USTRANSCOM’s Deputy Commander recognizes everyday transportation heroes at NDTA’s 57th Annual Forum
Noting the on-going changes in defense transportation, Hughey focused his remarks on what has not changed, the people.
“I’m talking about the thousands of men and women like you who are the foundation of the defense transportation system, the active duty and reserve military personnel, the civil service and foreign national employees who work at TRANSCOM and our component commands — The Military Sealift Command, the Military Traffic Management Command and the Air Mobility Command, and the people who work at Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard installations around the world,” Hughey said at the luncheon.
He also cited the contributions of commercial partners and defense contractors who “provide the United States with a defense transportation system that fully supports our nation’s needs in peace and war, and provides a vital capability that every other nation of the world envies but which non can or will ever equal.”
Hughey referenced the millions of tons of cargo shipped by air, sea and land since September 11. “These moves were accomplished one box at a time, one pound at a time, one truck or railcar or ship or aircraft at a time,” he said. “And what was most impressive was the relative handful of transportation and logistics professional who made it happen at installations, ports, and airfield around the world”
He noted the efforts of everyday heroes: the military teams including recalled reserve units, aero medical evacuation teams, and force protection teams, as well as the International Longshoreman Association, the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, and the U.S. Merchant Marine.
“It wasn’t just the G.I.’s who mobilized,” Hughey said. “Within 24 hours, 40 specially trained members of the International Longshoreman Association deployed from as far away as Houston, Texas and Wilmington, N.C. to support terminal operations in Jacksonville, Fla. As Charles Spencer of the ILA put it, we’ll mobilize whatever resources they need. We are proud to be able to do this for our country.”
Between 400 and 500 longshoremen supported 24-hour operations at strategic ports, Hughey shared. “Their Herculean efforts made a tremendous difference in our ability to deliver combat forces to Southwest Asia quickly and safely.
“We are blessed with ordinary people doing extraordinary things, making personal sacrifices for the greater good, setting aside their needs so that others—who they may never meet face-to-face—may benefit, doing things not for fortune or glory, but because it is something that needs to be done and they step up to the plate and do it,” Hughey said at the luncheon. “And, they think nothing of it. No big deal, believe me, it’s a big deal.”
In closing, Hughey continued to praise the everyday heroes working within the defense transportation system.
“I am confident that we will rise to meet whatever the future holds with your usual energy, enthusiasm, and expertise. That’s your enduring quality and legacy you leave for future generations of transporters and logisticians, and a proud legacy it is. I am proud to be a member of the transportation family. I hope you are as proud of yourselves as I am of you.”
Follow Us On:
