Turbo Intermodal Surge (TIS)
Turbo Intermodal Surge (TIS) is a relatively new transportation concept designed to assist in deploying military equipment on commercial vessels and vehicles. Flatracks, 20-foot MILVAN's, and 40-foot containers are used to transport equipment to the users. TIS delivers more equipment in a shorter period of time than conventional Army methods.
In April 1997, TIS was used for the first time overseas to support Cobra Gold '97, an annual joint military training exercise in Thailand. The U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) spent $7 million to test and evaluate this new concept that can be used to supplement rapid deployment of forces worldwide. In Cobra Gold '97, an inland port support activity delivered unit equipment close to the training site. TIS eliminated the necessity of using a convoy to move equipment from far-away ports to the exercise area. In previous Cobra Gold exercises, soldiers who were tired and affected by jet lag faced a 2-day convoy to the exercise area soon after they arrived in Thailand. Using TIS reduced the possibility of vehicle accidents, maintenance problems, and damage and theft of equipment during a convoy operation.
To be effective, TIS requires detailed planning. TIS port support activity operations require a large, hard-surface area that has a good road network and is free of overhead obstructions. The site must have the appropriate number of personnel to forecast mission requirements, set up base camp operations, and perform split-based operations in a safe, professional manner. Everyone must use the USTRANSCOM standards for properly chaining and binding equipment onto flatracks. Use of the correct special tools, chains and bindings, and blocking and bracing materials is important. Use of dual-opening containers can facilitate TIS operations in confined areas by allowing vehicles access from both ends.
Disadvantages of using TIS include the tremendous amount of manual labor required to configure equipment properly for shipment. Blocking, bracing, loading, and unloading of containers and flatracks is much more laborious and time-consuming than using roll-on-roll-off ships. Also, the interiors of the containers are hot and confined, making soldier tasks inside them difficult and exhausting. During Cobra Gold '97, record high temperatures created an obstacle to mission accomplishment because frequent breaks were needed to prevent heat exhaustion. Also, most of the contracted truck drivers had no specific delivery route or schedule, so soldiers sometimes waited for hours, not knowing when equipment would arrive from the port. The Cobra Gold experience will help planners avoid problems with TIS in the future.
Foal Eagle/Turbo Intermodal Surge, a combined-force exercise involving U.S. and Korean forces, focused on amphibious sealift and strategic lift readiness. Thai stevedores connect a U.S. Army generator to a cargo crane aboard MV Maersk Constellation during Exercise Cobra Gold 2000. (Photo by JO1 Craig Strawser) MSC participants in FY 2000 included MV Cape Knox, a roll-on/roll-off vessel activated from the RRF to carry elements of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division from Port Hadlock, Wash., to Pusan, Korea. MV Maersk Constellation provided additional lift support.
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