Road trip: SDDC Southwest Asia works up front at Iraqi port of Umm Qasr

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, Fall, 2004 by Randall Ramian

In the future, the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr on the Khor Abdullah Waterway bordering the Persian Gulf, is an ultimate transportation solution.

The deepwater port has container cranes and a direct rail link to Baghdad.

Although sometimes interrupted by hostile insurgent action along its rail line, the port is an important link for SDDC sustainment cargoes to Coalition forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

These days, however, danger may lurk.

This was evident on a recent trip to the port city escorted by Capt. Donald Hannah, Detachment Officer-in-Charge, 831st Transportation Battalion, Bahrain.

I was privileged to be among five SDDC members of SDDC Southwest Asia who recently visited the port.

The vast, barren landscape of the nearby area is an unforgettable reminder of war.

The group travels approximately two miles from the Kuwaiti border through this unforsaken terrain in a pair of sport utility vehicles.

Entering Umm Qasr, the first things you notice are the remnants of a hard-fought battle that took place here 18 months ago.

You also can not help but notice the poverty level of this small, war-torn port town as you drive through it to the heavily guarded Port of Umm Qasr.

Little children run into the dirt road and try to greet vehicles as they drive through the torn-up streets.

Adults and children alike search through garbage to find items of use as they struggle to survive in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

During the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the city of Umm Qasr was one of the first Iraq cities conquered by the Coalition Forces.

The British Royal Marines initiated the assault on the city and port. Iraqi forces put up a strong resistance, which required several days of hard fighting, before it was cleared.

After the port was detained and reopened, it played an important role in the shipment of humanitarian supplies to Iraqi civilians. The port is now an important hub for surface, rail and truck shipments into Iraq.

At the port, I met Staff Sgt. Kathleen Rickard, a fellow member of SDDC Southwest Asia. Rickard, a Reservist, volunteered for a 10-week tour at the port recently from her Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait, duty station.

"There's no development in Umm Qasr," said Rickard, a sergeant with the New York City Police Department. "The port is poverty stricken. It is a real eye opener for me to see how the Iraqi population lives.

"No movies, no stores or malls--no commercial infrastructure at all."

At Umm Qasr, Rickard supervises 10 Iraqi citizens who manage yard operations and maintain the export yard database.

Another new experience for her was working side-by-side with her male Iraqi coworkers.

"The Arab men got a chance to see what it was like to work with and for a woman," she said.

While awkward at first, Rickard said she and her workers have a mutual respect for each other.

The port's main mission is to move sustainment and humanitarian containers in-and-out of Iraq, says Rickard.

In summarizing her Umm Qasr experience, Rickard said the port infrastructure is progressing well and the Coalition is making a big difference here.

"Within the next decade there will be tremendous technological advancement," said Rickard, "a big improvement from what it is like today."

Rickard is assigned to the 1174th Transportation Terminal Battalion, Fort Totten, N.Y.

Among Iraqi workers at the port is Ayad Mohammed Akbar, 36-year-old father of four and Umm Qasr resident.

Formerly a professor at the nearby Basrah Medical Institute, Akbar has worked as a foreman at the port for Inchcape Service since March 2003. He manages three shifts of laborers.

Akbar also has three brothers who work at the port. One of the brothers, Samir, is manager of the Iraq Railway Line.

A university educated medical technician, Akbar was a professor at the Basrah Medical Institute from 1985-1993.

Saddam Hussein's regime had him removed from his institute position in 1993 because of his non-Bathist political affiliation. He was conscripted in the Iraqi Army for seven years.

"The Iraqi population under Saddam's role was kept down and not allowed to develop," said Akbar. "Saddam did not allow the general population to have Internet access, cell phones or other modern technological equipment.

"He discriminated against his own people."

Eventually, Akbar would like to return to teaching at the university. In the meantime, he is very grateful to the Coalition forces for removing Saddam and providing the job opportunity.

"Now no one can take me from my home," said Akbar.

Getting the port in top shape is a key priority for Col. Tom Harvey, commander, SDDC Southwest Asia.

"To get the port operable--in order to receive, stage and move forward critical military and humanitarian supplies to the U.S. and Coalition troops and Iraqi citizens--has been a major concentrated effort of the 831st Transportation Battalion and SDDC Southwest Asia. To date the port has processed over 2500 full containers and over 1000 empty containers," said Harvey.

(Cdr. Randall Ramian is a U.S. Naval Reservist from Belmont, Calif., assigned to SDDC Southwest Asia. In civilian life, Ramian works as a business consultant.)