The mission of a Military Preposition Force, or MPF, ship is to quickly and efficiently deliver military cargo and supplies to a designated area in response to a crisis or humanitarian disaster.
There are currently five MPF ships in the Guam and Saipan area. MPF ships are part of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, or MSC.
MSC is the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense and operates up to 45 non-combatant ships in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.
While anchored in Saipan’s Garapan Harbor, Lummus and Martin will deploy and construct a Roll-on/Roll-off Discharge Facility, or RRDF, a system of interconnected, floating platforms used to stage military cargo at sea.
The RRDF allows the offload of military vehicles such as tanks, recovery vehicles, tractor/trailers, and forklifts from a Roll-On/Roll-Off merchant ship onto a motorized barge, called literage, which then transfers the vehicles to the beach.
The training is scheduled to be completed Dec. 10. No cargo will be brought ashore during the exercise.
“The calm sea state of the Garapan Harbor was one of the reasons why we chose this location for this important training,” said Capt. Herman Awai, commander of MPSRON Three. “This training will allow for new personnel to be introduced to the rich culture and kindness of Saipan while meeting their needed training to maintain proficiency.”
The construction of the RRDF provides vital training to prepare participating commands for real-world events or major theater exercises.
The RRDF will be deployed during an actual, at-sea cargo offload in Thailand next year.
