Record LMSR load sails from Charleston

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, May-June, 2002 by Don Dees

The Military Traffic Management Command has loaded a record amount of cargo on a U.S. Navy Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off ship.

MTMC's 841st Transportation Battalion loaded 1,740 individual pieces of equipment, totaling 347,593 square feet, aboard the USNS Dahl, at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station, Charleston, S.C. The vessel sailed for its duty posting in the Indian Ocean on April 14.

"As far as we know, that's more than anyone has ever put on a Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-Off Ship," said Lt. Col. Kent Selby, 841st Commander. "I've got the best people in the world down there doing this for me."

The next-largest load executed by the 841st covered 296,095 square feet and was also loaded on the Dahl in March 2000.

To stow that much equipment, the 841st had to exercise some creativity, said Clark Chambers, 841st Chief, Cargo Operations Officer.

"Our people had to use imagination and innovation to get the pieces in according to the stow plan," said Chambers.

Standard stow plans for a Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-Off Ship attempt to use 75 percent of the available space, said Craig Messervy, a Marine Cargo Specialist with the 841st. Messervy's stow plan for the vessel used about 78 percent of the Dahl's cargo capacity. To fit the load, Messervy employed a nesting principle.

"We put loads on trailers to reduce the footprint," said Messervy.

The trailers were from 76 heavy equipment transport systems. Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-Off Ships normally carry 48 to 52 of these tractor-trailers, said Chambers. Messervy's solution reduced the load's footprint to 306,933 square feet.

The size of the load and the training opportunities it provided prompted the 841st to solicit help from elsewhere, said Chambers. Transporters from other MTMC terminal units also lent support for the mission, said Chambers. They included documentation specialists and marine cargo specialists from the 838th Transportation Battalion, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; the 956th Transportation Co., Fort Monmouth, N.J.; and the 951st Transportation Co., Ipswich, United Kingdom. Additional support came from Army Reserve transporters of the 1182nd Transportation Battalion, Charleston, S.C. The Reservists conducted their two weeks of annual training in support of the mission.

The size of the load was not the only challenge facing the transporters of the 841st.

The Army's Combat Equipment Group-Afloat, the agency that generates the equipment list and requirements for pre-positioned equipment, pushed the date ahead for the upload, said Bryan Brock, Port Supervisor of the group.

The time allotted for the mission was also compressed, said Chambers. Combat Equipment Group-Afloat asked the 841st to complete the load in five days. Similar missions have been allotted as many as nine days. MTMC accomplished the loading from April 8-13.

"We had to move up our annual training a bit to accommodate the change in the dates, but we had planned so well in advance that it didn't affect much," said Maj. Van Price, Mission Officer in Charge for the 1182nd.

Dahl, a Military Sealift Command vessel, is transporting the cargo to Diego Garcia, where it will remain as part of the Army Prepositioned Stock Program for possible use in contingency missions.

The record load received praise from Theresa DeLucia, of MTMC's Transportation Engineering Agency, Newport News, Va.

"As far as I know," said DeLucia, who has studied the vessel design with the intent to increase the vessel's carrying capacity. "This is the largest load ever put on a Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off ship. This really shows the versatility and superior-loading capability of the ships.

"What other ships could accommodate 76 heavy equipment transporters and 70-ton semi-trailers. I had a chance to look at the final stow plan and I have to agree with Lieutenant Colonel Selby, that he has a great crew working for him."

Don Dees Public Affairs Specialist MTMC Headquarters