Fifty years of service: Sunny Point meets milestone.The Department of Defense's premier east coast ammunition terminal has reached a milestone of providing 50 years of valuable support to deployed forces throughout the world. The Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in Southport, N.C., plans, coordinates and executes the safe movement of munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. , explosives, and other hazardous cargo through common-user ammunition terminals and seaports in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Its personnel also provide technical assistance to commercial strategic seaports and expeditionary ammunition terminal operations The reception, processing, and staging of passengers; thereceipt, transit, storage, and marshalling of cargo; the loadingand unloading of modes of transport conveyances; and themanifesting and forwarding of cargo and passengers todestination. See also operation; terminal. . Safe and efficient movement of ammunition through the terminal has been, and remains, the cornerstone of operations, said MOTSU MOTSU Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point commander Col. Mike Babul ba·bul n. A tropical African tree (Acacia nilotica) that yields a gum similar to gum arabic and has a bark used in tanning. [Persian b . Recognition of MOTSU's half-century milestone started in November as more than 200 people attended a ceremony at the Southport Community Center, Southport N.C. Representatives of the state's Governor Michael Easley, as well as North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, Congressman Mike McIntyre, and State Senator R. C. Soles, Jr., attended or provided congratulatory letters. State Representative Bonner Stiller attended the ceremony and was one of the guest speakers. The ceremony to recognize the terminal's military significance and impact on the community was open to the public and sponsored by Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation. Col. Charles Sunder sun·der v. sun·dered, sun·der·ing, sun·ders v.tr. To break or wrench apart; sever. See Synonyms at separate. v.intr. To break into parts. n. A division or separation. , main speaker at the ceremony and a former commander of MOTSU from 1972 to 1974, spoke proudly of his command tenure at MOTSU. "I've known almost every commander who has been here and we all felt this was one of the highlights of our military career," he said. "One common thing was the people we had to work with out there. They were superb, dedicated. They made our jobs easier. It truly was a team effort. I am honored and proud." Until World War II, ammunition was treated as all other commodities flowing through an ocean terminal. Expediency was the driving force in moving cargo and ammunition overseas. However, a 1944 explosion during ammunition loading operations at the Naval Magazine Port Chicago, Concord Calif., killed 320 sailors and injured 390 other people. An investigation of the disaster led defense planners to recognize the requirement for safer handling procedures and the establishment of terminals specifically designed to trans-ship ammunition. A Government Land Office was established Jan. 15, 1952, in Southport to handle the land acquisition for MOTSU, and terminal construction began. The new Military Ocean Terminal was activated in November 1955 as the Wilmington Ammunition Loading Terminal. The terminal's name was changed in the 1970s to MOTSU. "This was a unique new concept of the safe out loading of ammunition," said Eugene Tomlinson, former Director of Services and Engineering at MOTSU. "We had the best group of people during the early phases of construction. We were able to transfer a new concept into an eminently successful facility." The new terminal went to full capacity during the Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to and subsequently loaded 85 percent of the Department of Defense's resupply re·sup·ply tr.v. re·sup·plied, re·sup·ply·ing, re·sup·plies To provide with fresh supplies, as of weapons and ammunition. re munitions to Vietnam. Sunny Point was once again called upon to operate 24 hours a day during Operation Desert Storm Noun 1. Operation Desert Storm - the United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991) Gulf War, Persian Gulf War - a war fought between Iraq and a coalition led by the United States that freed Kuwait from Iraqi invaders; . More than 500 measurement tons of munitions sent to the Persian Gulf were trans-shipped through Sunny Point. Since the early 1970s, the Department of Defense has been moving to 100-percent containerization con·tain·er·ize v.tr. con·tain·er·ized, con·tain·er·iz·ing, con·tain·er·iz·es 1. To package (cargo) in large standardized containers for efficient shipping and handling. 2. of munitions. The terminal was the Army's test bed for containerization of munitions and has been leading the way in this critical component of the distribution process. Ninety percent of the ammunition that now comes through MOTSU is containerized con·tain·er·ize v.tr. con·tain·er·ized, con·tain·er·iz·ing, con·tain·er·iz·es 1. To package (cargo) in large standardized containers for efficient shipping and handling. 2. . The terminal's mission expanded in 1997 to include the Army and Air Force Pre-positioned Maintenance Program. Ammunition pre-position prep·o·si·tion 1 n. Abbr. prep. A word or phrase placed typically before a substantive and indicating the relation of that substantive to a verb, an adjective, or another substantive, as English at, by, with, from, vessels return to Sunny Point for cargo maintenance cycles to inspect and test stocks and reconfigure loads as required. Pre-positioning afloat operations now comprise the greatest share of the workload at the terminal. The terminal is continuing to posture to support warfighters for the next 50 years. In recent years, emphasis at MOTSU has been on a number of improvements, including upgrading operational processes, developing automated cargo management systems and procuring installation support equipment to improve efficiency of the terminal and support the near-exclusive use of containers. Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom exports and the recent reconstitution of the Army and Air Force Ammo Pre-position Afloat programs have provided ample opportunity to use the new equipment and practice new processes. A 50-percent savings in time and money can be expected when the full complement of equipment is on hand and a center wharf expansion project is complete. The long-standing safety record for the terminal is the result of command emphasis on safety and the professionalism and dedication of the MOTSU workforce, Babul said. MOTSU's partnership with U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers, professional commercial transportation providers, the North Carolina State Ports Authority The North Carolina State Ports Authority is an authority set up by the state of North Carolina to develop and operate seaports in Wilmington and Morehead City, two inland container facilities, one in Charlotte and one in Greensboro, and a marina in Southport. , stevedoring contractors, and the International Longshoremen's Association The International Longshoremen's Association is a labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways. has enabled the command to safely move in excess of 1.7 million tons of ammunition, unit equipment and supplies throughout the globe over the last several years. The flow of ammunition is constantly managed, documented, and secured; ammunition specialists check all explosive cargo for proper blocking and bracing and stowage STOWAGE, mar. law. The proper arrangement in a ship, of the different articles of which a cargo consists, so that they may not injure each other by friction, or be damaged by the leakage of the ship. 2. for subsequent transport by sea, rail, or truck. "We continue to modernize and improve the terminal to transform MOTSU into a state-of-the-art terminal, capable of large, complex munitions movements," Babul said. "While there have been many changes since 1955 to the terminal itself and its business processes, there has been one constant--the professionalism of the people at MOTSU. Their resiliency to adapt to evolving requirements over the last 50 years is a tribute to those who first envisioned the need for specialized ammunition terminals. "The dedicated workers at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point have earned the distinction of Terminal of Excellence," he said. "We honor the dedication and hard work of all who have contributed to an enduring legacy of an outstanding terminal that Handles With Care." Lt. Col. Karen S. Conley |
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