the following information is

Unclassified

my opinions arenot an official position

of the U.S. Navy

Conventional Wisdom?a better way

for the Navy to

refuel ships overseas

Matthew Philipp

Terminology

Harbor or bay

Oil tanker

Navy vessel

boom

boom

FUEL

Bunker as a noun:a shipboardcompartmentfor fuel

Bunker as a verb:to providea shipwith fuel

The problem

Does the Navy need to build fuel piers across the entire globe in

support of the war on terrorism?

NONO

Agenda

• Getting fuel

• Forward presence

• Complying overseas

• Preventing pollution

• Future implications

pri

mar

y m

eth

od

Where Navy ships get fuel

Location: At fuel pier At anchor Underway

Location: At fuel pier At anchor Underway

Location: At fuel pier At anchor Underway

Location: At fuel pier At anchor Underway

“bunkering”

Oil tanker

FU

EL

Implications of forward presence

Suez

from Atlantic

Where could Navy ships refuel pier-side?

to Gulf

USS Cole(Oct 2000)

Aden

A solution

Oil tankerNavy vesselFUEL

Refuel by “bunkering” in strategic harbors and bays

Complying overseas

Host nation sensitivityOil spill sensitivity

Greek tanker Aegean Sea

(1992)

… sometimes less sensitive

Greek use of “dispersants”

Preventing pollution

Boompre-deployed

Best management practices:

Skimmer pre-positioned

Decision making

Risk-adverse culture - “minimize risk” to:

… the Navy does not budget for spill response

• safety and health

• the environment

• mission success

• safety and health

• the environment

• mission success

• safety and health

• the environment

• mission success $X

Future implications

Transformation:

• More battle groups• Less ships (increased capabilities)• Positioned at more locations

ExpeditionaryStrikeGroup

= Global refueling need

ExpeditionaryStrikeGroup

Benefits: At fuel pier At anchor UnderwayRisk

Ease

Weather

Response

Footprint

Host nation

Expeditionary

Force protection

Conclusion

Benefits: At fuel pier At anchor UnderwayRisk

Ease

Weather

Response

Footprint

Host nation

Expeditionary

Force protection

Benefits: At fuel pier At anchor UnderwayRisk

Ease

Weather

Response

Footprint

Host nation

Expeditionary

Force protection

Benefits: At fuel pier At anchor UnderwayRisk

Ease

Weather

Response

Footprint

Host nation

Expeditionary

Force protection

Benefits: At fuel pier At anchor UnderwayRisk

Ease

Weather

Response

Footprint

Host nation

Expeditionary

Force protection

USS Cole(Oct 2000)

Benefits: At fuel pier At anchor UnderwayRisk

Ease

Weather

Response

Footprint

Host nation

Expeditionary

Force protection

the mostsustainable

solution

EnvironmentMission

Questions

Conventional Wisdom?

for a copy of my paper or

this presentation, pleaseleave your business card

Matt’s e-mail:

mphilipp@lmi.org