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Navy cargo ships bring U.S. war fighters' equipment home

Military Sealift Command Release

Release Date: 8/14/2003

Dust storms, extreme temperatures and port congestion are just some of the conditions that challenge the Navy's civilian-crewed cargo ships as they bring home some of the now damaged or unneeded military equipment that helped U.S. forces bring down Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraqi.

The equipment -- ranging from 70-ton armored vehicle- launched bridges to 5.56 millimeter rifle ammunition, each weighing a few ounces -- has begun returning to military installations and ships around the globe.

From late April through July, 41 of the Navy's Military Sealift Command ships brought 4.7 million square feet of cargo weighing more than 228,000 tons back to the United States from ports in Kuwait. This amount is only a small portion of the 21 million square feet of cargo, 261 million gallons of fuel and 95,000 tons of ammunition that was transported by MSC ships to the region from January to April.

MSC, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense, was responsible for shipping the vast majority of combat equipment used by U.S. forces in the Middle East. The command is also responsible for bringing the equipment back to the United States.

MSC normally operates more than 120 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships, which increased to more than 210 ships during the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom in mid-March. These additional transport ships were chartered from private industry or activated from reduced operating status to carry this massive volume of war-fighting equipment into the theater of operations.

The command's ships provide a variety of services to the Department of Defense that include resupplying the U.S. Navy fleet at sea, moving and storing military combat equipment at sea for rapid response in a crisis and providing at-sea platforms for conducting undersea surveillance and oceanographic missions to support the DOD. MSC also delivers ammunition for all the DOD services.

It took a combination of ships from a variety of sources to get the large volume of cargo into theater and now out of theater. A key resource that MSC did not have in the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s was the 18 950-foot large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ships -- each equivalent in size to a massive aircraft carrier and capable of carrying more than 300,000 square feet of cargo. All of these LMSRs were the prime movers used for OIF, and they will continue to be key players as equipment leaves the theater of operations.

Four of the LMSRs used for returning the cargo -- USNS Red Cloud, USNS Soderman, USNS Sisler and USNS Charlton -- are part of the eight ships in MSC's Afloat Prepositioning Ship Squadron Four, which are all normally kept loaded with Army equipment and supplies in the Indian Ocean for a rapid response during a contingency.

For three days in late July, with temperatures in excess of 130 degrees, the LMSRs were loaded with damaged and unneeded equipment from various U.S. Army units and the U.S. Marine's 1st and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces at a port in Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait. Seven of the APSRON Four ships continue to transport equipment to and from the United States in support of OIF.

The APSRON Four ships made multiple trips between the United States and Kuwait during the height of the war to deliver urgently needed combat equipment. This new phase of war means more work for the many ships that have been at high operational tempo for several months.

The highly coordinated sealift effort during OIF has required the cargo-carrying capacity from several sources.

Thirty roll-on/roll-off ships, part of the 68-ship U.S. Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force, were activated from reduced operating status to transport the enormous amount of gear for the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division into Kuwait. These civilian-crewed RRF ships came under the control of MSC and continued their transport duties by delivering combat equipment into theater and back, returning unneeded equipment to the United States.

Only one RRF ship is still supporting OIF -- MV Cape Henry. With cargo-carrying space of more than 210,000 square feet, Cape Henry has been critical to the transport of equipment for both the 4th Infantry Division and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. Cape Henry carried hundreds of thousands of square feet of cargo into Kuwait from Jacksonville, Fla., and Beaumont, Texas. The ship also carried hundreds of thousands of square feet of now unneeded combat equipment back to U.S. ports from Kuwait.

Ships chartered by MSC, such as roll-on/roll-off ship SS Northern Lights, carried hundreds of thousands of square feet of equipment too. The ship, which is normally used by commercial companies to carry trailers and vehicles between U.S. West Coast ports and Alaska, has been under charter to MSC for nearly six months.

Northern Lights has made multiple trips between the United States and the Middle East. The ship loaded U.S. Marine Corps gear out of San Diego in February and delivered it to Kuwait and then made a second trip into theater with Army gear loaded at Jacksonville in April. Since then, Northern Lights has loaded homeward-bound combat gear in Kuwait twice.

Most MSC ships with returning equipment have been loaded at ports within MSC Central, the area command responsible for MSC ships transiting through the ocean regions surrounding Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Dealing with frequent dust storms has been a particularly difficult challenge for all those involved in the loading process at the area command, which has included the MSC Central team, the ship's civilian crews and the military personnel loading the ships.

They all must wear masks during the mild dust storms that occur almost weekly. When winds increase to over 35 mph, almost monthly, the port must close and loading stops.

To combat the corrosive effects of dust, extra filters have been put into the ships' ventilation systems, and the equipment is washed at least twice before loading.

The loading teams also try to get the equipment into the ship's cargo hold before noon when dust storms typically begin. This requires much quick-thinking, coordination and problem solving by all those involved in the process. Care must be given to ensure that the weight distribution is balanced throughout the ship and that the ship's cargo storage space is used as effectively as possible.

Commercial shipping off the coast of Kuwait has increased since the end of OIF. As a result, port congestion has become an issue for those responsible for shipping military equipment out of theater and back to assigned bases.

"We have had to work with the Kuwaitis even more in the last few weeks to coordinate our ship operations with theirs," said Capt. Patrick Myers, USN, commander MSC Office Kuwait and Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two, which normally operates out of the Indian Ocean.

Those involved in the loading process also face a new challenge due to the battle-worn condition of some of the tanks, trucks and other rolling stock being transported home by ship. MSC cargo ships frequently have stern or side port ramps so that military vehicles can be driven into the ship's cargo hold. When the vehicles cannot be driven on board, cranes must be used to lift them into the cargo holds through huge hatches on the ship's deck. This takes much extra work and planning.

Despite the challenges Capt. Tony Heimer, USN, commander of APSRON Four, said he is very pleased with MSC's new OIF focus.

"The merchant mariners are an impeccable group who have risen to the occasion, making the back load process smooth," Capt. Heimer said.