The Army’s 7th Transportation Battalion Expeditionary from Joint Base Langley-Eustis was at the heart of the effort to provide humanitarian assistance to citizens of Gaza using a mobile pier operation.
The unit left Virginia in March, but the mission never met the original expectation to provide up to 150 truckloads of aid per day to war-torn Gaza. The pier was broken down and moved several times when high waves struck the eastern Mediterranean. In May, some of the small military boats were washed ashore and troops had to be rescued.
The pier was removed for the last time in July. The mission delivered roughly 20 million pounds of aid, but the operation also struggled at times to get that food into the hands of people inside Gaza. The Pentagon estimated the mission cost $230 million, including several Navy ships.
The Pentagon Inspector General and the U.S. Agency on International Development, which handled the supplies, will coordinate separate investigations.
The review “will provide timely insight and transparency over the delivery of assistance via the maritime corridor,” said Paul K. Martin, USAID Inspector General.
Another Pentagon investigation will look at the military’s ability to conduct Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS). It is the system the Army used to connect a mobile pier to the shore and a floating causeway used to move cargo from Cyprus. JLOTS has been used recently in training exercises, including in Hampton Roads. The system was also part of an operation to provide aid after a hurricane in Haiti in 2010.
