Combined Logistics Over-the-Shore (CLOTS)

Combined Logistics Over-the-Shore (CLOTS)
Name	Combined Logistics Over-the-Shore (CLOTS)
Type	Logistics/portation concept
Country	United States
Branch	United States Navy; United States Army; United States Marine Corps
Status	Active concept and exercise series

Combined Logistics Over-the-Shore (CLOTS) is a United States Department of Defense concept and exercise series for projecting United States Armed Forces sustainment from sea to shore without reliance on fixed Port of Antwerp infrastructure, designed to support Operation Desert Storm-style forcible entries and humanitarian responses near contested littorals. The program integrates capabilities from the United States Navy, United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Air Force, and partner nations such as United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Japan to ensure throughput for equipment, fuel, ammunition, and humanitarian cargo during operations like Operation Restore Hope and scenarios influenced by lessons from Korean War, World War II, and Vietnam War.

Overview

CLOTS encompasses doctrine, engineering, materiel, and exercises enabling mobility over beaches, surf zones, and damaged ports, linking afloat prepositioning concepts such as Prepositioning Program ships, Maritime Prepositioning Force, and Ready Reserve Force to ashore distribution networks that may include Amphibious Ready Group, Logistics Support Vessel, Strategic Sealift Capability, and civil-military partners like United Nations agencies during crises. The concept addresses throughput rates measured against benchmarks from historical operations such as Broadway, Mulberry harbour, and logistics surges seen in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, integrating technologies from companies and programs exemplified by Huntington Ingalls Industries, NAVSEA, and Military Sealift Command.

History and Development

CLOTS evolved from tactical and operational lessons of large-scale amphibious campaigns such as Normandy landings and logistical improvisations during Operation Desert Shield, formalized through institutional mechanisms including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and doctrine produced by United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), and Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Early demonstrations linked experimental systems like causeway systems, floating causeways, and roll-on/roll-off techniques from RoRo innovators and commercial operators such as Maersk Line and COSCO. International collaboration and coalition logistics exercises with partners including NATO, European Union, and The Netherlands refined procedures informed by after-action reviews from Hurricane Katrina and Typhoon Haiyan responses.

Doctrine and Objectives

Doctrine frames CLOTS to achieve objectives such as timely throughput, sustainment of littoral maneuver, and humanitarian assistance, aligning with joint publications from Joint Chiefs of Staff and operational plans from United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), United States Central Command (CENTCOM), and United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). Objectives include establishing interim port facilities using systems like causeway sections, ensuring fuel distribution via systems comparable to bulk fuel handling procedures used in Operation Desert Storm, and integrating sealift and airlift assets such as C-17 Globemaster III, C-5 Galaxy, Roll-on/Roll-off ships to meet campaign timelines comparable to historical benchmarks from the Suez Crisis and Beirut evacuation.

Components and Equipment

Key components include floating causeways, modular pier sections, beach discharge systems, vehicle ramps, ponton units, beach survey craft, and cargo handling equipment sourced from programs managed by Military Sealift Command, NAVSEA, and multinational procurement authorities like NATO Support and Procurement Agency. Equipment families draw on commercial Ro-Ro technology by Wilhelmsen, hybrid landing craft influenced by Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), shallow-draft barges similar to Landing Ship Tank (LST), and connector craft such as Landing Craft Utility (LCU), supported by engineering units from United States Army Corps of Engineers and Fleet Marine Force. Ancillary systems include beach traffic control modeled after Port of Los Angeles SOPs, cargo tracking interoperable with Global Combat Support System-like nets, and power and water systems comparable to Expeditionary Transfer Dock capabilities.

Operations and Procedures

CLOTS operations follow phased procedures: reconnaissance and hydrographic survey using units like Naval Oceanographic Office assets and Hydrographic Survey Ship elements, emplacement of causeways and breakwaters, roll-on/roll-off discharge, and inland distribution coordinated with Military Sealift Command and theater sustainment commands such as Army Materiel Command. Procedures incorporate command relationships defined by Goldwater-Nichols Act-driven joint force constructs, civil-military coordination with United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and rules of engagement informed by Law of Armed Conflict and status of forces agreements negotiated with host nations like Philippines or South Korea.

Training and Exercises

Training is executed through multinational exercises and service-sponsored events including iterations resembling Exercise Cobra Gold, Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), Baltops, and dedicated CLOTS demonstrations, with participation from Royal Navy, French Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and other coalition partners to validate throughput rates, interoperability, and logistics information systems. Schools and centers such as Naval Amphibious School, Army Logistics University, and Marine Corps University host curricula incorporating lessons from historical operations like Iwo Jima and modern case studies including Operation Tomodachi and Operation Unified Assistance.

Challenges and Limitations

CLOTS faces challenges including environmental constraints such as surf, tides, and coastal geomorphology studied by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sustainment vulnerabilities to anti-access/area denial threats from capabilities like anti-ship cruise missiles and contested littoral defenses demonstrated in conflicts involving Russian Federation and People's Republic of China, and logistical complexity in joint and coalition command-and-control under frameworks such as NATO and bilateral agreements with Japan Self-Defense Forces. Limitations include dependency on sealift availability from commercial entities like MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company under Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA)-like arrangements, austere infrastructure degradation observed after Hurricane Maria, and political constraints tied to basing and overflight rights exemplified by negotiations involving Guantanamo Bay and Diego Garcia.

Category:United States military logistics