Five LMSRs move ‘Big Red One’ to Middle East

By Edward Baxter

An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter attached to the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division is towed up the stern ramp and into the cavernous interior of large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Red Cloud as snow falls at port facilities in Antwerp, Belgium. Red Cloud and four other LMSRs loaded more than one million square feet of the 1st ID’s combat and support equipment in Antwerp during the month of January. Ed Baxter photos

Last February, soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division were busy packing. Their orders were to link up with the Army's 4th Infantry Division to form an invasion force from Turkey into northern Iraq.

But after weeks of debate, the Turkish parliament declined to allow U.S. forces to invade from its shared border with Iraq. Meanwhile, the 4th ID's equipment remained off the Turkish coast – aboard a fleet of Military Sealift Command cargo ships – and the 1st ID stayed at their bases in Germany.

The Belgian flag flies in the foreground as USNS Brittin (left) and USNS Red Cloud are loaded with 1st Infantry Division combat and support equipment in Antwerp, Belgium.

But now their turn has come and the 1st ID, more commonly known in Army circles as the Big Red One, is ready. The 1st ID will replace the 4th ID northwest of Baghdad, part of a scheduled rotation of forces announced by the Defense Department last summer.

To get their massive amount of equipment safely into theater, the Army called upon five Military Sealift Command ships – large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships, or LMSRs, with a combined cargo capacity equal to almost 30 football fields – to get the job done.

More than 70,000 tons of Army hardware – everything from Abrams main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, Bradley fighting vehicles, heavy trucks and humvees, fuel trucks, as well as containers carrying everything from bandages to meals-ready-to-eat – were loaded aboard the ships at Antwerp, Belgium, from late January into early February.

MSC Office Northern Europe, based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, served as command representatives for the load. Operations officers Paul Weitenberg and Deane Swickard; and Capt. George Lewis, USNR, Commander, Naval Reserve MSC Unit Eastern Mediterranean 106; Cmdr. John Madden, USNR, executive officer of Naval Reserve MSC Unit Western Mediterranean 102; and Lt. Virgil Wayne Soloman, USNR, served in vital roles as liaison between the ships' masters and Army staff, port authorities, host nation officials and contracted stevedores.

USNS Dahl looms large behind a shrink-wrapped AH-64 Apache helicopter while a soldier makes final loading preparations. Aircraft are shrink wrapped before loading to protect them during transit.

Ten thousand pieces of heavy combat equipment arrived at the port by rail, river barge and truck Continued on page 4 . . . Continued from page 1 . . . lined up in force packages that were ready to be loaded, around-the-clock, aboard the giant LMSRs.

The first to arrive was USNS Brittin, which moored at the pier in the early morning of Jan. 25. Cargo loading began just two hours later, and the mission was underway. Overall, Brittin loaded more than 1,500 pieces of combat equipment, including Blackhawk, Apache and Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters.

With Brittin still at the pier, USNS Red Cloud arrived later that night. By the morning of Jan. 26, cargo operations began aboard Red Cloud. In bitter cold, and at times, heavy snow, the ship loaded 1,650 pieces of cargo, including tracked and wheeled vehicles, helicopters and containers.

"Weather did not have any significant impact on cargo operations, however," Weitenberg said.

A row of four U.S. Army armored, vehicle-launched bridges are lined up pierside in Antwerp, Belgium, before being loaded aboard USNS Watkins. AVLBs, used to allow vehicles to cross ditches and obstacles, consist of a large collapsible bridge mounted on an armored M-60 tank chassis. The AVLBs pictured above have had their bridges removed for shipping.

Standing on the weather deck, surveying the massive amount of equipment staged on the dock, Red Cloud master Capt. Chris Begley, whose ship has made two trips to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom said, "What I see here validates what we learned after Desert Storm in the early 1990s, that we need to deliver large amounts of equipment quickly . . . this is exactly why these ships were built."

"It makes a difference in the world, what you do," said Col. Susan Sowers, USA, commander of the Army's 37th Transportation Battalion, recognizing Capt. Begley, his crew and Military Sealift Command, in a ceremony held aboard the ship. "We couldn't get there without you." Sowers' organization is responsible for moving the equipment from 10 locations in Germany to the staging area at the port.

"We're all part of one large team supporting our peacekeepers in Iraq with fresh equipment and supplies," Capt. Begley, a Middletown, N.J., native, replied.

USNS Dahl was next at the port, taking Brittin's place at the pier on Jan. 28, loading more than 1,300 pieces of heavy combat equipment and supplies. Loading was complete in the early hours of Jan. 29. Dahl later sailed to nearby Nordenham, Germany, to load additional cargo.

A 1st Infantry Division M1A2 Abrams main battle tank is secured and ready to be loaded into USNS Dahl’s expansive interior decks.

"Our crew worked long days, up to 18 hours, but they worked until the job got done," said Capt. Bradford Collins, Dahl's master and a 1976 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy. "I ask a lot of the crew, but it's what makes this ship work. The entire crew is proud of what we do. Also, the MSC Office, Northern Europe staff has a good understanding of ship operations, and their liaison with the cargo handlers smoothed any potential delays."

With Red Cloud underway, USNS Watkins occupied her space at the pier, pulling alongside on Jan. 30. Loading commenced that same morning and was completed in the early hours of Feb. 1. The ship set sail the following afternoon, loading more than 1,400 pieces of cargo.

USNS Charlton was the final piece of the puzzle, arriving on Jan. 31, loading the last of the equipment on the pier. "Overall, a move of this size is a very complex logistical operation," said Capt. Dirk Deverill, USN, Commander, Military Sealift Command, Europe. "It's truly a team effort between the Army and the Navy."

All five ships will sail some 6,500 miles to the Middle East where up to 12,000 1st ID troops will link up with their equipment and move into Iraq. The turnover of forces is expected to be complete by March, and Big Red One troops are expected to remain in Iraq for about a year. The division's headquarters will be in Tikrit, Iraq, the hometown of captured former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Army vehicles and cargo are arranged into force packages on the pier in Antwerp, Belgium, prior to being packed aboard five LMSRs bound for the Middle East. Assembling force packages before loading the equipment allows units to quickly become fully operational once their equipment has reached its destination.