Posted on 01/28/2012 3:49:44 PM PST by blam
This New Commando 'Mothership' Is Being Rushed To The Middle East
Robert Johnson
January 28, 2012
The Pentagon is wasting no time in modifying its forces to meet the needs of a more specialized and commando-based military.
The Washington Post reports the Pentagon is fast-tracking the conversion of the 1960s warship USS Ponce to use as a "commando mothership" base for special forces teams in the Middle East.
The re-christened Ponce will hold small Combat Rubber Raiding Craft (Zodiac style boats), and helicopters routinely employed by the SEAL teams that are now becoming famous for their successful clandestine operations.
The news broke through Pentagon procurement documents, and though the Navy has refused to announce where the Ponce will be stationed, military paperwork suggest it will sail the Persian Gulf.
The fact that further documentation says the ship will "support mine countermeasure missions" fuels speculation that the Ponce will be used in the Strait of Hormuz should Iran follow through on its threats to try and shutter the waterway.
The commissioning of this new Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) could signal a return for the SEALs to maritime-focused missions after spending the last decade immersing themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Ponce will serve along with another AFSB previously stationed in the Gulf, the USS Cleveland.
While the Pentagon is wasting no time in getting the SEALs, and the Ponce, to wherever they're going, Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told FOX News that he denied the Post's claim that they were "moving with unusual haste" in refitting the Ponce.
"While this work is being done in an expeditious fashion," Kirby said, it is not accurate to surmise that this signals a rush to meet some urgent combat requirement."
The Navy SEALs were used this week to recover two
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Seems to be a lot of sabre rattling going on. Gotta wonder how it must feel to be a piece of good steel in the hand of a coward.
“Normally each of these 10 or so ships will carry a SEAL unit AND an entire Marine Battalion Landing team.”
USS Ponce - Troop Accommodations 72 Officers, 851 Enlisted
A Marine Battalion Landing Team has about 1100 men in the Infantry Battalion alone, not counting the Composite Helo Squadron, the Logistics unit, any attached Artillery, Armor or Amtrack units.
IIRC, A complete BLT used 3 or 4 ships to haul everyone & their equipment. Usually an LPH for the Squadron and one or two companies of grunts, an LSD for another company and an LPD for the 4th company of grunts. H&S Company was largely spread among the Rifle companies. Arty, Tanks and the rest were also spread around. They used to have an LPA for just troops - no helo spots or well deck - but these all went away in the early 1980’s.
I just don’t trust this administration and the people they are putting in charge of our warriors.
Why not station the Seals and Marines across the fleet instead of focusing them on one ship where we can loose them all at one time?
Sorry, after that chopper was downed with so many of our extremely valuable warriors, I am paranoid.
I had an old Captain that used to visit my shop. We talked a lot about the state of our Navy and about the damn Democrats scrapping the Nuclear powered cruisers that were able to keep up with our Nuclear Aircraft carriers without refueling at sea.
He definitely viewed their destruction as political and a horrible mistake.
IIRC, The Marines used to keep 2 or 3 BLTs out all the time. Med, WestPac and sometimes Caribbean or Indian Ocean.
BTW, there is another thread on this topic (USS Ponce) going here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2839239/posts
I’m not too crazy about the idea of putting all our top warriors on one boat in the Middle East.
Makes me think of all those ships and planes lined up in neat rows at Pearl Harbor which were easy to attack.
It is simply too tempting a target or am I missing something about the value of dispersal of assets.
We put all of BLT 1/3 on the USS Tarawa for more than one cruise. Plus air support.
Scattered among the other 4 ships in the group was about 400 more assault troops plus a bunch of supplies and administration.
40,000 tons. >900ft long and >200ft wide. Hell the flight desk was over 90ft above the waterline.
1,300 Marines and 900 sailors.
“I’m not too crazy about the idea of putting all our top warriors on one boat in the Middle East.”
Yeah, I remember the Marine Barracks in Beirut all too well.
If they really wanted to draw islamakazi flies they would turn an Israeli cruise ship named “Kiss our ass Mohammad” into a middle east killin machine.....
Here muzzie muzzie muzzie.......BANG !
Agreed....nuke powered ships are fast and cheaper to run, but they are really expensive to store after decomm.....
I personally think this is stupid on two counts...
One, you don’t tell the world what you are doing and where you are going to be stationing a bunch of special operatives.
Two, ALL ships can be sunk.
My fear is that Obama has just informed our enemies where they can launch their missles into. No matter what kind of training or how tough the Navy SEALS are, they aren’t supermen able to survive a massive missle attack.
That’s a great idea! Announce that korans are desecrated hourly aboard the ship, and invite all jihadis to collect 72 virgins.
Man, I’d love to get behind the wheel of that thing.
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Yes, yes, But could you parallel park it with a 20 knot breeze blowing on your quarter stern?
I am sure they have the names, addresses, names of family, complete bios on every member
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Ah the fond memories! While serving in Sinope, Turkey, a Russian sub surfaced and over its load hailer read off all the above info on every one at the site.
Imagine what a ride that must have been....for months.
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Hardship tours are all the same - awful. Then again, there were a few swabbies I worked with who claimed sea duty hardship tours were more endurable than land ones - the land ones were longer.
Not if you were an intel guy with need to know TS CW clearance on a self-designed special mission. HEH.
Correction: 1900 Marines and 900 Sailors.
Cool stuff but not necessary. Nukes with the guts to use them is whats needed. Pinprick surgical strikes just slow the moslums down but doesn’t stop them. It will get to the point where Iran will buy some “Davy Crockett type nukes” and then it will be too late. And today those things are really smaller than they were half a century ago.
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