Revive the Merchant Marine

We really should rebuild our Merchant Marine of US-flagged merchant ships. We need them for global operations. They could also be force multipliers if they put the source of potential hulls for Modularized Auxiliary cruisers under US control rather than forcing us to go on the world market which poses more challenges.

Our Merchant Marine is a source of our logistical prowess and is in dire need of revival:

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operate from ships supplied at sea by the Military Sealift Command (MSC).

This Command is the crucial logistical lynch pin of the sea services, without which the United States would not have an effective maritime combat force.

But the decline of the U.S. merchant marine and the dwindling pool of mariners is a threat to the viability of supporting the Navy and Marines.

And the problem is getting worse. The demand on Merchant Sealift Command ships is increasing as the Navy moves towards a new concept of operations whereby their ships are operating farther apart both for global coverage and to assure the security of the fleet against 21st century threats.

Add container ships to the merchant marine fleet and we can do even more by having American hulls to create Modularized Auxiliary Cruisers.