Military


Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC)
Surface Deployment and Distribution Command [2004]

The Military Traffic Management Command changed its name on Jan. 1, 2004 the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. This was made to reflect its role in deploying the forces. The name change defines the command's critical role in deploying the force and its emphasis on end-to-end distribution operations supporting warfighters. The change follows closely on the heels of the U.S. Transportation Command being designated as the Defense Department's Joint Distribution Process Owner. That is no coincidence. The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command will be a key enabler of a new and improved joint distribution system envisioned by USTRANSCOM.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., with its Operations Center at Fort Eustis, Va., this Army major command and Army component command of USTRANSCOM is responsible for the global, joint movement of combat units, sustainment cargo, service member household goods and privately owned vehicles.

This is not the first name change since the command was established in 1965 as the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service. The change to Military Traffic Management Command in 1974 marked a transition in process in the post-Vietnam Era.

The Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) is a major Army command (MACOM) and serves as one of the three transportation component commands of the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). MTMC is one of the smallest of the Army's 15 major commands. Its authorized strength of 2,700 military and civilian employees maintains a presence at 24 terminals worldwide. Although MTMC is an Army MACOM, it is staffed with representation from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Canadian Armed Forces. MTMC is comprised of a headquarters in Northern Virginia, and four major subordinate commands, i.e., Deployment Support Command, Fort Eustis, Virginia, Transportation Engineering Agency, Newport News, Virginia, 598th Transportation Group, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and 599th Transportation Group, Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii. MTMC assets include 10,400 containers, 2,100 railcars, and 142 miles of government railroad track. Additionally, MTMC has an active presence at 22 ports worldwide.

For more than 30 years the Military Traffic Management Command has played a vital role in America's defense. Since establishment as the Military Traffi c Management and Terminal Service in 1965, MTMC has supported every war, major contingency, humanitarian relief operation, and theater of operations where soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have been deployed.

MTMC serves as DOD's single port manager worldwide. Terminal responsibilities include pre-deployment planning, contracting, customs clearance, documentation, cargo stow planning, and vessel loading/discharging. MTMC's Reserve Component units and Individual Mobilization Augmentees are vital to MTMC's successful port operations. The deployment, sustainment, and redeployment of our nation's armed forces are possible because of the support of port operators, transporters, and logisticians worldwide.

MTMC manages and influences numerous freight and cargo mobility requirements that support Defense Transportation System (DTS) initiatives. The Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations manages surface intermodal transportation of freight and the provision of intermodal equipment and services to all users of the DTS. Through contracts and other arrangements, the MTMC Operations staff provides the means by which military installation transportation offi ces, military units, service headquarters, the Defense Logistics Agency, and other DOD-approved activities and contractors move freight in support of DOD's global commitments. Such freight includes tanks, fuel, ammunition, vehicles, repair parts, food, and other commodities.

The Joint Traffic Management Office was formed in 1996 from elements of MTMC and the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. The office's big missions include ocean shipping, non-scheduled liner cargo and intermodal equipment.

The Deployment Support Command was activated Oct. 2, 1998, at Fort Eustis, Va. The command is responsible for the command and control of eight water ports in the United States and Puerto Rico. The command was formed from MTMC Western Area and MTMC Eastern Area following the closure of Oakland Army Base, Oakland, Calif., and Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne, Bayonne, N.J., in September 1999. Both installations were closed as a result of the 1995 Base Realignment & Closure Commission decisions. Functions such as command and control and some transportation functions from the two ocean ports were then re-established at Fort Eustis. The 450-member organization includes approximately 200 former employees of the two ports - 160 from Bayonne and 40 from Oakland.

MTMC is reshaping to more closely resemble private enterprise transportation organizations. The future organization will be smaller, faster and more efficient in its work. Automation and organizational structuring will create savings that will reduce freight rates for MTMC's DOD customers. The reshaping includes centralized work processes at headquarters and standardized staffs at the command's 24 worldwide port units. Some work processes will shift to the Deployment Support Command-MTMC's operations element.

Changes are taking place at MTMC's two major overseas commands-the 598th and the 599th Transportation Groups. After years of unsynchronized, incremental changes, the two organizations are distinctly different in staffing and organization, but in the future they will resemble each other.

