PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- In a true joint-services movement, 599th Transportation Brigade, Navy, Coast Guard and contractor teammates loaded out ammunition on July 11 for use by members of the U.S. Marine Corps 3rd Marine Regiment during their current training evolution at Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii Island.
The brigade had already shipped the bulk of cargo and equipment for the Marines’ training from Honolulu Harbor on July 3.
Because the ammunition could not be loaded out at Young Brothers Piers 39 and 40 which are in the middle of Honolulu, the company sent a barge to the ammunition piers at West Loch here. This area is designated for ammunition because, unlike other areas on Pearl Harbor, West Loch is far from built-up or heavily populated areas on the base or the rest of Oahu.
Two members of the 599th were on site to make sure the move went smoothly, Marco Arboleda and Jimmy Quilon. While Arboleda was on site to make sure the vessel could accommodate the equipment, Quilon was there to ensure contract compliance.
Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor had two personnel on site to tally the ammo, Francis Maedonochi and Jeff Villacorte.
Two Coast Guardsmen were also on site during the move, Petty Officers 2nd Class Brett Reel and Timothy Oliver. The Coast Guard sends representatives to certify safe handling of the cargo for ammunition moves.
“The barge held only the ammunition, prime movers and trailers, no other equipment was on board,” said Marco Aboleda, 599th marine cargo specialist.
Traffic management specialist Christine Perez-Carian booked both this ammunition move and the July 3 equipment move from Young Brothers headquarters.
Perez-Carian said although there was some reconciliation necessary, both the earlier move and the ammunition move went well from a booking standpoint.
“The reconciliation for the first part was nothing out of the ordinary,” she said. “We always have to do some kind of reconciliation. That’s just typical for unit moves. There was nothing that contributed to any kind of mission failure.”
Even through the ammunition went to Hawaii Island a week later that the equipment, Perez-Carian had been building the movement plan for it all along.
“I worked with Young Brothers closely and asked them if they managed the ammunition from the get-go,” she said. “Once we realized it would have to go out through West Loch, I reached out to our Fleet Logistics Center counterparts and then coordinated with Naval Munitions Command and Pearl Harbor to let them know that we had to do an OTO [one-time-only contract] because of the ammo restriction at Honolulu.”
Quilon said that while the cargo and equipment that were moved on July 3 will come back to the Marines after their training on Hawaii Island, they do not anticipate any ammunition will return.
“They will use all of the ammunition while they are training, so we won’t need to book any ammunition for a return trip,” he said.
1st Lt. Ian Thomasgard, Motor Transport Officer, 3rd Bn., 3rd Marine Regiment, said the move went well from the Marines’ perspective.
“The company and everyone we dealt with were very professional,” he said. “The Marines had no issues. I thought the operation was completely efficient.
According to Arboleda, loading began on the Young Brothers barge Kukahi at 7:45 a.m. on July 11, and was completed at 9:32 a.m. The barge departed at noon. It arrived at Kawaihai on Hawaii Island on July 12 at 7 a.m. Discharge operations began right away at 7:15, and were completed by 8:05 a.m.
Thomasgard reported all equipment was accounted for and arrived in good condition at Kawaihae.
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