Team Beaumont kicks-off OIF III with massive deployment.

The 842nd Transportation Battalion kicked-off its support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III with the arrival and loading of Capes Knox, Race and Rise and the USNS Yano into Port Beaumont during the last two weeks of October.

The movement of nearly 2,900 tanks, tracks and support vehicles supports the mobilization of the 116th Brigade Combat Team and included nearly 85 percent of the unit's assets.

Port of Beaumont is no stranger to massive military deployments. Since Operation Iraqi Freedom began, the 842nd has managed the deployment of more than 38,000 tanks, trucks, and a variety of support vehicles to Southwest Asia.

"This is the beginning of another massive deployment," said Lt. Col. Brian Sundin, commander of the 842nd. "The cargo volume for OIF III is supposed to be as great as last year's, and last year was our busiest year ever."

"The port stays busy because of its location and proximity to deploying units," said Ken Pendergraft, terminal operations chief for the 842nd.

"Primarily, deploying units are coming out of the central parts of the United States," he said. "Also, rail carriers have good access to the port and the same is true for commercial truckers."

Transportation management specialist Luke Gygax is serving in his first field assignment. One of the newest members assigned to the 842nd, Gygax came to SDDC through an 18-month transportation management internship, which he completed in June.

The 842nd believes in spreading the leadership experience wealth by giving its members opportunities to lead various initiatives. Gygax received the opportunity to supervise the staging of equipment and loading of the Cape Race for this deployment.

His responsibilities included coordinating with the Military Sealift Command for the vessel's arrival into port, making sure cargo earmarked for the vessel is received, overseeing staging of the equipment, solidifying the stow plans for the vessel and loading.

"Our job is to support the warfighter," said Gygax, "For this mission, we're supporting the deployment of the 116th by getting them to the battle."

Gygax said there is a lot involved in moving a brigade out of the port: managing hazardous materials; coordinating inbound people, trains and trucks; and configuring ships. The goal is to load the vessels properly and safely to their maximum stow capacity.

Operational issues constantly arise during the course of any deployment or redeployment mission. Gygax credits all the members at the port for working to discover and avert potential problems. Being proactive maintains the smooth flow of equipment, he said.

"We have a great team consisting of members of the 842nd, the Port of Beaumont, our stevedore contractor and union labors," said Pendergraft. "We all realize there is a war being fought in Iraq and that getting this cargo to the Soldier is critical."

The mobilization of the 116th marks the unit's first major deployment.

The 116th consists of three armor battalions, a mechanized infantry battalion, a combat engineer battalion, a field artillery battalion and a support battalion.

Mitch Chandran, Public Affairs Specialist

SDDC Headquarters