1st ID equipment moves out.Personnel of the 838th Transportation Battalion, together with contractor personnel, received about 1,300 pieces of equipment belonging to the 1st Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion Combat Team (11D, 2BCT BCT Brigade Combat Team BCT Basic Combat Training BCT Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology (EPA) BCT Business Cards Tomorrow BCT Banque Centrale de Tunisie (Central Bank of Tunisia) ) at the Port of Antwerp The port of Antwerp is a capesize port in the heart of Europe. Antwerp is situated at the estuarium of the Scheldt. In this estuary ships of more than 100 000 tons sail 80 km inland. , Belgium, during the first weeks of August. The equipment arrived via road, rail and inland waterway. All cargo arrived in time and was loaded on the USNS USNS United States Naval Ship (civilian-manned; in service) USNS United States Navy Seals Mendonca for onward movement to Southwest Asia Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The term Western Asia is sometimes used in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region, and in the United States subregion to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Port of Antwerp "Port operations conducted in Europe require extensive coordination with various Host Nation governments, militaries and local police authorities. Border crossings can also make the operation more challenging for timely arrival and departure of port cargo," said Hanson. "The 838th Transportation Battalion regularly operates at the ports in Bremerhaven, Germany; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Antwerp, Belgium. All three ports offer outstanding infrastructure and facilities, but Antwerp offers the most space for staging areas and the most throughput for rail operations." Many Players "There are a myriad of players involved in port operations. In addition to the U.S. military-which consists of the 838th Transportation Battalion and its detachments from the 950th Trans Co and the Rhine River Rhine River German Rhein River, western Europe. Rising in the Swiss Alps, it flows north and west through western Germany to drain through the delta region of The Netherlands into the North Sea. It is 820 mi (1,319 km) long and navigable for 540 mi (870 km). terminal, 21st Theater Support Command and the deploying unit Liaison Officers--there are representatives from the Belgian Army The Land Component, formerly the Belgian Army, is the land-based armed force of the Belgian Armed Forces. The current Commander of the Land Component is Major-General Eddy Testelmans. , Antwerp port labor contracting officials, the port authority, Military Sealift Command A major command of the US Navy, and the US Transportation Command's component command responsible for designated common-user sealift transportation services to deploy, employ, sustain, and redeploy US forces on a global basis. Also called MSC. See also transportation component command. , and the Movement Control Team. It is amazing the way that all these different organizations come together to make the mission a success, time after time. But over the last four years, we have had a pretty good opportunity to make this communication possible, so op-tempo has also played a roll," said Pruett. Worker Bees Personnel of different units worked together in Antwerp. "The 838th Trans Bn is a geographically dispersed unit with personnel from Germany, Holland, the UK and the Azores contributing as-needed for the major operations. We task organize for each operation after conducting mission analysis. Bringing our people in from the various ports helps ensure we share best business practices throughout the command and avoid any operational anomalies based on port location instead of standard operating procedures standard operating procedure Medtalk A technique, method or therapy performed 'by the book,' using a standard protocol meeting internally or externally defined criteria; a formal, written procedure that describes how specific lab operations are to be performed. ," said Hanson. "With only a handful of military personnel actually assigned, we rely heavily on the Department of the Army Civilian and Local National employees. Whether it's a marine cargo specialist or a contracted driver, when it comes to loading a ship, an individual's skill-set outweighs their background. If you are competent, thorough, and hard working, then you are a huge part in completing our mission. Without contracted drivers and all their hard work, our jobs would be much more difficult. We would have to rely heavily on the Warfighter to send personnel to the port to operate the equipment. Same goes for our civilians who tirelessly tally numbers or routinely update stow plans. They are all part of what makes working in the 838th a great experience," added Pruett. Routine and Safety "We have been conducting operations like this practically non-stop over the past four years, so even large deployments like 2BCT become routine. The challenge is to ensure safety and risk assessment are continually emphasized so personnel don't fall into an unsafe routine. We also always need to remember that a routine operation for us is never routine for the Warfighter deploying downrange down·range adv. & adj. In a direction away from the launch site and along the flight line of a missile test range: landed a thousand miles downrange; the downrange target area. ," Hanson emphasized. by Bram de Jong 598th Transportation Croup croup (kr  p), acute obstructive laryngitis in young children, usually between the ages of three and six.
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