Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Korea-U.S. combined joint logistics over-the-shore training

 

 

 

 

# Logistics from sea to land “without hesitation”

 

“Vroom ... thud!”

 

On July 6, on the sea of Anmyeondo, Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, when the heat wave was in full swing since early in the morning, civil mobilization barges dropped ramps to buoy a floating bridge that connects the seashore and the sea.

 

When the floating bridge was connected to the ramps, two K-55 self-propelled guns on board started their engines and traveled across the bridge. Those heavy self-propelled guns traversed the 540m-long floating bridge and landed on the shore. The bridge, in spite of a strong tidal current, never moved an inch while the artillery crossed.

 

On the sea near the buoy floating bridge, several barges were on standby to put combat equipment and logistics on shore. K-55 self-propelled guns spilled out of the barges as the tide went out gradually. And Cobra, AH-1S, the attack helicopters, covered the air, preparing for possible situations.

 

At the same time, crane barges put various war supplies on shore. Vehicles, including a forklift, were busy moving them out on land. There was no limitation on maneuvers even on wide mud, because of beach mats.

 

The beach mat prevents a vehicle’s wheels from sinking into a tideland, swamp, sand, pebbles, etc. By its name, it is a mat that is spread on the beach and is very useful equipment that reduces time to set up the beach exit.

 

Korea-U.S. combined forces command (ROK-US CFC) opened the C/JLOTS (Combined Joint Logistics Over The Shore) training on that day.

 

C/JLOTS is a military supporting activity on the sea distributing fuel and ammunition, etc., to combat units where there is no port facility or the existing one is destroyed. This is the idea to ensure sustainability by installing a temporary port facility that includes a simple docking facility substituting the port facility and massive oil distribution equipment to transport troops and equipment the operation unit needs.

 

The training was held along the shore near Anmyeondo in the West Sea from June 29 to July 9. The Korean Army sent 800 troops, 20 fleets of the 5th Navy Component Flotilla, Army Logistics Command, port operations group of the transportation movement office, landing support battalion of the 1st Marine Corps Division, civil mobilization vessels, and 80 vehicles and heavy equipment.

 

And the U.S. Army added another 900 troops and 23 fleets of the 3rd Expeditionary Strike Group, the 19th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) in Korea, U.S. transportation command, U.S. Pacific Coast Guard, 62,000-ton class large platform experimental, BOBO, and 5990-ton class oil transport ship, Wheeler, etc.

 

 

 

# No worries about wide tideland and shallow water level

 

This training is focused on building up the Korea-U.S. combined logistical support ability, cultivating interoperability and improving the contact and cooperation system. It is also run parallel with oil-landing training as well in which oil is transferred from the sea to storage on land. The training started with departure of a civil vehicle-carrying ship, cargo ship, ship carrying clean water, barge, tugboat, etc., which carry supplies, heading for Anmyeondo from major harbors in the West Sea such as Pyeongtaek, Incheon, etc.

 

When the vessels arriving at the sea near Anmyeondo were not able to use the port facilities, they conducted a sea-switch in which equipment and supplies were carried to the barge. Then, the barge comes alongside the shore and moves the vehicles and supplies onto land. The Korean Army used the barge and the U.S. Army deployed the beach landing by installing buoy floating bridge reaching 540m in length.

 

The Wheeler checked its Offshore Petroleum Discharge System (OPDS) operational ability by sinking an oil hose to the bottom of the sea. And the Korean Army installed the oil hose connecting the ship carrying clean water to an oil tank located on the shore to verify the oil supplying operational capability. ROK-U.S. CFC imbued the first combined joint training on the West Sea with special significance as it has a large tidal range and shallow depth of water.

 

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Collins, C/JLOTS training program officer of the U.S. 3rd Expeditionary Strike Group, said, “I can affirm that the operational environment of the West Sea in the Korean Peninsula is harsher than the very cold weather of Alaska to conduct the LOTS mission. If the Korea-U.S. combined forces command proves its LOTS capability here, it would be more meaningful than any other region.”

 

The first combined joint logistics over-the-shore training in Korea was deployed at Chilpo shore in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, in 1998, by the U.S. Army alone. And our Navy and Marine Corps joined the training on the Anmyeondo shore of the West Sea in 2011 and 2012, on the Dogu shore in Pohang in 2013 and 2014. The first Korea-U.S. combined LOTS training was in 2013, and this was the first time in the West Sea.

 

Major Kim Kwang-il, LOTS director of the 5th Navy Component Flotilla, said, “We’ve made plans carefully with more than 30 times of geographical reconnaissance and consultation about the training area environment. We will make our best effort to improve combined operational capability as well as secure the individual LOTS ability of the Korean Army.”

 

 

By Byeong-No, Yun < trylover@dema.mil.kr >

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