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“First,
we’ve demonstrated our capability in performing successful
over-the-shore logistics on a bare beach with no port facilities,
and in a combined environment with forces from the Republic of
Korea. In locations at which adequate port facilities may not
be available, being able to get supplies ashore where needed is
vital,” continued Brig. Gen. Stultz. “The second real
value is that the ROK forces now have the confidence and the capability
to do this again with us in the future if needed. We’ve taken
interoperability and combined operations to a new level. And we’ll
be able to take the lessons learned over the past weeks and apply
them to future exercises or even real-world contingencies.”
Evidence of combined and joint cooperation occurred at every level
of the C/JLOTS organization, starting with the command and control
staffs and continuing through to the security details, crane operators
and even the galley staff. “This exercise offered our personnel
a huge value in joint training, and basically in how to work with
each other,” said Brig. Gen. Stultz. “Future operations,
whether they are wartime contingencies or peacetime humanitarian
relief efforts, are almost always going to be in a joint and combined
environment. So exercises like this, which are very realistic
in terms of what would happen during a real-world contingency,
are great training.”
U.S. Navy units participating in the exercise included Amphibious
Construction Battalions (ACB) 1 and 2, Assault Craft Unit 1, Beachmaster
Unit 1, Underwater Construction Teams 1 and 2, two cargo handling
units and elements of the Commander, Naval Beach Group Reserve
Detachment 119. All were under the command of Commander,
Amphibious Group 3, based in San Diego, California. Four Military
Sealift Command (MSC) ships also participated. MSC ships
Cape Mohican, Flickertail State, Chesapeake, and Maersk Alaska
all delivered fuel and equipment from the U.S. during the exercise.
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The
SS Chesapeake is listed sharply into the sea to facilitate
the deployment of the SALM. Seabee divers from a U.S. Navy
Underwater Construction Team support this sophisticated operation.
Photo by SSgt. Lee J. Osberry, Jr., USAF |
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The
Single Anchor
Leg Moor (SALM)
The Single Anchor Leg Moor (SALM) aboard the tanker SS Chesapeake
is a mooring facility for the Offshore Petroleum Discharge System.
Once installed, it permits a tanker to remain on station and
pump in much higher sea states than with a spread moor.
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The
SALM is deployed from the SS Chesapeake and sunk to the
bottom to provide a mooring that allows the ship to pump
military fuels ashore even in high sea states.
Photo by SSgt Lee J. Osberry, Jr., USAF |
To offload
the 150-foot long (45.7 meters) SALM, the crew of the SS Chesapeake
floods its tanks with water to slowly sink the ship until its
freeboard is as low as possible and the bow and stern sit evenly
above the water. The crew then floods more tanks to list
the ship 12 degrees and later floods the SALM - that sits atop
long steel arms on the ship’s deck - so that it too lists
12 degrees.
The crew releases large cables holding the SALM in place after
easing it 25 feet (7.62 meters) down the long steel arms to
the water’s edge off the port side. Once the crew
releases the restraining lines, two tugs pull the SALM away
from the ship. The tugs and divers then tow the SALM to
a predetermined position and sink it to the sea floor.
As
the SALM sinks to the ocean floor, the mooring buoy attached
to the deck of the SALM floats to the surface. Once the
SALM is on the ocean floor, the crew can safely move the Chesapeake
out of its four-point moor and secure the ship to the mooring
buoy. Hoses are then run from the ship’s cargo manifold
on the main deck to the SALM and then four miles to the shore.
Once set up, the Chesapeake can pump 1.2 million gallons (5.46
million liters) of fuel or water per day.
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