MARAD WILL JOIN IN DEFENSE TRANSPORT EXERCISE
The U.S. Maritime Administration will participate in a five-day defense transportation exercise, sponsored by the U.S. Transportation Command, starting today off the coast of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Exercise Joint-Logistics-Over-The-Shore 2000 is part of an ongoing larger defense exercise, Turbo Patriot, which began on Aug. 6 and will end Oct. 7. The purpose of the exercise is to instruct U.S. forces how to operate under adverse port conditions.
“The best way to prepare to meet emergency sealift needs is by practicing in peacetime what you will be expected to perform in a crisis,” said John E. Graykowski, acting maritime administrator at MarAd.
MarAd will activate three ships for the exercise. They are the SS Grand Canyon State, Cape Mohican and the SS Chesapeake.
At the same time, air-sea and overland transportation operations will be conducted to deliver the Army’s 25th Infantry Division to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. The Navy’s 950-foot sealift ship, USNS Seay, will be used in the exercise.