PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- The 599th Transportation Brigade began 2021 with moves supporting the Marine Corps at Fleet Logistics Center, and 402nd AFSB at West Loch.
The first two moves were in support of the 3rd Marines and Military Aircraft Group 24 from Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, on their training rotation to Twentynine Palms, California.
The Pasha vessel Jean Anne arrived on Jan. 5 at about 5:30 p.m., and loading began at 6:30. Because helicopters had to be loaded last according to the load plan, the operation ended at 9 p.m., and resumed the next morning at 7 a.m. Loading completed at 11 a.m., and the Jean Anne departed for San Diego commercial port at 1:30 p.m.
“FLC had the lead on this move,” said Marco Arboleda, 599th marine cargo specialist. “We were there to provide assistance with stow planning and submitted the executive summary. We made sure that everything was in the right place as far as hazardous materials and sensitive items, and then submitted it into ICODES.”
This was the first mission that Sgt. Kathryne Mason, marine cargo specialist, worked for the brigade and her first vessel operation.
“I’ve done other missions, but this is my first time working a vessel,” Mason said. “The others were rail ops. It was a great experience. It gave me a nice little taste of what my job is going to be.”
Because FLC had the lead and 599th played a supporting role in the Marine Corps moves by helping with the Jean Anne stow plan and making the one for the Marjorie C., personnel were able to conduct training on new hand scanners during the moves.
“We had some trouble with the new scanner we were using at FLC; it wouldn’t read the military shipping labels, so we had to put that part in manually,” Staff Sgt. Deontre Austin, 599th marine cargo specialist, said. "If our information management department can’t fix it, we’ll send it to higher headquarters.”
Because the Marines also had Ospreys to load, which were going to Naval Base San Diego instead of the commercial port, the Pasha vessel Marjorie C. followed on, and the port operators conducted a one-day operation loading them and assorted other cargo on Jan. 11.
“I was able to draw up the stow plan for the Marjorie C, and also for the West Loch move,” Austin said.
Traffic management specialist Christine Perez-Carian booked cargo for the Jean Anne, and said she also booked some of the cargo which had originally been slated for the Marjorie C onto the Jean Anne when the Marjorie C. was delayed.
“I booked the move on Dec. 21,” Perez-Carian said. “Pasha made arrangements for a port-to-door move for the cargo from the Jean Anne, and the 834th Transportation Battalion handled incoming cargo from the Marjorie C.”
While operations were still going on at FLC, staging began for the retrograde ammunition move from West Loch to Military Ocean Terminal Concord, California. This upload onto the USAV General Brehon B. Somervell (LSV-3) lasted from Jan. 12-15.
599th personnel continued to train with the new hand scanners at West Loch.
“The new scanner I used during the upload at Pearl Harbor was a little tricky, but I tried a different one at West Loch, and it was perfect,” said Austin. “Once you get used to them, they are so much easier to use than the old scanners.”
Marine cargo specialist Sgt. Nashell Mendez agreed.
“I was at FLC for the Marjorie C. move, and at West Loch for the 402nd AFSB move,” she said. “The new scanners have a much bigger screen. It’s much easier to read. You are able to click on the new scanners to see how you’re doing, and the battery doesn’t die as quickly as the old scanners.”
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