Army Boat delivers at TRANSLOTS 2013

Photo By Staff Sgt. Marie Adams | U.S. Army Reserve soldiers of the 711th Transportation Company located in Vallejo, Calif., control the movement of a soil compactor, as the crane lowers it to a flatbed trailer from Landing Craft Utility 2028 at Port of Ponce, Puerto Rico, May 13, 2013. The 711th is participating in Transportation Logistics Over-the- Shore (TRANSLOTS), a U.S. Army Reserve annual training exercise moving cargo across land and water. (U.S Army photo by Sgt. Marie Adams)  

PONCE, PUERTO RICO

05.13.2013

Story by Sgt. Marie Adams 

201st TPASE

PORT OF PONCE, Puerto Rico – More than 300 U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from across America participated in the collaborative annual training exercise Transportation Logistics Over-The-Shore 2013 at Port of Ponce, Puerto Rico, May 13.

Known as TRANSLOTS, the training gathered logistic soldiers from the 481st and 837th Transportation Companies (Heavy Boat), 481st and 657th Movement Control Teams, and 711th and 322nd Transportation Battalions, to participate in a real-world mission, providing an opportunity to enhance their specialties by moving tons of freight across both land and water, said U.S Army Reserve 1st Lt. Heather B. Callahan, commander of the 657th MCT.

Army mariners moved and delivered cargo from Florida to Puerto Rico, where logistics soldiers conducted terminal port operations, cargo load and discharge procedures. The 657th MCT received the cargo from the 481st TC using a crane and flatbed trucks.

The training provided soldiers experience in cargo movement operations and safety, said Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Dallas J. Hill, a watercraft operator, and boatswain's mate assigned to the 481st based out of Vallejo, Calif.

Collaboration between the land and water logistics and transportation units to meet their individual training requirements was a great benefit, he said.

“Our main mission is logistics over the shore, which is taking cargo, either from a port or from a ship offshore, and moving it into an unimproved port,” said Hill. “We give the Transportation Terminal Battalion a chance to train their soldiers on movement tracking, cargo loading, and load plans.”

For many, this was the first time they were able to conduct training in a real-world environment said Callahan.

Our soldiers have been school trained, but none of them have done a real-world mission or worked collectively together, so this is our first chance to get terminal port operations training, she said.

TRANSLOT also serves as pre-deployment training for units, said Hill.

“The training is valuable for the Army because the watercraft crew has a wartime mission,” said Hill. “This crew is validating for deployment, and we do this exact same thing in theater.”

Regardless of their experience, the collaborative training allowed each soldier participating in TRANSLOTS to gain valuable training, develop relationships, and enhance their skills as transportation specialists for future mobilizations, said Sgt. Kevin Debold, 558th Transportation Company’s movement noncommissioned officer.

• Date Taken: 05.13.2013
• Date Posted: 06.20.2013 21:13
• Story ID: 108995
• Location: PONCE, PR