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