Ships/Navy: Ready reserve force (RRF)

Sea Power, Jan 1999

BRIEFING: Established in 1976 by a memorandum of agreement between the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installations and Logistics) and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Maritime Affairs, the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) adds significantly to the Navy's overall sealift capability. The arrangement ensures U.S. armed forces the availability of a combination of sealift platforms-including roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) ships, aviation support ships, breakbulk ships, heavy-lift ships, crane ships, troop ships, and tankers. Maintained by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), the RRF ships are exercised routinely to ensure readiness and the ability to meet set activation time periods.

The January 1992 Mobility Requirements Study and the Gulf War sealift experience encouraged Department of Defense and MARAD collaboration on several initiatives to enhance RRF readiness. Ships in the RRF are retained in two levels of readiness. The ships in four- and five-day readiness status are designated as being in "Reduced Operating Status" (ROS). These ships retain cadre crews of 10 and 9 personnel, respectively, which enables timely arrival at load ports and the fulfillment of surge lift requirements. The ROS ships are based at ports located on the West, East, and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

Ships kept in 10-day or 20-day readiness status are not designated as ROS vessels, and remain at one of MARAD's three reserve fleet anchorages. Ten-day ships undergo systematic full-power sea trials every 24 months; twenty-day ships go through full-power sea trials every 60 months, complemented with mid-period dock trials.

The importance of the RRF was demonstrated clearly during the Persian Gulf War when 83 percent of the RRF, ultimately, was activated to transport cargo to the theater of operations. That effort also required the charter of an additional 170 foreign-flag ships, and a sizable number of U.S.-flag ships, to meet the total sealift commitment. To ensure sufficient funding for these critical surge assets, RRF appropriations come from the Navy's National Defense Sealift Fund. The RRF is maintained in accordance with an August 1997 DODDOT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In the more than 60 no-notice activations carried out since the Gulf War, all activated ships were available, with one exception. within their assigned readiness times.

RRF ships continually deploy around the world for DOD exercises and in response to emergency sealift needs. By the end of fiscal year 1998, the RRF had 31 RO/ROs and 60 other ships on its roster. The United States has a validated surge sealift requirement of 10 million square feet. Although the present combination of large medium-speed RO/RO ships, fast sealift ships, and RRF ships still leaves a shortfall of 550,000 square feet, the addition of spar decks to the RO/RO ships will minimize the deficiency.