The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following news release, which includes information about three SIU-crewed vessels.Ships load 42nd ID cargo in Philadelphia
Three U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command ships, MV 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez, MV Sgt. William R. Button and USNS Charlton, took turns pulling into the Port of Philadelphia Oct. 3-13. The ships loaded more than 400,000 square feet of combat gear destined for deployed U.S. forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The civilian-crewed, noncombatant cargo ships were loaded with five-ton trucks, trailers, generators, helicopters and ambulances for use by the U.S. Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division, also known as the Rainbow Division, based out of Troy, N.Y. Ninety-five percent of U.S. military equipment and supplies needed by deployed U.S. forces moves by sea.
The Rainbow Division is making its first deployment to a combat theater since World War II to relieve elements of the Army's 1st Infantry Division currently deployed to the Middle East.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, MSC has used a combination of government-owned and chartered ships to move more than 59 million square feet of U.S. military cargo in support of the global war on terrorism. That equals more than 623,000 SUVs stretched from Philadelphia to Denver. In addition, MSC ships have delivered more than six billion gallons of fuel -- enough to fill more than 200,000 railroad tank cars placed end-to-end from Philadelphia to Helena, Mont.
Today, MSC operates more than 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that not only move combat cargo for U.S. forces, but also replenish U.S. Navy ships at sea, chart ocean bottoms, conduct undersea surveillance and strategically preposition equipment and supplies at sea around the world.
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