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SIU ships offload Marine Corps cargo (5/8)

The U.S. Military Sealift Command has issued the following news release (dated May 8) and photo. The USNS 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez, USNS 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin and SS Great Land are crewed by SIU members. Military Sealift Command ships complete at-sea offload of Marine Corps cargo for military exercise in Thailand Two Military Sealift Command ships completed the at-sea offload of more than 350 pieces of equipment and supplies belonging to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force today in Thailand. The cargo, including wheeled and tracked vehicles, ammunition and supplies, will be used in Cobra Gold – an annual exercise designed to promote regional stability and security throughout Southeast Asia. Maritime prepositioning ships USNS 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez and USNS 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin arrived off the coast of Chuk Samet, Thailand April 27. Anchored about three miles from shore, Lopez and Martin offloaded a total of 16 pieces of lighterage – a type of barge used to move cargo from ship to shore – Apr. 27. Six pieces of this lighterage were pieced together to form a 180-foot by 63-foot floating platform called a roll-on/roll-off discharge facility, which was placed at the end of Lopez’s stern ramp. Offload operations began April 28 as rolling stock was driven down Lopez’s ramp onto the floating platform and then onto powered lighterage, which transported the cargo to shore. Containerized cargo was lifted onto the powered lighterage for transport ashore by one of Lopez’s three shipboard cranes. A complex operation, this offload involved multiple Navy and Marine Corps commands including MSC, the 3rd MEF, Naval Beach Group One, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One and Amphibious Construction Battalion One. The ability to offload cargo at-sea is necessary when operating in areas when port facilities are either nonexistent or too damaged or primitive for ships to pull pierside. Martin and Lopez will remain in Thailand through early June to backload their prepositioned cargo. Prior to the arrival of Lopez and Martin in Thailand, MSC-chartered roll-on/roll-off ship SS Great Land off-loaded more than 460 pieces of 3rd MEF cargo, at Thung Prong and Chuk Samet ports Apr. 22-24. More than 20 Navy reservists assigned to MSC are also in Thailand training in both real-world and computer-simulated sealift operations and exercises, managing port operations for as many as 15 ships in a contingency scenario. Some reserve personnel are manning a mobile sealift operations command center at Chuk Samet, a portable facility designed to operate and manage port operations in areas where port infrastructure is damaged or destroyed. Additional reserve teams will arrive in mid-May to coordinate the back load of Marine Corps cargo. “What’s so valuable about this exercise is that you can walk around and shake hands at the port and really learn what others are doing,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard Coleman of Navy Reserve Expeditionary Port Unit 117. “It’s all about understanding command relationships.” Cobra Gold began May 8 and will continue through May 21. Japan, Singapore and Indonesia will join Thailand and the United States in the exercise, which will include computer-simulated command post and field training exercises, as well as humanitarian relief efforts. Lopez is permanently assigned to Diego Garcia-based Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two, while Martin is assigned in the Guam/Saipan area with Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Three. MSC operates approximately 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces, conduct specialized missions and replenish U.S. Navy ships at sea. ###