Photo By Staff Sgt. Tristan Moore | Carpenter Son, a general cargo ship, pulls into port during Exercise Balikatan 24 at...... read more read more
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BATANES, Philippines – In an effort to improve the movement of equipment across the Philippines during Exercises Salaknib and Balikatan 24, the 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command contracted a local barge for multiple engineering projects during the back-to-back Operation Pathways exercises from February to May 2024.
Through the approval from the local government in the Batanes, the 130th Engineer Brigade planned two separate engineering projects throughout the duration of the exercises that required a vessel that could maneuver in shallow waters, known as a low-draft vessel.
“In order for us to succeed in the Pacific, we need to leverage all the resources available,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jered Helwig, commanding general, 8th TSC. “There is no better innovation lab than Pacific Pathways. With every iteration, we are constantly looking for ways to improve, and by contracting a barge, we were able to find an efficient solution to meet our operational needs.”
Although the 8th TSC maintains organic logistics support vessels capable of navigating shallow littoral waters, the busy Pacific Pathways season limits the fleet’s capacity. Contracting a local vessel, ensured the planned projects could move forward.
The barge carried equipment to U.S. and Philippine divers in Basco so they could clear major rock obstacles to improve port accessibility and deliver supplies to Itabayat for the construction of a warehouse.
“We identified this problem pretty early in the planning process and started to explore our options,” said U.S. Army Maj. Nicholas Yager, executive officer, 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th TSC. “We were forced to think outside the box a little and it worked. We got a lot of help from our contracting team, and we have more options now when looking for intra-theater movement.”
According to Yager, over the next few weeks, U.S. Army Soldiers from the 84th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, and 513th Engineer Construction Company, 51st Engineer Brigade will work together to construct a 10-meter by 8-meter logistics warehouse.
Another benefit of using host nation resources is that it indicates a demand for the type of equipment the U.S. could potentially need during future Pacific Pathways iterations.
“This barge contract provided a great lesson learned for 8th TSC, 413th Contracting Support Brigade, and the vendor base,” said U.S. Army Maj. Petter Hamill, contracting officer, assigned to the 413th CSB, Army Contracting Command. “These lessons can be used to effectively implement the use of commercial barges and offshore vessels in the Philippines and the Pacific in the future.”
The 8th TSC coordinates and integrates operational-level sustainment to support joint operations within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility to prepare the theater during competition.
Exercise Balikatan directly supports the U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty by ensuring our forces are tactically proficient, capabilities and modernization efforts are mutually compatible, and military-to-military coordination is strengthened. “Balikatan” is a Tagalog term that means “shoulder-to-shoulder,” which characterizes the spirit of the exercise and represents the Alliance between the Philippines and the United States.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2024 15:45 |
| Story ID: | 471368 |
| Location: | BASCO, PH |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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