Pacific Pathways, an operation that groups multiple exercises and keeps assets in the area of operations longer without fixed bases, is a U.S. Army Pacific enterprise to affect the Army's rebalances to the Pacific.

Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's 599th Transportation Brigade at Wheeler Army Airfield, Wahiawa, Hawaii, has provided strategic support to Pacific Pathways operation from the beginning.

The first three exercises to test the Pacific Pathways' concept are Garuda Shield in Indonesia, Keris Strike in Malaysia, and Orient Shield in Japan.

The Pacific arm of Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, or SDDC, the 599th Transportation Brigade, provides strategic sealift to the operation. The unit has three battalions and two detachments strategically placed throughout the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, for efficient service.

"Our strategic role in the operation is threefold," said Col. Shannon Cox, 599th commander. "The 599th assisted in the initial planning and concept for Pacific Pathways with USARPAC (U.S. Army Pacific) and 8th TSC (Theater Sustainment Command).

"Second, in conjunction with SDDC headquarters, we coordinate with Military Sealift command for vessel selection, and we conduct customer liaison. Third, our deployment and distribution management teams document cargo and perform single port manager functions during vessel upload and discharge," she said.

Daniel Martinez, 599th deputy director of operations, explained how Pacific Pathways differs from movements the brigade has undertaken in the past.

"It differs in two main ways," Martinez said. "First, each iteration of Pacific Pathways is an overlay of multiple exercises. Second, since one vessel is being used for all of the exercises in each pathway, this allows our supporting DDMTs (Deployment and Distribution Management Teams) to play pitch and catch with the unit cargo as it transits each exercise. Usually we have one vessel to handle deployment and another for redeployment, and often use different vessels for each exercise.

"This concept is unique for our customer in that they are better postured for anything that might arise in the area of operations, and it allows us to establish lines of communication in areas we have not been to before," Martinez added.

Cox agreed.

"The whole concept is to preposition for the operation. The 599th has fixed strategic ports in our partner countries, and we are also using new ports for this operation. This enables units to move more easily from the continental U.S., to areas across the Pacific," she said.

The 599th headquarters is not co-located with a battalion, so it does not have the capability to field a deployment and distribution management team from Hawaii. Because of this, DDMTs from the 836th Transportation Battalio, stationed at Yokohama North Dock in Japan, and its Guam Detachment, with support from the 599th, had to provide DDMT to fulfill the 599th role of single port manager in Hawaii.

In all, the 836th has conducted five upload and discharge missions for Pacific Pathways so far. In addition to handling all missions in Malaysia and Hawaii, it will send a DDMT to Tomakomai, Japan, for Orient Shield port operations.

In addition to the support the 836th has provided, the 835th Transportation Battalion, stationed in Okinawa, Japan, acted as single port manager for Garuda Shield, in Indonesia.

The commander of the 836th Transportation Battalion, Lt. Col. Joshua Vogel, said Pacific Pathways has given the unit's DDMTs an opportunity to demonstrate they can upload and discharge at the same time, over great distances, and in many countries.

"Our biggest lesson learned so far is the importance of planning and communications with everyone involved, down to the liaisons and unit movement officers, and up to our strategic partner of Military Sealift Command," Vogel said. "We have learned how big a role everyone plays in a successful movement.

"Pacific Pathways has demonstrated the importance of communications and partnerships, both external to the units and internal to the brigade. It's very important to us to collaborate closely to pass lessons learned, stow plans, and planning coordination," he added.

Vogel said from his perspective the most important change in DDMT operations for Pacific Pathways is uploading and offloading the same ship repeatedly.

"The biggest difference for us is to have the same vessel and same equipment for both the upload and the discharge," Vogel explained. "Normally we load up and that's the last we see of the cargo. But in this operation, we have to work with what we do well, and what we have not done so well, on the other end. This provides a great means of process improvement for us."

Pacific Pathways has helped with unit preparation.

"For the units we are moving and for us, it has been a great opportunity to train those individual and company tasks that they usually only get to practice once a year," Vogel said. "Now, we get to practice them over and over. Now, units that haven't done deployment operations in a long time will come out highly trained in unit movement operations."

The 599th has also grown in its relationships as a result of Pacific Pathways.

"From the 599th perspective, this operation has facilitated relation-building with the host-nation port authorities, and with understanding the unique culture and assets in those host nations," Martinez said.

Although the inaugural fiscal year is drawing to a close with operations in Japan for Orient Shield, Pacific Pathways will continue to expand in the future.

"In [fiscal year] 2015, they will bundle much larger exercises than were encompassed this year, [including] Balikatan, Cobra Gold and Foal Eagle," Martinez said.