Courtesy story and photo
BARRANQUILLA, Colombia -- The U.S. Army Vessel (USAV) NEW ORLEANS, LCU 2031 of the 824th Transportation Company (Heavy Boat), U.S. Army, delivered a load of munitions from Sunny Point, N.C. to Barranquilla, Colombia for the Colombian Air Force in late August.
The successful delivery and distribution of this Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cargo was the result of careful coordination by U.S. Southern Command’s J-43 Mobility Division, SCJ-35 Global Force Management, SCJ-5 Engagement directorate, U.S. Army Forces Southern Command, Joint Munitions Command (JMC), U.S. Transportation Command, FORCECOM, U.S. Army Reserve Command, (U.S.) Security Cooperation Office - Colombia, the Colombian Air Force, and other organizations which were engaged in ensuring a safe and efficient delivery.
The USAV “NEW ORLEANS” is a Landing Craft-Utility Vessel (LCU), which is manned by a crew of 17 U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers.
The cargo was consolidated at McAllister Army Depot in Oklahoma from five locations in the U.S., then shipped via truck to Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, N.C. (MOTSU).
The LCU was loaded with 10 containers of munitions cargo prior to departing for the 8-day voyage to Barranquilla, Colombia.
Upon arrival in Colombia the LCU docked pierside at the Port of Palermo and was offloaded by local contractors. It was then then loaded onto trucks and escorted via Colombian Air Force Security Forces and Colombian National Police to the Colombian Air Force Base (CACOM 3) at the Barranquilla International Airport.
From a logistics perspective, the delivery went extremely well. According to U.S. Southern Command representative, Paul Loch, “This was a smooth, well-coordinated delivery from start to finish, with no major issues and was the culmination of two years of coordination and effort between the U.S. and Colombian Air Force,” he said.