Ten-ship flotilla carries 3rd Infantry Division equipment home.

A big Operation Iraqi Freedom transportation movement was accomplished with the transport of the 3rd infantry Division equipment back home.

Ten ships, including the USNS Bob Hope, a Large, Medium-Speed, Roll-on/Roll-off vessel, were used to move the equipment to Savannah, Ga., in mid-August. The Bob Hope arrived Aug. 20 with 1,421 pieces of cargo.

MTMC's 841st Transportation Battalion, Charleston, S.C., discharged the equipment in Savannah.

In all, the 10 ships brought back 892,000-square feet of cargo en route to the division's base at nearby Fort Stewart.

The movement was noteworthy in that the 3rd Infantry Division was one of the longest serving combat units in Iraq and led the assault beginning Feb. 19 in the 21-day campaign that ended in Baghdad.

Vessel loading and discharge operations were accomplished in sweltering summer heat. In Kuwait, late July temperatures reached a sweltering 130 F. outside.

It was hotter inside.

"It was even hotter inside the ship," said Col. Victoria Leignadier, commander, 598th Transportation Group, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, referring to the vessel's seven-deck interior.

"The ship's blowers, however, not only helped ventilate the ship but also cooled the air somewhat," said Leignadier.

To keep everyone hydrated, marine cargo specialists and vessel chiefs were encouraged to use bottled water.

As if that was not enough, small sand storms also plagued the ship. However, loading operations were not impacted.

The Bob Hope was loaded in just under four days. The voyage marked the vessel's eighth loading operation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In all, the Bob Hope carried a total of 38,000 tons of equipment and traveled 65,000 miles during these voyages.