So who ever thought that the army had this many ships and boats

2015-06-13T11:17:38-04:00

http://www.wearethemighty.com/army-boats-2015-06

These are the boats you didn’t know the Army had

The Army is known for its ability to fight on land, and most people know it has plenty of helicopters. But the Army also has an impressive fleet of watercr

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2015 11:24 AM

2015-06-13T11:24:34-04:00

When I was in Ft Hunter-Liggett in 2010 getting ready to go to Afghanistan, there was a unit of Transportation Specialists, the crew of an Army boat, training alongside us during AWT and Battle Drills. It was apparent immediately that this was not a unit that did tactical training, and they collectively struggled with Soldier skills. They became known in the SPC Mafia as the "Boat People" - a moniker I discouraged but had to admit was funny.

I am sure that they were adept at operating their vessel, but counter IED, convoy ops, shooting at the range (one Soldier, a cook I think, had a straight anxiety attack when she had to shoot on the range!), all were anathema to them. It was an interesting group, to say the least.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2015 11:26 AM

2015-06-13T11:26:03-04:00

Sir,
I found out during Transportation Basic Officer Leaders Course (T-BOLC). Ironically, I didn't pay attention to the class on Marine Operations, and I ended up as a boat PL as soon as I got in the AGR program.

The Living Quarters are also bigger than on a Navy ship. The USMC, USCG and USN personnel get a little envious of the bigger quarters when they tour our boats.

Response by SFC A.M. Drake made Jun 13 at 2015 11:27 AM

2015-06-13T11:27:05-04:00

Wow this is good news here! However I did not see how many we actually had in stock.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jun 13 at 2015 11:36 AM

2015-06-13T11:36:10-04:00

I believe the water transportation MOS is 88N. I did not know the Army even had water craft until recently. I think it's pretty amazing. So basically we are Sailors too.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2015 11:54 AM

2015-06-13T11:54:11-04:00

I believe 8 LSV, 34 LCU, 40 LCM-8; but most have been prepo'd since after 9/11.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2015 11:57 AM

2015-06-13T11:57:18-04:00

1SG Jerry Healy, "The boat people"...classic! I can see them relating and liking the name.

Response by SFC Rollie Hubbard made Jun 13 at 2015 12:12 PM

2015-06-13T12:12:27-04:00

I knew we had some in Va but I did not know we had that many.

Response by 1SG Steven Stankovich made Jun 13 at 2015 12:29 PM

2015-06-13T12:29:58-04:00

To be honest LTC Bink Romanick, I was not tracking this until I was stationed in Hawaii. I learned about "Army boats" when we moved from Schofield Barracks to the Big Island for PTA rotations. I had no idea we had boats...

Response by SGT Jeremiah B. made Jun 13 at 2015 1:33 PM

2015-06-13T13:33:45-04:00

A tour in Hawaii was educational. They had quite the job shuttling our crap between islands. Best detail ever was ride-along. Nothing for you to do but fish

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2015 2:41 PM

2015-06-13T14:41:28-04:00

Prior to my assignment as the Battalion Maintenance Tech for both the 24th and 53rd Trans Battalions, I had no clue. I managed maintenance and logistics for many JLOTS exercises incorporating all aspects of the water transportation corps to include a very unique resupply mission to Antartica as part of Operation Deep Freeze. We constructed the modular causeway pier and established resupply operations for the McMurdo Station. I would not trade that assignment and all of its experiences for anything.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Jun 13 at 2015 3:31 PM

2015-06-13T15:31:32-04:00

Oh yea, no surprise here, I live 5 minutes away from Fort Eustis, VA(JBLE). They have a reserve dead fleet of ships in the James River

Response by SSG John Jensen made Jun 13 at 2015 4:16 PM

2015-06-13T16:16:12-04:00

'army ships in WWII' on wikipedia - the army had more ships than the navy
Uncle Ernie was on an Army tugboat in the aleutians during the war - he was at dutch harbor where a zero was shot down by ground rifle fire.
The perpetual bad boy of american literature - Gore Vidal - was a warrant officer on an Army supply ship in the pacific
the very first helicopter carrier was Army

Response by CW2 Carl Swanson made Jun 13 at 2015 5:29 PM

2015-06-13T17:29:31-04:00

I got educated at Warrant Officer School, we had a bunch of boat warrants there in my class. Most of the big ocean going tugs are commanded by Warrants.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 13 at 2015 5:59 PM

2015-06-13T17:59:09-04:00

I believe this is the tip of the ice berg as we have a huge moth ball fleet.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Jun 13 at 2015 8:52 PM

2015-06-13T20:52:26-04:00

Way back yesteryear... one of my young specialists was up for enlistment.. off he went to speak to retention..
He came back in a few hours giddy as can be....announcing he was to be reenlistment as a boat operator, and would likely be a boat captain within a few months or AIT..

I called retention and asked him WTF BS was this and why was he playing games with my Soldier...

Ah,,, no really, we have boats, there is an INCALL and umm, he is eligible to be boat driver.. I was thinking like a F470 Combat Rubber Raiding Craft (CRRC), "Zodiac" ?

No, an actual ship.... with crew, and stuff.

I'll be darned...

Response by CPO Bernie Penkin made Jun 14 at 2015 9:34 PM

2015-06-14T21:34:55-04:00

When I got out of the Navy the Army recruiter contacted because I my rating was needed tondrive Army ships. Sounded like a sweet deal at first, but I declined. While I was in the Coast Guard we used to stop in at the Yorktown training base. An Army ship was docked there because they were too big for Ft. Eustis. Would have been cool to ride an Army ship just to see how the crew handled it.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 18 at 2015 6:08 AM

2015-06-18T06:08:20-04:00

I actually HAVE heard of the Army's ship/boat fleet. In fact years ago I remember reading in Navy Crimes, I mean Navy Times, about the program. In the article they talked with an Army CWO4 who was a former Navy BM(Boatswain's Mate) First Class Petty Officer. Apparently he crossed over to the Army to better his chances for promotion and so he could go Warrant Officer (in the Navy you have to be E7-E9 to go Warrant).