ealift Logistics Command Atlantic (SEALOGLANT): Norfolk, Va.

USS Seattle transfers cargo and fuel to USNS Supply despite heavy seas in the eastern Atlantic. Photo by Bill Cook.

Sealift Logistics Command Atlantic continued to play a crucial role in Operation Iraqi Freedom during FY 2005. SEALOGLANT marine transportation specialists at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Blount Island Command, in Jacksonville, Fla., supervised the loading and discharge of nine Maritime Prepositioning Ships, while further up the coast in Charleston, S.C., SEALOGLANT personnel oversaw the loading of two Afloat Prepositioning Ships supporting U.S. Army initiatives. Responsible for delivering 86 percent of all military cargo to ports in the Persian Gulf, SEALOGLANT had personnel in ports in North and South Carolina, Florida and Texas loading and discharging both Army and Marine Corps equipment for the global war on terrorism. SEALOGLANT moved nearly 17 million square feet of combat cargo during the year.

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, SEALOG-LANT ships were among the first to support relief efforts in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Fast sealift ship USNS Pollux remained pierside in the New Orleans area during Katrina and provided shelter to emergency responders, fuel to power emergency generators at local hospitals and water pressure to keep kidney dialysis machines operating until arrangements could be made to evacuate patients. In nearby Pascagoula, Miss., hospital ship USNS Comfort’s medical staff treated 1,452 patients aboard ship along with 376 patients ashore at a temporary medical facility. Also providing support were fast combat support ships USNS Arctic and USNS Supply, fleet replenishment oiler USNS Patuxent, fast sealift ships USNS Algol, USNS Altair and USNS Bellatrix and large, medium-speed, roll-on-roll/off ship USNS Pililaau.

Heralding MSC’s assumption of all of the Navy’s logistics duties in the Atlantic Ocean in December 2004, fast combat support ship USNS Supply came alongside USS Seattle in the western Atlantic for an underway replenishment, the last logistics underway replenishment down-load in the Atlantic area of responsibility.

SEALOGLANT’s engineering and contracting directorates expended more than $96 million during FY 2005, the majority for ship repair and maintenance.

During the course of the year, SEALOGLANT’s Beaumont, Texas, office coordinated 34 Panama Canal transits by MSC ships and supported four Exercise New Horizons missions that facilitated humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti. On July 1, the office, as part of the command’s transformation initiatives, became MSC Representative Beaumont. While eliminating the uniformed billets on the staff, the two marine transportation specialists were retained to provide oversight of cargo operations in the region.

A tank truck from FEMA receives diesel fuel from MSC fast sealift ship USNS Pollux. During Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Pollux provided fuel to FEMA, National Guard units, hospitals, fire departments and water treatment plants in the New Orleans area. Photo by Chief Mate Jan Genemans.

Sealift Logistics Command Pacific (SEALOGPAC): San Diego, Calif.

On Feb. 16, 2005, Military Sealift Command Pacific’s name was changed to Sealift Logistics Command Pacific as logistics functions within the Pacific area of responsibility were consolidated to provide better customer service. During FY 2005, SEALOGPAC remained fully engaged in both peacetime and war efforts as Operation Unified Assistance responded to the tsunami and earthquake in Southeast Asia, and as Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism continued.

MSC fleet ocean tugs USNS Navajo and USNS Sioux towed nine Navy decommissioned or deactivated vessels to disposal ports. Some of the voyages supported sinking exercises for training purposes.

In December 2004, commercially chartered container ship MV American Tern arrived at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme, Calif., to load materials for Operation Deep Freeze, the annual resupply of the National Science Foundation mission in Antarctica. Departing Jan. 7, American Tern made a brief stop at Lyttelton, New Zealand, Jan. 24-26 and arrived at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica on Feb. 3, returning to Port Hueneme on March 8 to off-load retrograde material from Antarctica.

MSC chartered ship MV American Tern sailed to Antarctica to deliver supplies to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station. McMurdo Sound is only passable by ship in the summer, which in Antarctica lasts from October to February. Photo courtesy of MV American Tern.

Hospital ship USNS Mercy was activated for Operation Unified Assistance, departing San Diego on Jan. 5, 2005. During her deployment to Southeast Asia, Mercy's medical staff treated nearly 56,000 patients during 108,000 visits, performed 466 surgeries, provided 1,400 pairs of glasses and gave more than 12,600 immunizations to the people affected by the disaster. Mercy returned to San Diego on June 8.

