June 2008 Cover Story:
VERTREP
Arming our Nation’s Amphibious Assault Ships

Story and photos by Kevin Whitehead – Jetwashimages.com
Additional photos by John Haubrich

Anyone who has experienced the scenic drive on Interstate 5 along the Southern California Coastline near Camp Pendleton 40 miles or so north of San Diego has likely noticed a number of helicopter landing pads adjacent to the freeway. While driving by it is not uncommon to witness a Marine Corps or Navy helicopter stationed locally at Marine Corp Air Station Miramar, Camp Pendleton, or Naval Air Station North Island, engaging in flight training on these pads situated just a few hundred yards from the freeway.

Three to four times a year this normally serene landscape is transformed into a massive airlift operation called VERTREP, short for vertical replenishment, which stocks our nation’s amphibious assault ships with the munitions required to carry out their missions throughout the world. In early April 2008 the latest edition of VERTREP took place — during a time span of just eight working hours over the course of one and a half days, four U.S. Navy MH-60S helicopters conducted 258 flights and delivered 322 tons of munitions onto the deck of the 844-foot amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. It is an impressive undertaking to say the least.

At first glance one might be concerned about the safety of conducting an operation of this type and magnitude so close to a major freeway, however this is where the skill and dedication of those involved in coordinating and implementing VERTREP is critical. Military and civilian personnel from Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach & Detachment Fallbrook and Navy Munitions Command, CONUS West Division, Detachment Seal Beach and Fallbrook Annex work together to ensure that the volatile cargoes are transported from shore to ship in a manner that maintains the utmost level of safety for both military personnel and the public alike.

Safety is maximized by coordinating delivery of munitions in a choreographed manner. Munitions are initially transported via flatbed semi-truck from the Detachment Fallbrook storage facility located in an isolated area east of Camp Pendleton down to a staging area on one of the coastline helipads. The arrival of each semi-truck is timed precisely to ensure that the quantity of munitions located at any one place and time does not exceed safety parameters.

As each truckload arrives the munitions are offloaded and strategically positioned onto the helipad for pickup by the helicopters taking part in the operation. Pilots take turns arriving at the helipad while Marine Corps personnel from Marine Combat Logistics Regiment 17 assist on the ground by attaching each cargo load to a helicopter hovering just a few feet over their heads. Large yokes and harnesses that have the appearance of oversized fisheye-hooks are used to attach the loads to hooks located on each aircraft’s belly. Once a load is securely fastened it’s off to the ship.

All four helicopters are typically in the air at the same time. As one arrives at the pad for cargo pickup, another makes its way to the ship located two to three miles off the coast. Simultaneously a third helicopter will be dropping off cargo on the deck of the carrier, while a fourth is already in the air on its way back from the ship to the helipad for the next load. Once the shoreline helipad is clear of munitions another semi-truck arrives and the process begins again.

A similar safety process for offloading the cargo occurs on the deck of the ship. As each load of munitions arrives, crewmembers secure the load by detaching the harness from the aircraft as it hovers above while another crew runs to the pallets to remove netting used to haul the cargo. Once secured the weapons are placed onto a forklift and moved a short distance to a side-loading elevator. Each load must be moved quickly to avoid having too much cargo in one place and to make room on the deck for the next helicopter arrival… always imminent. Once secured on the elevator, the munitions are transported below deck for safe storage.

While safety is clearly priority number one, the efficiency of the operation is also of paramount importance. In light of the challenges faced by our Armed Forces today, it is more critical than ever to ensure that resources are utilized in the most cost effective manner possible. To that end, VERTREP was initially designed to replace a difficult dock-based loading operation that took place in Long Beach harbor, where barges hauled ammunition to a safe docking platform before it was loaded onto a ship. Until recently however, even utilizing the VERTREP process, replenishment of a ship took three full days to accomplish.

Over the course of the past year, a number of process improvements have been implemented by the units responsible for VERTREP, reducing the operation to just one and a half days and providing an estimated savings to the Navy of over one million dollars annually. Additionally, improved efficiency has enabled reduced workloads for both personnel and machine, and has allowed crews to spend more time with family prior to deployment overseas. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women responsible for carrying out VERTREP, the operation has evolved into a winning scenario for the Marine Corps, Navy, and the American taxpayer.

Special thanks Mr. Gregg Smith, PAO Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Mr. Rich Deniz, Mission Division Head, Navy Missions Command, CONUS West Div, Detachment Seal Beach, Chief Mike Hatfield, PAO USS Boxer, CDR Robert “Tuck” Tucker, Asst. Operations Officer USS Boxer, and the crews of Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadrons HSC-21, 23 and 85, for their assistance.