Port of Anchorage plays strategic role in military exercise
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"We often coordinate these moves entirely through commercial contracts; this time it's different," said Maj. Katherine Derrick, commander of the 956th. "We are using our expertise to deploy Alaska-based units on a military chartered vessel," she explained.
"In addition to maintaining readiness at the port here, which could be called into use during a military operation, we contracted locally for stevedores from the Anchorage-based Sea Star Stevedoring Company to load the ship," Derrick added.
The 956th, an Elmendorf Air Force Base tenant, coordinated loading on March 22 and 23 aboard the Military Sealift Command's Cape Hudson, for military equipment belonging to units from Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Soldiers from Fort Richardson, Alaska, provided Port support.
For the first time in Alaska, four massive CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the 4/123rd Aviation Battalion located at Fort Wainwright were among the 91 rolling stock and 15 containers loaded for shipment.
The helicopters were flown to the Port of Anchorage on March 15 where they were shrink-wrapped and readied for loading aboard Cape Hudson.
UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters have been gone through the Port of Anchorage before, the last time being 10 years ago.
The shrink-wrapping process of cocooning the helicopters in white protective plastic, took four to six hours per aircraft. Unfortunately, due to high winds March 18 and 19, the shrink-wrapping was blown off three of them and needed replacement.
The Fort Wainwright unit responsible for the Chinooks had never shrink-wrapped and deployed the helicopters by sealift.
Four members of the Seattle, Wash.-based 833rd Transportation Battalion assisted the 956th, marine cargo specialists John Manahane and Jerry Gooch, transportation systems analyst Sue Pearson, and traffic manager John Seaton.
According to Derrick, the port experiences tides averaging 30 to 35 feet--the second highest in the world. Coupled with cold, seven-degree Fahrenheit temperatures and 20 to 40 miles per hour wind gusts, the ship's hydraulic systems operated slowly and with difficulty.
"Temperature at the pier was minus 20 degrees when the wind chill was factored in," said Derrick.
Because of the tide, the ship's ramps could only be used for an hour and a half in the morning and four hours in the afternoon.
Despite these obstacles, Cape Hudson was loaded and sailed for Hawaii on schedule a mere 30 hours after its arrival. The equipment aboard the vessel will be used in support of a routine military exercise later this spring.
Military Sealift Command, DSC's military transportation partner, provided Cape Hudson, which sailed from the Port of Tacoma, Wash., after picking up an initial shipment of military equipment from nearby Fort Lewis, Wash., according to Derrick.
"Loading more than 100 pieces of military equipment provides for valuable partnership building, team work, and training-that's our real prize here," concluded Derrick. (FROM MILITARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS- DEPLOYMENT SUPPORT COMMAND).
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