Sailors Support Army Troops Deploying to Middle East
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS090828-10
Release Date: 8/28/2009 5:06:00 AM
By Jim Murray, Commander, Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers Pearl Harbor Public Affairs
PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Working around-the-clock in 12-hour shifts, Navy Reservists assisted a team of active-duty Army and Navy personnel and civilians with a massive loadout of the MV Green Ridge (T-AK -9655) July 31–Aug. 2.
Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 8 (NCHB-8), headquartered in Fort Dix, N.J., augmented Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC) Pearl Harbor personnel in loading 88 helicopters and more than 800 storage containers and vehicles belonging to the U.S. Army's Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and destined for the Middle East aboard the multipurpose vessel.
"We had the ship loaded and on its way a day early," said Lt. Cmdr. Craig Retzlaff, FISC Pearl Harbor's Terminals Department director. "The quick turnaround would not have occurred without the stellar support of Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 8."
Prior to the loadout, FISC Pearl Harbor personnel provided the NCHB-8 members with comprehensive training in line handling, lashing, truck and forklift operation, and the use of the Worldwide Port Tracking System. Hatch bosses and captains, the eyes and ears of a major loadout, were given additional training.
"The training could not have been better," said Cmdr. Lee Stuart, the NCHB-8 officer-in-charge. "By the time the vessel arrived and we stepped aboard, everyone felt comfortable in their abilities."
As the vehicles and helicopters came aboard, they were situated as close together as possible in one of the immense holds found below deck. NCHB-8 stevedores used heavy chains to lash them down so that if stormy weather were encountered during the voyage, the cargo would not careen across the hold with each roll of the ship. As each additional vehicle was lashed into place, the work area became more and more confining, and stevedores found themselves squeezing through a maze of chains and closely packed vehicles.
"We used more than 3,000 chains," said Stuart. "As the holds filled, our stevedores were working in spaces as small as 12-18 inches."
Stuart and Lt. Samuel Sola, the assistant OIC and safety officer, had particular praise for NCHB-8's truck drivers, who had to wrestle their big rigs backwards up the ship's ramp during slick conditions. Once on deck, they had to painstakingly maneuver their trucks through the confines of the rapidly filling holds.
Despite the austere working conditions and 12-hour shifts morale remained high.
"Our members got up every morning with a smile and a can-do attitude," said Stuart. "Twelve hours later, they were still smiling."
In addition to performing line handling and forklift operations, the 53 battalion members assisted with an important project for FISC Pearl Harbor's Red Hill underground fuel storage facility.
FISC Pearl Harbor's mission is to provide quality and timely logistics and support services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint and allied forces throughout the Pacific Rim. FISC Pearl Harbor, one of seven supply centers under Commander, Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers (COMFISCS), provides supply chain management, procurement, contracting and transportation services, technical and customer support, defense fuel products, and worldwide movement of personal property. COMFISCS comprises more than 7,500 military and civilian logistics professionals operating as a single cohesive team providing global logistics services from more than 200 locations worldwide. A component of the Naval Supply Systems Command, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pa., COMFISCS is part of a worldwide logistics network of more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel providing combat capability through logistics.
For more news from Commander, Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers, visit www.navy.mil/local/comfisc/.
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