Twin barge moves position National Guard soldiers.

Two flotillas of barges coming from the north and the west flowed through different river systems to concentrate for training at the Joint Readiness Center, at Fort Polk, La.

The 55 barges--39 from Oklahoma and 16 from Illinois--carried most of the complete combat team of the 45th Infantry Brigade (Separate).

The 850 vehicles on the barges moved through the country's heartland to the Red River port of Alexandria, in central Louisiana. An additional 200 pieces of equipment came by road convoy.

The equipment, discharged June 4-6, will support some 4,600 soldiers from National Guard, Army Reserve and Army units from 18 states and from the District of Columbia.

The MTMC move was a joint operation conducted by Canal Barge Co. and Osprey Line LLC, both of New Orleans.

The move was disrupted May 30, when a swift Mississippi River current pushed two barges into a highway bridge in Greenville, Miss. Seven pieces of equipment toppled off a listing barge. The missing equipment included several five-ton trucks and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles. (see "Super Cargo helps save equipment in mishap").

The barges of equipment arrived prior to their required delivery date at Alexandria and were welcomed by John Marzullo, Port Director.

"They are great customers," said Marzullo. "The military comes in with a can-do attitude and a highly cooperative spirit."

The barge discharge was smooth as tow boats moved bunches of loaded barges into position for unloading. One by one, agile tactical vehicles and lumbering administrative vehicles moved off the barges and up the red earth riverbank.

In plumes of dust, the vehicles were moved to staging areas at both the port and nearby England Air Park. From there, the vehicles will roll out in formation for exercise play at the Joint Readiness Center.

Transportation officers were delighted with the move.

"We blew the schedule out of the water," said Capt. Ben Shakman, who coordinated the discharge.

"We budgeted two days for Illinois and three days for Oklahoma," said Shakman, of the 232nd Corps Support Battalion, Springfield, Ill. "We did Illinois in six hours."

The off-barge movement was directed by the 798th Movement Control Team, of Roseville, Minn. On June 4, 389 pieces of cargo were discharged.

The team commander, Capt. Jeremy Griffith, directed the movement with a three-member team.

"This is different from anything I've ever done before," said Griffith, who graduated from the Fort Eustis Transportation Officer Advanced Course a year ago, with an emphasis on highway and rail movement.

"Now, I'm unloading barges," joked Griffith.

A preannual training conference in February in Springfield, Ill., was helpful in the coordination, said Griffith.

As the discharge ended June 5, the Alexandria port provided a traditional catfish lunch to the soldiers who worked the port. Barge officials, businessmen and elected officials mingled easily with soldiers and exchanged conversation.

"Quite an amazing effort," said Jack Stehr Jr., a local insurance agent.

The audience heard from Brig. Gen. Larry Haub, the task force commander.

"A barge is easy to unload," said Haub, Deputy Commander of Oklahoma's State Area Command. "You can't unload a train that fast."

"You can actually throw a barge up against a river bank any place and unload," said Haub.

"Of course, we certainly like the port facilities you've got."

Alexandria Mayor Ned Randolph was pleased with the good words about his community's port facility.

"Thank you, General," said Randolph. "We like the military. Spread the word." The Oklahoma and Illinois units will have a record barge move on their return at the end of the month.

For the turnabout, Canal Barge and Osprey Lines will gather 77 barges together.

The return load is bigger because several hundred vehicles that arrived by highway convoy will be barged back.

"We will have 77 barges in the operation," said Greg Wood, Project Manager, of Canal Barge.

"I checked the records; the biggest move I could find previously was 74 barges," said Wood.