JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JAXPORT is pushing to be a major player in the global shipping industry, but there's something you may not know about the port.
It's one of only five locations in the entire country responsible for getting men and women fighting overseas the tools they need to win.
Action News was given exclusive access to the military unit in charge.
The 832nd Transportation Battalion: You've probably never heard of it, but this small local military unit gets American war machines where they need to go.
Armored Red Crescent Society ambulances are not what you'd expect to see at JAXPORT.
Exclusive aerial shots show a massive military mobilization effort happening quietly along local docks.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Walters commands the 832nd. It's part of the U.S. Army's military surface deployment and distribution command, or SDDC.
"Distribution and deployment of all surface cargo within the Department of Defense, that's a lot of cargo! That's a lot of cargo!," said Walters.
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We were there as these armored mobile command vehicles and ambulances were loaded onto a ship bound for a European port.
These slow moving, heavy duty pieces of American muscle are part of a foreign military sales shipment; 504 massive vehicles moved in 36 hours.
"It's not like moving 500 Toyotas. No, this is very labor intensive because of the size of the equipment and the condition of the equipment," Walters said.
The SDDC operates out of 12 locations worldwide, five in the U.S., including JAXPORT.
Last year the 832nd moved 5,000 pieces of military equipment and touched 300 vessels. That means ambulances like ones at JAXPORT can be found anywhere in the world and they started their journey right here.
Moving this military might isn't the only mission for the 832nd. The unit also helped with the relief mission to earthquake-stricken Haiti.
The local unit moved tons of supplies, personnel and heavy equipment.
"We're here to do what the nation asks us to do and that and be humanitarian aid," said Walters.
That includes Ebola relief. Seven hundred and thirty-one pieces of military aid were loaded just last week, bound for West Africa.
It's a local mission with a global impact that starts on a Jacksonville waterway. This transportation battalion worldwide is made up of 3,000 military and civilian personnel.
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