1. Our phone numbers have changed.Click here for more info

Apache helicopters chalk up the road miles

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (USTCNS) --- Some AH-64 Apache helicopters traveled in an unusual mode from the port of Tacoma, Wash., recently.

Initially, a group of the helicopters was expected to travel by ship to Port Hueneme, Calif., near Los Angeles as part of a journey to Arizona.

However, the timing was wrong. The most timely shipping movement was to Tacoma, over 1,400-land miles from the helicopters final destination.

So, truck transportation was lined up for the land movement portion of the journey.

In Tacoma, members of the Military Traffic Management Command's 833rd Transportation Battalion unloaded the helicopters off the Maersk Constellation-and then promptly reloaded the 16,000-pound plus aircraft on flatbed trucks.

"We 're used to seeing the AH-64 flying ominously by-instead we saw them travel away by trucks," said Bud Sowers, an action officer in the Apache Attack Helicopters' Program Manager's Office, at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Warfighters are mostly used to 'fly-away' operations at ports, said Rick Shilby, a MTMC Headquarters command and control team leader.

"You do not normally see it done by truck," said Shilby. "It is perfectly safe and is provided for in the aircraft's manufactured specifications."

The Apache helicopters were enroute to the Boeing Co., Mesa Ariz., for upgrading to the enhanced Longbow series.

"It was more economical to ship the helicopters by truck than flying them," said Sowers.

By June 5th, the last of the aircraft arrived safely by truck at Boeing.

The office is responsible for upgrades to 232 Apache helicopters stationed around the world.

The shipment to Tacoma on May 17 was the biggest and most complicated movement to date. It was also the first overseas transshipment of Apache helicopters in the upgrade program.

"The reason for this is that first you have to put the helicopters back together in flying condition," said Sowers, "then you have to thoroughly test-fly them to ensure the safety of the aircraft before they can be flown to final destination.

"MTMC did a great job in making it all happen."

The helicopters would have to have been reconfigured again for the
Boeing upgrade work, said Sowers.

"We learned a lot in this shipment," said Sowers. "There was probably 50 days from the start of the operation until the finish-we hope to cut a couple weeks off that for our other overseas movements."

The transshipment provided unique training to members of the 833rd, said Lt. Col. Debbie Bazemore, commander, of the Deployment Support Command unit.

"Needless to say, we were super excited about getting the experience especially doing the inland transportation by truck," said Bazemore.

Technical support provided by representative of the Boeing Co., Defense Contract Management Agency and the aircraft's program management office was essential, she said.

"If we are familiar with anything," said Bazemore, "its discharging aircraft and watching them fly out-but never by truck.

"So, this was pretty interesting stuff."

The bulk of the loads were handled by Landstar Inway and TRISM
Specialized.

"They could meet the specialized requirements - air ride trucks and single-drop trailers," said Bazemore.

"They did a great job."

The truck movement was not the only challenge faced by the 833rd
transporters.

The Army transporters had to discharge the ship at night at the Puget Sound port where tides can vary from 15-20 feet.

"The tides were in our favor that night," said Bazemore. "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."

By 2 a.m., all the helicopters had been safely discharged.

"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. "This affects the angle of the ramp from the vessel to the pier where the helicopters are discharged."

Timing is everything on a helicopter discharge, said 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, at low tide the helicopter's underbelly may come in contact with the ramp.

Maintaining a steady and efficient discharge pace, the members of the 833rd successfully rolled each Apache off the ship.

"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."

Apache Longbow is a joint developmental and acquisition program that will vastly improve the warfighting capability of the aircraft. The program includes the addition of a millimeter-wave radar air/ground targeting system. The system is capable of providing improved targeting information to Apache pilots in all types of weather, lighting and battlefield conditions. (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).

Office of Public Affairs - transcom-pa@mail.mil
News Archive

Follow Us On:

Facebook      Instagram      Twitter      Flickr      LinkedIn


Connect to USTRANSCOM JECC AMC MSC SDDC
Office of Public Affairs|United States Transportation Command|Scott Air Force Base IL 62225-5357
This is a Department of Defense (DOD) computer system. Please read our Privacy, Accessibility, Use and Non-Endorsement Disclaimer Notice.