Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Page 58

(Figure by Arin Burgess, Military Review)

Figure 2. Examples of Modularized Auxiliary Cruiser Mission Packages
considerable potential of its civilian fleet into
military strength.”19
China can simply order private shipping companies to provide a reserve naval force, of course. But
the Air Force’s CRAF experience demonstrates that
a democracy can accomplish the same objective with
cooperative means. By contracting with major shipping companies to modify portions of their fleets, the
Army would have a sizable pool of ships that sail within
or near USAFRICOM’s area of responsibility. Those
ships could be alerted as needed to move to friendly
ports where mission packages—and crews composed
of Army mariners, Navy and Coast Guard sailors, and
contractors if necessary—that were shipped or flown
into those ports could be installed on their hulls

Modularized Auxiliary Cruisers in
AFRICOM
Modularized auxiliary cruisers would typically
operate alone, but they could operate within a Navy or
allied task force for missions that take place in a highthreat environment.
Because African security forces comprise mostly
armies and police forces, American ground forces
must take the lead in missions that support African
security forces. By supporting missions ashore carried
out by ground forces and civilian assets to perform the
key tasks of USAFRICOM, the modularized auxiliary
cruiser would be a power-projection asset rather than
a pure navy asset for naval missions.
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Some ground-oriented missions could be carried
out by American forces that remained on a modularized auxiliary cruiser that would enter the port or stay
offshore if the mission was a single, brief operation
or if local sentiment or threat levels ruled out even a
temporary land presence. Longer missions could be
conducted by personnel and mission packages deployed ashore for months, on the coast, or inland via
contractor-provided land or air transport. Deploying
elements ashore would allow the modularized auxiliary cruiser to move on to other locations and other
missions. Ground-force mission packages used by
small detachments of Army, Marine Corps, or Special
Operations Command troops could provide a groundforce option on the scene to support local security in
a nonmilitary mission, or as a rapid-reaction force for
Army regionally aligned forces.
Sometimes the United States needs help to manage a crisis abroad without using U.S. military forces.
When appropriate, the United States could support
allies by providing containerized mission modules for
their use.
Key tasks across the African continent recognized by
USAFRICOM that could benefit from using modularized auxiliary cruisers are—
Counter violent extremist organizations
(VEOs) and their networks
Support defense institution building
Strengthen maritime security
Support peace support operations

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May-June 2016  MILITARY REVIEW