I also know from experience what the JS does, and how, and why.

Maybe a better way of putting it... if the DoD were to fund say a 1000 ship merchant fleet, would that be worth taking the $ away from other parts of the budget? Like combat power?

Even if the DoD didn't fund the entire program, just the delta between cost and commercial revenue, would it be worth it?

On that note, while the US flagged merchant fleet is minuscule, there are almost 1,000 US *owned* merchants which operate under flags of convenience... those could be reeled in relatively quickly in the event of a long-term change in geopolitical landscape.