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SIU-crewed ship loads U.S. Army cargo (3/18)

The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following news release concerning the Seafarers-crewed USNS Gilliland. The release also is available on MSC’s web site HERE MSC cargo ship loads U.S. Army equipment bound for Middle East in Belgium Military Sealift Command large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Gilliland loaded more than 150,000 square feet of U.S. Army equipment in Antwerp, Belgium, March 15-18. The equipment – trucks, trailers, tanks and other combat support equipment – belongs to the U.S. Army’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. Gilliland is delivering the cargo to the Middle East to be used in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since Sept. 11, 2001, MSC ships have delivered more than 101 million square feet of equipment in support of operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. That is enough cargo to fill a line of railroad cars stretching more than 2,400 miles from Washington, D.C., to Las Vegas, Nev. “Serving the men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan by getting their equipment to them on time is one of our key missions here at Sealift Logistics Command Europe,” said Capt. Nicholas Holman, SEALOGEUR commander. “These soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen depend on MSC to deliver the tools they need to do their job promoting freedom and democracy in the Middle East and around the globe.” Gilliland is one of 19 LMSRs belonging to MSC and is ideally suited to carry oversized military equipment. At 954 feet long, the ship has 380,000 square feet of cargo-carrying capacity, equivalent to almost eight football fields. Gilliland is named after Korean War Medal of Honor recipient Corporal Charles L. Gilliland who sacrificed his life to cover the withdrawal of his unit from enemy fire on April 25, 1951, near Tongmang-ni, Korea. MSC operates more than 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that deliver combat equipment to troops, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, re-supply Navy ships at sea, and conduct other specialized missions for the Department of Defense. ###