The national president of the Navy League of the United States recently called for presidential action to further strengthen the U.S. Merchant Marine and stated that a vibrant U.S.-flag fleet is vital to America.
Writing in the Navy League’s latest annual Seapower Almanac, John A. Panneton, a decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, said that a “strong U.S.-flag Merchant Marine is essential to support the defense of our nation and our economic security in the 21st century.”
Speaking of all U.S. sea services, Panneton likened current conditions to the pre-Katrina days in New Orleans. “The primary lesson arising from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and other recent disasters is that we must not wait until tragedy strikes to refurbish and maintain the nation’s critical infrastructures,” he observed, adding that the federal government must avoid similar pitfalls when it comes to maintaining sufficient U.S. tonnage.
Panneton continued, “During a conflict, 95 percent of the equipment and supplies required to deploy the U.S. armed forces overseas are delivered by ship. U.S.-flag commercial and government-owned vessels, manned by U.S. citizen mariners, played an indispensable role in providing strategic sealift for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and in the continuing Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sea Power 21, the Navy’s strategic vision of the future, underscores the need for a robust logistics force and commercial sealift capability to support and sustain Special Operations Forces, maritime coalition forces and additional expeditionary strike groups. A variety of commercial maritime vessels, in-stream cargo handling systems and high-speed connector vessels also will be needed.”
Underscoring the organization’s belief in U.S. mariners, Panneton wrote, “Our call for White House intervention to bolster the Merchant Marine is a central element of the Navy League’s Maritime Policy for 2006-07. The underlying purpose of our policy is to establish the basis for Navy League support of the sea services’ mission success. The Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine are beset by rising expectations of performance and diminishing resources. Personnel and equipment are being driven to extremes as the sea services continue to prosecute the global war on terrorism in the Middle East and Southeast Asia while vastly increasing their humanitarian operations around the globe, from tsunami relief in Southeast Asia to hurricane relief on the U.S. Gulf Coast and earthquake relief in Pakistan.
“Accordingly, the Navy League Maritime Policy for 2006-07 concludes that the sea services are stretched to the point where they can no longer do more with less. The nation must provide the funding for the reconstitution and modernization of its forces, and avoid the specter of failure that lies on our horizon.”
He concluded, “Providing for the future is not easy or cheap, but it is essential. Each day, the people of our nation ask sailors, Marines, Coast Guard personnel and merchant mariners to go into harm’s way to protect their interests. We are obliged to hold ourselves accountable, and provide them with the resources to survive and prevail.”
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