No, no, no - I haven't lost my cotton-pickin' mind. Hear me out on this one.

Let's recap what the plan was for those in the backseats.

POTATUS used the time he spent shrieking during what was billed as a "State of the Union" to drop the little bombshell that he was directing United States assets - read that as our military - to build a "floating pier" off of Gaza for humanitarian relief. That declaration was immediately followed by a blatant lie about "no US boots" would be "on the ground" as part of this evolution. Anyone with half a brain hearing this - which, in fairness, automatically excludes POTATUS - knew it was an impossibility to build such a thing WITHOUT "boots on the ground." 

US forces will build a temporary dock on the Gaza shoreline to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians.

...“Tonight, I’m directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” the president said.

He promised “no US boots will be on the ground”, and said: “This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”

Those same rational types also realized that it would put any American personnel on or offshore directly in harm's way, like rubber ducks in a carnival tub for the taking.

That was my main problem with potentially yet another administration-orchestrated snafu where only our military paid the price for their supreme incompetence and indifference to risk. I will admit to voicing boisterous and vociferous objections at every opportunity.

The same objections were raised in quarters where one didn't normally read such things, like the Washington Post. Concerns were raised repeatedly that this plan was too fundamentally unsound and deliberately cavalier with the military's safety. Abbey Gate will always remain fresh in so many minds. 

What about ROE (Rules of Engagement)? Would our troops be allowed to defend themselves? So many questions, so little confidence in competent - or truthful - answers.

The Biden administration’s plan to install a floating pier off the Gaza coast as part of a broad international initiative to feed starving Palestinians will endanger the U.S. service members who must build, operate and defend the structure from attack, military experts say, a risk with enormous political consequences for the president should calamity strike.

...Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, Centcom’s top commander, also sought to reassure lawmakers in congressional hearings earlier in March. But “strong reservations” remain, said Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking Republican, and other GOP senators in a letter to Biden last week.

“We are gravely concerned,” they wrote to the White House, “that the Defense Department has given too little consideration to the likelihood that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other U.S.-designated terrorist organizations operating in Gaza would attempt to attack the U.S. personnel that will be deployed to this mission.”

...Jerry Hendrix, a retired naval officer and senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute, asserted that no matter what security is put in place, the causeway will be “highly vulnerable.” He called the plan “stupid.”

“There’s so much downside risk on this for what I think is relatively small upside in terms of potential to relieve the supply shortage and food shortage in the area,” Hendrix said, arguing that the delivery of more food over land routes is “the only method that brings a noticeable change to the Palestinian condition.”

...Kennedy, the retired Marine general, recalled the aftermath of a typhoon that hit the Philippines in 2013. As U.S. forces deployed there to assist, he was concerned that Abu Sayyaf, a militant group there, would launch attacks on the Americans.

U.S. forces were not allowed to bring weapons on the deployment, he said, so he asked the Philippine government to position snipers nearby and had U.S. Marines work alongside them as observers.

“You’ve been entrusted with the lives of fellow citizens, and the children of fellow citizens, so your first obligation is force protection,” Kennedy said. “You have to ensure that your troops are safeguarded.”

Each day that U.S. forces remain involved is a day that they could come under attack, he assessed.

“There’s a point of diminishing returns, right?” Kennedy said. “They need to build that thing as quickly as possible, turn it over to any competent civilian authority — and get the hell out of there.”

Undaunted by any sense of concern, they set the plan in motion, and the specialized ships needed to perform this miracle at sea got underway. 

As my good friend CDR Salamander explained in his post on this, the surprise to many was that it wasn't going to be a Navy operation at all. 

This would be an Army show (great ship graphic at his link, too).

...Ships are already underway;

The U.S. Army has dispatched a ship to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday, days after President Joe Biden vowed to build a temporary pier to supply the besieged enclave.

The General Frank S. Besson left Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia "less than 36 hours after President Biden announced the U.S. would provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea," CENTCOM said in a statement.

It will take a few weeks to make the transit from Virginia to the eastern Mediterranean. The 37-year old Besson can’t even break 12-knots fully loaded.

…and yes my friends - the Army has its own navy. Let’s take a quick look at the Besson. 

Yep’r, that 243 foot, 4,200 ton ship is commanded by … a Warrant Officer. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Salamander's worries over the plan's particulars were a mirror of my own, only, thanks to his extensive naval background, tempered with knowledge I had no inkling of. Namely, the condition of those aging vessels and some recent contractions pointing to trouble on the horizon for Biden's big beach plans.

...This will take about 1,000 personnel to accomplish. I don’t know a single maritime professional who thinks this is a good idea given the location and conditions ashore, but orders are orders. Make the best attempt you can.

An interesting note; this is not a Navy operation, but an Army operation. Remember what I told you about the fate of the East Coast Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO (ACB2) last summer? This story aligns well with the Anglosphere’s problem with seablindness we discussed on yesterday’s Midrats with James Smith.

The Navy's East Coast Amphibious Construction Battalion (you'd probably recognize them as SEABEES) Salamander references stood down on March 2. It's gone. There's only ACB1 left, and where?

The West Coast.

Starting to see a problem yet?

The Navy said it would be sending ACB1 along with its own group of logistics ships to the Mediterranean to assist the Army vessels and personnel.

The Navy will deploy a host of logistics vessels and around 260 sailors to help operate the pier system being spearheaded by the Army to provide millions of meals and supplies to the Gaza Strip. Many Gaza residents are starving as Israel lays siege to the region after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israeli settlements.

...Along with the components of the floating dock -- also known as a "roll-on/roll-off facility" -- the Lopez and the Bobo will carry three ferries that act as motorized barges and other small boats to move people around between the two ships.

