Posted on 05/02/2002 10:10:05 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
It may not be faster than a speeding bullet, but the WestPac Express transports more Marines and supplies throughout the Pacific in less time than any vessel before it.The high-speed, Australian-built catamaran pulled into Chuk Samet, Thailand, last week, unloading 215 Iwakuni and Okinawa Marines and 12 cargo pallets for the upcoming Cobra Gold military exercise, said Chief Warrant Officer Gene Rose, WestPac Express operations officer, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force.
En route to Thailand from Kinred, Okinawa, the ship dropped off more than 650 Marines and supplies at Subic Bay, Philippines, for the Balikatan exercise.
Total transport time was 74 hours, Rose said.
The ship and its 15-man crew won’t rest long.
"We’re going right back to Okinawa to pick up a second load for Balikatan and Cobra Gold," Rose said last week during a phone interview from Thailand.
Without the WestPac, the Marines would not have been able to supply as many troops and equipment to Cobra Gold and Balikatan this year, said Rose and Marine Capt. Landon Hutchens, 3rd MEF spokesman.
The WestPac "has been especially critical this year in our ability to conduct Cobra Gold and Balikatan, in that the current war on terrorism is using a lot of joint military airlift assets," Hutchens said. The WestPac "has allowed us to fill in the gap."
The ship is under contract to the Military Sealift Command and 3rd MEF for three years, with the initial charter agreement between the Marines and Austal Ships of Australia signed July 2001.
Prior to the WestPac, the 3rd MEF relied on two Air Force C-17s for transportation to training exercises, Rose said. To move an entire Marine infantry battalion — more than 900 Marines, 60 vehicles and 40 cargo containers — took 17 C-17 lifts and cost about $600,000 one way, Rose said.
"WestPac moved everything in 22 hours, and it cost about $130,000," he said.
The C-17s came from the States, and often the 3rd MEF withstood delays in transportation because it did not have priority.
"It was a very frustrating experience that the Marine Corps just dealt with for a long time," Rose said. "We decided to go our own way" and try out the WestPac.
In the Philippines, the ship dropped off members of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. The Hawaii-based Marines are temporarily deployed to Okinawa. Also delivered were Humvees, trucks, light-armored vehicles and other supplies, Rose said.
A combat services support element from Camp Kinser, Okinawa, also made the trip to provide engineering, fuel, motor transport and food services — "Everything you need to win the war to allow the gunfighters to do their jobs," Rose said — during the training exercise.
The Marines in Thailand are preparing for the start of Cobra Gold, which is set to run May 14 to May 28. They arrived ahead of the Maritime Prepositioning Ships to help offload much of the equipment to be used during the exercise.
"This allows us a lot more realistic training — actually training like you’re going to fight — because you have a much stronger transportation plan and a known transportation capability," Rose said of the WestPac.
Cool new military toys!!!
/john
/john
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