JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. - –
The 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) is currently taking part in Resolute Endeavor, a training event which validates brigade readiness in preparation for Logistics Over the Shore at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
From Feb. 11 through Mar. 27, 2015, U.S. Army Soldiers set the conditions for a successful Combined Joint Logistics Over the Shore 15 exercise in the Pacific. The event allows units to validate their ability to perform their assigned tasks, identify weakness and improve upon them at 3rd Port and Anzio Beach at Fort Eustis.
LOTS is the process of discharging cargo from vessels anchored offshore, transporting it to shore and marshalling it for movement. This can be done on fully functional ports, degraded ports or the bare beach. The exercise simulates LOTS conducted in a bare beach environment.
Causeway pieces are built into a pier and "roll-on roll-off discharge facilities," forming a floating road in a body of water. The pier is then "stabbed" into the shore of Anzio Beach. Soldiers then load vessels with rolling stock and position them just close enough to the shore so the ship doesn't run aground. The equipment is driven off of the vessels to smaller boats which can move closer inland to the pier. The equipment is driven off the smaller boats, on to the pier, then on to shore where it is marshalled and accounted for.
Members of the 7th Trans. Bde. Ex. worked with outside agencies such as the Maritime Administration, U.S. Navy, and CSX Yard in Portsmouth to coordinate personnel, vessel, and rail support.
During the exercise, the 11th Trans. Battalion conducted a Logistics Over the Shore family day. This gave families an opportunity to see the Soldiers in action as well as tour the operations.
The Soldiers also conducted a visitor's day. Maj. Gen. Paul Hurley, Jr., U.S. Army Forces Command supply general from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, came to learn about operations. During the tour of operations, Hurley took time out of the tour to speak with junior enlisted Soldiers, asking them both personal and professional questions. Hurley expressed how important this field exercise was and how effective it will be in the near future.
The CJLOTS 15 is scheduled for later this summer.