Set adrift: Marines' plans to deploy bases at sea faces rough waters.

• Author: Johnson, Kimberly
• Position: Amphibious Warfare

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In preparation for the unpredictable battlefield of the future, the Marine Corps is banking on at least one constant: the sea.

The Corps is anchoring its plans on the deployment of "sea bases" that would allow Marines to launch large-scale operations even if they are denied rights to position troops on foreign soil.

Both the Marines and the Navy for years have endorsed the notion of building a sophisticated family of ships that would serve as floating bases for ground troops. The Navy's support is essential to the Marines because their plan is tied to a multi-billion dollar effort to build a mix of troop-carrying, Warehousing and amphibious assault vessels.

But the Navy and the Corps have been at odds about the intended use of these ships. The Marines want the sea base to include helicopter-carrier amphibious assault ships, while the Navy has endorsed a less expensive concept that allows for amphibious assault ships to be interchangeable with troop-transport vessels.

In recent months, both services have been criticized for failing to come up with a unified vision for how to go about building and deploying the futuristic sea bases. The Navy, in particular, has come under political fire from Capitol Hill for delaying the construction of some of the new ships that the Marines have requested.

Marines today operate a less ambitious version of a sea base, which is called "maritime pre-positioning force"--a floating warehouse of combat supplies. The MPF is based in strategic hotspots, such as the Indian and Mediterranean Oceans and the Persian Gulf, in order to outfit assault troops on short notice.

Three MPF squadrons are always on standby, with enough equipment to outfit a Marine expeditionary brigade. The sets include everything from tents to heavy gem, such as bulldozers, tanks and medium and heavy-lilt trucks, as well as enough food and ammunition to sustain up to 45,000 Marines for 30 days.

The equipment list includes both combat gear and other supplies that potentially would be needed for disaster relief, said Maj. Rob Meade, a Marine MPF officer.

The equipment is spread out over the three squadrons flotilla of 16 ships that are operated under long-term leases. During the next three years, however, five older Maersk-operated ships will be decommissioned. They will be replaced by three new large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ships and two swing support ships. A container ship and fuel tanker will be added to the fleet by 2011, Meade said.

The first of the so-called T-AKE dry cargo/ammunition ships is expected in 2012, with two others coming later, Meade said.

The new roll-on/roll-off ships are bigger--about the size of three Maersk-class ships--which will help to accommodate heavier-than-expected armored vehicles, Meade said.

Keeping equipment at the ready doesn't come cheap. The current pre-positioned fleet currently face annual...