598th Transportation Group support for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war," said U.S. President George W. Bush, from the Oval Office, March 19, at 10:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The second Gulf War had officially begun.

The 598th Transportation Terminal Group played a vital role in the logistical success of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

The 598th's U.S. and host nation personnel, working with many U.S. Army reservists, made it possible to keep a stream of U.S. military equipment moving to the Gulf region. The group supported movements from the U.S. and the deployment of elements from U.S. Army Europe's V Corps.

"As one of MTMC's two forward deployed major subordinate commands, we at the 598th have been very busy performing all our functions to support the warfighters," said Col. Victoria Leignadier, 598th Commander.

"The events in Southwest Asia have kept the command in a constant state of activity. Operation Iraqi Freedom kept our battalions busy with the movement of almost 250,000 pieces, 15 million square feet of cargo," Leignadier added.

This equated to over 60 vessels loaded in European ports and over 200 vessels discharged in the Gulf region. Navy and commercial vessels were contracted through USTRANSCOM's Naval component, Military Sealift Command.

To simplify support to the warfighters in the Gulf Region with global surface transportation, the group split into three single port management teams: MTMC Europe, MTMC Southwest Asia and MTMC Turkey. While Leignadier remained group commander, she deployed to Southwest Asia and oversaw the reception of cargo as the MTMC Single Port Manager.

Meanwhile, Col. Daniel Ganci, an Army reservist, assumed the role of MTMC Europe's Single Port Manager. MTMC Europe was responsible for loading V Corps equipment in the German ports of Bremerhaven, Nordenham and Mannheim, as well as in Trondheim, Norway; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and Antwerp, Belgium.

Col. Perry Clawson, commander of the 1186th Transportation Terminal Battalion, a reserve unit from Jacksonville, Fla., became the commander of the third single port management team; MTMC Turkey. Clawson worked closely with the 840th Transportation Battalion in the planning to receive U.S. Forces equipment in Turkey. After the Turkish Government voted not to allow U.S. military forces into Turkey the MTMC workforce switched gears rapidly to an alternate plan.

While in the Netherlands in early October 2002, Leignadier created a Deployment Support Team composed of her Deputy Commander, Lt. Col. David L. Pemberton, military personnel, civilian employees and contractors.

Leignadier sent the team to stand-up MTMC SWA in order to provide safe, timely and accurate discharge, staging, and movement information to the Coalition Forces Land Component Command, U.S. Central Command, Department of the Army and U.S. Transportation Command. They hit the ground running on Oct. 15. The Group's Deployable Port Operations Center was quickly put into operation.

The 598th created the team from its own operations, personnel, logistics and command sections and the 831st Transportation Battalion from Bahrain.

The 831st, commanded by Lt. Col. Jerry W. Thomas, was initially the sole port operator for Southwest Asia. They fostered a tremendous working relationship with the Military Sealift Command, commercial shippers and military customers.

The 1184th Transportation Terminal Battalion, a reserve unit from Mobile, Ala., was mobilized to join the MTMC SWA team. Col. Janet Cobb led the battalion, which saw some of the vessels they actually loaded prior to departure from the U.S. They served as the primary Port Operator for MTMC SWA at the Port of Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait, from Nov. 14 to May 18.

The 1184th and 831st integrated to provide a multi-ship simultaneous discharge capability previously untried in the Gulf Region.

MTMC Team members worked round-the-clock in two 12-hour shifts. Stevedores from countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and India supported the operation too, said Cobb.

"I saw amazing solutions to problems aboard ship that these guys worked out along with our vessel officers and NCOs," said Cobb.

As Single Port Manager, the 598th oversaw operations by other entities as well. The group directed the efforts of 7th Group assets, the 11th and 24th Transportation Battalions.

Six units, three active and three reserve, made up the SWA team. Elements of the 491st and 276th Transportation Detachments from Fort Eustis, Va., and the 400th from Fort Bragg along with the 76th and 352nd from Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla., respectively, and the 118th from Los Angeles, Calif., provided documentation capabilities.

MTMC's 597th Transportation Group, Sunny Point, S.C., and the 599th of Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii, also sent augmentees to the 598th.

At one time the team simultaneously documented six vessels on berth, said Cobb. The active and reserve elements worked alongside each other without regard to their component.

