PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- The 599th Transportation Brigade partnered with Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor to discharge 25th Infantry Division cargo and equipment from the Ocean Glory at Pearl Harbor from Sept. 7-9 in the last operation at Pearl Harbor for Pacific Pathways 16-2.

Christopher Hill, captain of the Ocean Glory since 2011, said two things that distinguished Pacific Pathways' moves from others were: the crew knew where they were going in advance of the next moves, and this was their first chance to work with the military.

"This is our eighth of nine ports for Pacific Pathways 16-2," Hill said. It has been one of the best voyages of my entire career. The professionalism on display by the U.S. Army and how they helped our crew has been amazing.

"As Americans we are proud to do our part anyway, but this has been a pure pleasure," Hill added. "I wish I could do this every day for the rest of my career. Working with the military hand in hand was a positive and unique experience."

Frank Viray, 599th Transportation Brigade traffic management specialist, led the move for the 599th.

"We were slower than we wanted to be on Wednesday because the cargo we had to offload at West Loch was too heavy to be lifted off with their crane at the port," Viray said. They had to use the ship's crane to lift it. That made us a couple of hours late to FLC-Pearl Harbor, so it slowed up the whole move."

Capt. Kim Ellenburg, 836th Transportation Battalion operations officer, was the deployment and distribution management team leader for the offload.

"Everything is going good, just slow and steady," Ellenburg said. "We got a slow start on Wednesday, but everything is going fine.

"We tailor the composition of the DDMT to the piece count and whether the operation is a discharge or an upload," Ellenburg said. "A full DDMT is eight people, but because this is a relatively small move, we only needed five personnel."

This was the first port operation at Pearl Harbor for Sgt. 1st Class Blair Pierce, 836th Transportation Battalion operations NCO.

"Most things are the same at Yokohama North Dock as here, but the way the stevedores for FLC [Fleet Logistics Center-Pearl Harbor] rig and lift are different.

"I was very impressed by the way the Army, Navy and civilians come together at Pearl Harbor to facilitate the discharge," Pierce added. "I thought it was awesome."

Greg Pangelinan, Guam Detachment traffic management assistant, worked cargo documentation. He said the move went without a hitch.

"We worked from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. last night, and got everything off then except for 24 pieces. Those came off first thing this morning," Pangelinan said Sept. 9. "All the cargo is accounted for and the discharge of the cargo is all documented."

In addition to members of the DDMT, Roy Miller transportation management specialist, Pacific Northwest Detachment of the 842nd Transportation Battalion, was on hand to check the disposition of cargo that would remain onboard the ship to offload in Washington state.

"Miller's presence in Hawaii clearly demonstrates SDDC's efforts to synchronize operations between its brigades," said Col. James Smith, 599th commander.

Viray said the first piece came off the ship Sept. 7 at 2 p.m., the last piece came off Sept. 9 before noon, and the Ocean Glory sailed at 2 p.m. on Sept. 9.