By | March 27, 2013
Jeff Hall (right), the incoming first mate on USNS Soderman (T-AKR 317), explains how ships still use paper navigation charts as backups to the ship’s Global Positioning System, to (left to right) Capt. Rebecca Logan, 2nd Lt. Dan Musleve, 2nd Lt. David Loska, 2nd Lt. Andrew Palmer and Capt. Juliana D’Amore, all from the 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron. The Airmen are members of the Charleston Logistics Officer Association which toured the ship March 22, 2013, at Joint Base Charleston – Weapons Station, S.C. The Logistics Officer Association is comprised of Air Force maintenance and Logistics Readiness officers and civilians from JB Charleston. They toured the Soderman to get a glimpse of the diversity of Charleston’s logistics capabilities. The Soderman is a 950 foot, large, medium speed roll-on/roll-off ship that can carry the equivalent of 225 C-17 loads of cargo. It is one of eight Watson-class ships that are pre-positioned around the globe with nearly everything an Army or Marine contingent needs to begin operations. The ships return to port in the United States every one to three years, and Joint Base Charleston is the sole restocking point for the ships. (U.S. Air Force photo / 1st Lt. Adrianne Schilling)