I don’t disagree…but the ships which made up the great white fleet were battleships with the primary purpose of defeating the greatest of warships of the time. China has deployed ONE hospital ship and as mentioned in the previous blog it is perfectly suited for a Taiwan invasion operation for their own use. This could be a good idea only if they had dual purposes for real use in likey contingencies. In this age of asymetrical warfare it might be interesting to hide a large VLS capabliity or Spec. Ops use although the lawyers would never allow it. What about painting some Burkes white and making a scene with existing ships? Or use the new CG offshore cutters and build more of the smaller, less expensive ships to have the presence for a fraction of the cost. It would be interesting to know just how much time the sailors of the Great White Fleet spent ashore doing the PR work.

Who’s budget is this PR stunt coming out of?

Chuck I don’t know if the OPC would be big enough? however I also don’t think that the USN has defined the GFS very well. Of course blue water sailors always want a warship~~ Being a sealifter, I have always assumed “long term prescence” requires endurance? In that area naval auxiliaries and sealift ships are best. You are right that a Flexdeck would help varying missions.

Here’s an idea. Take three (or six) used self unloading containerships. Fill them with containers filled with humanitarian assistance stuff (tents, food rations, blankets, etc.). Include lighterage. Deploy one each with the three MPS Squadrons (so they are prepositioned around the world). Now, when you need to do disaster assistance, you send a tailored package from the MPS squadron that is closest. Since each current MPS squadron can support a MEB, a SeeBee BN, an expeditionary airfield, and a Field Hospital for 30 days, if you add relief supplies, you have everything you need. Relatively inexpensive, adds additional capaciity to the MPS Squadrons that would be useful in wartime missions (dealing with NEO, IDPs, Refugees, etc) as well as Humanitarian Assistance, doesn’t require something new and doesn’t require any additional personnel (outside the few Merchant Mariners to run the ships). Fly (and/or use your nifty new catamaran ferries) to bring in the right people for your planned operations. Cheap, sensible, easy, and leverages existing capacity and organizations. And you don’t need to waste time, effort, or resources on a new “Great White Fleet”. You could paint the ship white if you wanted but I don’t see why, grey or black and tan works fine.