Intern finds training, vocation in overseas assignment.

You might wonder what an intern who works with the Military Traffic Management Command is doing forward deployed at Pusan, Korea.

The whole idea is to get beginning transporters in key working positions. That is why I am often working real cargo operations at Pier 8 with the 837th Transportation Battalion.

I would not have it any other way.

My transportation career with MTMC began in July 2000. That's when I started my Federal career with the Office of the Chief of Transportation Intern Program. The program is designed to produce quality transporters for MTMC and other Department of Defense job openings.

The first six months of the training was spent with the second lieutenants in the Transportation Officer Basic Course. As an intern, I participated in all the classroom instruction, field exercises and weapons qualification required for the young officers. I really enjoyed this experience, and I'm proud of the fact that I graduated in the top 10 percent of the class.

During the next 12 months of the program, my time was split between operational and classroom training. The operational training consisted of three extended temporary duty assignments at various transportation functional-level job locations around the continental United States. My assignments were in transportation processes Dover Air Force Base, Dover, Del.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; and the Defense Logistics Agency, New Cumberland, Pa.

In between these assignments, I received classroom training in such subjects as shiploading and stowage, joint personal property, logistics management, leadership, and the Worldwide Port System. These are key courses for a high-speed transporter!

Then, we were confronted with the big decision: What were our assignment choices? For those of us who chose MTMC, we would be reporting back to Fort Eustis after an 18-month port assignment. The choices for port locations include such far-flung global assignments as Charleston, S.C.; Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico; Livorno, Italy; Yokohama, Japan; and Pusan, Korea.

My choice was easy. I chose Pusan based on a conversation with a former port commander there--Col. Tom Harvey. He had spoken so highly of the wonderful people who worked there, and the important missions.

Fortunately, I was selected for this port. I arrived in March and have seen first hand the great job the battalion accomplishes on a day-to-day basis. In recent months, I've worked the discharge of Family of Modern Tactical Vehicles, redeployment of the 35th Air Defense Artillery, retrograde of Apache helicopters, and a battalion-level chemical exercise. If that was not enough, I was able to brief Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, Commander.

For my orientation here, I am rotated through each of the port divisions. The goal upon returning to Fort Eustis is that we will bring first-hand knowledge of port and customer needs back.

The fast-paced training and the wonderful people at Pier 8 will allow me to do just that!

By Mark Rice
MTMC Intern
837th Transportation Battalion