Ready Reserve Force, or RRF, crane ships SS Grand Canyon State and SS Keystone State were used to bring retrograde ammunition from the Korean Peninsula to Concord Naval Weapons Station from April 24 to May 28. Grand Canyon State brought back 429 containers, while Keystone State carried 389 containers. Also in May, RRF roll-on/roll-off ship SS Cape Intrepid participated in Operation New Horizon, visiting both El Salvador and Nicaragua.

RRF roll-on/roll-off ship SS Cape Mohican arrived in San Diego July 18 to load equipment from Naval Beach Group One, Assault Craft Unit One, Beach Master Unit One and Amphibious Construction Battalion One for use in a joint-logistics-over-the-shore, or JLOTS, exercise at Naval Magazine Indian Island, Wash. RRF crane ship SS Keystone State was also activated to participate in the JLOTS exercise. During the exercise, 40 containers were lifted by shipboard cranes from the deck of Cape Mohican and transferred ashore via lighterage.

A driver uses colored ribbons to mark vehicles belonging to Georgia’s Army National Guard prior to loading them aboard large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Watkins. Photo by Patti Bielling.

SEALOGPAC ships were heavily involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism during FY 2005. In January, RRF ship MV Cape Orlando loaded 515 pieces of equipment in Kuwait that totaled 87,000 square feet. The gear belonged to the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division and was returned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In March, SS Curtiss, an aviation logistics support ship from the RRF, was activated to transport 253 pieces of aviation maintenance equipment belonging to the Marines’ Third Air Wing to the U.S. West Coast following its use in the Middle East. Afterward, the ship was returned to reduced operating status.

SS Cape Island, an RRF roll-on/roll-off ship, off-loaded 741 pieces of equipment belonging to First Marine Expeditionary Force in San Diego in April. The approximately 97,000 square feet of vehicles, rolling stock and containers had been used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

At the same time, MSC large, medium-speed, roll-on, roll-off ship, or LMSR, USNS Pililaau and RRF ship MV Cape Hudson brought equipment back from Kuwait for the Army's 25th Infantry Division. Both ships made stops in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the way back to the continental United States. Pililaau off-loaded 648 pieces of equipment totaling 111,200 square feet in Pearl Harbor, while Cape Hudson off-loaded 492 pieces of equipment totaling 123,800 square feet. Upon reaching Olympia, Wash., Pililaau off-loaded an additional 603 pieces totaling 105,000 square feet, and Cape Hudson off-loaded another 367 pieces with a square footage of 57,500. Also during the month, MSC chartered commercial vessel Northern Lights to bring back an additional 30,000 square feet of Army combat equipment from the Middle East.

In August, USNS Watkins, another LMSR, returned 32 Army M1A1 tanks from the Middle East to Gray’s Harbor, Wash. The tanks were destined for Fort Lewis. When the off-load was complete, Watkins sailed to San Diego to assist in a mobile landing platform demonstration.

Military Sealift Command Europe (MSCEUR): Naples, Italy

In October 2004, Maritime Prepositioning Ship MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo took the part of a “suspect commercial vessel” as naval forces from France and five other European countries conducted maritime interception operations off the coast of Sardinia, Italy. Part of NATO exercise Destined Glory 2005, participants practiced searching crew members, securing the bridge and questioning the master about the ship’s cargo.

French special forces prepare to seize control of Maritime Prepositioning Ship MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, moonlighting as a suspected arms smuggler during a multinational military exercise.

Submarine support ship MV Carolyn Chouest came to the aid of a stricken Canadian submarine off the coast of Ireland in October 2004, towing the submarine to port.

The 71,000-ton, heavy lift ship MV American Cormorant was chartered by Military Sealift Command to load more than 4,000 tons of U.S. Army watercraft at Hythe, U.K., in November 2004. The float-on/float-off ship transported three small tugboats, four small landing craft, one crane barge, one fuel barge and two other larger landing craft to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

An American military boarding team climbs aboard Bobo from a small watercraft.