"That's just how it has to be if we as MTMC Reserve units are to remain relevant to the Army," she said.

The 840th Transportation Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. Dale Wronko, deployed to the Southeastern Turkish port of Iskenderun where they assisted the 1186th Transportation Terminal Brigade, an Army Reserve unit from Jacksonville, Fla., in establishing operations as MTMC Turkey. The team worked with elements of the 21st Theater Support Command and U.S. Army Europe to support plans to receive 4th Infantry Division. Simultaneously, the battalion coordinated to receive sustainment supplies through the port of Mersin and ammunition stocks at the new NATO pier at Agalar.

According to agreements negotiated between Turkey and the U.S., every piece of equipment had to have Turkish military approval before being unloaded. Documentation had to be adjusted quickly for many of the incoming loads. In addition to executing all customs clearances for the operation and requesting lists for U.S. equipment, 840th personnel served as the Contracting Officer's Representatives and port service callers for each of the vessels that arrived in Iskenderun. The battalion coordinated with both the 10th Transportation Battalion and the local agent to provide stevedores and support for the vessels.

When the Turkish Government voted not to allow U.S. military forces into Turkey, operations at Iskenderun ground to a halt. Quickly, the 840th switched gears, adjusted DST's and managed ports in other locations to support the new plan.

One DST deployed to Romania to support operations there. Another team deployed to Jordan to support operations in that country. The majority of the battalion remained in Iskenderun with the 1186th preparing over 2,500 pieces of equipment for export, some for home stations, some to be downloaded for use in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Cargo export was complicated by the fact that some units could not send troops to Turkey. The 1186th, and the 840th documentation team, prepared the files for export as ships arrived for loading. Upon completion of operations, the 840th assisted the 1186th in preparing and shipping their equipment and personnel to SWA as they moved to that theater to take over team there. The 840th closed out operations in Southeastern Turkey.

The MTMC documentation mission relies on good communication. The group's Information Management team worked long hours to enable the crucial telecommunication links, and configure servers, scanners and laptops with the latest available upgrades.

The scanning function was expanded past the vessel, through the port staging/ scanning area, beyond the marshalling area, and onward to the theater destination in order to track end to end visibility. Scan points were set up at convoy destinations in the tactical assembly areas.

"We're concerned most with force protection, safe ship operations and delivery of combat power to the war fighters," said Leignadier. The group conducted battle staff drills to include executing emergency relocation procedures.

Immediately following a shooting incident involving two American soldiers, Leignadier put her staff through drills to prepare the staff to quickly relocate the operations center key staff to a fall back position.

High-threat environments require specific leadership actions.

"The first thing you think about is the whereabouts of your folks. Who is in charge of them, when and how do you return them to your location? These are all key leadership elements," said Leignadier

When combat operations started, the MTMC-SWA team lived through seemingly countless SCUD alerts, and bunker evacuations, sometimes in nuclear, biological and chemical protective gear. Fortunately, there was never an accident or serious incident.

The team knew MTMC units around the globe were all working countless hours, but in Kuwait there was added stress.

"Having our operations interrupted for SCUD alerts, the sandstorms and the drive to and from the port in full battle-rattle, while armed, was the main difference," said Cobb.

"The hardest part of the deployment was the uncertainty we all had for the units in which we were discharging the equipment for. We were all very concerned about what kind of weapons Saddam may decide to employ on them," said Capt. William Futch, who planned, coordinated and executed the deployment to Kuwait.

"Although we had our challenges at the port, we knew the men and women we were discharging it for could encounter life and death decisions in the coming weeks or days," he said

In light of all the challenges and work to be done, the team set records. Four large vessels, three Fast Sealift Ships and one Large, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off vessel were discharging simultaneously at Ash Shuaiba on April 6. Later, in support of the rapid deployment of 4th Infantry Division, six vessels were on berth simultaneously discharging. This was all possible due to the superb MTMC-SWA team, world-class contractors and the unmatched cooperative spirit of the Kuwaiti Government.

The group's 838th Transportation Battalion, also headquartered in Rotterdam, took the lead in the operation to deploy U.S. Army Europe's V Corps.

"We used many of MTMC's European ports and units to deploy V Corps," said Lt. Col. Sharon Baker, 838th Commander.

