LOG OPS Great Green Fleet Demonstration Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser, recently delivered 900,000 gallons of a 50-50 blend of advanced biofuels and traditional petroleum-based fuel to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) strike group. The fuel delivery is part of the Navy’s Great Green Fleet demonstration, which allows the Navy to test, evaluate and demonstrate the cross-platform utility and functionality of advanced biofuels in an operational setting. This achieved one of the five energy goals established by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus: to demonstrate a Great Green Fleet in local operations by 2012. Kaiser delivered 700,000 gallons of hydro-treated renewable diesel fuel, or HRD76, to three ships of the strike group. Kaiser also delivered 200,000 gallons of hydro-treated renewable aviation fuel, or HRJ5, to Nimitz. Both fuels are a 50-50 blend of traditional petroleum-based fuel and biofuel comprised of a mix of waste cooking oil and algae oil. Using fuel hoses connected to the two ships moving at tandem at approximately 13 knots, Kaiser transfered the HRJ5 fuel to Nimitz, and the HRD76 fuel to guided-missile destroyers USS Princeton and destroyers USS Chung-Hoon and USS Chaffee, during individual underway replenishments. The biofuel delivery is part of Kaiser's schedule of logistics support to the multinational forces participating in RIMPAC 2012. Kaiser, along with MSC dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Matthew Perry and MSC fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon, supported RIMPAC throughout the nearly five weeks of the exercise that lasted through early August.
Global Patient Movement Joint Advisory Board Medical personnel from all services and many federal agencies recently descended on Scott Air Force base to attend the Global Patient Movement Joint Advisory Board (GPMJAB). Colonel David O’Brien, command surgeon for U.S. Transportation Command, welcomed more than 100 doctors, nurses, medical technicians and health care workers who are responsible for patient movement around the world. “The GPMJAB is a group of people who visit us twice a year to talk about patient movement throughout the theater,” O’Brien said. “We have members from all services, from all the COCOMs [combatant commands] and from several of our federal interagency partners who join us to find out the latest in how we’re improving patient movement, as well as to offer suggestions on how we might do it in the future.” “It’s always been a readjustment to look at what our customers in the field require, so we can improve both efficiency and clinical safety,” O’Brien said. “We move patients from all over the world, from the Pacific, from South America, from Africa. Some of that is easy, and some of that is difficult. And by getting together we can talk about how we can make the difficult a little bit easier, or at the very least, a little bit safer.” Article by Bob Fehringer, U.S. Transportation Command
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“This is a great opportunity for both my crew and me,” said Kaiser’s civil service master, Captain Joseph Trogdlen. “MSC’s mission is service to the fleet and that is what RIMPAC is all about. Being able to bring a cutting edge technology like the biofuel to the fleet is an exciting part of a very busy schedule of UNREPS that we are conducting in support of this exercise.” “This is just another example of the critical role MSC ships play in supporting significant Navy strategic priorities,” said Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, commander, Military Sealift Command. Article by Sarah Burford, Military Sealift Command Pacific public affairs.
Short-order Entrees The Defense Logistics Agency is widening its food offerings for servicemembers dining in remote field locations around the world. A variety of short-order items now appear in the menu of field rations, including Philly steak hoagies, chicken nuggets, Italian sausage subs, beef enchiladas, chicken wings, pepperoni and cheese stromboli, hamburgers and hot dogs. The new rations supplement the original unitized group ration [UGR] dinners that feature entrees like prime rib, chicken cordon bleu, and spaghetti and meatballs. DLA Troop Support officials said it’s a way to offer choices when a dining facility isn’t in reach. “We are always happy to provide new
food alternatives for our young men and women wearing the uniform,” DLA Troop Support commander Navy Rear Admiral David Baucom said. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Joint Culinary Center of Excellence and the Army Natick Soldier Systems Center conducted research and testing necessary to make the new items a part of the rations package. The UGR-A is a mix of perishable and non-perishable items prepared in a mobile kitchen. They contain a nutritional combination of food groups, including vegetables, beverages, meat, poultry, desserts and condiments that provide a balanced diet for servicemembers in the field.
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