Transportation Secretary praises strategic sealift.The Ready Reserve Force, which supported Operation Desert Storm Noun 1. Operation Desert Storm - the United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991) Gulf War, Persian Gulf War - a war fought between Iraq and a coalition led by the United States that freed Kuwait from Iraqi invaders; , stands ready to aid America's War on Terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act . That was the message of Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta in a speech commemorating the 25th anniversary of the reserve fleet. "The Ready Reserve Force remains ever at the ready to support rapid, massive movement of military supplies and troops anywhere in the world," said Mineta, at a ceremony in Baltimore aboard the M/V M/V Motor Vehicles M/V Motor Vessel M/V Merchant Vessel Cape Wrath. "This readiness would not be possible without the support of a strong public-private partnership Public-private partnership (PPP) describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP or P3. between government, industry and labor." The Maritime Administration, under the U.S. Department of Transportation, maintains a current force of 76 standby ships. The Administration was created in 1976 to meet surge-shipping requirements for the Department of Defense. Speakers at the Oct. 18 ceremony praised the government-industry-labor partnership that supports the Ready Reserve Force. "The Ready Reserve Force is a high-value sealift sea·lift tr.v. sea·lift·ed, sea·lift·ing, sea·lifts To transport (troops or supplies) by sea, as when ground or air routes are blocked. n. A system or an instance of such transport. capability," said Rear Adm. David Brewer This article is about the businessman and Lord Mayor of London; for the American jurist, see David Josiah Brewer Sir David Brewer CMG (born 1940) was Lord Mayor of London between 2005 and 2006. , Commander, Military Sealift Command A major command of the US Navy, and the US Transportation Command's component command responsible for designated common-user sealift transportation services to deploy, employ, sustain, and redeploy US forces on a global basis. Also called MSC. See also transportation component command. . "It helps us meet our rapid response needs." Ultimately responsible for Department of Defense transportation efforts, U.S. Transportation Command relies heavily of the fleet's capability. "The success of the Ready Reserve Force rests squarely on the shoulders of the Maritime Administration," said Rear Admiral Ed Fahy, Transportation Command's Director of Plans and Policy. "Using the best practices of the commercial shipping industry, the employees of the Ready Reserve Force are ready to meet the needs of Department of Defense sealift requirements," said Fahy. Ready Reserve Force vessels were a key part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, employing 72 of its ships in the effort between 1990 to 1991. "We pushed a steel bridge to the Middle East," said Brewer. "We must never, ever burn that bridge." Originally scheduled for Sept. 14, the commemoration was rescheduled because of the terrorist incidents of Sept. 11, said Acting Deputy Maritime Administrator Bruce Carlton. |
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