Also in November, fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha conducted 70 underway replenishments, transferring 8.4 million gallons of aviation and diesel fuel and lifting more than 780 pallets of stores and mail, while combat stores ship USNS Spica conducted 12 replenishment operations, lifting more than 1,430 pallets of stores and mail. Both were supporting U.S. Sixth Fleet and NATO ships at sea.

Temporarily setting aside her primary role as a fleet replenishment oiler, USNS Patuxent played the part of a burning tanker during the seventh annual exercise Reliant Mermaid, held off the coast of Israel in January 2005. U.S., Israeli and Turkish naval elements conducted training in firefighting techniques and mass casualty drills.

USS Mount Whitney reported for duty as the new command ship for the U.S. Sixth Fleet in February. Mount Whitney, operated under MSC’s Special Mission program, has a hybrid crew composed of 157 military members and 146 civilian mariners.

Oceanographic survey ship USNS Henson deployed to MSC Europe’s area of responsibility from February to June 2005, conducting oceanographic surveys in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. In April, Henson hosted more than 150 delegates of the International Hydrographic Organization in Monaco. The IHO is an intergovernmental organization that supports safety in navigation and protection of the marine environment.

USNS Red Cloud off-loaded 45,000 square feet of Bulgarian army cargo, including wheeled and tracked vehicles, that were returning from a deployment in Iraq at Naval Support Activity, Souda Bay, Greece, in May. MSC then chartered the Greek-owned cargo ship MV Antonia I to back-load the equipment for transport to the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Bourgas.

Naval forces from the United States, Denmark, Russia, Germany and Lithuania trained in maritime interception operations aboard Maritime Prepositioning Ship SS Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon off the coast of Lithuania in mid-June for Exercise Baltic Operations. Commandos stormed the ship by both fast boat and helicopter and were tested in their abilities to track down a package marked as contraband, as well as identify crew members designated as terrorists.

In July, during a routine visit to the port of Tallinn, Estonia, the U.S. Ambassador to Estonia visited the master and crew of Maritime Prepositioning Ship MV Pfc. Dewayne T. Williams. Also in July, Ready Reserve Force ship MV Cape Trinity completed MSC Europe’s ninth cargo operation in support of the Polish Army’s 12th Mechanized Division at the Baltic port of Szczecin, Poland. Cape Trinity returned armored personnel carriers, jeeps, trucks, ambulances, engineering equipment and shipping containers from service in Iraq.

In September, USNS Red Cloud loaded nine industrial generators at Rota, Spain, for transport to the U.S. Gulf Coast to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. The equipment was off-loaded in southern Texas where it was transported to hard-hit areas of Louisiana and Alabama.

A truck carrying a large diesel generator was driven aboard MSC’s USNS Red Cloud at Rota, Spain. The generator was sent to be used by a U.S. Gulf-region hospital that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Red Cloud moved nine generators and one 30-ton crane for use by the states of Louisiana and Alabama. Photo by Scott Merry.

Military Sealift Command Central (MSCCENT):
U.S. Naval Support Activity, Bahrain

From East Africa to the west coast of India and from the Persian Gulf to Diego Garcia, MSCCENT continued to be a major player in the global war on terrorism and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

During FY 2005, MSCCENT coordinated 172 cargo operations, delivering 20.2 million square feet of combat equipment and more than 739.2 million gallons of fuel for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The totals included 93,229 wheeled vehicles, 795 helicopters and 8,448 tracked vehicles delivered to nine active ports.

MSCCENT coordinated force protection for MSC vessels, executing more than 1,000 transits through the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Bab el Mandeb and the Suez Canal, working closely with afloat strike groups, multi-national coalition warships, merchant vessels and the U.S. Defense Attaché Office in Cairo, Egypt.

Armored personnel carriers belonging to the Jordanian Army prepare to board large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Red Cloud in Aqaba, Jordan, as part of Exercise Bright Star.  MSC Central personnel worked with the U.S. Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and Jordanian officials to complete the load. Photo by Lt. Stuart Schneider, USN.

In August 2005, less than a week after the attempted terrorist attack aimed at the USS Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group in Aqaba, Jordan, MSCCENT re-established cargo operations, off-loading USNS Red Cloud for Exercise Bright Star. Jordanian port authorities and military forces were also involved in force protection efforts, ensuring full multi-national participation in the exercise, which focused for the first time on humanitarian efforts rather than armed conflict.

