FORT EUSTIS, Va. (USTCNS) --- The Army's AH-64 Apache helicopters are currently being upgraded to the AH-64D Apache "Longbow" edition, enhancing their warfighting capabilities, and MTMC's 833d Transportation Battalion in Seattle, Wash., is helping to make it happen.
After the sun went down on the 17th of May at the Port of Tacoma, Team DSC's 833d port professionals turned on the floodlights and offloaded Apaches arriving from overseas.
While most of us were fast asleep, they tackled numerous challenges including grappling extreme tide differentials and readying their precious cargo for transhipment by truck.
"The tides were in our favor that night," said Lt. Col. Debbie Bazemore, 833d Trans Bn commander. "The actual discharge time for the Apaches off the Maersk Constellation, which included removing tie down gear and dinner break, was five and a half hours. At 2:00 a.m. the helicopters were safely offloaded from the vessel."
"The tides in Puget Sound can vary as much as l5-20 feet from high to low tides," said John Seaton, chief, Traffic Management Division of the Seattle based unit. "This affects the angle of the ramp from the vessel to the pier where the helicopters are discharged."
That is why the timing of the offload needed to be consistent with the tides.
According to Seaton, if the ramp is too steep during the tide's highest point, the moving helicopter's discharge speed is difficult to control when towed off the vessel. In contrast, when the tide is at its lowest, the potential of scraping the underbelly of the helicopter during discharge exists.
"There is approximately 34 feet between the front wheels and the tail wheel on an Apache helicopter," said Seaton. "So, the helicopters could not be discharged at these extremes."
"I was concerned about losing the ramp on the ship because of the tides and needing to go to a lift-off versus roll-off operation," said Bazemore. "Although the technicians on site were prepared either way, I just felt a whole lot better 'rolling' such expensive equipment off."
According to Richard Carlyle, the 833d's chief, Operations Division, his unit teamed with Stevedoring Services of America for vessel discharge and the Port of Tacoma for port clearance. Plus, technical experts were on hand from The Boeing Company, the Army Attack Helicopter Program Manager's Office from Redstone Arsenal, Ala., and the Defense Contract Management Agency.
"Everyone had a dog in the hunt," said Bud Sowers, a manager from the AAH Office at Redstone Arsenal. "We all had a vested interest in this delicate operation, and formed a symbiotic relationship to ensure a successful operation. We formed one heck of a team."
"The discharge operation went very smoothly," said Carlyle. "Everyone worked together as a team, and the helicopters were discharged safely and efficiently."
Upon discharge, the other compelling challenge facing the MTMC unit was ensuring the Apaches were made "road-worthy" prior to their nontraditional trek by truck to The Boeing Company in Mesa, Ariz.
"Two actions were required before port clearance," said Carlyle. "First, the helicopters' shrink wrap had to be removed for road safety, and their tails were removed because of height restrictions."
In spite of these challenges, all the helicopters were expeditiously loaded onto flatbed trucks and began their journey to their final destination. Port clearance was completed four days after the last Apache offloaded the vessel.
"The 833d Trans Bn functioned as Single Port Manager for the entire operation, and it went very well," said Carlyle. "We ensured the special care required for this movement every step of the way."
"It was more economical to ship the helicopters by truck than flying them," said Sowers. "The reason for this is that first you have to put the helicopters back together in flying condition, then you have to thoroughly test-fly them to ensure the safety of the aircraft before they can be flown to final destination. Then they would have to be torn down again for upgrade. Trucking them just made better sense."
According to Sowers this was the biggest operation thus far in the quest to upgrade over 200 Apaches.
"It was the most logistically complicated and the first OCONUS transhipment," said Sowers. "MTMC did a great job in making it all happen."
"Needless to say, we were super excited about getting the experience, especially doing the inland transportation by truck," said Bazemore. "There was no way we could have done that without the technicians who came from DCMA, Boeing and the Apache PM Office.
"Of course, if we are familiar with anything, its discharging aircraft and watching them fly out, but never by truck. So, this was pretty interesting stuff. We basically ended up with two truckers, Landstar Inway and Trism Specialized, that could meet the specialized requirements - air ride trucks and single drop trailers - who did a great job. It's amazing what we can do in transportation. Our motto ought to be ' We Can Make It Happen!'" (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND, DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT COMMAND).
