Over the beach - University of Oregon

ecause of the mix of ships, including attack transports (APA) and attack
cargo ships (AKA) that required ship-to-shore movement and ramped landing
ships that could land troops and equipment directly onto the beach. 0
Some of General MacArthur’s operations along the New Guinea coast
and in the Philippines were purely shore-to-shore operations using predominantly
Army landing craft, but most of the SWPA and European and
Mediterranean operations used a combination of ship-to-shore and shoreto-shore
techniques. The long-range operations in the Central Pacifc were
by necessity largely ship-to-shore operations, although shore-to-shore
operations were often conducted among closely neighboring islands.
Related but different from amphibious operations are those activities
to sustain combat operations on shore by means of landing supplies,
personnel, and equipment over beaches rather than through port facilities.
Currently called logistics-over-the-shore (LOTS) operations, they
are defned as “the loading and unloading of ships without the beneft of
deep-draft-capable, fxed-port facilities; or as a means of moving forces
closer to tactical assembly areas dependent on threat force capabilities.”
During the Korean War, the lack of adequate dock facilities and problems
caused by extreme west coast tides also required the frequent use of
lightering in which troops, cargo, and equipment were transferred between
ships anchored in the harbor (in the stream) and the shore using landing
ships, landing craft, powered barges (lighters), or other vessels collectively
called lighterage. 2
Amphibious and LOTS operations may be conducted as part of an
expedition (defned by both the Department of Defense and the Army as
“a military operation conducted by an armed force to accomplish a specifc
objective in a foreign country”). 3 Naval expeditionary warfare is currently
defned as “military operations mounted from the sea, usually on
short notice, consisting of forward deployed, or rapidly deployable, selfsustaining
naval forces tailored to achieve a clearly stated objective.” 4
The US Navy defnes “expeditionary maneuver warfare” as “the ability
to mass overwhelming naval, joint, and allied military power, and deliver
it ashore to infuence, deter, contain, or defeat an aggressor. Naval expeditionary
forces provide the Joint Task Force Commander with the ability
to conduct military operations in an area of control, extending from
the open ocean to the littorals, and to accessible inland areas that can be
attacked, supported, and defended directly from the sea.” 5 The Marine
Corps has tended to confate the terms “expeditionary” and “amphibious,”
exemplifed by its renaming the newest amphibious assault vehicle as the
“Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.” 16 In 2005 the Marine Corps introduced
the Expeditionary Warfare Family of Concepts that includes Operational
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