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Port council honors Vice Adm. Brewer (10/29)

The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following news release: Navy's ocean transportation leader named Government Man of the Year Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, USN, Commander, Military Sealift Command, was named Government Man of the Year by the Maritime Port Council of Greater New York and Vicinity on Oct. 16. As commander of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command since August 2001, Vice Adm. Brewer has directed the ocean transport of 95 percent of all combat cargo used by U.S. forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the global war on terrorism. Previous recipients of this award include U.S. Senator Jon S. Corzine, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta and U.S. Congressman Jack Quinn. The council, representing 500,000 members and 58 affiliated unions in the greater New York area, honored Vice Adm. Brewer for his active role in promoting the relationship between maritime industry trade unions and the military. Military Sealift Command is the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense and the largest employer of U.S. merchant mariners in the world. More than 6,300 civil service and civilian mariners work aboard MSC government-owned and commercially contracted ships. “America's maritime unions are the unsung heroes of the U.S. maritime industry and our national defense team,” said Vice Adm. Brewer. “Without the mariners, sheet metal workers, shipping company clerks, longshoremen and all other highly skilled workers who bring the maritime industry to life, we at Military Sealift Command couldn't complete our mission.” Since Sept. 11, 2001, MSC has moved more than 60 million square feet of U.S. military cargo in support of the global war on terrorism. That’s the equivalent of more than 623,000 SUVs. If lined up bumper-to-bumper, they would stretch from New York City to Denver. In addition, MSC ships have delivered more than six billion gallons of fuel to U.S. forces – enough to fill up the Empire State Building 21 times. 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. -USN-