OIF III move: 42nd Infantry Division National Guard makes history--again.Making history is part of the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Division's legacy. Not since World War II has the entire division been called to active duty--now it is being called upon to serve in Iraq. The division will replace an active-duty division and that is another first for Army history and the 42nd Infantry. The division will include Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry, 116th Cavalry, Idaho Army National Guard The Idaho National Guard comprises both Army and Air National Guard components. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. : and the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment An armored cavalry regiment (ACR) is a regiment of the United States Army or United States National Guard organized for the specific purposes of reconnaissance, surveillance, and security. , Tennessee Army National Guard. Division headquarters are located at Fort Drum Fort Drum may refer to:
"We are ready and willing to go," said Maj. Anton Alston, a spokesman for the 42nd Infantry. "Our soldiers are well trained and anxious to head to Iraq." The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command is an intricate part of this historical event. It is responsible for the first railhead rail·head n. 1. The farthest point on a railroad to which rails have been laid. 2. A place on a railroad where military supplies are unloaded. railhead Noun 1. and shipping of the division's equipment in over 60 years. SDDC SDDC Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (formerly Military Traffic Management Command) SDDC Single Data Device Correction sent the 1179th Deployment Support Brigade, Fort Hamilton This article is about the United States Army fort. For the Brooklyn neighborhood, see Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. For the Canadian whiskey post, see Fort Whoop-Up. Historic Fort Hamilton , N.Y., to assist with the shipment at Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 1398th Deployment Support Brigade, Baltimore, Md., to assist the Soldiers at Fort Dix Fort Dix, U.S. army training center, 32,000 acres (12,950 hectares), central N.J., SE of Trenton; est. 1917 as Camp Dix and named for U.S. statesman John A. Dix. In 1939 it was made a permanent garrison and renamed Fort Dix. , N.J. The Soldiers were assisted with staging and out loading of the unit's equipment in support of SDDC's worldwide mission of shipping equipment to Warfighters. "We are here to validate the equipment and to assist with keeping the move within the timeline assigned," said Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Parrish, traffic management coordinator, 1398th Deployment Support Brigade. "Main goal is to make sure that when the equipment leaves the power projection platform and arrives at the port it does not get frustrated (held up) and makes its port call." Parrish said that everything the 1398th inspected made it on the ships without any problems. The 1179th Deployment Support team assisted the 42nd Infantry with the rail load planning and validating its equipment. Port manager for this historical move was the SDDC's 956th Transportation Co., Fort Monmouth, N.J. It had the task of coordinating the unloading, staging and loading of the equipment coming from Fort Drum, Fort Dix, and Fort Bragg, N.C. "Excellent job of coming together in just under a three-week period of time," said Maj. Chris Hardin, 956th commander. "Considering that approximately 2,600 pieces of equipment were offloaded, staged and loaded with 60-plus aircraft flown in, shrink wrapped and loaded in this short period of time." This was the biggest shipment out of the Philadelphia, Pa., port since it became a Strategic Seaport two years ago, said Hardin. SDDC began to load the 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez, a cargo ship assigned to the Maritime Prepositioning Ship The 16 Maritime Prepositioning Ships are part of the United States Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program. They preposition U.S. Marine Corps vehicles, equipment and ammunition throughout the world. Squadron, upon arrival at the Philadelphia port. The Lopez set sail as the first of the three ships leaving Philadelphia on Oct. 6. To finish the Philadelphia portion of this historical trip, the SDDC team loaded the MV Sgt. William R. Button, which sailed out of port on Oct. 10 and the USNS USNS United States Naval Ship (civilian-manned; in service) USNS United States Navy Seals Charlton, which sailed on Oct. 13. Hardin said all vessels sailed out on schedule. Along with the wheeled and tracked vehicles, the 42nd Infantry flew in its UH-60 Black Hawks to the port on Oct. 5-6. Maj. Dave Willis, S-1, 42nd Infantry Division, flew in with the aviation team from Fort Dix to oversee the helicopter mission. "We have the institutional knowledge from all the different troops in the division and it as been a great learning experience," said Willis. "Everyone fell in and started working together and became subject matter experts quickly." Other team members involved with making this a huge success were the 1192nd Transportation Battalion, New Orleans; 1185th Transportation Battalion, Lancaster, Pa.; Department of Logistic from Fort Dix and Fort Drum; 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. ; U.S. Coast Guard; Philadelphia Fire Department; and the staff of Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. History is written in many ways. The history of the 42nd includes being handpicked by Col. Douglas MacArthur in 1917. MacArthur named the 42nd the "Rainbow Division" because it represented 26 states when created. "The 42nd Division stretches like a rainbow from one end of America to the other," said MacArthur. More recent history of the 42nd was its presence at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Rainbow battalions from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. armories--the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry; 1st Battalion, 101st Cavalry; the 642nd Division Aviation Support Battalion; and the 1st Battalion, 258th Field Artillery Regiment--provided immediate emergency response. The 42nd was in Manhattan, N.Y., for more than a year after the terrorist attacks. LaWanda York, Public Affairs Specialist SDDC Headquarters |
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