Much of the Exercise Bright Star cargo came from the ships of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two, or MPSRON-Two, normally awaiting deployment at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. These ships also supported Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand in April and May 2005.

MV A1C William H. Pitsenbarger and MV Captain Steven L. Bennett completed large-scale, pier-side off-loads of Air Force munitions. After the cargo was refurbished, it was reloaded in July and August.

In September, the MPSRON-Two staff, which had been augmenting MSC Office Kuwait since the beginning of the year, returned to Diego Garcia. The staff of Afloat Prepositioning Ship Squadron Four relieved them at MSC Office Kuwait, supporting operations at Middle East ports.

Military Sealift Command Far East (MSCFE): Yokohama, Japan

The MSC Far East area of responsibility includes more than 52 million square miles of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, stretching from the International Date Line to the east coast of Africa and from the Kuril Islands in the north to the Antarctic in the south. Across this vast area, MSC Far East maintained a daily average of 48 ships, representing all four MSC business programs.

Capt. Donald R. Price, USN, left, relieved Capt. Douglas W. Harris, USN, right, as Commander, Military Sealift Command Far East at a change of command ceremony in January. Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, USN, Commander, MSC, far right, was the guest speaker.

In January 2005, MSC Far East played a significant role in Operation Unified Assistance following the devastating tsunami that struck Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. MSC Far East deployed six ships from Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three: MV 1st Lt. Jack Lummus, MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr., MV Pvt. James Anderson and MV 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman, SS Maj. Stephen W. Pless and USNS 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin. These ships supported the movement of water and other supplies to the tsunami-stricken areas. In addition, MSC Far East positioned USNS John McDonnell in the vicinity of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, to support hydrographic surveys of navigational routes affected by the tsunami. MSC Far East provided logistical and repair support to combat stores ships USNS Niagara Falls and USNS San Jose, which were conducting underway replenishment and helicopter support for the relief operations. Finally, MSC Far East provided logistics support to hospital ship USNS Mercy, which deployed to provide medical assistance in Indonesia.

In all, MSC ships delivered 3,084 pallets of material during the relief efforts, including 305,000 gallons of water, 913 tons of food, 355 tons of supplies and 14 tons of medical supplies.

In other activity, MSC Far East coordinated the repair and maintenance of 10 forward-deployed Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force ships, providing on-scene engineering, contracting and logistics support valued at $30 million.

MSC Office Korea managed 117 ship visits to eight ports on the Korean Peninsula and processed bunker fuel orders totaling $10.7 million. The office also supervised loading operations for more than 32,000 tons of cargo and 373.8 million gallons of fuel and participated in Exercises Turbo CADS; Reception, Staging, Onward-movement and Integration; and Ulchi Focus Lens, all in Korea.

In May, MSC combat stores ship USNS Niagara Falls sailed near an active volcano on the island of Madang, Papua New Guinea. Crew members conducted community outreach projects in villages on the island that were affected by the volcano. Photo by PH3 Lamel Hinton, USN.

MSC Office Diego Garcia transferred 100 million gallons of fuel from MSC tankers, supervised the loading of more than 223,000 tons of supplies from shuttle ships, processed more than 1,100 supply requests from visiting ships and made 100 food deliveries worth more than $800,000.

MSC Office Guam supported more than 175 MSC ship visits and supervised the off-load of more than 110 million gallons of petroleum products destined for U.S. forces in the area, delivering more than 36 million gallons of cargo fuel to MSC fleet replenishment oilers. The office also directly supported afloat forward staging base operations and was a key player in Exercise Turbo CADS. During the year, MSC Office Guam provided expert port engineering and contracting services exceeding $30 million for MSC and Navy combatant ships.

MSC Office Okinawa coordinated 286 ship visits and facilitated the movement of more than 148,000 tons of dry cargo and ammunition and more than 88.2 million gallons of petroleum products. The office supported numerous exercises, including Cobra Gold, Ulchi Focus Lens and Foal Eagle, as well as supporting Operation Unified Assistance for tsunami relief. Cost savings instituted by the office in Naha port saved MSC nearly $300,000 in direct fuel costs and could further reduce operating and fuel costs by up to $700,000 annually.

MSC Office Singapore coordinated 96 ship visits, providing port engineering services for MSC ships totaling $7.2 million. In addition, the office supported Exercise Cobra Gold and Operation Unified Assistance.