Navy Cargo Handlers Deploy to the Middle East
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080505-12
Release Date: 5/5/2008 3:22:00 PM
By Lt. Penny Cockerell, Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (NNS) -- More than 100 cargo handlers with the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG) headquarters in Williamsburg, Va., departed from Langley Air Force Base on May 4, for an eight-month deployment to locations in Kuwait and Iraq.
The Navy Reservists were mobilized primarily from Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 9 based at the Navy Operational Support Center in Columbus, Ohio, and represented 11 states.
As they waited for their flight, the Sailors said they are trained and ready for the mission.
"We're well prepared for this. Everybody got the training that they need," said Lt. Cmdr. Jose Rodriguez, officer in charge of the mission. "These guys are already ahead because they got the customs training and already had the port training."
They now join about 400 other Navy Reservists as part of NAVELSG Forward Hotel and will complete the eighth and final rotation of Navy cargo handling in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Once the cargo mission is complete, these Sailors will serve as customs inspectors for troops and equipment returning to the United States.
The Sailors will conduct port operations in Kuwait and air cargo operations in Iraq. They will relieve Port Group Golf, which was deployed in November 2007 to provide combat service support through logistics port operations in Kuwait and Iraq.
At Langley, Sailors spent their time making last-minute phone calls to family back home.
Yeoman 3rd Class Qiana Jones said goodbye to five children and a husband back in Dayton, Ohio. Unlike many other Sailors with NAVELSG Forward Hotel, this is Jones' first deployment.
"I'm nervous, I'm excited, I'm anxious," said Jones, who plans to keep in touch with her family through phone calls, e-mail and writing letters. Her husband has already bought $50 in stamps for the children.
"Now he gets to be the one waking up at 6 a.m.," Jones said. "He's already tipped his hat to me twice."
Equipment Operator 2nd Class Michael Nye said his two young boys are accustomed to him leaving on overnight trips, since he is a long-haul truck driver. But this will be far different.
"My 6-year-old will definitely notice it," said Nye, who shifted his attention to the job ahead. "Now I'm mostly thinking about dealing with the heat and focusing on the mission."
The cargo handlers were notified of their mobilization in February and in April spent four weeks of intensive pre-deployment training at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown-Cheatham Annex and nearby bases. Their training includes customs and agriculture inspection; weapons; chemical, biological and radiological defense; combat skills, self and perimeter defense; non-tactical vehicle operation; heavy forklift (KALMAR) training; combat life saving skills and first aid.
Leading NAVELSG Forward Hotel Headquarters is Capt. Kenda James who will be in charge of all NAVELSG forward deployed units, including the cargo handlers and customs inspectors working in Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Developing this second group of Reservists into the strong and motivated team they're becoming is a satisfying part of this mission," James said. "It is my privilege to lead them and to be a part of the operations to help our service members--our heroes--leave the war zone and head home to their families."
For more news from Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group, visit www.navy.mil/local/nelsf/.
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