The U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC) recently issued a news release that describes the enormity of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2’s sealift mission. The release is posted below and also may be accessed on MSC’s web site here Hundreds of SIU members are sailing in support of OIF2. More than 2,000 Seafarers sailed in support of U.S. troops during the first phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sealift for Operation Iraqi Freedom is No Small Thing
Military Sealift Command is transporting the combat gear for 240,000 U.S. troops as the first major force rotation of Operation Iraqi Freedom unfolds. MSC has been delivering the goods for U.S. war fighters in the Middle East since the beginning of the war in Iraq in early 2003.
The current troop rotation is the largest, fastest combat cargo movement since World War II and involves moving 10 million square feet of combat equipment for 110,000 U.S. war fighters into Iraq and 14 million square feet of cargo out for the 130,000 troops leaving the theater. Since 95 percent of the war fighter’s gear moves by sea, cargo ships from the Navy's Military Sealift Command are at the core of this Herculean effort.
To put the amount of cargo currently being moved into perspective, 24 million square feet would be equivalent to about 253,000 sport utility vehicles, which cover 95 square feet each and are about 15 and one-half feet long. If you placed 253,000 SUVs end-to-end on Interstate 95, they would stretch from Washington, D.C., to Daytona Beach, Florida, a distance of 743 miles, with enough SUVs left over to fill an NFL stadium parking lot.
The 24 million square feet of cargo being moved belongs to nine units:
U.S. Marine Corps
I Marine Expeditionary Force
II Marine Expeditionary Force
U.S. Army
25th Infantry Division
1st Infantry Division
3rd Corps
1st Cavalry
30th Brigade
39th Brigade
National Guard
81st Enhanced Special Brigade
Cargo moving into theater includes less armored equipment than one year ago and more combat service support gear for forces aimed at stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq.
MSC is using more than 50 ships in the huge combat cargo movement, including 17 large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships, or LMSRs, acquired as a result of lessons learned in the first Gulf War in 1990-1991. These giant, 24-knot vessels are capable of carrying more than 300,000 square feet of wheeled and tracked vehicles and equipment.
Seven of MSC’s fast sealift ships are also involved in the current cargo movement. While carrying only 150,000 square feet each, the FSS are among the world's fastest cargo ships - capable of 30 knots - and were used extensively in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
MSC is also using commercial voyage- and time-charter ships for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and more than 20 Ready Reserve Force roll-on/roll-off ships normally maintained by the U.S. Maritime Administration are carrying combat equipment into and out of the Middle East for the troop rotation. The RRF ships, like MSC's LMSRs and FSS, are government-owned cargo ships that are capable of carrying military cargo that is too large or too heavy for commercial vessels.
While the massive troop rotation cargo movement is going on, MSC continues to deliver food, fuel, spare parts and equipment to Navy ships at sea around the world. At the same time, other MSC ships gather oceanographic survey data and undersea surveillance information for use by the Navy fleet, and strategically preposition combat equipment, supplies and ammunition for the U.S. Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Air Force.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Military Sealift Command is a global organization with an average of 120 active ships, both government-owned and chartered, sailing around the world every day. MSC ships are crewed by civilian mariners. Some ships have small Navy detachments aboard for supply management and communication functions. MSC employs more than 8,000 people worldwide, and more than 75 percent of MSC’s workforce serves at sea.
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