The task of keeping U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) warfighters strategically supplied during both peacetime and combat operations falls on the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and its subordinate units, such as the 831st Transportation Battalion, 595th Transportation Brigade.

The 831st Transportation Battalion is tactically headquartered at Naval Support Activity Bahrain. It has detachments in Afghanistan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates and has active contracts for strategic distribution and deployment to support contingency operations in Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

THEATER AMMUNITION

The battalion's most demanding task, spear-headed by its Qatar detachment, is planning and executing quarterly theater ammunition supply missions. The detachment's main effort is to deliver ammunition to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW), U.S. Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT), located at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

Known as the largest and most diverse expeditionary wing in the Air Force, the 379th AEW provides combat airpower and support to Operations Inherent Resolve and Freedom's Sentinel.

Each theater ammunition mission requires several months of detailed planning among various organizations including AFCENT, Military Sealift Command-Central, Area Support Group-Qatar (ASG-Qatar), port officials, Qatari customs, and the U.S. Embassy in Qatar. As the single port manager, the Qatar detachment is responsible for exercising mission command over all port operations at the Port of Mesaieed.

This particular seaport of debarkation, classified as an industrial deep-water port, is located 25 miles from the country's capital of Doha. The Qatar detachment is responsible for the safe download and transport of hazardous cargo from the port to the 379th AEW's munitions storage facility at Al Udeid Air Base, approximately 40 miles away.

COLLABORATIVE IN-DEPTH DISCHARGE ANALYSIS

In the months leading up to the August 2015 theater ammunition mission, all stakeholders participated in weekly telephone and web conferences to discuss vessel schedules, update inbound and outbound cargo manifests, and discuss host-nation requirements.

Several constraints on discharging hazardous materials at the port had to be considered. Port Mesaieed officials allowed the discharge of hazardous materials only during hours of darkness from Thursday night through Sunday morning. This safety measure was in place to help reduce the risk of explosions, but it meant that the detachment had only three nights to handle hundreds of containers.

If the download extended beyond the weekend, the vessel would be forced to anchor outside the harbor and wait for the following weekend. More-over, a delay potentially would erode the working relationship with Qatari government and port officials.

While working closely with Port Mesaieed authorities, the battalion's marine cargo specialist and the Qatar detachment commander used the Integrated Computerized Deployment System to develop a viable vessel stow plan that facilitated the orderly discharge of the vessel.

Concurrently, the battalion operations officer and the terminal manager used the terminal operating system to create a seamless cargo traffic control plan to streamline the entire operation. Through the use of GPS and other advanced technology, the terminal operating system synchronized the movement of cargo through the port by sending vessel stow plan instructions to the opera-tors of the terminal's gantry cranes, transfer trucks, and other materials handling equipment. Their collaboration enable a plan that met the three-night discharge window.

REHEARSALS

To ensure all critical events and time lines were synchronized with mission partners, the detachment commander and battalion operations officer developed a rehearsal of concept (ROC) drill. A rehearsal of this magnitude had never been conducted in Qatar, but because of the operation's complexity, it was required to ensure the safe and efficient discharge and delivery of cargo.

Weeks of preparation went into the ROC drill, which included two terrain models that filled an entire warehouse at Camp As Sayliyah. The first terrain model replicated the port's pier, traffic routes, storage yards, vehicle marshaling areas, and entry and exit control points. The second terrain model replicated the entire 40-mile road net-work, from Port Mesaieed to the Al Udeid Air Base munitions storage area.

FORCE PROTECTION

Force protection throughout the mission was paramount. ASG-Qatar's military police had three security teams: explosive-detecting military dogs with handlers, port security, and convoy escort security. The military dog teams conducted searches of the pilot boat, all materials handling equipment, and all transportation assets.

The port security team conducted personnel searches of all stevedore and materials handling equipment operators, looking for prohibited devices such as cell phones, cooking materials, and cigarette lighters. In addition, they secured the quay by maintaining several entry control points throughout the port. The escort team was responsible for providing convoy security in conjunction with Qatar military police.

TASK ORGANIZATION

From previous after-action reviews, detachment leaders knew it was vital to have sufficient personnel at the port during download and upload operations. Since the Qatar detachment provided only three Soldiers, one general schedule civilian employee, and one contractor, additional manpower had to be resourced from the battalion headquartered at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in order to conduct reverse cycle discharge operations.

The headquarters assigned 11 more personnel, including Department of the Army civilians, Bahraini civilian employees, and a mix of the battalion's rotational reservists and active duty Soldiers, to reinforce the Qatar detachment.

The task organization consisted of documentation experts, cargo handlers, the battalion operations officer, and the battalion command team. In addition, the 596th Transportation Brigade provided seasoned ammunition surveillance inspectors for additional support.

EXECUTION

Although discharge operations were conducted at night, each morning the predischarge operations team conducted activities to prepare for the evening's mission. This included working directly with ASG-Qatar security teams, port officials, dive teams, and commercial truck companies to ensure adequate force protection measures were implemented. Additionally, the team ensured that emergency services support and equipment were onsite before the operation started. Daily meetings with Qatari port officials were key to maintaining the necessary momentum of operations.

As predischarge personnel completed all inspections, the vessel operations and documentation teams arrived to begin discharge operations, which commenced with the vessel berthing along the quay and ended with flatbed trucks successfully clearing port customs.

The documentation team was responsible for counting and providing in-transit visibility through the deployable Global Air Transportation Execution System. This system was also used to provide reports to the battalion command post in Bahrain that were relayed to the 595th Transportation Brigade combat operations center.

The vessel operations team was responsible for monitoring vessel discharge, loading containers on-to commercial trucks, and managing customs clearance. Gantry cranes discharged containers off of the vessel and onto transfer trucks. Once load-ed, each transfer truck followed a GPS-guided route to a transfer point. Next, the container was transloaded from the truck to a commercial tractor-trailer via the port's mobile container handler.

Each night's convoy consisted of 50 to 75 flat-bed trucks with one or two 20-foot containers. The final phase of the operation was executed by the convoy operations team headed by several officers from the battalion S-3.

Through lessons learned from previous missions, the detachment used three best practices that led to mission success. First, collaborative planning helped the detachment to rapidly develop a vessel stow plan that met all of the requirements of an extremely complex situation. Second, the execution of a combined ROC drill synchronized mission partners and forced collaboration down to the low-est level. Finally, rehearsals following the ROC drill enforced actions on the port and vessel sides while ensuring safety hazards were identified early and mitigated on the spot.

Overall, the efficient download and upload of the theater ammunition vessel was a success and provided the necessary flexibility for the detachment's customer, the warfighter.