PHILADELPHIA –
To see the many moving pieces of equipment loading food onto a Navy aircraft carrier before a training exercise with the Republic of Korea was “like watching a symphony play,” a logistician with Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Pacific said.
The Subsistence prime vendor and Navy sailors loaded more than 125 pallets of food from nine 40-foot trucks during the loadout of the aircraft carrier USS Stennis (CVN-74) March 16 at Naval Base Busan, said Gil Ayala, the forward logistics specialist who oversaw the loadout.
The USS Stennis left March 18 for Operation Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, an annual training exercise that promotes the partnership between the United States and South Korea, according to a Navy release.
During the four-hour loadout, “there was a constant flow of trucks, non-stop movement of people – (Navy personnel), visitors, onlookers – multiple variations of (material handling equipment) on deck, pallets scattered all over the site, unloading of inventory and local tourists moving throughout the same narrow path,” said Larry Rosenberg, with the Subsistence prime vendor. “It was a site to see.”
Ayala said that DLA Troop Support Pacific started preparing Subsistence support 45 days before the loadout.
Approximately 17,000 U.S. service members will participate with ROK forces in Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, according to U.S. Forces Korea. The training exercises will continue through April 30.
While DLA Troop Support Pacific supports several Navy ships in the area throughout the year, the USS Stennis loadout represented 62 percent of the year’s Navy total requirements in the South Korea area of operations.