U.S. Transportation Command

Port of Virginia wins $15M contract for military cargo

A large container ship arrives at the Port of Virginia.

Virginia International Terminals last month won a $15.4 million contract for stevedoring and terminal services to support military cargoes, boosting the diversification strategies of the Port of Virginia and the Defense Department.

Under the five-year contract awarded by the U.S. Transportation Command, the port’s commercial arm will handle inbound and outbound containerized cargo, heavy equipment, and vehicles transported by military and civilian vessels.

Roll-on/roll-off and geared vessels will...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-of-virginia-wins-$15m-contract-for-military-cargo

Pentagon Announces Nominees to Lead INDO-PACOM, Pacific Fleet

Adm. John Aquilino, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet speaks during the 79th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. US Navy Photo

U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. John Aquilino is the Biden administration pick to be the next head of all U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific, the Pentagon announced on Saturday.

The announcement affirms the Trump administration’s December pick of Aquilino to take charge of the largest American combatant command,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/06/pentagon-announces-nominees-to-lead-indo-pacom-pacific-fleet

US hires cargo airline for international transport of vaccine supplies

A large white plane with red tail touches down on runway. ATI is lettering.

Air Transport International, the contract air cargo carrier that operates aircraft for customers such as Amazon Air and DHL Express, has received a $7.7 million order for transportation services in support of the national vaccine campaign known as Operation Warp Speed.

ATI will transport kitting materials — alcohol swabs, syringes, needles, saline solution, personal protective equipment — to multiple destinations through early March, Defense officials said in response to FreightWaves’ queries.

The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-hires-cargo-airline-for-international-transport-of-vaccine-supplies

Space companies could join US Civil Reserve Air Fleet

Rocket ship takes off at dusk with lots of flames coming out of booster.

The U.S. military’s top transportation commander said he envisions folding any terrestrial cargo service delivered by rocket ships into its Civil Reserve Air Fleet program that funnels business to carriers providing standby airlift during times of national emergency.

“We are thinking about this in a very similar model to CRAF, where you have a commercial partner that presents capability to the Department of Defense,” U.S. Army Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, said...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/space-companies-could-join-us-civil-reserve-air-fleet

Wittman Pushing Navy to Buy Used Cargo Ships

A fleet of military vehicles wait pier side in preparation of Exercise Saber Strike 16 in Riga, Latvia, June 4, 2016. The vehicles were transported by a British Roll-On, Roll-Off ship from Norway for the exercise. US Marine Corps photo.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) wants to know why the U.S. military’s surge sealift capability has yet to augment its aging fleet’s capabilities with used cargo ships.

Two years ago Congress authorized the purchase of two used roll-on/roll-off ships to...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/10/wittman-pushing-navy-to-buy-used-cargo-ships

Navy Drills Atlantic Convoy Ops for First Time Since Cold War in Defender-Europe 20

Military vehicles are packed into the M/V Resolve at the Port of Beaumont, bound for Germany in support of DEFENDER-Europe 20 February 20, 2020. Exercises like this ensure the U.S. military will be able to dynamically project force to set the theater by mobilizing and deploying forces, sustaining them in a crisis and redeploying them when their mission is complete. US Army photo.

The Navy is exercising a contested cross-Atlantic convoy operation for the first time since the end of the Cold War,...

https://news.usni.org/2020/02/28/navy-drills-atlantic-convoy-ops-for-first-time-since-cold-war-in-defender-europe-20

DoD IG: Inaccurate Military Surge Sealift Fleet Readiness Reporting Undercuts Operational Plans

SATTAHIP, Thailand—A UH-60 Black Hawk is raised from Military Sealift Command’s voyage-charter, general-purpose, heavy-lift vessel MV Ocean Grand at the pier in Sattahip, Thailand, Aug. 17, during an offload of equipment that will be used during exercise Hanuman Guardian 2018. (Courtesy photo/Released)

Inaccurate surge sealift fleet readiness reporting misled geographic combatant commanders about their ability to quickly receive equipment resupplies, according to a Department of Defense...

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/28/dod-ig-inaccurate-military-surge-sealift-fleet-readiness-reporting-undercuts-operational-plans

Test of Ready Reserve Force Exposes Need For Newer Ships, More People

National Defense Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay, Calif. in 2014. US Navy

ARLINGTON, Va. — When U.S. Transportation Command tested the ability of the nation’s maritime Ready Reserve Force to set sail on short notice, only about 40 percent of the vessels deemed ready were able to leave port.
The no-notice exercise called a “Turbo Activation,” occurred in September and involved 28 vessels from the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD)....

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/16/test-of-ready-reserve-force-exposes-need-for-newer-ships-more-people

TRANSCOM Stress Test Practiced Cargo Delivery Through Mine- and Sub-Filled Waters

190921-N-BI294-9593
NORFOLK (Sept. 21, 2019) Military Sealift Command large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) vessel USNS Benavidez (T-AKR 306), departs Lambert’s Point Shipyard alongside USNS Mendonca (T-AKR 303) for Turbo Activation. Navy photo

Running dark and nearly silent, last month a convoy of Military Sealift Command ships practiced delivering people and gear to the fight as part of a large U.S. Transportation Command surge sealift capability stress test.

As part of TRANSCOM’s...

https://news.usni.org/2019/10/16/transcom-stress-test-practiced-cargo-delivery-through-mine-and-sub-filled-waters

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