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Operation Trident Arch Finishes Early with Mobile Hospital Offload

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS071105-14
Release Date: 11/5/2007 4:37:00 PM

By Lt. Penny Cockerell, Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group Public Affairs

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (NNS) -- A joint Navy/Army mission concluded ahead of schedule Nov. 2 with the offload of 384 containers of medical "MASH-style" fleet hospital units transported on Military Sealift Command dry cargo ship MV American Tern (T-AK 4729).

Known as Operation Trident Arch, this two and a half day evolution involved picking up mobile "Doc in a box" hospital units in positioned locations worldwide for a five-year cycle of updating and retrofitting.

Reserve Sailors from the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG) Navy Cargo Handling Battalion (NCHB) 9 worked with active-duty Sailors from NCHB-1 and Soldiers from the 149th Sea Port Operations Company at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Va.

Using cranes, the teams lifted containers onto the back of flatbed trucks at the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Cheatham Annex pier. The containers were then driven to the Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command holding yard for retrofitting and updating.

"We're taking the old hospital designs, taking out what we can't use and swapping it out with the new design," said Mark Meeter, the evolution manager.

One offload included an 81-bed hospital capable of sustaining medical care for 30 days.

Once updated, these mobile hospitals will be returned to locations worldwide for rapid deployment to the next humanitarian crisis or military need.

American Tern's civilian mariners, NAVELSG and the Army teams also offloaded 89 pieces of rolling stock, which included trucks for the expeditionary medical command.

"Basically, we hand them a list and say this ship will be here on this date," Meeter said. "And they make it happen. NCHB has done an outstanding job."

NAVELSG is a component of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, which is a global force provider of adaptive force packages of expeditionary capabilities to joint warfighting commanders. NECC serves as a single manning functional command to centrally manage the current and future readiness, resources, manning, training and equipping of the Navy Expeditionary Force.