Compss Points - Pre-po Solution?
Marines need prepositioning supplies
Compass Points - Pre-po Solution?
Marines need prepositioning supplies
February 13, 2026
.
Could there be a way the Marine Corps could rapidly rebuild the supply ships of the Maritime Prepositioning Force?
The Marine Corps needs to upgrade, increase, and enhance the Maritime Prepositioning Force. When prepositioning ships are forward deployed around the globe, loaded with weapons, ammunition, equipment, and supplies, the ships give Marines an immense advantage. Unfortunately, over the years the MPF fleet has been allowed to decay. Instead of having MPF ships always available nearby in every part of the world, MPF ships today are often not available at all. Just a few years ago, the MPF consisted of 20 ships distributed across three Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS) squadrons. Now there are only two squadrons and the number of ships actually available on short notice is decreasing from 20 to 14 to as low as only 7.
The lack of prepositioning ships has become so critical in the Pacific that the Marine Corps is establishing a land based prepositioning site near Subic Bay in the Philippines.
.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
.
SAN DIEGO — The commander of the largest Marine Corps formation west of the international dateline is confident the service’s forward deployed forces can protect future prepositioning sites in the Philippines despite maritime militias operating around the first island chain.
Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, described the challenge of China’s coercive non-military forces as a “tactical problem” Tuesday while speaking on a panel at WEST 2026. Beijing’s maritime militia and alleged espionage efforts against the Philippines – a regional U.S. ally and home to an upcoming Marine Corps prepositioning site – were highlighted as concerns for service and joint American operations.
. . . The U.S. Marine Corps plans to open a prepositioning site near Subic Bay by summer 2026, and has already begun staging vehicles at the ex-U.S. naval base’s supply depot. The staging location will shorten logistical chains and allow American forces to forward-deploy equipment, but the site is within a port that requires access via the South China Sea.
-- USNI News
.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
.
While some defense pundits question the need for MPF ships, the reality is that MPF ships still have tremendous usefulness today. Major Rob Malcolm, USMC, explains, “Marines Need the Maritime Prepositioning Force More Than Ever.”
.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
.
To put it differently, MPF is still relevant because it still enables operational maneuver. And it affords a competitive advantage because it allows the Marine Corps to demonstrate this operational maneuver capability in full view of U.S. adversaries, who must now grapple with the possibility that the United States can project power on short notice and without depending on fixed-port facilities. In the case of HA/DR, it allows units to get help to the scene as fast or faster than U.S. rivals can (even though the U.S. homeland is usually much farther away), assuring partners and neutral actors of U.S. goodwill and capability.
The MPF is no doubt in need of renewal, upgrade, and increased investment, but it is not irrelevant. In fact, as the Marine Corps divests of legacy capabilities and awaits the development of new ones necessary to operate according to the naval concepts of distributed maritime operations (DMO), littoral operations in the contested environment (LOCE), and expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO), the MPF may be more valuable for competition now than at any point since the end of the Cold War. During this time of transition, the Marine Corps cannot afford to lose proficiency at conducting MPF operations.
-- USNI Proceedings
.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
.
Are there any ways the Marine Corps could quickly add more preposition assets? First the Marine Corps could continue to establish land based prepositioning sites like the new site at Subic Bay. Another answer is to use civilian container ships. Finally, the Marine Corps could use former US Army prepositioning ships. An article in gCaptain reports that, “The Department of Defense has decommissioned the Army’s supply ship prepositioning program.”
.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
.
The Department of Defense has decommissioned the Army’s supply ship prepositioning program that gives them access to equipment, vehicles, and supplies aboard Full Operating Status (FOS) ships that remain afloat and ready for rapid deployment in strategic areas. Cost savings were cited for the retirement of the Army Prepositioned Stock 3 (Afloat) program. M.E.B.A. crews five of the seven vessels in the APS-3 program.
Those vessels, deployed globally, function as floating warehouses stocked with essential military supplies, including ammunition, tanks, medical equipment, and spare parts. The military cargoes they carry complement the land-based supplies stored in the U.S., Europe, South Korea, and the Middle East. Five of these vessels are managed by M.E.B.A.-contracted Patriot and include the LMSRs USNS RED CLOUD, USNS CHARLTON, USNS WATKINS, USNS POMEROY and USNS SODERMAN. The other two are the AMO-manned Ammunition ships MV LTC JOHN UD PAGE and MV SSG EDWARD A. CARTER JR. The contract for the PAGE was not renewed and the vessel has already been reflagged out of the U.S. fleet. The 45 American jobs attached to it were lost. The CARTER had its contract cancelled and was de-flagged from the U.S. fleet adding to another 45 jobs lost.
As part of the proposal, recently signed off on by the DOD, operational control of the LMSRs would go over to the DOT/MarAd and the ships would be homeported stateside in Reduced Operating Status (ROS). In ROS status, the remaining vessels will carry no cargo, be minimally crewed and maintained, and will be subject to a five-day activation standard.
-- gCaptain
.
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
.
Compass Points salutes Major Rob Malcolm for his article on the continuing importance of the MPF fleet.
The need for more prepositioning sites and prepositioning ships is increasing, not decreasing. Prepositioning ships are better than prepositioning sites, but any increase in prepositioning is better than none. The Army logistics ships are available now. They are being held by the Department of Transportation in a Reduced Operating Status (ROS). Instead of sitting and rusting in ROS, the Army ships should be cleaned up, crewed up, and sent back out on the oceans with weapons, ammunition, equipment, and supplies for US Marines.
.
- - - - -
.
USNI News - 02/11/2026
Marines Can Protect Pacific Facilities Amid China’s Militia-contested Waters and Coercive Efforts, General Says
By Aaron-Matthew Lariosa
.
- - - - -
.
gCaptain - 05/16/2025
DOD Ends PRE-PO Ship Program
By gCaptain Crew
https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/dod-ends-pre-po-ship-program/72616
.
- - - - -
.
USNI Proceedings - February 2022 - Vol. 148/2/1,428
Marines Need the Maritime Prepositioning Force More Than Ever
By Major Rob Malcolm, U.S. Marine Corps
.
As a student at the Armed Forces Staff College in 1987 our concluding exercise, demonstrated the importance of the maritime preposition squadron. It demonstrated why the Marines could sustain combat for over 30 days awaiting the arrival of other US armed forces. It would be very interesting to run that exact same exercise today and see how well we fared. I’m afraid we would not be pleased with the results.
Ya' know, there once was a grain of a good idea in the EABO concept. If you think about it, MPF could play a part in that. Yes, we'd have to worry about Gen. Ming "Robert" Li of the PLA doing triple somersaults and landing behind US Pre Positioned Forces, but frankly, I like hearing more about how US forces will do their own triple somersaults instead. Mostly what I hear is 'nothing can be done because Bobby Li has a sensor and hypersonic missile behind every bush and wave'. Even if, for the sake of argument, I concede that fact, we are still really just talking about a tug of war and both sides get to pull on the rope.