A team of four MTMC battalion commanders reviewed the staffing of MTMC's battalions. The strength disparity among the units ranges from 18 in Bahrain to 100 in Korea. The goal is to develop a common structure for battalions, adapted to meet the needs of each battalion's area of responsibility and mission.

The military transportation units of the Military Traffic Management Command have become more uniform in size and composition. Implementation of the proposal was complete by 30 September 2001. The changes in existing MTMC units are sweeping in scope. The ideas for the changes came from MTMC's commanders themselves. At the same time, the changes reflect reduction in layering and the great use of computer automation. The proposal called for changes in the size and structure of most of the Military Traffic Management Command's 25 transportation unit locations in the United States and around the world. MTMC battalions were reorganized into standard 26-member organizations. The battalion's subordinate company and detachment units were also affected. The MTMC Battalion Evaluation Group selected 26 as an optimum number for a water port concentrating on the core missions of terminal operations and traffic management. As a consequence of this change, most MTMC water port locations decreased in size -- a few increased in size. Overall, MTMC strength at worldwide port locations will decline by four officers, 37 soldiers, 94 civilians and 64 foreign nationals. MTMC twin command groups [the 598th Transportation Group, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the 599th Transportation Group, Wheeler Army Air Field , Hawaii] were reorganized to near-similar structures and job titles. The 598th Transportation Group lost 29 positions while the 599th Transportation Group lost three positions.

On 23 July 2001 it was announced that the Army had approved a sweeping reorganization of the Military Traffic Management Command that will make fundamental changes in the organization's structure, staffing and operations. All the changes will be in effect by 30 June 2003. The reorganization was approved June 28 by Army Vice Chief of Staff, General John M. Keane. In its impact and range, the announced changes are the largest in the history of the 36-year-old command. MTMC's responsibility includes the movement of Department of Defense freight worldwide and the movement of service members' personal property and privately owned vehicles.

A single headquarters will have control over the command's 24 water ports - approximately 2,000 employees. As approved, the newly designed organization will reduce redundancy and layering in the headquarters and supporting offices. The reorganization will trim approximately 250 personnel spaces, or 9 percent, of MTMC's current 2,346 worldwide force. The concept is to combine the Headquarters, MTMC, and Headquarters, MTMC Deployment Support Command, into a single headquarters managing all MTMC assets worldwide. The result will be a single Headquarters, MTMC with locations at both Alexandria, Va., and Fort Eustis, Va. The operations staff, which was split between two locations, will be predominantly located at Fort. Eustis, Va., making it the operational hub for the command. In its simplest terms, MTMC had a redundancy of two operating headquarters located only a few hours apart. The elimination of the duplication will provide both labor and operational efficiencies. The number of people in MTMC operations jobs will drop from approximately 425-to-257, a cut of 168 personnel spaces. The reorganization is a fundamental change in how MTMC does business in workload. The move will eliminate redundant staff functions, improve global operations, and result in a reduction in the total workforce. The reorganization will enable MTMC to provide seamless end-to-end support to the warfighting Commanders'-in-Chief. The new organization will provide a single global, surface movement, process manager - as the director of operations for MTMC.

To effect the reorganization, a series of gradual changes will be implemented to accomplish the following:

  • The current commander Deployment Support Command will be designated as both Deputy Commanding General MTMC and Director of Operations.
  • The creation of a single MTMC Operations Center at Fort Eustis, Va.
  • The inactivation of MTMC's Deployment Support Command, Fort Eustis, Va.
  • The elimination of an Operations Division, at MTMC Headquarters, Alexandria, Va.
  • The elimination of the Joint Traffic Management Office, at MTMC Headquarters, Alexandria, Va.

Additionally, MTMC will reestablish the 597th Transportation Group at Sunny Point, North Carolina, as the single operational group headquarters for former units of the Deployment Support Command. The 597th and MTMC's two overseas groups will then report to the MTMC Deputy Commanding General /Director of Operations. Some MTMC Command & Control arrangements will be altered. In the new organization, the Commander of MTMC's new Operations Center will be in an expanded position: MTMC's Deputy Commanding General & Director of Operations.

