U.S. military equipment leaves Jordan after the sun sets on Eager Lion

Photo By Maj. David Zuzak | Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) Operations Officer, Wanda Webb (safety vest) speaks to U.S. Army Maj. Grant Carter (grey shirt), Director of the Host Nation Coordination Cell from Area Support Group Jordan and explains the loading process. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. David L. Zuzak)  

JORDAN

09.16.2019

Story by Maj. David Zuzak 

Area Support Group - Jordan

Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan, September 16, 2019: It’s a daunting undertaking – bringing together the militaries of 30 countries, including the United States and Jordan (the host nation), for Eager Lion, U.S. Central Command’s premiere exercise in the Levant region and a display of the critical U.S.-Jordanian military partnership. But perhaps even more daunting is what happens when Eager Lion comes to an end – loading up 300 pieces of U.S. military equipment in just 18 to 20 hours on a ship to send it all home.

This year, Eager Lion wrapped up on September 5, after a combined arms exercise in which all 30 nations participated in a coalition attack against a fictitious adversary. Then the pressure turned to the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), a unique Army command that delivers origin-to-destination distribution solutions. Whenever and wherever Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen are deployed, SDDC is involved in planning and executing the surface delivery of their equipment and supplies.

The Jordan Armed Forces played a vital role in ensuring the smooth handling of all this equipment, providing security escorts for trucks moving from all over Jordan to the Royal Jordanian Navy Forces (RJNF) Base in Aqaba. At the base, Jordanian partners helped secure the equipment, enabling U.S. military personnel to clean it and clear it through U.S. customs inspectors.

By 5:30 pm on Sept. 16, all U.S. military equipment used during Eager Lion was lined up on an Aqaba dock – Paladin M109A’s (a cannon artillery system), Bradley fighting vehicles (a lightly armored, fully tracked transport vehicle, with mounted firepower), Abrams M1A1 Tanks (a highly mobile main battle tank), HEMTT trucks (an eight-wheel drive, diesel -powered, 10-short-ton, tactical truck), loaded containers full of supplies and other equipment.

The next step: Loading the equipment onto the Alliance Norfolk, a vessel from Norfolk, Virginia built in 2007.

Wanda Wells, an operations officer from SDDC who oversaw the loading operation, said that it would take “18 to 20 hours” to complete the job. A master loading plan dictated the exact placement of each piece of equipment on the ship, with distribution based on size and weight.

Loading operations went through the night and into the late hours of the morning. By 11:00 am on Sept. 17, over 300 pieces of equipment had been loaded and tied down on the Alliance. The ship left the port through the Gulf of Aqaba. And another round of Eager Lion was in the history books, again demonstrating that Jordan is one of U.S. Central Command’s (USCENTCOM) strongest and most reliable partners in the Levant region.

• Date Taken: 09.16.2019
• Date Posted: 10.17.2019 05:23
• Story ID: 347952
• Location: JO