SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The next time you have a new country stamped on your passport, or when you buy that big screen TV with your credit card, you will think about this week's acronym--VISA.
According to Maj. Gen. William Johnson, USTRANSCOM chief of staff in a recent Military Logistics Forum article, the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement represents another success achieved between USTRANSCOM and commercial industry to cooperatively meet our nation's sealift contingency requirements.
VISA provides DoD (Department of Defense, as if you didn't know that already) with time-phased access to militarily useful U.S.-flagged commercial dry cargo vessels, intermodal systems and infrastructure in return for peacetime business preference.
When needed, the program is activated in three stages of increasing levels of commitment, depending on the severity of the contingency. Major U.S.-flagged carriers participate in VISA, and more than 90 percent of their dry cargo vessels are enrolled, including roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO, a past acronym of the week) and container ships, break-bulk ships, and seagoing tugs and barges.
It's been at least two months since we started presenting the acronym of the week and while there are hundreds of them out there, we'd like to hear some of your favorites, or least favorite. So, please send your acronym suggestions to robert.fehringer.ctr@ustranscom.mil.