Loaded aboard fleet of navy cargo ships, "old Ironsides" deploys to Iraq

Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Edward Baxter

Less than a few weeks after the ouster of Saddam Hussein s regime by U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, cargo vessels from the Navy's Military Sealift Command, or MSC, continue to re-supply our forces in the region.

Recently, what might best be described as an "armada" of nine MSC cargo ships--loaded an entire U.S. Army division's equipment heading for duty in Iraq.

The U.S. Army's First Armored Division, more commonly known in Army circles as "Old Ironsides," received orders to deploy to the Gulf on March 4. Next came the order to MSC, the shipping arm of the Defense Department, to move the cargo to the Gulf. A number of government-owned and contracted cargo vessels were picked for the job.

Serving in the first Gulf war in 1991, as well as in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, "Old Ironsides" consists of 13,000 troops based in Weisbaden, Germany, as well as additional 3,500 troops from Ft. Riley, Kansas.

The load of more than 6,000 pieces of heavy combat equipment and supplies took place at the northern European ports of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and nearby Antwerp, Belgium, in mid-April. At both ports, row after row of M1-A1 main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, howitzers, fuel trucks, ambulances, humvees, bridge layers, Blackhawk and Apache helicopters, not to mention hundreds of shipping containers, sat in huge staging areas--the size of several footbail fields--waiting to be loaded.

"The equipment was sent to Antwerp and Rotterdam ports from Germany by both rail and barge," said MSC Northern Europe's commanding officer, LCDR Gwynn Griffin, USN, based in suburban Rotterdam. MSC established teams at the ports, manned by MSCO Northern Europe operations officer Paul Weitenberg, and naval reservists mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Along with MSC were elements from the Army's 21st Theater Support Command, or TSC, based in Kaiserslauten, Germany, and Military Traffic Management Command's, or MTMC's, 598th Transportation Terminal Group, also located in Rotterdam. To support hundreds of personnel assigned to the port, the 21st TSC established mobile office facilities and other support structures, while MTMC managed port operations and loaded the ship.

Just before midnight on April 14, the operation began with the arrival of a large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship, or LMSR, USNS Watkins--a 63,000-ton cargo ship about the size of an aircraft carrier--at Rotterdam's pier 8200, just before the breakwaters of the North Sea.

Watkins, under the command of ship's master CAPT. David J. Smith, loaded more than 1,400 pieces of cargo, wrapping up operations on April 17, and setting sail the following day. "Her mission wasn't over, however, as she made the 12-hour transit to neighboring Antwerp," Weitenberg said. Manning the 'night watch' at Rotterdam was mobilized reservist, BM2 Aaron Jackson, USNR.

MSC personnel at the port bring expertise in maritime cargo operations, as well as serve as the liaison between the Army and the ship's master. "Paul's [Weitenberg] the 'go-to' guy for us for any issues with the ship," said Lisette Weteling, a civilian marine cargo superintendent with the 598th Transportation Terminal Group. "For example, if we are unsure whether some of the larger vehicles have enough space to make a turn in the cargo holds, we rely on his expertise."

Next came MV Catherine, a Luxembourg-flagged, roll-on/roll-off contracted vessel, which loaded 428 pieces of cargo, April 17-18. "Working with the masters was a very interesting part of the job," said CDR Marion Fedorshak, USNR, MSCO Northern Europe's senior operations officer in Antwerp, referring more to their diverse nationalities, which included Korean, Swedish, Russian, Italian, and, of course, American. The 20-year naval Reservist and Philadelphia-native completed a prior tour of duty with MSC in the Gulf War in 1991.

The Panama-flagged contracted commercial car-carrier MV Asian Vision was next to arrive in Antwerp as the ship pulled pierside just after 5 p.m. on April 17. Asian Vision loaded more than 900 pieces of cargo, including 279 containers and 42 helicopters, according to Fedorshak. Alongside Fedorshak, was operations officer LT Matthew Scarlett, USN.

"The cooperation with Army was superb in every way--everything was on time, the load was smooth, there were no roadblocks with the commercial stevedores, and the use of storage space was very well done with some vehicles just inches apart," said Fedorshak speaking about the load of Asian Vision. "Overall, all the masters were easy to work with," Fedorshak added.

Another giant LMSR arrived in Rotterdam in the early hours of April 18. USNS Mendonca loaded a total of 1,500 pieces of cargo, including rolling stock and containers. According to ship's master CAPT Doug Harrington, Mendonca was on her way to the U.S. when the call came to divert to Rotterdam. "This would be the ship's third voyage to Kuwait since the Ready Reserve Force Ship was activated in January," Harrington said.

Completing the short transit west to Belgium, Watkins arrived in Antwerp just after 8 p.m. on April 18, loading 21 helicopters, including Blackhawk, Apache, Kiowa Warrior, and even two massive Chinook twin-rotor helicopters. All helicopters were flown to the staging site on the pier where rotors were removed, and each "shrinkwrapped" in a plastic shell, ready for the long journey to the Arabian Gulf.