PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- 599th Transportation Brigade operations personnel facilitated offload of ammunition from an Army watercraft at West Loch on Feb. 8-9.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Joel Hernandez, 599th mobility warrant officer, and Marco Arboleda and Sgt. Kathryne Mason, marine cargo specialists, teamed up with personnel from the 402nd Army Field Support Battalion and 8th Theater Sustainment Command to discharge the ammunition from the U.S. Army Vessel Gen. Brehon B. Somervell.
The ammunition was inbound from Port Chicago, Calif., for various units on Oahu.
“The LSV docked at about 8 a.m.,” Arboleda said. “We had planned to allow three days for offloading the cargo and port clearance, but we finished all of the offload, and half of the containers were off of the port by the end of the first day. Everything was discharged on the 8th, but port clearance was completed on Feb. 9.”
“We had planned to clear 18 containers Monday, 18 on Tuesday, and 11 on Wednesday, but everything went quickly and smoothly, so we cleared 24 on Monday, and 23 on Tuesday,” said Mason.
“The 402nd AFSBN had command and control of the mission, and we made sure that they collected proper documentation from the vessel when it arrived,” said Hernandez. “The 8th Theater Sustainment Command also had their mobility rep come down to make everything go smoothly.
“The ship’s crew unlashed the cargo, and Soldiers from the 402nd AFSBN used an MHE (materials handling equipment) forklift and a RTCH (rough terrain container handler) to pull the containers off.
“The only problem with the move came right at first when some of the trucks came in without proper documentation to haul the ammo,” said Hernandez. “It was a quick fix, and they were able to get the paperwork and come back to resume.
“We try to make sure that by the time we are at the port, everything goes smoothly. I do a lot of networking and planning. It’s important that when I execute, I know who to talk to in order to get things done. I worked four years at 8th TSC, so I know all of the main players.
“On this move, we also worked with U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii installation transportation officer, Raul Ortiz, to document the cargo and ensure that everything came off the watercraft,” said Hernandez.
Mason is still relatively new to the 599th and working port operations.
“I really appreciated the chance to meet a lot of the other people we work with on island, especially Mr. Ortiz,” she said. “It seems like the amount of operations we are working right now are just right to get me used to how to do the job and to meet everyone on island,” she said.
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