Melinda S Woodhurst

Department of Defense Pre-Positioning Programs: A Springboard for Deployments Melinda S Woodhurst

Publisher Marketing: The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), asymmetrical warfare, and globalization spell uncertainty, and strategic responsiveness can be the key to winning our nations wars The US defense strategy requires pre-positioning posture to enable faster force closure and be more flexible; more expeditionary; more survivable against anti-access threats; more joint and supportive of emerging joint warfighting concepts; and consistent with new DOD basing initiatives. Since the mid-1970's, the Department of Defense has relied on military pre-positioning programs as a means to project combat power. The Army's pre-positioning program has three land (APS-2, APS-4, APS-5) and one set pre-positioned afloat (APS-3), containing five combat maneuver brigades and sustainment stocks. Marine Corps Maritime Pre-positioning Force (MPF) and the Maritime Pre-positioning Ship (MPS) Program contain three maritime preposition squadrons (MPSRONS) afloat, and a land-based pre-position assets in Norway (NALMEB). The Navy is a predominantly a forward-positioned, forward-deployed force, and pre-positions various classes of supply, logistics capabilities, combat engineering force equipment (SeaBees), and combat hospitals. The Air Force's pre-positions materiel as Starter Stocks, Swing Stocks, and as Stocks and Standard Air Munitions Packages (STAMP), consisting of five categories: Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources (BEAR) equipment, consumables, vehicles, and medical. The equipment content of these programs and the Services'; pre-positioning concepts are reflective of a Cold War strategy: a European-focused theater, engagement and forward basing, and conventional warfare against a predictable adversary. Post 9-11 events reflect a change from a predictable enemy to an unpredictable enemy, thus dictating the need for DOD to re-look how they employ their pre-positioning concepts. Predominantly, the pre-positioning concepts are service specific and lack joint integration, joint doctrine, and joint trainin