As the demands for the Army increase on its ever-shrinking workforce, teamwork has increased between active and reserve component soldiers as well as with other services. During a joint-service, multi-echelon exercise dubbed "TRANSLOTS", the 143rd Transportation Command mobilized and deployed soldiers in June establishing a multi-component, multi-service transportation operation in the vicinity of Forts Eustis and Story in Virginia.

The officer in charge of the exercise, Maj. Todd Rahn said, this exercise will improve mission readiness as the 143rd's downtrace units conduct the toughest transportation mission possible: a bare beach JLOTS.

To maximize coordination of the exercise, the 32nd Transportation Group, commanded by Col. Michael Diamond, had operational control over units consisting of reservists, full-time soldiers, and vehicles between the beach at Fort Story and a sea port of embarkation (SPOE) at Lambert Point.

The operation includes three distinct cycles. Beginning with line-haul operations where Army trucks moved cargo to Lambert Point. There Army terminal units conduct pier side upload operations on the the fast sealift ship USNS Pollux.

The second cycle at Fort Story includes the discharge of equipment from a large medium speed roll-on-roll-off ship, the USNS Fisher, onto Army watercraft for the JLOTS operation.

Finally, the last cycle uses Army trucks to return the discharged cargo back to Lambert's Point for multiple load cycles.

Units that fell under the 32nd Transportation Group during the exercise included a battalion task force from the 7th Transportation Group, the 334th Transportation Battalion, the 348th Transportation Battalion, the 462nd Transportation Battalion, and two Navy units -- the Navy Cargo Handling and Port Operations Group and Navy Amphibious Construction Battalion II.

The beach at Fort Story was prepared by the 11th Transportation Battalion for reception and staging as part of phase I JLOTS. The offloading or loading of cargo vessels off shore and continuation into denied/degrade/restricted ports or bare beach allows military forces to be brought ashore in support of land combat operations. This can also be used to augment normal port operations.