The US may not be sufficiently prepared to carry out long-range missions using US Army watercraft of the type that were used in the Gaza pier operation.
That operation took place in the spring of 2024 and is now judged to have been largely a failure. “US Army boats, which carried out the temporary Gaza pier mission earlier this year, are poorly maintained and largely unprepared to meet the military’s growing mission in the Pacific, a new government oversight report said this week,” CNN reported this week.
The report is based on a Government Accountability Office report that found many problems with the US Army watercraft.
This could affect US operations in the Pacific, where these vessels are needed for possible missions. The Gaza pier operation could be seen as an important learning curve, which has exposed the many problems associated with this fleet of small boats.
How this all began
In March, the White House wanted to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A stampede occurred in February that killed numerous people who were seeking food aid on trucks.
The US decided to mobilize a number of ships from the US Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade of the 18th Airborne Corps.
The ships are part of a US Army capability called Joint Logistics Over the Shore, or JLOTS. It’s supposed to be able to set up temporary piers and provide support in various ways in marine littoral environments.
In mid-March, the ships departed Fort Eustis in Virginia. They included the USAV James A. Loux, USAV Montorrey, USAV Matamoros, and USAV Wilson Wharf.
The USAV Matamoros and USAV Monterrey are Runnymede-class large landing craft, around 147 feet long, and the General Frank S. Besson, which is slightly larger, is a logistics support vessel (LSV).
The ships crossed the Atlantic, and after about a month, they arrived in Crete at a naval base. Then, they made their way to Cyprus and the coast of Gaza. One of the ships was left behind off the coast of Africa.
The CNN report noted that “despite Army policy requiring the vessels to be at least 90% mission capable rate — meaning the vessels are ready to perform their mission — the boats currently have a less than 40% capable rate this year.
Overall, the fleet of watercraft has dropped by nearly half since 2018, going from 134 vessels to 70 as of May this year, partly due to divestment of vessels in 2018 and 2019.”
Despite being fewer than in the past, the fleet of vessels is still not ready for many missions. “Army boats have not been ready, capable, or in a mindset they’ll have to do something dangerous or in the real world … for decades now,” a retired warrant officer and former chief engineer on Army watercraft told CNN.
The fleet of vessels have not arrived back in the US, months after the pier was dismantled in July. The pier had not delivered much aid and had been operation for only a few weeks, after it suffered damage in a small storm.
It was discovered the pier could not handle sea conditions over a meter swell, which is not that much of a swell. During the mission, one of the accompanying vessels ran aground on a beach near Ashdod and had to be towed off by the Matamoros.
Where the vessels are today
According to vessel tracking websites, the Wilson Wharf, Matamoros, and Monterrey are apparently in Cadiz. The website Marine Traffic indicates that General Frank S. Besson is back in the US.
The CNN report shows that these aging vessels could be replaced with “autonomous” boats in the future. However, considering how long naval procurement usually takes, it is unclear how realistic that is.
Repairs also take time when these crafts need work. “Despite the risk of catastrophic failure and loss of life, the Army did not replace bow ramp components essential for safety,” the GAO report said.
No one wants to read the word “catastrophic failure” in a report like this. The challenge facing these watercraft is part of a wider problem in the US relating to the navy and modernization.
Although the Army watercraft are different than US Navy vessels, their challenges are symbolic. For instance, the US Navy invested heavily in Littoral Combat Ships that did not fulfill their envisioned role.
The need for a modern navy is important as the US faces increased challenges from China and other countries. The Gaza pier fiasco has shown that conducting long-range missions, such as combining naval and army units in complex missions, could be increasingly difficult for combined forces.