PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- Members of the 599th Transportation Brigade and partners uploaded 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, for Operation Pacific Pathways 20-1 onto the M/V Cape Hudson here Jan. 21-23.
Pacific Pathways is a U.S. Army Pacific operation that involves several exercises in different Asian countries.
At 750 feet, with four decks of space and about 38,000 tons of cargo capacity, the roll-on, roll-off (RORO) Cape Hudson is capable of carrying all of the cargo needed for all of the exercises in Pacific Pathways.
"We were glad to find out the Cape Hudson would be carrying the equipment. It is always easier and to load a RORO ship than a LOLO (lift-on, lift-off)," said Frank Viray, 599th Transportation Brigade terminal operations chief.
Viray built the stow plan for the move.
"When you build a stow plan for multiple stops, you have to make sure that you load in a way to facilitate the loading and offloading process at each port," Viray said. "We want to make sure that no one down the line has to double handle cargo."
Other terminal operations staff kept track of cargo as it moved off the pier and onto the ship during 24-hour port operations.
"The handheld scanners have the stow location on them," said Sgt. Nashell Mendez, 599th operations NCO. "We had to move a few things around, but there weren't any major differences from the original stow plan."
Staff Sgt. Deontre Austin, 599th operations NCO, also scanned the military shipping labels. He worked the night shift.
"This is my MOS, so working at the port is a good way to get experience on another means of conveyance," Austin said. "Before I came to the 599th, I had worked railhead, line haul and airfields.
"The two big differences in working the port is that the ship is so much bigger, and we are working with different services here," he added.
Once the cargo data was downloaded at the end of each shift, the location was adjusted on the final stow plan.
"I took the class, but I have never worked a stow plan in real life," said Staff Sgt. Andre Carroll, 599th operations NCO. "So this time I helped Mr. Viray adjust it. Next time I'll be able to input."
Partners for this mission included Fleet Logistics Center, a Navy cargo handling team made up of members from four different cargo handling battalions, Military Sealift Command, and 25th Infantry Division's Port Service Activity.
Although the move got off to a slow start, everything was loaded and the ship departed on time.