MSC Ships Support Operations during Pacific Horizon 2011

By Sarah Burford, Military Sealift Command Public Affairs

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (NNS) -- Two Military Sealift Command ships will wrap up operations in support of Exercise Pacific Horizon 2011, off the coast of Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 13.

Maritime Prepositioning Ship USNS SGT William R. Button (T-AK 3012) and aviation logistics support ship SS Curtiss (T-AVB 4) are helping the U.S Navy and Marine Corps test their ability to move combat equipment between ship and shore, without the benefit of a developed port.

The exercise began March 1, and helps prepare Navy and Marine Corps forces to conduct at-sea transfers of equipment from sealift platforms to ships and shoreside locations via surface craft.

Pacific Horizon 2011 is part of an annual training plan for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Expeditionary Strike Group 3, Naval Beach Group 1, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 1, Naval Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 and the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39.

Approximately 2,500 Sailors and Marines are participating in the exercise, assisted by 64 U.S. merchant mariners who make up the crews of Button and Curtiss.

During the exercise, Sailors and Marines moved approximately 200 pieces of Marine Corps field equipment using an Improved Navy Lighterage System, or INLS, which comprises motorized and non-motorized barges that ferried cargo between ship and shore.

Equipment included trucks, power trailers, 20-foot containers and Humvees from Button, which sat anchored approximately three miles off the coast of Camp Pendleton's Red Beach. The equipment was then returned to the ship during the end phase of the exercise.

"Having these two ships here for us to train with is an outstanding opportunity for us," said 1st MEF Sgt. Maj. Randal Carter. "These crews are professional and provide us an excellent opportunity to train and to learn in an environment that is a lot like the areas we, as Marines, operate in during our missions."

Operations began March 2, with the arrival of Button and Curtiss off Red Beach. The crews participated in a pre-operations and safety brief, and a safety drill on the first day in preparation for the start of equipment discharge. In addition, a nine-section roll-on/roll-off discharge facility (RRDF) was delivered and attached to the Button's stern ramp by Navy personnel.

From March 3-5, Button's crew of 31 merchant mariners, along with the military, off-loaded tracked and wheeled vehicles from the ship's cargo hold, down the ramp, across the RRDF and onto a motorized causeway ferry for delivery to the beach staging area. The ship's three deck cranes were used to transfer non-motorized cargo. The cargo was staged on the beach after delivery, before being returned to the ship during the exercise's final phase from March 6-10.

"These kinds of training exercises are always valuable to us," said Capt. David Eddy, USNS Button civilian master. "They help us iron out wrinkles, to learn how to move around on the decks with different kinds of cargo and to best figure out where things should go to make the mission move forward smoothly."

Eddy said one of the challenges he's faced in other exercises had been arranging for the necessary interface between civilian mariners and the military units working with the ship. For Pacific Horizon 2011, Marines and Sailors from the participating units were on board Button for its transit from the East Coast. This gave the ship's civilian crew and military personnel the time to plan and discuss issues unique to this operation.

Curtiss and its crew of 33 civilian mariners were featured in a separate part of the exercise, while the ship operated 20 miles north of Button off Red Beach. There Curtiss was used as a platform from which to conduct helicopter operations with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39. These operations were a continuation of a scenario the Marines played out on the beach. The scenario began as a humanitarian aid and disaster relief mission, and then changed into a security operation with the Marines, as simulated local forces impeded relief efforts. Throughout the operation, cargo continued to move between ship and shore.

In response to the Pacific-wide tsunami warning after the earthquake off the coast of northern Japan March 11, Button and Curtiss temporarily departed their respective operating areas and proceeded seaward as a precautionary measure against a potential West Coast tsumani. Following a relatively minor water surge observed in the morning, the ships returned to the coastal areas and resumed the exercise.

Operations are scheduled to conclude March 11, with the ships departing the area March 13. Button will continue on to the Marine Corps Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., and Curtiss will return to reduced operating status at its layberth aboard Naval Station San Diego, Calif.

MSC operates approximately 110 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.