NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. –
Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Norfolk, Virginia, participated in Operation Pacer Goose 2023. In July, DLA Distribution Norfolk employees worked four days straight, alongside 18 contract mariners to upload 98 containers of critical cargo and supplies, weighing approximately 440 tons onto the cargo ship Ocean Giant.
When the Ocean Giant returned to Norfolk Naval Base, the download of retrograde material and equipment from the Ocean Giant began on Aug. 10 and concluded Aug. 12, successfully completing the annual resupply mission for the remote Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, Greenland.
Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 1 and Surface Cargo Company 1 joined the DDNV team for the final leg of the mission, providing support for rigging and crane operations and conducting the risk assessment. The team successfully completed 85 lifts from the ship, filled with equipment and supplies no longer needed by Pituffik Space Base. The largest item returned was a used fire truck, while other items included retrograde hazardous material and other materials.
“The capability that we provide here at Norfolk is what makes DLA Distribution Norfolk, the fleet and DoD’s logistics provider of choice on the east coast. What we do here isn’t done anywhere else in the Department of Defense. We’ve partnered with the Navy, Military Sea Lift Command and our primary customer, the U.S. Space Force, to do this annual mission for over 50 years,” said Navy Capt. Justin Lewis, previous commander, Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Norfolk, Virginia.