Military Sealift Command
Military Sealift Command is organized around five programs:
As of June 2013, Military Sealift Command operated around 110 ships (full list of ships ->
Military Sealift Command Ship Inventory ) and employed 9,800 people (88% of whom are civilians).
Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force
The Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force is the part of the MSC most associated with directly supporting the Navy. In 1972, a study concluded that it would be cheaper for civilians to man USN support vessels such as tankers and stores ships. The NFAF is the American equivalent of the British
Royal Fleet Auxiliary. These MSC ships are painted haze gray (except for the hospital ships
USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and
USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) which are painted white) and can be easily identified by the blue and gold horizontal bands around the top of their central smokestack.
NFAF Ship Types
Special Missions Program
Military Sealift Command's Special Mission Program controls 24 ships that provide operating platforms and services for unique US Military and federal government missions. Oceanographic and hydrographic surveys, underwater surveillance, missile flight data collection and tracking, acoustic research and submarine support are among the specialized services this program supports. Special mission ships work for several different US Navy customers, including the
Naval Sea Systems Command and the Oceanographer of the Navy. These ships like those of the NFAF are painted haze gray with blue and gold stack bands.
Special Mission Ship Types
Includes
Sea-based X-band Radar and
MV C Champion.
Prepositioning Program
Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program is an element in the US's triad of
power projection into the 21st century—sea shield, sea strike and sea basing. As a key element of sea basing, afloat prepositioning provides the military equipment and supplies for a contingency forward deployed in key ocean areas before need. The MSC Prepositioning Program supports the US Army, Navy,
Air Force and
Marine Corps and the
Defense Logistics Agency. Prepositioning ships remain at sea, ready to deploy on short-notice the vital equipment, fuel and supplies to initially support military forces in the event of a contingency. The Prepositioning Program consists of 34 at-sea ships plus 2 aviation support ships kept in reduced operating status. These ships wear civilian livery, and are only designated "USNS" if government-owned; those chartered from civilian owners are either "SS" or "MV".
Prepositioning Program Ship Types
Sealift Program
The mission of the Sealift Program is to provide ocean transportation to the Department of Defense by meeting its sealift requirements in peace, contingency, and war with quality, efficient cost effective assets and centralized management. This is achieved through the use of commercial charter vessels,
Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off ships, and the
Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force, including the eight former MSC
fast sealift ships. Sealift is divided into three separate project offices: Tanker Project Office, Dry Cargo Project Office and the Surge Project Office.
Sealift Program Ship Types
