New Navy ship could position Marines off African coast: The Navy's newly christened mobile landing platform afloat forward staging base Lewis B. Puller could get early work positioning Marines off the coast of Africa.
Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford alluded to a plan that would place the new vessel in the Corps' seabasing arsenal during a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies earlier this month. The Puller was christened in February, but has yet to be commissioned.
"In the European Command, we have a gap, in, frankly [U.S. Africa Command], we have a gap, in our ability to do crisis response from the sea," Dunford said. "...[Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert] and I expect from both commanders a letter that will request a mobile landing platform afloat staging base to fill that gap."
Dunford said Marine and Navy officials are in a dialogue with the commanders of EUCOM and AFRICOM to find ways to address equipment gaps for crisis response missions. The Marine Corps' unit that responds to crises in Africa is currently based in Spain.
While the afloat forward staging base, a variant of the mobile landing platform, is a possible stopgap, there are multiple solutions under consideration, Dunford said.