They started in the fall of 2002 at the Port of Bremerhaven, Germany, where the 950th Transportation Company deployed Patriot air defense units to Israel, she said.

In early January, the 950th also deployed 834 containers of ammunition for the 1st Infantry Division, along with Patriot missiles, Baker said.

The largest operation occurred in Antwerp, Belgium, where U.S. Army and Air Force cargo was received via rail barge, and commercial and military trucks. Deploying helicopters flew to the port. The MTMC Antwerp Deployment Support Team, made up of personnel from several different units, had the capability to load two vessels simultaneously, while continuing to receive cargo.

At the Port of Rotterdam, cargo arrived by train and truck. The Rotterdam team had the capability to load one vessel while continuing to receive, document and stage cargo.

Barge operations were also critical to V Corps' deployment. In Mannheim, Germany, the Army's only barge detachment, the Rhine River Detachment, received, documented, staged and loaded cargo onto commercial barges for onward movement to the Port of Antwerp. The team at Mannheim was able to load two commercial barges simultaneously, while continuing to receive, document and stage cargo, said Baker.

During the second part of the deployment, the European Container Terminal at the Maasvlakte was used to move heavy equipment from the 1st Armored Division out of Germany. The terminal provided plenty of space to stage the division's equipment, which arrived by rail, barge and road.

A total of 169 barges left Mannheim for discharge in Antwerp or Rotterdam.

MTMC worked to keep the force packages together when loading. Force packages are tailored to meet specific mission requirements and the needs of the commander.

"Early on, this was difficult to accomplish, as the divisions built force packages consisting of roughly 1500 pieces, about a Long, Medium-Speed Roll-on/Roll-off vessel maximum load," said Maj. Robert Steigerwald, commander, 950th Transportation Company in Bremerhaven. He commanded in Nordenham and Bremerhaven and served as port operations officer in Antwerp.

Units were able to provide computer files, broken down by force package, for use in MTMC's World Wide Port System, he said.

The team still needed a way to easily identify priorities for loading. They decided shippers would place a three-by-five card on each piece of cargo that identified what force package it belonged to and its order of precedence. The system proved to be an effective and efficient way to package, identify and ship cargo.

"In short, it helped us to be able to get the right cargo, to the right place, at the right time, in support of the warfighting commander," said Steigerwald.

"This deployment demonstrated that all modes of transport must be used to move deploying equipment from the point of origin to the ports, as inland transportation capacity would be quickly over-taxed if only one mode was employed," said Baker.

In Antwerp, Rotterdam and Mannheim, military and civilian personnel operated around the clock, seven days a week, receiving, documenting, staging and loading cargo. In order to support operations of this magnitude, the 838th Transportation Battalion was augmented with elements from several other units on a rotational basis. First, personnel from the 838th's subordinate units, the 950th Transportation Company in Bremerhaven, Germany, and the 951st Transportation Company, in Ipswich, England, deployed personnel to Antwerp, Rotterdam and Mannheim to assist with the deployment. Additionally, MTMC's own 598th and 599th Transportation Groups, and MTMC elements from the U.S. Army Reserve units, the 1174th and 1186th Transportation Terminal Brigades and the 526th, the 1159th and 518th Transportation Detachments augmented the force as well. Further, the 358th Cargo Documentation Detachment, from Fort Eustis, Va., and elements from the 407th Cargo Documentation Transportation Detachment out of Fort Bragg, N.C., deployed to assist the 838th with port and barge operations.

"Going into this operation, we all knew that it wasn't going to be easy, and everyone accepted their role and responsibility, knowing what they'd have to do to ensure mission success. Simply put, executing this deployment is what MTMC is all about," said Baker.

The combined team moved more than 13,000 pieces of equipment aboard more than 20 vessels in the first three months of this year.

"We were only successful thanks to the assistance of many other players," said Col. Daniel Ganci, MTMC European Command's Single Port Manager.

In addition to the transportation units needed for support of the mission, other elements provided services from life support to security, said Ganci. Belgian and Dutch military, Host Nation Support, Seaport Harbor Authorities and contractors all had a role.

"It was very impressive to see this giant transportation machine, with all its little, though important, parts at work," said Ganci.

Bram de Jong MTMC 598th U.S. Army Trans Group, Chief, Command Affairs