Navy cargo ships transport the Army's 82nd combat gear to the Middle East
Military Sealift Command Release
Release Date: 8/22/2003
As the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division begins to replace the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of square feet of the 82nd's combat equipment are being transported to the Middle East aboard three of the U.S. Navy's newest and largest cargo ships. The equipment will be used for the 82nd's support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
From August 7 through 20, more than 700,000 square feet of humvees, trucks and containerized equipment were loaded onto 950-foot large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships USNS Dahl, USNS Soderman and USNS Seay at ports in Charleston, S.C., and Beaumont, Texas.
The nearly aircraft carrier-sized, civilian-crewed LMSRs each have a giant, slewing stern ramp and a movable ramp that services two side ports. The ramps make it easy for wheeled and tracked vehicles to be driven on and off the ships, saving valuable time during loading and unloading and ensuring a rapid deployment. Interior ramps between decks ease the traffic flow once cargo is loaded aboard ship. The LMSRs were built during the last decade, and each have six or seven decks with more than 300,000 square feet of combat cargo carrying space.
The three LMSRs transporting the 82nd Division's equipment are operated by of the Navy's Military Sealift Command, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense. MSC ships have been the prime movers of combat equipment into theater for OIF. In any war or contingency, the vast majority of equipment needed by war fighters must go by sea. It is the only practical means of moving the immense volume of cargo into theater quickly.
The massive amount of 82nd division cargo is in addition to the 21 million square feet of combat equipment, 216 million gallons of fuel and 95,000 tons of ammunition that MSC ships have already transported to the Middle East from early January to late April.
Seay was the first of the three LMSRs to be loaded at MSC's detachment in Charleston and contained an unusually large number of pieces. LMSRs loaded with equipment for Army ground troops normally carry 1,000 to 1,700 pieces of cargo. More than 2,400 pieces of gear totaling nearly 277,000 square feet were loaded onto Seay. In addition to the numerous vehicles that had to be driven onboard the ship, forklifts transported more than a hundred containers of equipment and placed them on one of the ship's decks. Seay completed the entire loading in two and a half days despite the complexity of the task.
Most Army divisions have to transport heavy tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and the massive trailers and trucks that carry these vehicles into theater. The 82nd Airborne Division, a parachuting force out of Fort Bragg, N.C., however, does not have armored vehicles in its equipment inventory. Because their division's equipment must eventually be dropped from planes into theater, their gear must be light and compact -- enabling them to be a highly mobile, flexible, rapid-response force.
Even the heavy rain that fell on the MSC office in Beaumont did not stop Seay's sister ship Dahl from loading. The military and civilians loading the equipment worked through the rain to get the more than 1,725 vehicles and containers, totaling 290,453 square feet, onto Dahl in three and a half days.
"Early and continuing communication between Dahl's master and our marine transportation specialists was key to ensuring the ship had a smooth transit and cargo operation," said Lt. Cmdr. David Smith, USN, commanding officer of MSCO Beaumont. "Everyone was well prepared for her arrival."
USNS Soderman's loading team faced many of the same challenges as those loading Seay and Dahl. The last of the LMSRs to load the 82nd's gear and depart for the Persian Gulf, Soderman sailed from Charleston on August 20.
MSC normally operates more than 120 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships, which increased to more than 210 ships during the height of OIF in mid-March. Additional transport ships were chartered from private industry or activated from reduced operating status to carry the heavy volume of equipment for war fighters supporting OIF.
The command supports all branches of the military by transporting combat equipment and supplies; providing underway fuel and supply replenishment for the Navy fleets and providing at-sea platforms for undersea surveillance and oceanographic missions. From strategic locations around the globe, MSC also operates prepositioning ships laden with military cargo that can be rapidly deployed during a contingency.
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