View print version all PM3 ship pages

Prepositioning Ships

Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program is an essential element in the U.S. military's readiness strategy. Afloat prepositioning strategically places military equipment and supplies board ships located in key ocean areas to ensure rapid availability during a major theater war, a humanitarian operation or other contingency. MSC's 30 prepositioning ships support the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Defense Logistics Agency.

Prepositioning ships provide quick and efficient movement of military gear between operating areas without reliance on other nations' transportation networks. These ships give U.S. war fighters, who are flown into a theater of operations, the assurance that they will have what they need to quickly respond in a crisis - anywhere, anytime.

Most of MSC's prepositioning ships are able to discharge cargo pierside or while anchored offshore by using shallow-draft barges, called lighterage, that are carried aboard. This allows cargo to be ferried to shore in areas where ports are non-existent or in poor condition and gives the nation's military forces the ability to operate in both developed and undeveloped areas of the world.

Prepositioning ships include a combination of U.S. government-owned ships, chartered U.S.- flagged ships and ships activated from the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force. All prepositioning ships are crewed by U.S. civilian mariners who work for ship operating companies under contract to the federal government.

While most active ships in MSC's Prepositioning Program strategically place combat gear at sea, there are other ships, including:

• Two high-speed vessels that transport Marines, their combat vehicles and their associated gear in and around the Far East;
• A chartered offshore petroleum distribution system ship that can pump fuel to shore from a tanker anchored up to eight miles offshore; and
• Two aviation logistics support ships that are activated as needed from reduced operating status to provide at-sea maintenance for Marine Corps fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

• CAPT STEVEN L. BENNETT, MV
• 2ND LT JOHN P. BOBO, USNS
• SGT WILLIAM R. BUTTON, USNS
• SSG EDWARD A. CARTER, JR., MV
• TSGT JOHN A. CHAPMAN, MV
• CHARLTON, USNS
• CURTISS, SS -- SS Curtiss is part of the RRF, but is dedicated to USMC aviation logistics support under the Prepositioning Program.
• DAHL, USNS
• LAWRENCE H. GIANELLA, USNS
• SGT MATEJ KOCAK, USNS
• 1ST LT BALDOMERO LOPEZ, USNS
• 1ST LT JACK LUMMUS, USNS
• 1ST LT HARRY L. MARTIN, USNS
• PFC EUGENE A. OBREGON, USNS
• LTC JOHN U. D. PAGE, MV
• MAJ STEPHEN W. PLESS, USNS
• POMEROY, USNS
• RED CLOUD, USNS
• SEAY, USNS
• SISLER, USNS
• SODERMAN, USNS
• GYSGT FRED W. STOCKHAM, USNS
• SWIFT, HSV 2
• WATKINS, USNS
• WATSON, USNS
• WESTPAC EXPRESS, MV
• LCPL ROY M. WHEAT, USNS
• VADM K. R. WHEELER, USNS
• PFC DEWAYNE T. WILLIAMS, USNS
• WRIGHT, SS -- SS Wright is part of the RRF, but is dedicated to USMC aviation logistics support.