CHILPO BEACH, South Korea (USTCNS) - Logistics operations may not be as glamorous as flight operations on an aircraft carrier or tank maneuvers in the desert, but keeping troops in the field supplied with fuel, provisions and equipment is just as important to a mission's overall success.

More than 1500 men and women from the United States and the Republic of Korea officially completed the Combined and Joint Logistics Over The Shore exercise today at Chilp'o and Yonghon beaches, located just 45 minutes north of the city P'ohang, South Korea.

In a situation where adequate port facilities may not be available, being able to get supplies ashore where needed is vital.

"This is the first time we've done a C/JLOTS exercise here in Korea," said Brig. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, the C/JLOTS joint task force (JTF) commander, "and it's had real value from two perspectives."

CJLOTS is designed to develop the capabilities of both U.S. and ROK forces to safely and efficiently transfer fuel and supplies that arrive by ship and smaller landing craft to forces inland. This was the first bare beach delivery of military equipment in Korea since the Korean War's Inchon landing almost 51 years ago.

The exercise also tested the ability of ROK and U.S. forces to communicate and operate with each other in a true joint and combined environment.

"First, we've demonstrated our capability in performing successful over the shore logistics on a bare beach with no port facilities, and in a combined environment with forces from the Republic of Korea," continued Stultz. "The second real value is that the ROK forces now have the confidence and the capability to do this again with us in the future if needed. We've taken interoperability and combined operations to a new level. And we'll be able to take the lessons learned over the past weeks and apply them to future exercises or even real-world contingencies."

Evidence of combined and joint cooperation occurred at every level of the C/JLOTS organization, starting with the command and control staffs, and continuing through to the security details, the crane operators, and even the galley staff.

"This exercise offered our personnel a huge value in joint training, and basically in how to work with each other," said Stultz. "Future operations, whether they are wartime contingencies or peacetime humanitarian relief efforts, are almost always going to be in a joint and combined environment. So exercises like this, which are very realistic in terms of what would happen during a real-world contingency, are great training."

According to the C/JLOTS Naval Forces Commander and Commander, ACB1, Navy Capt. Kenneth Butrym, the event was an exercise in overcoming the challenges of combined operations.

"We learned that combined operations are hard," said Butrym. "Everything takes more time, mostly because of having to translate all our communications. But more importantly, we learned we could work through those challenges. Our success was a confidence boost to both the U.S. and ROK forces, and we're very proud of everything we accomplished."

One of the most impressive sights on the beach was the ELCAS, or elevated causeway. The first of its kind to be built anywhere outside of the United States, the ELCAS was constructed in just under ten days by Sailors from ACB1 and ACB2 out of Little Creek, Va., with assistance from the ROK Army. In a location with no pier facilities, an ELCAS is an incredible asset which enables around-the-clock transfer operations in any kind of weather.

"Small craft which have to land directly on the beach to deliver their cargo are inoperable in any seas higher than four to six feet," said Navy Lt. Eric Hawn of ACB1.

"Therefore, if we have bad weather, delivery operations essentially have to stop, which can really hinder the operations in the field. The advantage of the ELCAS system is that it can endure all kinds of adverse weather, even light hurricanes. It's really a unique type of force multiplier which ultimately serves to keep our inland personnel supplied with the equipment and cargo they need," added Hawn.

The Navy and Army built an ELCAS at Camp Pendleton during an earlier JLOTS exercise, which ultimately helped to work out the kinks of working together in a joint environment prior to coming to Korea to build the ELCAS in a combined environment.

"The Army and Navy staffs were able to solve any communications and procedural differences between ourselves during our last JLOTS exercise," said Butrym, "so all we had to do here in Korea was work on the same thing with the ROK forces. The human equation is always an important aspect of a successful exercise or operation, and being able to have amiable working relationships between the Army and Navy personnel really helped when it came time to work with the ROKs."

Transportation ashore is also a significant factor in both humanitarian assistance and wartime scenarios. And since most forms of transportation require fuel to operate, being able to keep troops ashore supplied with this valuable commodity is essential. For C/JLOTS, the Navy and Army used their OPD and IPD systems, respectively, though instead of fuel, they transferred more than three million gallons of fresh water from the MSC ship Chesapeake to storage units inland for use in the tent city.

"In addition to using that water in the tent city for personal services like showers and laundry, we gave most of it to the farmers in the Chilpo Beach area, further contributing to the humanitarian assistance aspect of the exercise," noted Butrym. "We also made repairs to some local hotels in the area." In addition to water and repair assistance, the excess wood used for the tent structures and flooring were given to the community as well.

As with any exercise, the most basic mission is to practice valuable skills and techniques that may be called into use in the future. But for the Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen of this C/JLOTS, the real value was with operating with the ROK forces.

"Once we overcame the language barrier and other differences in basic operating procedures, it was enjoyable working with the Koreans," said Petty Officer First Class Shane Potts of ACB2.

"The real key to this exercise was the training, that in turn built an even stronger relationship between the U.S. personnel and the ROKs," said Stultz. "It was a unique learning experience, working to understand not only the Korean culture, but also their command culture and command relationships. Our experiences here will really make a difference in the future if we ever have to do a real-world mission like this."

Navy units participating in the exercise included Amphibious Construction Battalions One and Two, Assault Craft Unit One, Beachmaster Unit One, Underwater Construction Teams One and Two, two Cargo Handling units, and elements of the Commander, Naval Beach Group reserve detachment 119 - all under the command of Commander, Amphibious Group Three based in San Diego, Calif. The Military Sealift Command also participated with four ships - Cape Mohican, Flickertail State, Chesapeake, and Maersk Alaska - all participating in delivering fuel and equipment from the states to off shore Korea.

Participating Army units included elements of the 143rd Transportation Command out of Orlando, Fla., and the 7th Transportation Group from Fort Eustis, Va. Even the U.S. Air Force participated with a three-person element from the 18th Weather Detachment in order to better monitor weather conditions affecting the exercise.

South Korean forces included approximately 300 personnel from the ROK Marine Corps, Navy and Army, which provided security, force protection, port operations control and harbor defense for the MSC ships throughout the two-month long exercise.

All these forces worked together to not only build a 200-tent city, capable of housing and feeding 1500 personnel, but also to construct a 1200-foot-long, 20-foot-high elevated causeway on the beach, transfer 3.2 million gallons of fresh water from ship to shore using both the Navy's Offshore Petroleum Discharge System and the Army's Inland Petroleum Discharge System, and move more than 350 20-foot-long containers from ship to shore using a combination of landing craft from the U.S. Army, and U.S. and ROK navies.
(FROM THE US FORCES KOREA PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE)