Hasty container `building' speeds helicopter upload.

Heavy rain threatened to delay the scheduled move of 40 helicopters from Pusan, Korea, by the 837th Transportation Battalion.

Lt. Col. Floyd Driver mulled over an unexpected choke point: How to shrink-wrap 27 AH-64 Apache and 13 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters?

MTMC ingenuity took over.

Working closely with support troops from the 19th Theater Support Command, contractors, and the Republic of Korea Port Operations Group, Yun Chang-Hwan, of the 837th Transportation Battalion's Operations Division, Driver found a solution: Shipping containers were used to build a temporary, covered work area to shrink-wrap protective plastic over the aircraft. U.S. Army-owned 20-foot containers were used for the walls. Forty-foot containers belonging to the Republic of Korea were placed overhead, forming a roof for the structure. Port workers quickly named the structure "the Castle."

"The temporary work area that allowed for the helicopter shrink-wrapping was the key to the puzzle that confronted us," said Driver. "Efficient shrink-wrapping led to an efficient upload."

Shrink-wrapping involves placing padding over the sharp edges of an aircraft and using heat guns to wrap the plastic over the entire aircraft. The covering protects the aircraft from corrosion during ocean voyages. Shrink-wrapping is prohibited when it is raining.

"When we planned the operation, we figured the shrink-wrapping would take from four to eight hours," said Lt. Col. Tracy Cleaver, Commander, 194th Maintenance Battalion, Camp Humphreys.

"Within a day," said Cleaver, "we were down to four hours, which we thought would be our best time.

"However, as the unit got more proficient, the time per aircraft was reduced to two hours and 15 minutes."

As a result of the construction of a temporary work area, all 40 helicopters were completely shrink-wrapped and staged ,for loading aboard the Green Dale when the vessel arrived at Pier 8 on the evening of May 13. The Kargo Kings began loading the aircraft at 8 a.m. the next day.

Prior to the shrink-wrapping, the aircraft were put through an assembly-line processing. The various processing stations included receiving, rinsing, inspection, disassembling, shrink-wrapping, staging and loading.

"It was absolutely a great mission," said Driver. "The hours of intricate planning and our experience were important, but ultimately, it was our creative execution."

The teamwork of all participants was a major factor in the mission's success, said Ronald Day, Chief of the battalion's operations division.

"Considering the many Army organizations, I'm amazed we formed such a cohesive team," said Day. "This is great credit to all Army training."

The preparation of the loading plan included hours of modeling, due to the massive size of the aircraft and restricted vessel interior dimensions. Marine cargo specialists used modeling to confirm that the aircraft could move within the vessel to its final stowage location. Pilots from the 2nd Infantry Division and 6th Cavalry Brigade flew the helicopters to Pusan. Stevedores from the International Stevedoring Company rounded out the team effort by concurrently loading 247 pieces of ancillary helicopter equipment.

Most of the 40 helicopters from Camps Long and Humphreys will be transferred to National Guard units in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri and Texas as part of the Army's Aviation Transformation Plan.

Story and photos by Mark Rice
Transportation Management Specialist
837th Transportation Battalion