SC trains continuously for real-world contingencies by participating in Joint Chiefs of Staff, geographic Commanders-in-Chief, and Fleet Commanders' exercises. MSC played in or supported more than 65 exercises during FY 2000. The following highlight some of the major exercises.

MSC trained continuously for real world contingencies.

Turbo Challenge was MSC's capstone exercise for FY 2000. This U.S. Transportation Command-sponsored exercise tested and evaluated USTC and its component commands' ability to support the deployment and sustainment of forces to the Korean peninsula. As in past years, the exercise was teamed with Reception, Staging, Onward movement and Integration of forces (RSOI), a joint U.S.-Korean command post exercise. RSOI 2000 tested interoperability and the movement and reception of forces in the Korean theater. Command post exercises involve electronic communication and coordination without actual movement of ships and cargoes.

IT2(AW) Reggie Ellis, USNR, assigned to the Mobile Sealift Operations Center at the Royal Thai Navy port in Chuck Sa Met, Thailand, raises the the MSC flag during Exercise Cobra Gold 2000. (Photo by JO1 Craig Strawser)

MSC Headquarters, MSC Far East and MSC Office Pusan provided logistical support personnel to the Commander Pacific Fleet and U.S. Forces Korea for the exercise. MSC also assisted in the development, execution and assessment of the exercise.

Turbo Patriot 2000 was the first U.S. Transportation Command-sponsored exercise specifically designed to test and evaluate the actual movement of forces and cargo in a joint-logistics- over-the-shore environment. The exercise entailed the real world movement of the 25th Infantry Division from Hawaii to the U.S. Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton on the Southern California coast. MSC assets involved in this operation included USNS Seay and the Ready Reserve Force ships SS Cape Mohican, SS Chesapeake, and MV Grand Canyon State.

Cobra Gold is an annual U.S. Pacific Command exercise conducted in Thailand that tests stra-tegic lift readiness and joint interoperability. MSC vessels involved in 2000 included MV Maersk Constellation, a ship under a long-term charter
to MSC that carried 10 tons of ammunition, 150 containers of Army combat equipment, assorted Army rolling stock and eight UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Tacoma, Wash., to Chuk Samet and Thung Prong, Thailand, for the exercise. Additional vessels chartered to support the exercise included MV Alam Tegas, MV National Honor, MV Suphan Navee, MV Hallborg, MV National Pride and MV BBC Germany.

Foal Eagle/Turbo Intermodal Surge, a combined-force exercise involving U.S. and Korean forces, focused on amphibious sealift and strategic lift readiness.

Thai stevedores connect a U.S. Army generator to a cargo crane aboard MV Maersk Constellation during Exercise Cobra Gold 2000. (Photo by JO1 Craig Strawser)

MSC participants in FY 2000 included MV Cape Knox, a roll-on/roll-off vessel activated from the RRF to carry elements of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division from Port Hadlock, Wash., to Pusan, Korea. MV Maersk Constellation provided additional lift support.

Roving Sands, a U.S. Joint Forces Command exercise off the East Coast of the United States evaluated the ability to plan, establish and operate a joint task force during a contingency operation. The exercise included intra-theater deployment and redeployment of forces, review of joint doctrine, a joint-logistics-over-the-shore demonstration for NATO ministers and live air, land and sea medical evacuation training. MSC headquarters and Atlantic Command personnel supported exercise planning and execution. Specific MSC assets used included USNS Red Cloud and USNS Comfort.

Natural Fire/Native Fury was a joint and combined-ground fleet training exercise designed to test deployment of MSC's Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons, or MPSRON, to Kenya. The exercise focused on off-load, throughput, force stand up and subsequent regeneration of a MPSRON. A secondary mission was multilateral peace support operations with a civil affairs focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. MSC assets involved included MPSRON Two vessel MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge and commercial sealift charters MV BBC Canada, MV Maersk Alaska and MV Arktis Pacific.

