The U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC) has issued the following news release and photo concerning the Seafarers-crewed USNS Red Cloud and USNS Fisher, which are sailing in support of U.S. troops involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The release also is available on MSC’s web site here
Navy cargo ships load 3rd ACR cargo in Texas
Two of the world's largest cargo ships – USNS Red Cloud and USNS Fisher – loaded more than 522,000 square feet of equipment for the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Beaumont, Texas, in early February. The civilian-crewed, noncombatant ships are operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, which moves more than 95 percent of military equipment and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces.
More than 3,000 pieces of cargo, including 350 containers of supplies and more than 1,650 trucks, tanks and helicopters, were loaded aboard the two large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships.
“LMSRs are specifically designed to carry oversized combat cargo for U.S. war fighters around the world,” said Tim Pickering, MSC cargo project officer. “Each ship has a carrying capacity of 380,000 square feet. That's eight football fields of equipment!”
The combat equipment is destined for Iraq where more than 5,000 troops from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based in Fort Carson, Colo., will arrive in March. This is the regiment’s second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The deployment is expected to last one year.
To date, MSC ships have moved more than 70.4 million square feet of combat cargo and equipment for U.S. forces involved in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. That amount is equal to more than 740,000 SUVs lined up bumper-to-bumper, stretching 2,086 miles from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City.
MSC operates more than 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships at sea, chart ocean bottoms, conduct undersea surveillance, preposition combat cargo at sea and move equipment and supplies for the U.S. military.
###
Printer Friendly Page