TRANSCOM's latest sealift exercise not 'driven' by RAND report criticism

摘要

U.S. Transportation Command this week announced a major exercise of more than two dozen auxiliary ships to test the fleet's readiness but says a recent RAND study that sharply criticized the agency's testing methodology as ineffectual did not drive changes. The so-called "turbo activations" involve giving certain vessels, maintained by the Maritime Administration and Military Sealift Command, five days to prepare to go out to sea. The goal is to test whether the vessels, manned by skeleton crews when not in use, are prepared for a large-scale, wartime contingency. The activation announced this week involves 28 vessels, according to a Sept. 17 TRANSCOM statement.