WHITE BEACH NAVAL FACILITY, OKINAWA, Japan
— Elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit
switched naval vessels as they disembarked from the USS Denver (LPD 9)
and embarked aboard the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) in port, March 5.
The move was designed to keep the MEU available and ready to respond
while still allowing the Navy vessels opportunity to maintain
operational and maintenance cycles.
“We will be moving about 500 passengers, 100 pieces of equipment, 30
vehicles and six M777 Lightweight Towed Howitzers to the USS Harpers
Ferry in the next 24 hours,” said 1st Lt. Charles Breaux, the team
embarkation officer for the move. “It takes a lot of cooperation
between multiple members of the Navy Marine Corps team to get the job
done safely and quickly.”
The process of moving people and materials to another ship begins with developing a plan.
“You have to understand the blue (Navy) and green (Marine Corps)
sides of the equation to come up with a plan,” said Breaux. “Then you
verify that plan with all the different people on the ships involved and
make sure that it will work correctly, and everyone understands it.”
Once the plan was in place, the ships then moored side-by-side at the
White Beach Naval Facility, and the transition of Marines, Sailors, and
materials began.
“It takes coordination between a lot of people to make this happen,”
said Staff Sgt. Chad Schwan, the team embarkation assistant, of
Watertown, S.D. “We work with all the outside agencies, bring everyone
together, and try to make the moving parts work like a fine tuned
machine.”
The planners also worked with the Navy’s beach landing and landing craft air cushioned crews to ensure mission success.
“If we encounter challenges, well, retreat, hell,” said Schwan,
quoting the MEU’s Battalion Landing Team 2d Battalion, 5th Marine
Regiment’s motto. “Teamwork is essential to overcoming challenges.
There is no MEU without our Navy brethren, so we work together to get
the job done.”
The ship-to-ship move involved several elements of the 31st MEU
including portions of BLT 2/5; the BLT’s artillery and amphibious
assault vehicle attachments; parts of Combat Logistics Battalion 31 as
well as a contingent from the command element.
“It takes the coordinated effort of over 100 people on the Navy side,
and just as many on the Marine side, to move passengers and equipment
over to our ship,” said Lt. Daniel Tyler, operations officer aboard the
USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49). “It takes a lot of teamwork, foresight, and
planning ahead, to making sure everyone is on the same page from start
to finish.”
The ship is loaded with thought toward future missions as well as the
ever-necessary consideration for a possible humanitarian assistance
disaster relief contingency, said Breaux. The 31st MEU has participated
in four HADR missions in the last two years.
“In the end, the success story is that it all gets on the ship in the
right order,” said Tyler. “Everything gets where it is supposed to go,
and the ships can leave on time and carry on with their mission.”
The transition to another ship comes midway through the MEU’s
scheduled deployment to the Asia-Pacific region, enhancing theater
security and conducting bilateral training with multiple nations.
Once the move is complete, the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) will head
back out to sea and continue the remainder of the deployment.
The USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) now joins Amphibious Squadron 11, the
group of Navy ships which regularly carry Marines and Sailors of the
31st MEU during patrols of the Asia-Pacific region. The other two ships
of PHIBRON 11 are the USS Essex (LHD 2) and the USS Germantown (LSD
42), both underway at sea.
The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s only continually forward-deployed MEU, and
remains a force-in-readiness in the Asia-Pacific region at all times.
did I miss something why is the gear being cross-decked? Is Denver going home for decom?
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