown in the chart below, is that the deficit will double in the next ten years.

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GOAL: ONE MILLION SHORT TONS (UNIT EQUIPMENT)

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There are three contributors to this decline. They are:

·

Availability of crews for Ready Reserve Force ships: Of the 29,000 man Merchant Seaman pool, more than 50 percent are over 50 years of age. A deficit of 12,000 trained merchant mariners is expected by the year 2000 against what we need to meet mobilization requirements.

Decline of shipyard facilities and skilled workers: In 1980, there were 69 merchant ships under construction in American shipyards. At the end of 1987, there were no commercial ships under construction. The skilled shipyard worker force is down 30 percent from 1982. The decline of shipyards and their work force endangers Our nation's ability to maintain and activate our Ready Reserve Force.

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Decline of United States Flag Merchant Fleet: It is not economically viable for United States Flag carriers compete in the international marketplace. Accordingly, the size of the United States flag merchant fleet continues to shrink. Of 199 militarily useful dry cargo ships in operation in 1987 only 93 are projected to be available in the year 2000.

Because of the weight and cube of deploying units and their sustaining supplies, 95% of Central Command's requirements will come by sealift. The sealift shortfall strikes at the heart of the deployment and sustainment lifeline. This problem is of particular concern to us, since we have no forward deployed

forces.

Existing

programs designed to maintain Our current capability include expansion of the Ready Reserve Force and the Containership Modification Program. The latter buys seasheds and flatracks which enable containerships to carry unit equipment. Projections are that these existing programs, if fully supported, will marginally support unit equipment lift only until 1992.

The current SL-7's, Fast Sealift Ships, provide a good start in improving our rapid deployment capability. However, other

technologies being developed through Navy R&D programs for fast sealift (e.g., surface-effects-ships) need to be supported if we are to overcome projected deficits in strategic lift as we move toward the 21st century.

MILCON

With the strong support of Congress, significant progress has been made at reducing critical facility shortfalls. The FY88 program largely completed requirements at Diego Garcia and allowed steady progress at improving our pre-positioning posture in the region. The 1989 program provided funds for two critical projects which support United States Army pre-positioning and staging as well as improvements to United States facilities. The proposed 1990 MILCON Program builds upon the momentum of the past two years with six projects valued at $52.7M. The goal of the FY90 program is to correct airfield deficiencies (taxiways and aircraft parking aprons) at two strategic locations as well as providing additional warehouses, for both the Army and Air Force. The Southwest Asia FY90 program also proposes additional hydrant fueling upgrades at Lajes to further improve this enroute support location. With Congressional support in FY90, Central Command will reduce its facility deficit which once stood at $1.4B to about $200M by the end of 1990.

Pre-Positioning

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Readiness of United States forces for initial combat depends theater-prepositioned War Reserve Materiel (WRM). Prepositioning (PREPO) of WRM enhances the ability to respond during full-scale operations and gives us flexibility to employ forces rapidly. Another important advantage of pre-positioning is that it is also available to support Overseas exercises, which

considerably reduces operating costs by decreasing airlift and sealift requirements. Shown below is the current PREPO posture.

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PENDING: DEPENDENT UPON HOST NATION

AGREEMENT. COMPLETION OF MILITARY CONSTRUC-
TION AND/OR ACQUISITION OF LEASED FACILITIES.
- ASHORE

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AFLOAT

Current initiatives and previous congressional authorizations should improve Central Command's posture by approximately 1.2 million square feet of storage space, 6,000 short munitions, and 5 million barrels of bulk petroleum.

Sustainability

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While pre-positioned stocks meet the deploying forces' immediate need, sustainability is the other essential element of successful force projection the staying power of a military force once it is deployed. Materiel sustainability is composed interdependent elements including assets

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pre-positioned and those in depot stocks in the United States. Shown below is the current materiel sustainability posture.

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missiles. munitions.

Primary shortages include major end items, medical supplies, repair parts, bulk petroleum, preferred munitions, and air-to-air The proposed budget provides modest gains in However, equipment shortages continue to be a problem for some support units. The Services need continued funding support to reverse this situation. Particularly critical items include the Air Force and Navy AMRAAM Program and Army modern munitions.

Another aspect of sustainability, Logistics Over the Shore, is the capability to load, offload and transfer equipment and supplies from ship to shore. Currently Central Command has only

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