The Military Traffic Management Command traces its organizational lineage to the Army's former Office of the Chief of Transportation, established July 31, 1942. Fourteen years later, the Defense Department established a separate agency to carry out traffic management functions. On May 1, 1956, MTMC's original mandate began when the Secretary of Defense designated the Secretary of the Army as the single manager for military traffic within the United States. On July 1, 1956, the Army established the Military Traffic Management Agency (MTMA) to carry out those single-manager functions. Originally, MTMA did not operate military ocean terminals, a function held by the U.S. Army Transportation Terminal Command (a Transportation Corps component).

MTMA lasted only five and one half years. Then, as part of his overall DOD restructuring, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara transferred the organization to the newly established Defense Supply Agency (DSA). On January 1, 1962, he re-designated MTMA as the Defense Traffic Management Service (DTMS). The Army Materiel Command then took over the military ocean terminals. However, DOD and congressional concerns over duplication in military logistics soon led to further reorganizations. After a detailed reexamination of the Defense Transportation System, McNamara designated the Secretary of the Army as the single manager for military traffic, land transportation, and common-user ocean terminals on November 19, 1964. To execute this centralized management concept, a joint service planning staff formed up to establish an agency--the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service (MTMTS).

DOD then formally activated MTMTS as a jointly staffed Army major command on February 15, 1965. MTMTS assumed all responsibilities assigned to the Defense Traffic Management Service and the terminal operations functions of the U.S. Army Supply and Maintenance Command (a component of the Army Materiel Command). With the approval and publication of its single-manager charter on June 24, 1965, MTMTS joined the Military Air Transport Service (now Air Mobility Command) and the Military Sea Transport Service (now Military Sealift Command) in providing complete transportation services to the Department of Defense. In 1966 the Transportation Engineering Agency, Fort Eustis, VA, the Army's only activity with traffic and transportability engineering expertise, became a major component of MTMTS. On July 31, 1974, MTMTS was re-designated as the Military Traffic Management Command to make its title more readily identifiable with its mission.

MTMC's responsibilities and scope of operations have increased significantly since its activation. Major functions transferred to MTMC include:

  1. Transportation Engineering functions (July 1, 1966)
  2. Operation of water terminals in Northern and Central Europe (July 1, 1976)
  3. Operation of ocean terminal and common-user land transportation in Okinawa (October 1, 1977)
  4. Operation of Army common-user ocean terminal operations in Japan (February 1, 1978)
  5. Operation of Army terminals in Korea (October 1, 1978)
  6. Responsibility for sealift cargo, passenger booking and associated contract administration functions (October 1, 1981)
  7. Management of car rentals for the entire federal government (1985)
  8. Liner service and container management. (1996)

The original MTMA did not feature port commands but did include five regional offices: eastern (Pittsburgh, PA), western (Oakland, CA), central (St. Louis, MO), southwestern (Dallas, TX), and southeastern (Atlanta, GA). This arrangement essentially lasted until 1965. Only the Oakland headquarters remained the same after that time. MTMA and then DTMS called the field offices "traffic regions."

The formation of the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service in February 1965 meant asea change in the command's organization. Since MTMTS now operated military ocean terminals, it focused its area command structure on ports. Upon the command's formation the former eastern traffic region headquarters moved to Brooklyn, NY, and became Eastern Area. Western Area (formerly a traffic region) headquarters remained at Oakland, CA. MTMTS abolished the southwestern and southeastern field offices. For two years, however, MTMTS retained its central area command in St. Louis, MO. To streamline operations further, the command then disestablished that headquarters in early 1967 and transferred its functions to Eastern Area. That same year, Eastern Area Headquarters itself moved from Brooklyn, NY, to Bayonne, NJ.

In late 1984 MTMC created the Transportation Terminal Command, Far East, as a subordinate command of MTMC Western Area. A few years later, MTMC, along with the Military Sealift Command and the Military Airlift Command (now the Air Mobility Command), became components of the United States Transportation Command on October 1, 1988. Created on April 18, 1987, TRANSCOM began official operations on October 1, 1987, as DOD's single unified transportation command. Its mission is to integrate global air, land and sea transportation in support of national security objectives. It is the focal point for the integration of wartime mobility procedures. MTMC, MSC and AMC remain as major commands of their parent services and continue to perform service-unique missions under the direction of their military departments. On 14 February 1992, DOD gave TRANSCOM control of service-operated transportation in both peace and war.

