Copyright 2002 FDCHeMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Federal Document Clearing House Congressional
Testimony
October 8, 2002 Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 1473 words
COMMITTEE:HOUSE ARMED SERVICES
HEADLINE: MERITIME
SECURITY PROGRAM
TESTIMONY-BY: GENERAL JOHN W.
HANDY, USAF, COMMANDER IN CHIEF
AFFILIATION:
UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND
BODY: STATEMENT OF GENERAL JOHN W. HANDY, USAF COMMANDER IN CHIEF UNITED
STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND
BEFORE THE
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE MERCHANT MARINE PANEL ON
THE MERITIME SECURITY PROGRAM (MSP)
OCTOBER 8, 2002
Mr. Chairman, Congressman Allen, and Members of the
Merchant Marine Panel of the House Armed Services Committee, I appreciate the
opportunity to testify on the Maritime Security Program
(MSP).
I wholeheartedly support reauthorization of MSP
beyond expiration of the current authority on September 30, 2005. The MSP is a
vital element of our military's strategic sealift and global response
capability. As we look at operations on multiple fronts in support of the War on
Terrorism, it is clear that our limited defense resources will increasingly rely
on partnerships with industry to maintain the needed capability and capacity to
meet our most demanding wartime scenarios. That makes MSP reauthorization even
more important as we look toward the future. MSP is a cost effective program
that assures guaranteed access to required commercial U.S. Flag shipping and
U.S. Merchant Mariners, when needed.
The alternative
to MSP is, ultimately, reliance on foreign flag vessels manned by foreign crews
during crisis. MSP provides the security of resources we must have in a very
uncertain world fraught with asymmetric threats. MSP ensures the development and
sustainment of critical strategic partnerships favorable to the United States.
And, MSP helps ensure the viability of America's merchant mariner pool needed to
activate the Reserve Fleet. MSP makes sense. We can't afford not to invest in
MSP. I strongly advocate for swift reauthorization.
MSP
is a critical component of our strategy which recognizes and relies upon
significant augmentation from the U.S. commercial sealift industry to support
the warfighter's needs. We limit our organic fleet to those assets that the
commercial sector cannot provide. Only 33% of the vessels we may require reside
in our organic fleets. The remainder of the sealift capacity needed to transport
military equipment and supplies comes from the commercial sector. Looking ahead,
the War on Terrorism could eventually push our baseline requirement for
commercial sealift even higher.
MSP reauthorization is,
without question, the linchpin in our wartime U.S. commercial sealift
capability, through its integral support of the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift
Agreement (VISA). VISA is a three-phased program that enables time-phased access
to militarily useful U.S. Flag commercial dry cargo sealift capacity. VISA is
cost-efficient because it contractually provides assured access to commercial
U.S. sealift assets, mariners, and intermodal capacity when required, releasing
the American taxpayer from otherwise bearing the procurement, overhead, and
maintenance costs of a profoundly larger organic military capability.
Our current organic military fleet is much improved over
just 10 years ago and is structured to support our surge requirements in time of
conflict. However, the bulk of large-scale sustainment sealift in times of major
conflict resides with the commercial sector that we also depend on for
day-to-day support of peacetime requirements. That is what makes the VISA-MSP
link such a perfect fit. MSP and VISA are truly complementary force multipliers.
We need both MSP and VISA. MSP's guaranteed access to vessels, combined with
VISA's capacity and supporting global intermodal infrastructures fulfills the
sealift requirements to meet war fighter needs.
The
U.S. commercial maritime industry has markedly reduced in the face of economic
competition from less costly and, in some cases, greatly expanding, foreign
firms. To ensure the existence of a U.S. flagged fleet to meet wartime
requirements, MSP incentives help defray the added costs to sail commercial
vessels under the U.S. flag. The overall state of the domestic maritime industry
is indeed an issue for national debate, but not one which should preclude timely
reauthorization of MSP. We need MSP now. MSP in its current construct offers
great return on investment supporting a sizeable and capable fleet of 47 U.S
flagged vessels for relatively little annual cost. If we fail to reauthorize or
make program participation unattractive, the potential erosion and eventual
disappearance of a viable U.S. flagged fleet and, ultimately, the U.S. merchant
mariner pool, would force increased and potentially total reliance on ships of
foreign registry, entrusting precious military cargo to non-U.S. crews in times
of great crisis. This cannot happen if the U.S. is to retain an ability to "go
it alone."
