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CHARLESTON, S.C. (April 1, 2009) - A ceremony
was held here today to celebrate the 10,000th mine-resistant,
ambush-protected vehicle shipped via surface by Military Surface
Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) to U.S. Central
Command.
SDDC's 841st Transportation Battalion hosted the event to honor
the many people and organizations that have ensured delivery of the
lifesaving vehicles to Iraq and Afghanistan. Guests included senior
military leaders, industry and union leaders, local government and
servicemembers.
"Though it's impossible to take a full accounting of the impact
of having these vehicles, we already have seen the impact of not
having them," Maj. Gen. Jim Hodge, SDDC commanding general said
during the event. "Every one of you working on this program has a
stake in the safe return of a servicemember to his or her
family."
Initially MRAPs, a class of armored vehicles that protects
against improvised explosive device attacks, were delivered by
large Air Force and commercial cargo aircraft. The Air Force has
moved more than 3,600 MRAPs via air out of nearby Charleston Air
Force Base.
MRAP sealift began in November 2007, greatly increasing the
number of vehicles in the Central Command area of operations. One
cargo ship can carry up to 200 times the weight of a C-17
Globemaster III, at a cost of about 10 times less. SDDC and the
Navy's Military Sealift Command have served as vital partners in
the undertaking. With the support of the U.S. Coast Guard, Marine
Corps, commercial carriers, and the labor force at the port, the
commands were moving nearly 900 vehicles per month.
The event also included comments from Gen. Duncan McNabb,
commanding general, U.S. Transportation Command; and Lt. Col.
Randolph G. Haufe, commander, 841st Transportation Battalion.
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