Supporting the First Stryker Brigade in Iraq - Army Logistics ...

An ‘Opportune Lift’ Showcases
Joint Logistics Capabilities
BY JONATHAN D. MARCUS
Between 1 and 16 March 2004, the Army and
the Marine Corps executed a joint ammunition
shipping operation aboard the Military
Sealift Command’s large, medium-speed,
roll-on-roll-off ship USNS Soderman. This example
of joint cooperation came about after the Army Field
Support Command (AFSC) at Rock Island, Illinois,
agreed to assist the Marine Corps in an “opportune
lift” of ammunition that the Marines wanted moved to
Europe. An “opportune lift” is defined by the Department
of Defense as that portion of lift capability available
for use after planned requirements have been met.
At the time, AFSC was in the process of preparing to
transport equipment and ammunition for Combat
Equipment Group-Afloat (CEG–A), which is a subcommand
of AFSC. After a series of conversations
among personnel at several different commands, AFSC
assisted the Marine Corps in transporting Marine
ammunition to Italy aboard the Soderman.
This Army-Marine Corps interservice operation
built on joint activities that AFSC has conducted in the
past several years, particularly during Operation
Enduring Freedom. It allowed AFSC to save the Government
money while expediting the shipment of
ammunition to the Marine Corps in Europe.
AFSC pre-positions ships throughout the world to
transport equipment and ammunition to warfighters in
the field as part of the Army Pre-positioned Stocks
(APS) Program. CEG–A manages operations connected
with APS Afloat. The Soderman is assigned to
Theater Flotilla Group III, one of AFSC’s groups of
pre-positioned vessels.
Ammunition to Europe
On 1 and 2 March, the Soderman was uploaded at
Charleston Naval Weapons Station in South Carolina
with 17 shipping containers of Marine Corps ammunition.
These containers held approximately 6,000
155-millimeter artillery projectiles and were stored on
the ship alongside Army ammunition. At the port,
CEG–A personnel monitored the upload of the containers
onto the Soderman.
The Soderman departed Charleston Naval Weapons
Station on 3 March and arrived at Talamone, Italy, on
16 March. A contract group of Italian longshoremen
offloaded the ship over 2 days. The ammunition then
was taken by schooner through the Navacelli Canal to
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Camp Darby, Italy, for temporary
storage with additional ammunition
assets coming from elsewhere in
Europe. The Marine Corps ammunition
and the other stocks eventually
will become part of the War
Reserve Stocks for Allies program
and will be shipped to another host
nation. After the Soderman was
downloaded and emptied of ammunition,
it continued on its mission
to upload equipment at Combat
Equipment Battalion-Livorno
in Italy.
Joint Service Coordination
The mission’s success depended
in large part on the expertise and
collaborative efforts of individuals
who knew how to work within both
the Army and Marine Corps logistics
systems. Because the mission was outside the normal
logistics chain, it required communication and
coordination among individuals associated with Army
war reserves at AFSC, the Joint Munitions Command,
CEG–A, the Army Materiel Command (AMC), and
the Marine Corps.
Dave Lakeman, a quality assurance specialist
(ammunition surveillance) with AFSC, observed—
How did the Marine Corps know how to coordinate
the activities from individuals at all
these organizations, much less know the ship was
coming? They didn’t. It was individuals who
were working war reserves that knew the Marine
Corps needed these assets. They used their initiative
and said, “Hey, we have an idea. We have
a ship coming this way, so let’s see if we can
expedite the process and see if it is feasible.”
The director of ammunition operations at Combat
Equipment Battalion-Livorno contacted an ammunition
officer at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
Forces, Europe, who gained approval for the operation
from Marine Corps leaders and War Reserve
Stocks for Allies managers. Approval also was
obtained from Combat Equipment Group-Europe
and Combat Equipment Battalion-Livorno. The
Marine ammunition officer also communicated with
JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2005