[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 5 (September–October 1970), pages 14–15, 44–45. The text is reproduced as faithfully as possible to enable searchability. To view any images and charts in the article, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS and the bulletin’s archives at asu.army.mil/alog/.]
A NEW APPLICATION of containerization — transporting ammunition — passed its first test by the military with the arrival of a shipload of containerized ammunition at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, in January. Although van-sized containers have been used for the oversea shipment of other military supplies for a number of years, their use for a shipment of ammunition was a first-of-a-kind test and constituted the first containerized shipment of ammunition to a war zone.
The test was the outcome of a Department of Defense directive of August 1969 tasking the Army and the Navy jointly to determine the feasibility of containerizing ammunition as a means of increasing the capability of our ammunition ports in the event of a major contingency. The concept was considered feasible and the Department of the Army, and in turn the commanding general of the U.S. Army Materiel Command (USAMC), was tasked to act as principal Department of the Army executive agent in conducting a “Test of Containerized Shipments for Ammunition” — hence Operation TOCSA.
Although Operation TOCSA was conducted on a one-time basis, results were propitious to the point that the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Logistics) directed that a plan and concept of operation be developed for a “total system” technique of moving ammunition direct from plants and depots in the continental United States to forward ammunition supply points (ASP’s) in oversea theaters. USAMC has been assigned this task.
For the test, 226 container loads of ammunition were transported via Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, direct to base depots and users at inland ASP’s. The ammunition came from four continental United States Army ammunition plants and one depot — the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, Charleston, Indiana; the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Burlington, Iowa; the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, Texarkana, Texas; the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, Shreveport, Louisiana; and the Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, California. The containers were transported over the road to the Naval Weapons Station, Concord, California, where they were loaded aboard the steamship (SS) Azalea City, a converted C-2-type self-sustaining container-ship for the voyage to Cam Ranh Bay.
The containerized ammunition was used to replenish stocks at the base depots. In addition, 44 containers on chassis were transshipped to Qui Nhon aboard the Army’s beach discharge lighter the Lieutenant Colonel John U. D. Page and a barge in a roll-on/roll-off operation. At Qui Nhon, the containers were further distributed by convoy to inland ASP’s at Pleiku, An Khe, and Landing Zone English where the containers were unstuffed in less than one hour each. No special arrangements were required, but field expedients were used to remove the cargo which consisted of small arms, 105-millimeter shells, and projectiles.
Results of this first test show that the use of van-size containers to transport ammunition provides for a greater degree of efficiency in terminal loading and unloading, ship turnaround, workforce utilization, and overall port capabilities. The results also show a great potential for shortening pipeline time and further reducing costs when compared to the traditional breakbulk methods. This was evidenced by the expedited ship loading and unloading operations. In each operation, approximately twenty-six hours elapsed from the time the SS Azalea City arrived on berth until sailing; normal breakbulk ammunition loading lime for a C-2 vessel is seven days and unloading time is eight days. This differential is even more pronounced when considering that the SS Azalea City took on a full back load of 226 refrigerator containers with no appreciable increase in on-berth time at Cam Ranh Bay. Moreover, the through movement of containers from CONUS source to ASP’s in the oversea theater eliminated the time-consuming handling of palletized ammunition at the various intermediate points in the transportation system.
One of the outstanding benefits derived from the test was the improved condition of cargo upon delivery at final destination. This advantage of containerization was heavily emphasized in the Vietnam after-action report quoted here:
“There was not a single instance of damaged pallets or cargo. This, to the forward ASP’s, was one of the most appealing features of the concept. Much the opposite is experienced with ammunition shipped via the conventional mode. Damage occurs on a frequent basis during loading to the vessel, during the voyage at sea, during offload and in-country handling and movement.”
The fact that this cargo was handled from two to eight fewer times than conventionally shipped ammunition obviously contributed to the improved delivery condition.
Operation TOCSA not only confirmed the feasibility of using containers for transporting ammunition but also proved that this method will contribute to the inventory-in-motion concept and go a long way to alleviating the lot integrity problem.
Analysis of test data has provided valuable experience and insight into the ways and means of optimizing future ammunition shipments by taking advantage of the economics inherent in containerization. However, Operation TOCSA also revealed certain shortcomings that will require resolution before the full benefits of containerization for the movement of ammunition can be realized.
The major disadvantages highlighted by the test stemmed from the type of container used and the methods employed to block and brace the contents. Additionally, present pallet load dimensions did not permit efficient weight and cube use of the containers.
For Operation TOCSA, 35-foot containers were used. These proved to be inefficient because of the high density of ammunition which resulted in a low-cube use of the containers. Furthermore, ammunition plant facilities are not designed for volume container shipments of ammunition, because loading from production is normally accomplished directly to rail cars. Therefore, less efficient methods were employed for loading the containers.
Because existing U.S. Coast Guard regulations for over-ocean-movement of high explosives do not deal with van-size containers and since the containers used had not been designed to transport ammunition, extensive testing was required to insure their structural soundness and to develop proper methods of securing the cargo within the container. These tasks were assigned to the USAMC Ammunition Center at Savanna Army Depot, Illinois. Tests conducted there led to the approval by the U.S. Coast Guard of both the containers and the blocking and bracing methods developed. Only with the complete cooperation afforded by the U.S. Coast Guard and their approval of this heretofore untried method of transporting ammunition was USAMC able to proceed with Operation TOCSA. The approved procedures, however, required large amounts of dunnage for blocking and bracing to restrain the movement of palletized ammunition within the container. This was costly in terms of materiel resources and time consumed.
To correct these deficiencies, USAMC has already taken action to develop a container compatible with existing plants and depots to facilitate stuffing and unstuffing operations. Such a container should also be capable of internal bulkheading acceptable to regulatory agencies, to permit both rail and highway movement. USAMC and the U.S. Coast Guard are working to establish realistic safety criteria applicable to containerized shipments of ammunition and to develop improved blocking and bracing methods. They are also testing reusable internal load-restraining systems.
Another area under consideration is the dimensions of existing pallets, which also contributed to low-cube use of the containers. By reducing the height of certain types of palletized ammunition by one tier, a more efficient cube use can be obtained. However, only redesigned pallet specifications and loading plans configured to container dimensions will afford maximum use of the available container cube.
With resolution of these problems, a truly cost-effective system of containerized ammunition shipments can be achieved. The containerization of ammunition has long-range implications for improving ammunition supply with reduced resources — both manpower and money.
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