Mediterranean Sea. (May 19, 2024): The Army’s “Navy” has finished constructing a floating pier off the coast of Gaza City and relief supplies are on the way to Palestinian citizens. In the photo above, U.S. Army Soldiers from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) and Sailors attached to the Bob Hope-class large, medium speed roll-on, roll-off ship MV Roy P. Benavidez finish completing assembly of this enormous floating pier.

According to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) approximately 695 metric tons of humanitarian aid has been transported to Gaza by way of the US-built pier over the six days since it began operation.

Built at a cost of approximately $300 million, the pier has offloaded some 500 metric tons of food, water, and medicine for distribution by local humanitarian agencies. As of this week, two thirds of that aid have been delivered or is in the process of reaching those in need. Although aid groups have encountered many obstacles, the U.S. effort has significantly increased the flow of much needed supplies.

The 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) is known as "the most deployed unit in the U.S. Army” due to its continuous missions to provide logistical support to all branches of the service. Unofficially the Army’s Navy, the brigade is a component of the XVIII Airborne Corps and has a strength of four thousand Soldiers who operate fifty-nine vessels and over a thousand ground vehicles (mostly material handling equipment).

As the Army’s premier watercraft unit, the brigade is capable of moving troops, equipment, and supplies to some of the most austere environments in the world. Constructing the Gaza pier involved a complex choreography of Army and Navy logistics teams and, once fully operational, this man-made causeway will be capable of delivering up to two million humanitarian meals a day.