Courtesy Photo | KUWAIT NAVAL BASE, Kuwait (30 August 2006) --- Storekeeper 3rd Class Melvin Barker,...... read more read more
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Spc. Debrah A. Robertson
Desert Voice Staff Writer, 40th PAD
KUWAIT NAVAL BASE, Kuwait (30 August 2006) -- "I had no idea the amount of work it took to get equipment into and out of theater," said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Laurie Mott, Equipment Operator for the Naval Expeditionary Logistic Support Group.
Third Army controls the movement of equipment into and out of theater and the units at the Sea Port of Debarkation in Kuwait support that mission, said Sgt. 1st Class Charlie Cox of the 595th Transportation Group.
Ships move into and out of theater carrying equipment on a continual basis. They are cycled through Kuwait 24 hours a day.
These ships carry the majority of the supplies needed in theater.
That includes everything from secure items like Interceptor Body Armor and Patriot missiles to the very common, but important up-armored HMWWV, said Cox.
In order to get these items to the servicemembers who need them, it takes a lot of collaboration between the different branches of service and civilian workers as well.
There are multiple roles to fill in a job this big.
The Army provides drivers to move the cargo, and vessel teams load or offload cargo using civilian contractors, said Mott. "Army 595th TTG manages the entire port and operates the Command Operations Center, while the Security Force units provide security for the land portion of the port."
"The Air Forces is responsible for the movement of the cargo from the port to its final destination," she said.
"The Marines are utilized to move their own gear through the port, and provide Liaisons Officers to track the cargo for the various units," she continued.
"The Navy operates the marshalling yards are responsible for maintaining visibility of all cargo staged at the port. The Naval Hospital group is responsible for manning and operation a Troop Medical Clinic as well as disaster response at the port," she said.
"Naval Coastal Warfare is responsible for the sea security of the vessel while at the port. It is a joint command sharing its responsibility with the Coast Guard," Mott continued.
"The Military Sealift Command is responsible for coordinating and tracking the vessel movement and providing shipboard security while the ship is in port," she said.
All of this work starts when a unit decides to ship the supplies they are required to successfully complete their mission in theater.
"There are two components to shipping cargo," said Cox, "information and the cargo itself. Information is more important because if it is wrong then the cargo will get sent somewhere like Fiji."
The tracking of the paperwork, and thus the cargo itself, starts in the U.S. when the unit gives a full report of the size and dimensions of the cargo they want to ship, said Chief Petty Officer Jason Kjos, the battle captain of the NAVALSG.
This is downloaded into a system that will track the cargo so that the unit will know where it is along its journey.
The ship publishes this information in a manifest, said Cmdr. Michael Sebastino, the Surface welfare officer for the NAVALSG. Each piece of cargo receives its own 17 digit tracking number that allows it to be scanned and tracked from port to port.
But prior to being loaded onto the ship, the cargo receives a full customs inspection, said Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Hetrick, an equipment operator with the NAVALSG.
A vehicle, such as an HMWWV, is inspected to make sure it is in good condition and is filled with the appropriate amount of fuel. Too much fuel can be a hazard, whereas too little fuel may cause difficulties when trying to drive the vehicle off the ship and onto the storage lot.
"During the U.S. inspection they check for defects, and retrofit it with the appropriate hardware prior to sending it into theater," said Kjos. They want servicemembers to receive equipment in top condition to improve mission readiness. They also clean the vehicle of all foreign debris to prevent bringing foreign plants into Kuwait.
Once the vehicle is inspected, it is loaded onto the ship according to a load plan, said Cox. The ship isn't loaded haphazardly. There is a lot of careful planning put into a loading plan in order to utilize every inch of space possible. This saves the U.S. money by shipping more cargo with fewer ships. "It's like a game of Tetras, but three-dimensional."
It is shackled inside the ship to secure it, said Kjos. This prevents it from moving during the long trip to Kuwait. This keeps both the cargo and crew safe.
It takes approximately a month for the ship to get from the U.S. to the Sea Port of Debarkation, said Kjos. "We have eyes on the ship a couple weeks out from its arrival here [at SPOD]."
"And if sensitive items [such as the IBAs mentioned earlier] are shipped," said Mott, "then Soldiers must ride with the cargo the entire month to watch it."
Although the ship is tracked, its exact arrival time is not certain until it comes closer to port, said Cox. "This is because the ship is under more than just the power of man. The weather and current affect the course of the ship."
When the ship comes closer to port, there is a ramp meeting to decide how it will be unloaded and reloaded, said Mott.
After the ship is docked, the bindings are removed from the cargo and the ship is offloaded. Cranes are used to remove containers, but vehicles, like the HMWWV are driven off, said Mott.
After the vehicles are offloaded from the ship, they are scanned into the storage yard for tracking purposes and staged for transportation to their respective destinations, said Mott. Then a Transportation Move Request is made for a truck to pick up the vehicles and convoy them to Iraq if that is their final destination.
It's important that each unit provides someone to monitor the movement of their equipment in the deployment yard onto the appropriate trucks, she said. This helps assure that there is no confusion and equipment does not get sent to the wrong place.
After the trucks are loaded with the appropriate vehicles, they are scanned out of the yard and sent into Iraq or elsewhere in theater via convoys, said Hetrick.
The Kuwaiti police and the U.S. Army escort the vehicles to the Kuwait-Iraq border and from there it is convoyed by the U.S. military to where it is needed most, he said.
"All of this equals a ton of man hours," said Mott.
Third Army is responsible for the movement of all this equipment, and everyone at SPOD works hard to support that mission, said Cox.
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2006 10:58 |
| Story ID: | 7610 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 41 |
This work, Port Authority: Third Army Naval assets tracking movement of equipment in and out of Iraq, by SPC Deborah Ledesma, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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