Navy aircraft begins New Year by sea - Brief Article

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, March-April, 2001

When the Maersk Constellation left Yokohama, Japan, on Jan. 27, it carried an unusual piece of MTMC cargo.

The vessel carried an E-2C U.S. Navy Hawkeye aircraft from Atsugi Naval Air Facility in Japan.

Wrapped in heavy white plastic, the aircraft was an unusual sight.

The move of the aircraft was an epic. It went by barge from Kisarazu, Japan, to Yokohama's North Pier on New Year's Eve.

Members of the 836th Transportation Battalion, of Yokohama, supervised the loading of the aircraft.

"It was a challenge," said Dave Jones, of MTMC's Joint Traffic Management Office. "We don't carry airplanes that often. Usually they have to be dismantled."

The aircraft is bound for San Diego, where it will be transshipped to nearby Naval Aviation Depot Rework Facility, North Island, Calif.

The aircraft is headed back to the United States for Phased Depot Maintenance induction, said Lt. Daryl Pierce, of the Atsugi facility. The aircraft will be totally overhauled in the four-month maintenance cycle.

The Hawkeye uses a series of electronic systems to detect, track and identify threats to U.S. Navy aircraft carrier groups.