Transportation, distribution expertise aids Georgian refugees

  • Published
  • By Cynthia Bauer
  • U.S. Transportation Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) --  Members of the U.S. defense transportation system worked to help get more than 22,000 humanitarian daily rations to a relief organization in the area to help feed a growing number of Georgian refugees.

Officials from U.S. Transportation Command and its component Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, both headquartered here, monitored a shipment of Meals, Ready to Eat. 

As the crisis in Georgia developed, members of SDDC, TRANSCOM, Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. European Command and the State Department worked together to find a way to get the food to where it was needed.

Soon after DLA members released the 40-foot container of MREs to the State Department, arrangements were made for Counterpart, a nongovernment organization, to receive the meals.

Delivery coordination fell to members of SDDC's 598th Transportation Group in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Although the meals were destined for a different location, the group quickly reacted and, working with DLA, U.S. European Command, industry partner Hapag-Lloyd and many others, were able to secure delivery to Counterpart Aug. 21.

"We stayed in front of this and were able to use our unique position and enterprise perspective in the EUCOM distribution-based logistics process to execute this critical task in a timely manner," said Army Col. Stephen Farmen, the 598th Group commander.

"We realized the urgency and importance of the humanitarian crisis and the opportunity a container of MREs could provide. Our team, working with our supported commands and logistics partners in Europe, was able to redirect this container and produce thousands of meals for persons in need," he said.

Under instructions from the ministry of finance of Georgia and in coordination with the U.S. Embassy, the container full of MREs was delivered in Kutaisi for subsequent distribution in the Imereti region.

"It's about helping people and doing the right thing. In action such as this amplifies the military and logistics capability to bring 'soft power' to bear on a situation and produce positive effects," Colonel Farmen said.

"Whether delivering supplies in support of a humanitarian mission like this, or getting supplies delivered to troops fighting in the war on terrorism, our 598th team is there with the capability and capacity to touch and influence the supply chain networks necessary to put logistics in motion to help," he said.

According to EUCOM officials, after two weeks of high-tempo humanitarian relief operations, the U.S. military has delivered 2 million pounds of aid to Georgia in the wake of conflicts there earlier this month. The U.S. military's role in the overall humanitarian assistance effort, dubbed Operation Assured Delivery, has delivered 2,174,000 pounds of food, water, bedding, and medical supplies to displaced persons and people in need at the request of the government of Georgia.

In addition to the land shipment, members of the Defense Transportation System have also been engaged in aerial deliveries. Assets from Air Mobility Command, TRANSCOM's air component, including C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, have delivered about 974,000 pounds of relief supplies from the United States for staging in Europe, or directly into the Republic of Georgia.

"We work with our customers across the globe, and depending on what needs to be moved and how quickly it needs to be there, we will find the right mode of transportation," said Maj. Gen. Michael C. Gould, the TRANSCOM director of operations. 

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