USTRANSCOM Conducts Critical Ship-to-Shore Exercise in Balkans During Defender Europe 21
Military Sealift Command’s USNS Bob Hope, as seen from the deck of the US Army Logistics Support Vessel (LSV) MG Charles P. Gross, April 26, 2021, near the coast of Durres, Albania. The ship’s cargo was downloaded onto a floating causeway, transferred to the LSV and then downloaded to shore during exercise DEFENDER-Europe 21 Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) operations. USTRANSCOM exercises JLOTS annually in order to maintain the capability to open a strategic port and surge forces and equipment. US Army photo by SSG Elizabeth O. Bryson.
US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) recently conducted its annual Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) exercise over a two-week period at Durres, Albania, as part of the larger US Army-led exercise Defender Europe 21. JLOTS exercises maintain the Army and Navy’s capability to conduct ship-to-shore logistics and open a strategic port to surge forces and equipment.
JLOTS was part of Defender-Europe 21’s Immediate Response theater opening exercise and USTRANSCOM’s role was to assess the capability and interoperability of the Army and Navy in delivering this critical capability to a geographic combatant commander.
“Our ability to integrate the Army and Navy for ship-to-shore logistics is essential, and JLOTS is one way we exercise and improve this capability,” said GEN Stephen R. Lyons, USA, Commander of USTRANSCOM. “We must be ready to respond to crisis on a moment’s notice and project the Joint Force anywhere across the globe.”
With 85 percent of US forces based in the United States, nearly 90 percent of military equipment is expected to deploy via sealift in a major conflict. JLOTS exercises test the Joint Force’s ability to move from the US to various locations around the world and open a logistics hub to provide vital supplies, equipment, and forces to support military operations or humanitarian assistance during disaster relief missions.
“The strategic significance of exercising a port opening alongside our allies and partners in southeastern Europe and surging forces and equipment onward underscores USTRANSCOM’s mission to provide a large-scale response anywhere in the world, in order to assure our allies, deter our adversaries, and ensure our national leaders always have options,” added Lyons.
JLOTS operations allow US strategic sealift ships to anchor near coastlines and download combat equipment and forces for transport to shore when existing ports are inadequate or damaged, or if access is denied. JLOTS watercraft can also be used to reposition units and materials within a theater.
In this exercise, the Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) USNS Bob Hope, a Large, Medium speed Roll-on/Roll-off ship, discharged more than 800 pieces of equipment using Navy floating causeway ferries and Army Logistics Support Vessels (LSV) to deliver cargo to the shore.
Equipment was also transported by an MSC Transport Expeditionary Fast Ship (T-EFS) and a British roll-on/roll-off ship to Zadar, Croatia, demonstrating distributed logistics as part of the JLOTS exercise.
Finally, the Navy used the Amphibious Bulk Liquid Transfer System (ABLTS) to stream fuel from a fuel barge to a fuel tank on shore, the Army’s Fuel System Supply Point (FSSP). The ABLTS is designed to support fuel or water operations during JLOTS, sustaining forces on shore, or supporting forward movement.
During opening ceremonies for Defender-Europe 21 in Durres, Yuri Kim, US Ambassador to Albania, said, “This logistical port operation we are all here to witness today demonstrates the US military’s ability to strategically deliver military forces to the point of need, quickly. Our rehearsal of this concept reminds us all that the United States’ commitment to NATO remains ironclad.”
“Our enduring purpose at USTRANSCOM is to project and sustain military forces globally, at our time and place of choosing, providing our national leadership with a strategic competitive advantage,” said Lyons. “Exercising JLOTS with the Army, Navy, and our allies in Albania demonstrates our ability to serve as a strategic security partner in the Balkan Peninsula.”
Defender-Europe 21 is a multinational, joint exercise designed to build readiness and interoperability between US, NATO, and partner militaries. More than 28,000 forces from 26 nations are participating in simultaneous operations through the end of June.
By US Transportation Command Public Affairs