Federal Agencies » Department of Defense (DOD)
United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)
USTRANSCOM is DOD's single manager of the Nation's defense transportation system: air, land, and sea mobility assets. Its commander-in-chief reports through the chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Secretary of Defense. USTRANSCOM manages three component commands: the Air Force's Air Mobility Command; the Navy's Military Sealift Command; and, the Army's Military Traffic Management Command. It moves troops and equipment through coordinated use of military and commercial transportation modes in times of peace and war.
Department of the Navy
The U.S. Navy has among its many duties a major responsibility to provide the strategic sealift assets that will be used to deploy dry cargo and petroleum products required to equip and support the Nation's armed forces in a major contingency.
Military Sealift Command (MSC)
Owns or charters a fleet of cargo vessels for logistical military support. MSC capabilities include Fast Sealift Ships, the Ready Reserve Force, commercial containership enhancement to carry combat equipment, and the Afloat Prepositioning Force. In addition, the MSC oversees a fleet of ships providing sealift services and combat logistics support for Navy ships at sea and special mission support for undersea technology. In 1987, the MSC became a part of the newly formed unified command, the United States Transportation Command.
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition)
- Responsible for supervising the performance of the Department of Defense Acquisition System within the Navy, including shipbuilding programs.
Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command
- Responsible for addressing national mobilization planning requirements for DOD, the Department of Transportation (MarAd), and the Department of Commerce through the coordination of shipbuilding, conversion, and repair capacity.
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics)
- Represents the Department of the Navy in logistics decisions, mobilization, coordination, and policy groups.
Department of the Army
Corps of Engineers
- In its civil works mission, the Corps of Engineers is responsible for the nation's deep draft harbors and about 400 smaller ports handling the Nation's international trade. In addition, the Corps is responsible for the intracoastal and inland network which includes 12,000 miles of commercial navigation channels and over 200 locks and dams.
Surface Deployment and Distribution Command
- SDDC is the Defense Department's port manager, providing DOD worldwide single port management, transportation, and traffic management services. The agency has a permanent presence in 25 ports worldwide. In each port, SDDC stages cargo, plans and directs loading and unloading, and documents cargo movements. In fiscal year 2000, the SDDC contracted for the loading and unloading of 11.4 million measurement tons of cargo, mostly military equipment and materiel. DOD cargo also includes household goods and privately owned vehicles of military and eligible DOD civilians. Through the commercial contracts it negotiates, the SDDCinfluences nearly $4 billion worth of commercial transportation services annually. SDDC is a component of the United States Transportation Command.