U.S. MILITARY CARGOES TO BENEFIT FROM PORT SECURITY LEGISLATION

U.S. MILITARY CARGOES TO BENEFIT FROM PORT SECURITY LEGISLATION    Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, commander of the U.S. Military Traffic Management Command, told lawmakers Tuesday that he believes maritime security legislation under consideration by Congress is “on the right path” and will further increase the protection of military freight moving through the nation’s seaports.
   “MTMC does not possess significant organic resources to provide port security, and we rely on local police, law enforcement, or contract security forces to fill in the gaps,” Privratsky said to the House Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations.
   Privratsky also told the House Subcommittee that he agreed with the need for background checks and security identifications issued by a central agency such as the Transportation Department or the future Homeland Security Department.
   “While we move limited amounts of container cargo as part of unit deployments, we operate adjacent to commercial container operations at the seaports and we annually ship (primarily as exports) over 100,000 containers in commercial liner service to sustain our forces around the world,” Privratsky said. “‘What’s in the box’ is certainly one of the toughest challenges with which we all must deal in deterring terrorist acts.”