MRAP vehicles sealifted to CENTCOM reach the 10,000 mark.

The U.S. Transportation Command held a ceremony 23 March at Naval Weapons Station Charleston, South Carolina, to celebrate the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's (SDDC's) shipment of the 10,000th mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operations.

MRAPs originally were sent to CENTCOM by air. Most MRAPs are now moved by sea because one cargo ship can carry up to 200 times the weight of a C-17 Globemaster III at one-tenth the cost. Personnel from the Coast Guard, Marine Corps, commercial carriers, and the port labor force have helped SDDC and the Navy's Military Sealift Command move nearly 900 vehicles a month.

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The MV Alliance New York, which carried the 10,000th MRAE was the same ship that carried the first vehicle to the CENTCOM theater of operations in November 2007.