Photo By Jon Connor | Vehicles are driven onto the U.S. Naval Ship Red Cloud at Wharf Alpha at Joint Base...... read more read more
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Lt. Col. Christopher Manganaro
Army Field Support Battalion-Charleston
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The U.S. Navy Ship Red Cloud recently completed its mission abroad, which included the first download and issue of Army Prepositioned Stock-3 equipment since Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Red Cloud arrived in Subic Bay, Philippines in March and equipment was downloaded and configured by the Army Field Support Battalion-Charleston in the Equipment Configuration and Hand-off Area prior to issuing to the 3rd Infantry Combat Brigade Team, 25th Infantry Division, whose home area is Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
APS-3 is a program that places combat-ready equipment aboard naval ships, which spend up to 36 months at sea.
The equipment aboard the APS-3 vessels is maintained by the AFSBn-CHS located at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. The Red Cloud maintains crew members from AFSBn-CHS that provide care of supplies in storage while the equipment is afloat.
AFSBn-CHS sustains and maintains APS afloat and operational project stocks for the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
The USNS Red Cloud is a Watson-class Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off, or LMSR, cargo vessel named for Army Cpl. Mitchell Red Cloud Jr., a Korea War Medal of Honor recipient, and one of five vessels that carry the APS globally.
The vessel was operational in the movement of cargo in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Red Cloud was put into service Jan. 18, 2000.
The equipment loaded aboard the 950-foot-long floating warehouse comprises a port opening package, enabling the landing of combat equipment for infantry brigade combat teams and materiel to sustain forces ashore.
Red Cloud is a ship that is just over three football fields in length and contains six interior decks along with the weather deck. The ship has a cargo capacity of 350,000 square feet or six football fields. A typical ship load will contain more than 1,200 pieces of cargo.
Following its operational mission timeline, the vessels return from their afloat location and arrive back at Joint Base Charleston for their maintenance cycle.
The maintenance cycle consists of four phases:
• Phase 0: Preparation and Planning
• Phase 1: Download LMSR and Movement to AFSBn-CHS
• Phase 2: Maintenance Cycle
• Phase 3: Movement to Wharf Alpha and upload LMSR
Wharf Alpha is on the Cooper River in Goose Creek, South Carolina, near Joint Base Charleston.
The entire equipment set has 122 days from arrival at Joint Base Charleston to be completed and uploaded on the next vessel. It takes a team of 600 personnel to complete this mission and balance the demands of other high priority missions.
“Unlike the ground APS locations, the afloat equipment requires a tight timeline and synchronization to ensure it is complete before the vessel arrives,” said Charles Rogers, Support Operations officer, AFSBn-CHS.
During the maintenance cycle, the equipment receives the latest upgrades and modernization, as well as fielding new equipment and divesting old equipment. The success of APS-3 relies on the ability of the enterprise to field and sustain the equipment sets during the maintenance cycle and while it is afloat.
Once the maintenance cycle is complete, the equipment will be uploaded on another LMSR and depart for its operational deployment standing ready for download and issue to Soldiers in exercises or combat.
AFSBn-CHS is a subordinate unit of the 404th Army Field Support Brigade. That brigade's higher headquarters is the U.S. Army Sustainment Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, whose higher headquarters is AMC, located at Huntsville, Alabama.
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 07.12.2023 11:44 |
| Story ID: | 448982 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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