The millions of tons of cargo and thousands of troops moved to support Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM marked the largest test of the military's logistical capability since the World War II Normandy invasion. During the Gulf War, MTMC personnel successfully managed the movement of 85% of the unit equipment shipped to Saudi Arabia. They operated out of 33 ports world wide and loaded more than 945,000 pieces of equipment equaling 6.5 million measurement-tons onto 564 ships bound for Saudi Arabia. At the peak of operations, MTMC activated 12 transportation units, 225 volunteers, and 73 Individual Mobilization Augmentees from the Reserve components to support DESERT SHIELD missions. Under the Special Middle East Shipping Agreements, MTMC booked 37,000 forty-foot commercial containers with sustainment supplies aboard commercial liners bound for Southwest Asia.

The Gulf War caused some aftershocks for MTMC. In 1991, MTMC re-designated its Transportation Terminal Command Far East as MTMC Pacific and moved it from Korea to Hawaii. Headquarters then assigned MTMC Europe as a subordinate command of MTMC Eastern Area in July 1992. This arrangement meshed with HQMTMC's relationships with Western Area and MTMC Pacific. The Command's February 1993 reorganization created an organization that provided improved quality service and optimum strategic deployability of America's forces in support of national defense. The directorates of international traffic, inland traffic, passenger traffic, personal property and safety and security were centralized into a single Operations Directorate. The reorganization also combined personnel and logistics into a single directorate.

In general, the Cold War's end meant continuous change for MTMC. Even before the Berlin Wall fell, Congress had established the Base Realignment and Closing Commission (BRAC). Throughout the 1990s, this group shuttered growing numbers of well-established but less-used bases around the country. MTMC survived the first few BRAC cycles (1988, 1991, 1993), but not the 1995 round of proposals. At that time the Defense Department recommended closing the Oakland and Bayonne military ocean terminals. BRAC accepted its recommendations, which meant abolishing MTMC's Eastern and Western Area Commands. According to plan, MTMC would close down those ocean terminals by 2001.

To replace its two area headquarters, HQMTMC planned to establish a single continental United States (CONUS) command. HQMTMC formed a selection team, which evaluated a large variety of sites. In early 1997, Secretary of the Army Togo D. West reviewed the site team recommendations and decided on Fort Eustis, Virginia as the single area command's headquarters.

Loss of the area commands meant gain in other areas. As a result of recommendations by its Organizational Excellence team, HQMTMC made MTMC Europe (since 1992 a component of Eastern Area) and MTMC Pacific (a component of Western Area) separate commands in late 1996.

In an effort to make its organizations more recognizable as regular Army units, MTMC re-designated its port units on 1 October 1997. The previous four-digit designations changed to three digits and the major and medium port commands changed to groups, battalions, and companies. For example, MTMC Europe became the 598th Transportation Group (Terminal) and MTMC Pacific became the 599th Transportation Group (Terminal).

On 15 October 1997, MTMC established the Deployment Support Command (DSC) at Fort Eustis. Its Eastern and Western Areas Commands were consolidated into the DSC. On 30 September 1999, MTMC closed its Military Ocean Terminals at Bayonne and Oakland.

In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to: realign Fort Eustis, VA, by relocating the Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command to Scott Air Force Base, IL, and consolidating it with the Air Force Air Mobility Command Headquarters and Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) Headquarters at Scott AFB; realign Hoffman 2, a leased installation in Alexandria, VA, by relocating the US Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command to Scott AFB, IL, and consolidating it with the Air Force Air Mobility Command Headquarters and Transportation Command Headquarters at Scott AFB; realign US Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command -Transportation Engineering Agency facility in Newport News, VA, by relocating US Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command – Transportation Engineering Agency to Scott AFB and consolidating it with the Air Force Air Mobility Command Headquarters and Transportation Command Headquarters at Scott AFB. Collocation of TRANSCOM and Service components would (1) collocate activities with common functions and facilitate large-scale transformation proposed by the TRANSCOM Commander, and (2) reduce personnel to realize long-term savings. The realignment would also terminate leased space operations in the National Capital Region (143,540 GSF in Alexandria, VA) and near Norfolk, VA (40,013 GSF in Newport News, VA).