Military Sealift Command Public Affairs
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March 11, 2011

Button and Curtiss Support Operations During
Exercise Pacific Horizon 2011

Click on the image for a high-resolution photo.

An amphibious assault vehicle with 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion drives onto a roll on/roll off discharge facility attached to USNS Sgt. William Button near Camp Pendleton, Calif., during Pacific Horizon 2011. Button and the Maritime Prepositioning ship SS Curtiss are supporting the 14 day exercise which provides the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group-3 the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies at the brigade level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a flexible, full spectrum capability. (Photo by Sgt. Jason Fudge)

Two Military Sealift Command ships are operating off the coast of Camp Pendleton, Calif., in support of Exercise Pacific Horizon 2011, March 1-13. Maritime Prepositioning Ship USNS SGT William R. Button and aviation logistics support ship SS Curtiss are helping the U.S Navy and Marine Corps test their ability to move combat equipment between ship and shore without the benefit of a developed port. The exercise prepares Navy and Marine Corps forces to conduct at-sea transfers of equipment from sealift platforms to ships and shoreside locations via surface craft.

Pacific Horizon 2011 is part of an annual training plan for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Expeditionary Strike Group Three, Naval Beach Group One, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One, Naval Amphibious Construction Battalion One and the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39. Approximately 2,500 sailors and Marines are participating in the exercise, assisted by 64 U.S. merchant mariners who make up the crews of Button and Curtiss.

During the exercise, Marines and sailors have moved approximately 200 pieces of Marine Corps field equipment using an Improved Navy Lighterage System, or INLS, which comprises motorized and non-motorized barges that ferried cargo between ship and shore. Equipment included trucks, power trailers, 20-foot containers and Humvees from Button, which sat anchored approximately three miles off the coast of Camp Pendleton's Red Beach. The equipment was then returned to the ship during the end phase of the exercise.

Click on the image for a high-resolution photo.

Maritime Prepositioning ship USNS Sgt. William R. Button floats three miles off the coast off Camp Pendleton's Red Beach during Pacific Horizon 2011. Button and the Maritime Prepositioning ship SS Curtiss are supporting the 14 day exercise which provides the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group-3 the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies at the brigade level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a flexible, full spectrum capability. (Photo by Sgt. Jason Fudge)

"Having these two ships here for us to train with is an outstanding opportunity for us," said 1st MEF Sgt. Maj. Randal Carter. "These crews are professional and provide us an excellent opportunity to train and to learn in an environment that is a lot like the areas we, as Marines, operate in during our missions."vOperations began March 2, with the arrival of Button and Curtiss off Red Beach. Ships' crews participated in a pre-operations and safety brief and a safety drill on the first day in preparation for the start of equipment discharge. In addition, a nine-section roll-on/ roll-off discharge facility, or RRDF, was delivered and attached to the Button's stern ramp by Navy personnel.

From March 3-5, Button's crew of 31 merchant mariners, along with the military, off-loaded tracked and wheeled vehicles from the ship's cargo hold, down the ramp, across the RRDF and onto a motorized causeway ferry for delivery to the beach staging area. The ship's three deck cranes were used to transfer non-motorized cargo. The cargo was staged on the beach after delivery, before being returned to the ship during the exercise's final phase from March 6-10.

"These kinds of training exercises are always valuable to us," said Capt. David Eddy, Button's civilian master. "They help us iron out wrinkles, to learn how to move around on the decks with different kinds of cargo and to best figure out where things should go to make the mission move forward smoothly."

According to Eddy, one of the challenges he's faced in other exercises had been arranging for the necessary interface between civilian mariners and the military units working with the ship. For Pacific Horizon 2011, Marines and sailors from the participating units were onboard Button for its transit from the East Coast. This gave the ship's civilian crew and military personnel the time to plan and discuss issues unique to this operation.

Click on the image for a high-resolution photo.

A crane offloads a beach landing module from Maritime Prepositioning ship USNS Sgt. William Button anchored three miles off Camp Pendleton's Red Beach, during exercise Pacific Horizon 2011. Button and the Maritime Prepositioning ship SS Curtiss are supporting the 14 day exercise which provides the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group-3 the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies at the brigade level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a flexible, full spectrum capability. (Photo by Sgt. Jason Fudge)

Curtiss and its crew of 33 civilian mariners were featured in a separate part of the exercise while the ship operated 20 miles north of Button off Red Beach. There Curtiss was used as a platform from which to conduct helicopter operations with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39. These operations were a continuation of a scenario the Marines played out on the beach. The scenario began as a humanitarian aid and disaster relief mission and then changed into a security operation with the Marines, as simulated local forces impeded relief efforts. Throughout the operation, cargo continued to move between ship and shore.

In response to today's Pacific-wide tsunami warning after the earthquake off the coast of northern Japan, Button and Curtiss temporarily departed their respective operating areas and proceeded seaward as a precautionary measure against a potential West Coast tsumani. Following a relatively minor water surge observed in the morning, the ships returned to the coastal areas and resumed the exercise.

Operations are scheduled to conclude later today, with the ships departing the area March 13. Button will continue on to the Marine Corps Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., and Curtiss will return to reduced operating status at its layberth at Naval Station San Diego, Calif.

MSC operates approximately 110 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.

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