Sheila M. McNeill, national president of the Navy League of the United States, offered strong support for the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) in a recent editorial.Writing in the Navy League’s monthly magazine, SEAPOWER, McNeill described the RRF as “a major element of our successes in recent conflicts.” She also suggested that the RRF “could have a broader role as a multipurpose national asset able to serve additional agencies with a variety of missions.”
Created in 1976, the RRF is a key element of U.S. strategic sealift, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. The 59-vessel fleet “is specifically structured to transport Army and Marine Corps unit equipment and initial resupply for forces deploying anywhere in the world during the critical period before adequate numbers of commercially available ships can be marshaled,” the agency noted.
In her column, McNeill said the RRF “is the nation’s premier sealift readiness program…. The successful operation of the RRF is a joint effort by government agencies and industry. The program is managed by the Maritime Administration to fulfill the requirements of the U.S. Transportation Command. The ships are operated by commercial companies and crewed by civilian merchant mariners. When activated, they fall under the operational control of the Military Sealift Command (MSC).
“That complex structure is no barrier to success for the RRF ships, which met or exceeded most operational goals during Iraqi Freedom,” McNeill continued. “The RRF in 2004 has met its goal of 100 percent on-time activation, for example, and exceeded the goal that 95 percent of ships be fully capable while working for the MSC. The RRF’s achievement: 99 percent.”
She pointed out that the program is funded by the Navy and therefore faces “tremendous competition for Navy funds. That makes a multi-agency assessment all the more vital. The RRF was created long before 9/11 as a Defense Department resource. It comprises highly capable ships worth billions of dollars. They could be used in a variety of innovative ways to improve the security of the United States during a terrorist alert, an actual attack or in the event of a natural disaster. For example, the Department of Homeland Security might utilize some as medical platforms for triage or emergency care should there be another attack or disaster on the scale of 9/11.”
As an example, McNeill pointed out that the RRF includes 10 crane ships “with unique capabilities.” They could be used to augment Homeland Security efforts “to search suspect ships at sea or in a remote anchorage having no shoreside facilities. A crane ship and companion barge carrier could come alongside, offload some containers and move others, facilitating a rapid and effective search of the huge container ships that ply the world’s oceans.”
She concluded, “The feasibility of this approach should be carefully assessed by the Maritime Administration and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security before the RRF is diminished further and its valuable assets are lost to the nation.”
The Navy League is the self-described “only civilian organization dedicated to supporting the sea services – the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S.-Flag Merchant Marine.”
McNeill is the first woman to serve as president of the organization, which was founded in 1902. She was elected in 2003 and has been a member since 1966.
Her official bio notes that she has served “at every leadership level including president of the Camden-Kings Bay Council, Georgia state president and region president for the South Atlantic Coast Region. Most recently, McNeill served as a national vice president responsible for the organization’s legislative affairs activities. While serving in that position, she aggressively sought support on Capitol Hill and made educating congressional members about the sea services her top priority.”
Printer Friendly Page