FORD ISLAND, Hawaii, Nov. 28, 2005 — The Tayrona Princess, a 450-foot cargo ship from the Philippines, arrived here Nov. 10 to upload about 190 pieces of heavy equipment belonging to the 84th Engineers Battalion, which will deploy for the second time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Our biggest asset has been the great teamwork from all the soldiers, sailors and civilians. They have dedicated a lot of hours working out here making sure everything is in order and that the vessel is ready to ship."
U.S. Army Capt. Jose Bercedoni |
More than 100 soldiers from the 84th Engineers worked long hours in coordination with sailors from the 4th and 5th Navy Cargo Handling Battalion, civilians with the Patriot Ship Holding Group, and the Director of Logistics to complete the long and strenuous task of loading the ship. "The process of loading the ship starts in the Alert Holding Area," said U.S. Army Capt. Jose Bercedoni, officer in charge. "Everything has to be weighed, documented and inspected for deployment before reaching the boat," said Bercedoni. "The [Alert Holding Area] also helps us identify any problems with our equipment, so everything will run smoothly when we start to conduct missions in Iraq," he continued. Once all equipment and containers arrived at Ford Island, their data was verified, and they were placed into staging areas where they would await onloading.
"Once every piece of equipment has been checked by me and verified that it's good to go on the ship, the Navy and civilian workers come into a huge uploaded operation that only they know how to conduct," said Bercedoni.
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