THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604280087
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: The Military goes into Business
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
They look like Navy ships. They act like Navy ships. They are owned by the Department of Defense and serve the needs of U.S. warships at sea.
Their hulls are painted the same shade of gray, except for a blue and yellow stripe at the top of their exhaust stacks.
But they aren't Navy ships. These ships are manned mostly by civilian crews.
The Navy started manning its auxiliary ships with civilian crews in the 1970s to save money and free sailors for duty aboard its warships . The trend started slowly, but has accelerated in the past few years.
About 35 fleet-support ships operate under the Military Sealift Command, including oilers, ammunition ships and combat stores ships. The Sealift Command estimates that it saves the Navy about $8 million a year per ship by operating the auxiliary fleet with civilian crews.
``It's worked out very well for us,'' said Vice Admiral Philip M. Quast, commander of the Sealift Command. ``When you start looking at the costs you incur when you have people in uniform doing the job, it's extremely expensive.''
Civilian crewing reduces the number of people needed to run the ship due in large part to increased automation, Quast said. Civilian mariners are typically more experienced than the young Navy sailors they replace. A civilian-crewed fleet oiler numbers 86, while a similar Navy oiler needs 228 personnel, Quast said.
It also frees Navy sailors and officers for duties directly related to war fighting, he said.
A more civilian-like operation also gives the Navy a better handle on actual costs, Quast said.
``We're trying to make sure operational commanders are well aware of the cost of doing business,'' he said. ``You can't make a wise decision that will save costs unless you know what the cost savings are.''
The Military Sealift Command is even deploying a pair of civilian helicopters for six months on a combat stores ship in the Pacific Ocean to see if that can save money.
``I'm trying to get as much bang for the taxpayers' buck as I can in this business,'' Quast said, sounding more like a Wall Street businessman than an admiral.
In addition to the fleet auxiliary, the Military Sealift Command - which is part of the Pentagon's Transportation Command - oversees the Ready Reserve Force, the services' pre-positioned ships and special missions vessels such as surveillance and oceanographic ships.
The Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force is a mishmash of newly built oilers and tugs, former British Navy stores ships and Navy auxiliary vessels that have been transferred to it, mostly since 1993.
The recent transfers are the result of a 1990 study by the Center for Naval Analysis that showed that if all 42 of the Navy's shuttle support ships, tenders and salvage ships were transferred to the Sealift Command and civilian-crewed, the service would save about $400 million a year.
The transfer also would eliminate about 13,000 billets for uniformed sailors, the study said.
``Any logistics ship is fair game,'' Quast said. ``I'm trying to sell the Navy on that.''
For now the Navy is focusing on transferring its older combat stores ships and ammunition ships.
About 14 armed auxiliary vessels will either remain in the Navy's active fleet or be decommissioned.
Five Mars-class combat stores ships have been transferred to the Sealift Command since 1993, along with two of eight Kilauea-class ammunition ships. The other six are scheduled to come over two a year until 1998, said a Navy spokesperson who asked to remain anonymous.
Some of those transfers have benefited Norshipco, which has converted the stores ship Niagara Falls and is working on her sister ship the Concord and the ammunition ship Flint. The conversions increase the vessel's automation and improve the spartan crew's quarters. These contracts have meant more than $75 million for the yard and supported hundreds of jobs in the region.
The Military Sealift Command is relocating it Atlantic headquarters from Bayonne, N.J., to Hampton Roads, as well as its Sealift Command personnel center and the command of the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force-East. The moves will boost regional employment, not including ship's crews, to 400 from 60. All are looking at property in Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach, a spokeswoman said.
The moves are designed to put the Sealift Command closer to its ``customer,'' the Navy.
The annual savings from civilian-crewing average about $8 million a ship, but vary by ship type. For example the savings on an oiler are $5 million, but the savings on a stores ship are $11 million.
Besides needing fewer crew members, a civilian-crewed ship doesn't have to make port calls as frequently as a Navy ship to keep the crew's morale up, Quast said. ``Experienced civilian mariners like to be at sea and would just as soon read a book or watch a movie,'' he said.
Sealift Command ships also can be maintained on station longer than Navy ships, whose deployments are limited to six months, Quast said. The Sealift Command can rotate crews in and out as needed.
The ``civilianization'' of the Navy's auxiliary hasn't been easy. Quast admitted there was some skepticism about the effort, but both he and other officers have learned from experience that it works and can save money.
The tightening budget picture has both the Navy and the Military Sealift Command committed to the effort. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
FLEET MOVES IN
Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force:
14 Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers, including 5 home ported in
Hampton Roads
5 Mars-class combat stores ships, including the Concord and San
Diego home ported in Hampton Roads
3 ex-British Lyness-class combat stores ships, including the
Sirius and the Saturn home ported in
Hampton Roads
2 Kilauea-class ammunition ships, 6 others scheduled to be
transferred
2 Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships
7 ocean-going tugs, including 3 home ported in Hampton Roads
2 hospital ships, the Comfort and the Mercy
SOURCE: Military Sealift Command
KEYWORDS: MILITARY BUSINESS CIVILIAN CONTRACT
by CNB