Theater Logistician Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Dowd - KMI Media Group

Pack it Up
BY
STEVE GOODMAN
MLF CORREPSONDENT
goodmans@kmimediagroup.com
FROM SAND TO SEA—MILITARY CONTAINERS “ARE ON THE CASE.”
It doesn’t matter the branch or the kind of operation—Army,
Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or Marines—all of our fighting
forces need to transport equipment and supplies on a daily
basis. The military needs to move hundreds of tons of freight in
and out of theaters of engagement. In addition the warfighter
requires safe and secure places for storage of assets once they
reach their destination. And finally, once sensitive military gear
arrives forward, it often needs to be transported quickly during
rapid deployment or troop movements, while being protected
from shock, wind, rain and dust. For decades ruggedized military
containers of all shapes and sizes have been meeting these
needs.
TRANSPORT CONTAINERS
The armed services can’t risk tons of essential military cargo
being tied up in ports, or subject to theft or tampering. The key
to moving military goods has been to use intermodal transportation.
That means using several different modes of transportation
to move the same unit of cargo, such as a ship, a plane or a
truck. A container is the best way to accomplish that. Think of
it this way: Suppose you had to move hundreds of anvils. What
would be easier and more efficient, finding a container that you
could put them all in and move around once, or trying to move
each one at a time?
As early as World War II the military has used large, usually
20-foot, shipping containers to move gear and supplies. In
addition to consolidation of cargo into a single unit allowing for
easier shipping and unloading, there are many advantages to
sea/land containers.
Containers provide protection and security in several ways.
Most containers only have a single point of access, one door,
which can be locked and secured. Additional security methods
can be employed on containers such as numbered seals that will
let cargo handlers know if the container has been opened or
tampered with during transit. More recently, advanced technology
such as radio frequency identification (RFID) has been used
to monitor and ensure the proper delivery of supply shipments,
by tagging loads within containers with the RFID chips.
Containers also provide protection against the ravages of
weather and the environment, and prevent damage to shipments.
As long as a container is loaded properly, the cargo
within is generally protected from external damage by the walls
of the container.
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