JOINT BASE CHARLESTON –
When the National Command Authority needed combat power during Operation Iraqi Freedom, it called upon the Army Strategic Logistics Activity Charleston. Joint Base Charleston supports a national strategic asset sitting tucked away at the north end of the Weapons Station quietly going about its' mission seemingly unnoticed.
In 1993, the Deputy Secretary of Defense directed that the Army develop a strategy to preposition Army equipment on Navy ships and have it ready for hand-off to units in a theater of operations. The concept of providing leaders quick deployment mission flexibility while waiting for support from the industrial base was a need the Army recognized after the first Gulf War. Thus, Army Prepositioned Stocks Afloat, or APS-3, was formed.
ASLAC officially stood up in October 1995 to provide oversight, management, and support related to APS-3. Together, teams of 51 civilian, 10 military, and more than 550 contractor personnel operate support facilities to maintain, modify, store, load the equipment and supplies, and keep them at their highest readiness state possible.
A typical maintenance cycle begins with the download of the cargo from the Large, Medium Speed, Roll-On, Roll-Off ships at Joint Base Charleston Naval Weapons Station Wharf Alpha. From there, ASLAC's operating contractor, Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc, convoys the cargo to its maintenance site approximately nine miles north to the former Polaris Missile Facility Atlantic area. All cargo is inspected, road tested, serviced, and repaired as necessary to meet Army standard. In addition, thousands of pieces of sets, kits, and outfits are processed, packaged and stored onto the backs of cargo carriers or loaded into containers. The Army has continually been upgrading APS-3 stocks to the modernized stocks used by active units today as well as to the up-armored configuration, a process which also occurs during the maintenance cycle. Finally, the cargo is labeled for accountability and convoyed back to Wharf Alpha in time for upload. This entire maintenance cycle process takes place within a 109 calendar-day window.
In addition to the cargo vessels, ASLAC also manages and oversees the maintenance cycles of two ammunition supply container vessels. Each vessel holds approximately 2,300 containers of various types of ammunition. Every year, one of the two vessels is brought in for maintenance at the Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point, NC, where the ammunition is upgraded to meet changing requirements, inspected for serviceability, and restocked as necessary before reloading into containers. As with the tactical cargo, the containers are labeled for accountability before uploading. This maintenance cycle process takes place within a 90 calendar-day window.
The Army's 2015 Strategy includes two Infantry Brigade Combat Teams and two Support Brigades stowed across 9 LMSRs, along with the two Munitions Container Ships. Once deployed to its area of responsibility, each LMSR remains afloat for approximately 36 months before returning to ASLAC for maintenance. The vessels are deployed to either the Indian Ocean or the Pacific region for the duration of the afloat period unless called upon for a national contingency.
The ASLAC currently has three LMSRs afloat. One carries a Theater Opening, Port Opening Package, and two are carrying an Infantry Brigade Combat Team set. In addition, the two ammunition vessels are positioned in their area of responsibility. ASLAC is currently preparing equipment for its next mission, a Support Brigade, which will upload in May and Sep 2011.
APS-3 is a key component of the DoD's strategic mobility triad that includes sealift, airlift, and prepositioning. The ability to provide equipment wherever needed reduces the deployment response time for gaining tactical units conducting critical contingency operations throughout the world.