"That will all be loaded on the East Coast," the official said.

In addition to sailors from the San-Diego based Naval Beach Group 1, others from the Navy's Cargo Handling Battalion at Fort Story, Virginia, will also join the expedition, the official said.

The details come just over a week after a second wave of four Army ships left a base near Norfolk, Virginia, to begin their monthlong journey to the waters off Gaza with components for the land-based pier.

That was March 20th. It's now 18 April. Where is everyone?

Things didn't go so well for the USNS Button [Beege update: Button not slated for Gaza] and USNS Bobo (mentioned above). 

Two ships of the same class from @MSCSealift experienced engine room fires.

USNS #Button was on sea trail after a shipyard period in Mobile and suffered a fire that resulted in flooding the engine room with CO2.

USNS #Bobo was sailing to Gaza when the ship turned around and… https://t.co/E8qMLJ6z86 pic.twitter.com/h371kSSK8r

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) April 17, 2024

Well...that's not helpful. The Navy's not exactly covering themselves in glory here.

How about those Army boats, though? Surely they're still out there chuggi...OH.

So, this is where the effort stands right now. Boats are broken and scattered all over the Atlantic; a couple have limped back into ports, and a few have even made it as far as Naval Base Souda, Greece, for staging to maybe actually get to Gaza.

The ragtag little US build-a-pier fleet now faces new problems thanks to the reduced number of ships, personnel, and experience going into treacherous waters.

...According to the officer, the delays of the Bobo and the smaller Army ships mean "they're going to have a lot fewer pieces to work with as far as building the actual pier."

"The other rub point ... is security arrangements," the officer said, noting that "these boats have next to no security."

"You've got a couple of .50 cals and small arms ... and the vessel masters are not taught maritime tactics," the officer explained.

When asked about the safety of the vessels, Ryder told reporters Tuesday that there will be "some Israeli support when it comes to the maritime aspect of security" and noted that the Navy's 6th Fleet has "capabilities there as well."

The Army's pretty good-sized navy has been subject to utter neglect for years. The miserable condition of their boats is now suddenly front and center of a truly perilous situation, made even worse by the fact that some of them are unable to reach the objective, much less complete it.

 Back in 2018, a retired Army warrant wrote a scathing article, begging for someone to wake up and "Save the Army's navy."

Many Americans—including many people within the Department of Defense—do not know that the U.S. Army has a large “navy.” It is called Army watercraft, and within this field are about 300 vessels and 2000 soldiers with the specific 880 and 881 military occupational skill (MOS). Army vessels range in size from 75-foot small tugs (STs) to 315-foot logistic support vessels (LSVs) in active and reserve service. Army warrant officers and soldiers man these vessels, with an LSV crew consisting of 8 officers and 27 soldiers. Small tugs operate mainly in harbors and roadsteads, LSVs and 128-foot large tugs (LTs) operate worldwide and are designed and equipped to undertake ocean crossings. Annually the Army commits $120 million dollars to maintain its waterborne capability. (Photo caption: USAV Matamoros (LCU-2026) conducting beach operations at Isla Caja de Muertos, Puerto Rico, in 2014. Credit: author.) 

The Army watercraft community faces a crisis, though many within the community may be in denial. Its vessels are not well maintained, it cannot staff full crews, it struggles to meet missions, suffers from embarrassing accidents (which are hidden from public view), and it does not provide what could be a valuable tool or resource for many current and future national challenges. During recent humanitarian and military operations Army watercraft have not been used, or severely under used.

One of those "future challenges" he wrote about is here, now. And they are failing. 

And the litany of shortcomings and neglect causing these failures are the exact same.

...Sal Mercogliano, an academic and shipping expert, noted to Military.com on Wednesday that one of the Army Landing Craft Utility ships, the Wilson Wharf, seems to be stuck in Tenerife -- a small island that is part of the Canary Islands cluster off the west coast of Africa. Plus, the Army's Logistics Support Vessel General Frank S. Besson spent a week in the Azores before finally making it to the Navy's base at Souda Bay in Greece.

Mercogliano said such a long stay may indicate the ship had an engineering issue.

A retired Army chief warrant officer who has significant experience in the Army's watercraft community also told Military.com in an interview Wednesday that "if those boats don't have multiple major mechanical failures -- I mean 'dead in the water' mechanical failures -- I will be shocked."

"They're horrendously maintained. I've got videos of these things falling apart," the retired officer added.

Last October I wrote about the potentially catastrophic state of our country's maritime support system, the U.S. Maritime Support Fleet. Biden has someone in charge right now they mockingly refer to as "The Ghost Admiral." We have already lost the capacity to mobilize a tanker fleet to fuel our naval vessels at sea in event of a large scale conflict.

CDR Salamander, along with other experienced naval and maritime observers, have been raising alarms for years about the state of readiness of our vessels, and the shrunken posture of our force. You cannot continue to carve and carve away and still expect there to be meat on bones or good morale in overtaxed, understaffed, over-deployed ships companies.

We've all been railing against the money wasted on high-tech, whizbang boondoggles instead of maintaining a healthy, viable, lethal fleet (looking at YOU, LCS class).

What this exercise attempting to cross the Atlantic has proven is that we may not need tankers. Our poorly maintained and continually neglected naval vessels, be they Navy or Army, may not be capable of making it to the conflict to begin with.

If someone watching this circus unfold wakes the hell up realizing we are in one hell of a self-inflicted hurt locker and starts to yank chains to immediately effect change?

Then, this crackpot pier idea will be that blessing in disguise.

The Chinese are watching and counting every single fire, and every boat that can't make it on time.

And laughing their wontons off.