GAO Report on DoD Bulk Fuel

Complexities with DOD Bulk Fuel Process

The following is the June 22, 2023, Government Accountability Office Report, DoD Bulk Fuel: Improved Management over Transactions Could Lead to More Reliable Financial Reporting.

From the report

What GAO Found

The Department of Defense (DOD) is the U.S. government’s largest purchaser and consumer of bulk fuel, expenditures for which totaled $10.3 billion in fiscal year 2022. DOD’s fuel process is complex in that it includes a variety of process owners, stakeholders, locations, and systems and a...

https://news.usni.org/2023/06/27/gao-report-on-dod-bulk-fuel

U.S. Maritime Industry Needs Better Business Case to Offer More Support to DoD, Says Panel

MARAD Ready Reserve ships MV Cape Ray (T-AKR-9679), MV Cape Rise (T-AKR-9678) in port near Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on April 6, 2023. USNI News Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The U.S. commercial maritime industry needs more business incentives to make changes that support the Defense Department’s requirements for sea lift, an industry panel said this week.

“When industry needs to step up, industry can,” said Jeff Dixon, president of shipping support company Tote Services, said at the 2023 Sea...

https://news.usni.org/2023/04/07/u-s-maritime-industry-needs-better-business-case-to-offer-more-support-to-dod-says-panel

Former TRANSCOM commander is new port and supply chain envoy

Retired General Stephen R. Lyons, former commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, will be the new port and supply chain envoy to the Biden administration Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force.

General Lyons will take over the role from John D. Porcari and will work with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), the White House National Economic Council (NEC), ports, rail, trucking and other private companies across supply chains to continue to address bottlenecks and speed up the...

https://www.marinelog.com/inland-coastal/ports-terminals/former-transcom-commander-is-new-port-and-supply-chain-envoy/

Understanding Mars helps rocket cargo on Earth, military official says

A large rocket lifts off spewing huge cloud of exhaust filtering the sun

Development of spaceships that can operate in the Mars environment is providing lessons for scientists exploring rockets that could deliver cargo across the Earth in an hour, the new head of U.S. Transportation Command recently said.

USTRANSCOM is responsible for surface, maritime and air delivery of equipment and supplies for warfighters using a mix of military assets and industry partners. Rapid advances in technological capabilities are now spurring the military to investigate space...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/understanding-mars-helps-rocket-cargo-on-earth-military-official-says

TRANSCOM Commander: American Shipyards Need Revitalization to Help Modernize Military Sealift Command

PHILIPPINE SEA (Jan. 20, 2022) An AS332 Super Puma transports cargo from the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9) onto the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during a replenishment-at-sea. U.S. Navy Photo

Buying nine used cargo ships is a first step toward the much needed modernization of Military Sealift Command’s fleet, but the sealift enterprise requires the revitalization of American shipbuilding and yard maintenance to experience...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/04/transcom-commander-american-shipyards-need-revitalization-to-help-modernize-military-sealift-command

Threats to Merchant Ships Growing; Mariners Face Pirates, Lethal Drones

USS Lassen (DDG-82) escorts the merchant vessel Tomahawk through the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 18, 2019. US Navy Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Electronic spoofing, jammed communications and navigation systems, armed drone attacks and pirates are challenges American crews on U.S.- flagged ships in the Ready Reserve Force and Military Sealift Command already face, a panel of maritime experts said Wednesday.

Communications are especially vulnerable in MARAD’s fleet because those ships “rely on...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/05/threats-to-merchant-ships-growing-mariners-face-pirates-lethal-drones

NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan could further crimp airfreight supply

A giant nose-loading plane and a helicopter in front after being removed from the plane.

The diversion of large commercial jets to assist with the U.S. and NATO military withdrawal of troops and equipment from Afghanistan could create temporary transport shortages for companies seeking heavy airfreight capacity because freighters are already scarce, a regional manager for logistics provider Kuehne + Nagel said.

The Defense Department late Tuesday said the military drawdown from Afghanistan is nearly one-quarter complete thanks to airlift support from the Air Force and commercial...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nato-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-could-further-crimp-airfreight-supply

TRANSCOM Rethinking Sealift in Future Conflict for New Study

Expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) departs Naval Base Guam, passing the MSC expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) and marking the start of Pacific Partnership 2019. Navy photo

A military mobility study due out in June will place a greater emphasis on smaller, lower-draft vessels that will ferry supplies, troops and vehicles inside a theater, U.S. Transportation Command’s top general said on Tuesday.

The upcoming TRANSCOM Mobility Capability Study, the...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/25/transcom-rethinking-sealift-in-future-conflict-for-new-study

House Lawmakers Call For Long-Term Strategy For Sealift After Decades of Neglect

An undated photo of a Watson-class LMSR. MSC Photo

House lawmakers are calling on U.S. Transportation Command and the U.S. Maritime Administration to create a sealift strategy amid decades of concerns over the capacity of the sealift fleet.

During a joint hearing between the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee and readiness subcommittee on Tuesday, lawmakers criticized and expressed concern over the lack of a cohesive strategy to build up the sealift fleet.

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/19/house-lawmakers-call-for-long-term-strategy-for-sealift-after-decades-of-neglect

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