In her final months, the Nashville refines smart-power strategy for Africa.
The crew and mission staff on board the USS Nashville (LPD-13) were in for a surprise when the 570-foot vessel approached the tiny port in Libreville, the bustling capital of Gabon, West Africa. Despite earlier assurances from Navy planners and local officials, it turned out that waters around Libreville's Port Mole were not deep enough for the 17,000-ton-displacement Nashville. The ship draws only 23 feet fully loaded, but she needs extra clearance for her pumps to draw in the seawater required by her old-fashioned steam power plant. This Austin-class amphibious ship, commissioned in 1970, simply would not fit at Libreville.
Plans had been carefully laid for the Navy's second, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station (APS) deployment, with calls at Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon, Sao Tome, and Principe. APS, the brainchild of former 6th Fleet commander Vice Admiral Harry Ulrich, is meant to "enhance and develop maritime safety and security capability and capacity in West and Central Africa," according to Captain Cindy Thebaud, commodore for the Nashville's mission. APS uses naval vessels as mobile schoolhouses, repair shops, and medical clinics, calling at various ports with a diverse international mission staff to deliver training, material, and scientific and humanitarian aid to regional governments.
A Smart Use of Power
Thebaud called APS the "premier example" of emerging smart-power or "phase-zero" operations aiming to address the roots of conflict long before they bloom into full-scale international crises. It's also the flagship naval deployment for the new U.S. Africa Command, which began overseeing operations there last fall from its base in Germany. APS is broadly similar to Operation Continuing Promise, a roughly annual naval humanitarian deployment in Latin America that was championed by Admiral James Stavridis of U.S. Southern Command.
Together, APS and Continuing Promise represent the first two global fleet stations. In a round of planning that preceded the 2010 Department of Defense budget, the Navy indicated a desire for three more permanent fleet stations: two in Asia and another in Latin America.
The first APS deployment, anchored by the amphibious ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43), began in early 2007 and was marred by the mysterious deaths of two Fort McHenry Sailors in their Ghana hotel room. Those deaths are still under investigation. Between the McHenry's deployment and the Nashville's, the chartered high-speed vessel Swift (HSV-2), the frigate USS Elrod (FFG-55) and the Coast Guard cutter Dallas (WHEC-716) all briefly visited West Africa. The Navy frigate USS Robert G. Bradley (FFG-49) extended APS westward to Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Two years into APS, the Navy is still in a learning mode, Thebaud explained. "The synergy is continuing to build," she said, as the Navy refines the scheduling for APS and brings in a wider range of partner nations and agencies. For all that increasingly sophisticated planning, the potential for embarrassing mistakes still exists—as in Libreville.
The Best Laid Plans
Because she didn't fit at Port Mole, the Nashville had to stand off a mile from shore and ferry her people ashore in 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats, a ponderous process that forced long delays and even cancellations of scheduled activities.
One lesson gleaned from that deployment was to better reconnoiter ports. Thebaud and her staff also identified the need for longer stays in fewer ports, more interpreters and foreign staff officers with broad language skills, and more appropriate platforms. The major APS deployments could be anchored on smaller, shallower-draft vessels such as the Swift—or at least using new gas-turbine-powered amphibious ships that do not require ports as deep as do older vessels with steam boilers.
Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Carl Friedrich commanded the Nashville's 30-strong embarked Marine training team. He said future APS missions must emphasize jointness in their curricula, to better prepare West African nations for effective military operations.
The ship's small Seabees detachment discovered that they didn't have the time, manpower, or heavy equipment to complete many of the projects host nations had requested, such as fixing a storm-damaged school roof in Port Gentil, Gabon.
Dr. Augustus Vogel, a Navy science liaison embarked in the Nashville, said he would like to boost the science payload on future APS missions, using Navy vessels to transport badly needed climate sensors and fisheries equipment to African governments struggling with global warming and illegal fishing.
Two anonymous State Department diplomats assigned to the Nashville noted that greater attention should be paid to how the Navy and State Department work together, through U.S. embassies abroad, to coordinate APS activities ashore in host nations. They highlighted APS's potential for public diplomacy, otherwise known as winning hearts and minds. Free concerts by Navy bands, in particular, are an "incredible draw" for local people, and "great PR for the U.S.," the diplomats said.
A Worthy Use for a Hearty Ship
The abundance of potential course corrections resulting from this deployment should not be interpreted as flaws in the APS concept, Thebaud argued. "The interest in the program is definitely increasing," she said, as more nations ask to join the APS staff and host visits by its vessels. This is the best evidence that the program is working.
Similarly, the Nashville's inability to dock at Port Mole should not be construed as a criticism of the venerable vessel or her design. "She's in remarkably good shape," said APS public affairs officer Commander Russ Coons, noting the Nashville's nearly four decades of service.
Indeed, in a January 2009 Proceedings feature, Captain Bruce Lindsey argued for keeping the remaining Austin-class vessels in service until their 50th birthdays. He recognized their great durability and low operating costs, as well as the need to boost the amphibious fleet to sustain and expand missions such as APS and Continuing Promise.
So far the Navy has not deviated from its plan to decommission the Nashville after she ends her current APS deployment this summer. The Indian navy has already expressed interest in acquiring the ship to join her sister the Trenton, which became part of the Indian sea service following her U.S. decommissioning in 2007. But if APS truly is to be the Nashville's last U.S. deployment, at least the storied vessel is going out on a high note. She has helped the Navy and the Pentagon to greatly refine their smart-power strategy for preventing future wars in Africa.