SDDC teamwork brings 1st Armored Division home at last.

A board six different ships, the Miltiary Surface Deployment and Distribution Command returned the equipment of the 1st Armored Division to its home stations in Germany.

Divisional Soldiers had a year of Operation Iraqi Freedom duty--at the end suddenly extended by 90 days due to an increase in fighting with insurgents.

The 1AD equipment was loaded in Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait by the 595th Transportation Group (Provisional). Following a voyage via the Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean, the ships reached destinations of Antwerp, Belgium, and Bremerhaven, Germany, during the month of August.

Once in European waters, members of the 598th Transportation Group's 838th Transportation Battalion, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the 950th Transportation Co., Bremerhaven; took over.

The USNS Denebola, USNS Gordon. USNS Pomeroy and USNS Watkins were discharged in Antwerp while the USNS Brittin and USNS Benevidez were discharged in Bremerhaven.

SDDC's work, however, did not end there. All equipment was configured for return by surface transportation to the division's home stations in Germany. Rail and truck were the primary modes of shipment from Bremerhaven and Antwerp, but the additional capacity of barges was used in Antwerp.

The equipment received and transported during this operation was staggering. In all, over 225,000 measurement tons, or over 6,000 individual pieces, of 1AD equipment was transshipped to Germany.

"The key was flexibility," said Lt. Col. Victor Gonzalez, commander, 838th Transportation Battalion, Rotterdam, "and being able to adapt quickly to the challenges."

Gonzalez said there were many challenges.

"We are talking about equipment that is coming back from the battlefield," said Gonzalez, "so there are many instances when we have to literally drag or carry equipment off the vessel.

"This makes the operation much more challenging than when the cargo departed for the desert 15 months ago."

Gonzalez's Rotterdam-based unit was supported by 598th augmentees from SDDC terminal port units in Germany, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Azores, the United Kingdom, and Reservists from the 1189th Transportation Terminal Brigade, of Charleston. S.C.

"We always try to plan for every contingency and develop a possible course of action for potential issues," said Maj. Lynne LeGloahec, 950th commander.

"The key is to evaluate the type and condition of the cargo, develop a plan that maximizes resources and ensure the requisite coordination and communication between all the necessary players occurs," she said. "We work very well as a team and coordinate with all parties involved."

Port operations were a joint effort of SDDC, the 21st Theater Support Command, and the U.S. Transportation Command Marshalling Area Control Group, of the 37th Transportation Command. All three units are located in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Use of the ports of Antwerp and Bremerhaven was based on the availability of staging areas, said Gonzalez.

"In order to conduct an operation of this magnitude we need approximately 159,000-square meters," said Gonzalez. "Very few ports, if any, have this space available for us to use."

A key to the operation was documentation, he said.

"Documentation is the genesis for everything we do from contracting for a vessel, to identifying port requirements, to coordinating and contracting for commercial transportation for the onward movement," said Gonzales.

"Without accurate documentation the entire system collapses as all planning factors will be based on wrong requirements."

Warfighters are displaying improved equipment labeling, said LeGloahec.

"The improved labeling helps us immensely during processing," she said. "Once rail operations started in Bremerhaven, SDDC personnel helped load trains by staging equipment according to the rail car it was to be loaded on to."

Wolfgang Scherer, chief operations, Rhine River Detachment, assisted cross-border rail operations from Belgium to Germany,

"His friendly disposition and ability to speak German helped ease any difficulties at the border," said Capt. Ian Jorgensen, commander, Rhine River Detachment.

Loading of the 1st Armored Division equipment at Ash Shuiaba presented special challenges, said Col. Tom Harvey, 595th commander.

"Knowing the 1st Armored Division had spent 15 months in combat," said Harvey, "our SDDC South West Asia team was very motivated and worked extremely hard to ensure that the division was uploaded safely and quickly.

Despite the extreme heat with daily temperatures well over 120 F, our Soldiers and sailors made sure that the division would leave theater without any problems."

Inoperative vehicles proved to be the biggest problem with the loading, he said.

"This presented a very unique test for our terminal and vessel teams," said Harvey, "but they adapted quickly and were able to maintain a high out load operations tempo."

An additional challenge, said Harvey, was the discovery of an incorrectly installed brake linkage for an M113A3 armored personnel carrier.

"As a result of this, we did have one accident onboard a vessel when the brakes failed and the armored personnel carrier crashed into the vessel ramp wall," said Harvey. "Fortunately, no one was injured.

"Working with a mechanic from the unit, one of our safety personnel dismantled the vehicle to diagnose the cause and discovered that the linkage had been reinstalled incorrectly back at the wash rack," Harvey added.

Consequently, the brake linkage on the remaining armored personnel carriers were checked. Some were found with incorrectly installed brake linkage.

"That extra effort most likely prevented additional brake failures and accidents," said Harvey.