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    Marines, Sailors optimize Bataan load plan for mission readiness

    22nd MEU loads vehicles onto USS Bataan after exercise

    Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Alisa Helin | A U.S. Navy Sailor directs a light armored vehicle with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary...... read more read more

    USAFRICOM, AT SEA

    04.07.2014

    Story by Sgt. Austin Hazard 

    22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit

    U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY – Winding and zagging between 8-foot-tall vehicles packed like sardines, fitted together like dully colored puzzle blocks, many U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy Sailors may find themselves confounded and perhaps overwhelmed by the complex and often confusing layout of vehicle storage areas on the USS Bataan (LHD 5).

    It is the responsibility of only a handful of Marines to ensure the organization of these vehicles, as well as dozens of storage containers, while also ensuring the combat readiness of the ship.

    Following the offload of the Bataan for a recent exercise, these Marines reorganized the ship’s load plan for when the vehicles and equipment were reloaded April 5-7, 2014. These plans are based on the needs of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit’s (MEU) different elements: the command element; Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment; Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB) 22; and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced).

    “We were told to change the load plan to put some of the BLT vehicles up front, nearer the landing craft, for future exercises,” explained U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joel Via, Bataan tactical embark chief and native of Roanoke, Va. “I have to organize everything in the well deck to fit the needs of the MEU, so that mission essential vehicles are staged near the LCACs (landing craft, air cushioned) and less critical vehicles in the back or in the lower vehicle storage.”

    Via and the MEU’s other embarkers are responsible for the organization, loading and unloading of more than 90 ground vehicles.

    “When the load plan changes, I have to make sure it doesn't affect what we need,” said Sgt. Joshua Deeren, CLB-22 embark noncommissioned officer and native of Belding, Mich. “We always need our fuel and water trucks up front because they’re always going to need them to support training and missions.”

    The embarkers are not only responsible for the MEU’s ground vehicles, but also its dozens of aircraft.

    “Wherever we put the aircraft determines, to an extent, where we have to put the vehicles below,” commented Via, who is also the senior embarker for the MEU. “It’s all about weight distribution. Uneven weight distribution can actually capsize the ship.”

    The ship’s weight distribution also plays a role in the functioning of the ship.

    “It also determines how we do the onload, how we get the gear back,” added Via. “I try to onload everything in a certain order so it doesn't cause us to list.”

    Part of how Via accomplishes all this is through a computer program that helps him organize the layout of all the vehicles within the ship, as well as the effects his load plan has on the ship. To ensure the program’s accuracy, Via requires each element of the MEU to measure the dimensions of every single vehicle. He manually inputs these figures to adjust for the different variants and versions of each vehicle and ensure total accuracy.

    “Fifty percent of our thought process has to be about the Marines and the needs of their mission, but the other half has to be about the ship and what we have to do to keep it functioning properly,” said Gunnery Sgt. Charles Gill, combat cargo well deck chief and native of Pensacola, Fla.

    Approximately 10 deck crew Sailors and 10 combat cargo Marines assist in the movement and fastening or unfastening of vehicles during the offloading and onloading of tactical vehicles for missions and exercises.

    “Due to crew hours, it normally takes two days to onload or offload the ship,” noted Via. “If it was for a real world mission that required us to offload the entire ship, we could do that in 24 hours.”

    The 22nd MEU is deployed with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout U.S. Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 04.07.2014
    Date Posted: 04.23.2014 08:25
    Story ID: 127198
    Location: USAFRICOM, AT SEA
    Hometown: BELDING, MI, US
    Hometown: PENSACOLA, FL, US
    Hometown: ROANOKE, VA, US

    Web Views: 297
    Downloads: 0

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