SDDC deploys 1st Cavalry Division into Iraq

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, Spring, 2004 by John Randt

The combat vehicles of the 1st Cavalry Division move forward in long lines.

On ramps and by crane, vehicle-after-vehicle moves aboard the USNS Pollux, under the watchful eye of Soldiers of the 1192nd Transportation Terminal Brigade.

It is Feb. 11 and the 1st Cavalry Division is on the move. In weeks, enormous combat power will be catapulted into the Iraqi landscape.

The Fort Hood-based unit that has the largest shoulder patch in the U.S. Army is casting a big shadow on the port of Corpus Christ, Texas.

To move the division, the New Orleans-based Army Reservists will move four ship loads of equipment in a 12-day period. Aboard the vessels are some 3,500 pieces of cargo.

In early February it is time to load the second ship of the quartet--USNS Pollux, a Fast Sealift Ship operated by the Military Sealift Command.

In all, SDDC's 842nd Transportation Battalion, Beaumont, is responsible for loading 12,900 pieces of equipment aboard a total of 13 ships at the two ports. The equipment occupies 1.9 million-square feet of space.

The loadout of the 1st Cavalry Division is a part of the biggest surface equipment moves since World War II and involves a total of 300 vessel operations. Cargoes are going both to, and from, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The vessel loading reminds Maj. Stephen Tortes, officer-in-charge at Corpus Christi, of the loading of 33 vessels in early 2003 with the equipment of the 4th Infantry Division.

"The environment is much better this time," said Torres. "The process is more planned and less hectic."

Denied port and transit routes in Turkey, the 33-ship convoy maneuvered in endless circles just beyond the horizon. Finally, the ships were directed through the Suez Canal and unloaded in Kuwait. The 4th Infantry Division was too late for the fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom but just in time for peacekeeping duties.

Now, a year later, the 1st Cavalry Division is among a number of Army and Marine units replacing the original combat force.

The 1192nd is the "9-1-1" of the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, said Col. Maynard "Sandy" Sanders, commander.

"To date," said Sanders, "this unit has loaded more ships than any unit in the SDDC organization."

Activated in January 2003, unit Soldiers were working at the Corpus Christi docks within 72 hours.

Soon the unit was responsible for equipment movements at SDDC's 15 Strategic Ports.

To date, the unit has loaded, or unloaded 130 vessels at 15 different ports. In the process, the Reservists have moved 110,000 pieces of cargo--the equivalent of 16-million square feet of cargo.

This represents the movement of half of the 25-million square leer of cargo moved by the Military Sealift Command's military and civilian contract ships.

"Unbelievable, unbelievable" said Sanders.

Now, at the Corpus Christi docks, the Reservists are back at work.

Their first shipload went out Feb. 9 with the departure of the USNS Shugart, a Large, Medium Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off ship.

In quick succession, the 1192nd will load two "Cape" series reserve vessels of the U.S. Maritime Administration.

"I can't do my job here or in Beaumont without them," said Lt. Col. Brian Sundin, 842nd commander. "They are true partners with 'Team Beaumont.'"

Reviewing the port activity was Maj. Gen. Carlos "Butch" Pair, chief of Staff, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

"Relationships build capacity," said Pair. "It is the Army, Guard and Reserve in action and our commercial partners and port organizations.

"I see the great power of America."