Turbo CADS is a containerized ammunition distribution system exercise designed to test joint capabilities to transport munitions via military 20-foot shipping containers. This year, MV Chesapeake Bay lifted more than 980 containers of ammunition from Sunny Point, N.C., to Raysut, Oman; Umn Said, Qatar; Ad Dammam, Saudi Arabia; and Ash Shawaida, Kuwait.

Military Sealift Command, Far East reservists Lt. Cdr. Robin Garrison-Chaffee and Capt. John Gardner, NR MSCO Japan 111, decide where an MSC ship will arrive in port during Exercise Crocodile. The combined/joint exercise took place in Eastern Australia, with MSC sailors, reservists and civilians. (Photo by Dub Allen)

Ulchi-Focus Lens is an annual coordination exercise in support of the Republic of Korea. For MSC, the exercise is an opportunity to train Naval Reserve and civilian staff personnel who would be required to support a mobilization.

Crocodile and Freedom Banner are combined-force exercises, which test joint U.S.-Australian war planning and amphibious operations on the Australian mainland. MSC forces involved in the redeployment of forces during FY 2000 included USNS Regulus and MV Maersk Constellation. Each vessel provided additional support for the Crocodile portion by redeploying equipment and supplies for the 1st Marine Air Wing, the Naval In-shore Underwater Warfare Group and an Army field artillery battalion.

Dynamic Mix is a biannual combined NATO forces exercise designed to exercise sea, land and air forces in the southern region of NATO, including forces external to the region. During FY 2000, NATO's ability to resupply and reinforce its southern region was tested, and MSC chartered MV Balakleya to support the movement of forces to Thessaloniki, Greece.

Bright Star is an annual combined-forces exercise designed to enhance MSC readiness, interoperability and joint sea control capability in coordination with Egyptian forces. MSC forces in 2000 included the MPSRON One vessel MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge. Additional sealift assets involved in the redeployment of exercise forces included USNS Capella, USNS Dahl, USNS Fisher, USNS Soderman and MV Asian Parade. The ships carried supplies and equipment for the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard, including rolling stock and containerized equipment from numerous U.S. East Coast ports to Egypt.

Turbo Activation Exercises are no-notice tests of the U.S. Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force. Four separate exercises in FY 2000 measured the timeliness of activation of 18 RRF vessels and determined the vessels' personnel and materiel readiness conditions. All activations were successful.

U.S. Marine Corps equipment rolls off the ramp of Maritime Prepositioning Ship SS Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon in Thessaloniki, Greece, during Exercise Dynamic Mix 2000. (Photo by Edward Baxter)

Nuevos Horizontes (New Horizons) are joint/combined exercises tailored to provide military-to-military training in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. The exercises involve the movement of humanitarian and civil assistance cargo using engineering and medical units with major participation from U.S. military reserve components. New Horizons exercises have supported humanitarian/civil assistance lifts from U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports to countries such as Antigua, Belize, El Salvador, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Tobago.

Unified Charger is an annual exercise that deploys Naval Reserves to support MSC Europe during a contingency. The exercise was developed to meet the growing need for experienced and qualified reservists to augment both headquarters and port operation staffs. Seventy-three Naval Reservists participated in this year's exercise.

Eastern Ready, another annual reserve exercise, allows Naval Reserves to activate, deploy and support MSC Atlantic during a contingency. The exercise was designed to provide actual hands-on training to reservists in port operations during a crisis or contingency. More than 100 Naval Reservists participated in FY 2000.

Y2K New Year and Leap Year Rollover exercises were developed in response to concerns over possible computer problems during the changeover to the year 2000. Mandated by the Secretary of Defense, the command centers at MSC headquarters and the MSC area commands were staffed around the clock and prepared for any Y2K-driven contingency. MSC successfully passed the critical dates with its mission capabilities or customer support worldwide intact and ready.

A crane transfers a U.S. Army vehicle from USNS Shasta to Army Logistics Support Vessel Gen. Brehon B. Sommervell during a joint-logistics-over-the-shore exercise that was part of Seahawk 2000.