Our actions now are critical. MSP
reauthorization will indeed be a landmark decision for the U.S. maritime
industry. The United States Transportation Command's (USTRANSCOM) industry and
labor partners have all indicated their strong support for MSP and we all agree
that we need a holistic approach. I firmly believe that industry has a
responsibility to come to consensus on a plan that is right for them and right
for the country. I am confident industry can meet this challenge.
While MSP offers guaranteed capability, it also provides
the security we, as a nation, must have to "go it alone." While foreign
companies dominate the world maritime market, MSP ships sail under the U.S.
flag, are crewed by U.S. mariners, are operated by U.S. companies, and are
subject to U.S. laws. As a warfighter and as a concerned American this is what I
must have, and I have it in MSP. Currently, MSP comprises both Section 2 and
Documentation Citizens. Both Section 2 and Documentation Citizens must execute
the same contingency contracts with DOD committing vessels to VISA Stage III and
thereby assuring us we will have access to their vessels. This is important
because VISA Stage III is our highest sealift mobilization level and provides
government access to all 47 ships enrolled in MSP. As a warfighter, my
requirements are met by both Section 2 and Documentation Citizens.
We simply cannot, as a nation, fight the fight without the
partnership of the commercial maritime industry. We rely on the commercial
maritime industry to provide the primary source of manpower to crew our organic
vessels. Our nation's organic sealift capability, in the form of highly capable
prepositioned, fast sealift ships (FSS), large medium speed roll on and roll off
ships (LMSR), and Ready Reserve Force (RRF) ships which provide emergency and
surge response capabilities to globally deploy our combat and support forces,
would literally be useless without the support of the commercial maritime
industry. As such, MSP supports not only our commercial wartime sealift, but is
absolutely essential to providing the labor pool of U.S. merchant mariners for
our organic fleet. This is a huge aspect of MSP. Given that the events of 9/11
have forever changed how we view the world, the absolute, unequivocal necessity
for U.S. mariners, ready and able to crew a guaranteed fleet of U.S. flagged
vessels in times of crisis, mandates MSP reauthorization.
Our latest assessment indicates a requirement range of 50-60 dry cargo
ships in MSP. This scenario driven assessment is based upon wartime requirements
resident in the Mobility Requirements Study (MRS-05), a study that is already 2
years old and predates the War On Terrorism. More specifically, MRS-05 requires
a U.S. Flag commercial container capacity of about 130 thousand Twenty-foot
Equivalent Units (TEUs) and 825 thousand square feet of roll- on/roll-off
capacity, assuming moderate risk, against a two major theater war (2 MTW)
scenario. This equates to approximately 50-60 ships required in MSP. The number
of ships is variable because the exact number needed is driven by size, speed,
capacity, and cycle time considerations which are largely scenario dependent. It
is possible that War on Terrorism scenarios, when factored into a future MRS-05
like baseline, could drive the aforementioned capacity requirements higher. From
a warfighting perspective, it is in USTRANSCOM's interest to maintain a mix of
dry cargo ships which optimize support for the multiple scenarios considered in
MRS-05 while meeting the most demanding requirement of the 2 MTW scenario.
We need MSP reauthorization soonest. Guaranteed access to
U.S. Flag shipping, the viability of the U.S. merchant mariner pool, and the
associated security requirements mandate MSP reauthorization. An improved,
long-term program, adequately funded, which provides stability for the
government and industry is the right approach from the warfighting perspective.
MSP reauthorization now is a national security imperative of the highest
magnitude. I thank you for your continuing service to our great nation and urge
your continued support for this crucial program.