On Seattle's waterfront during the city's annual Seafair Fleet Week, members of a logistics support team from Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Puget Sound work behind the scenes to support three U.S. Navy ships in port for this year's festivities.

Before the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4), the guided-missile destroyers USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USS Dewey (DDG 105) arrived in Seattle July 29, the NAVSUP team had already been on the ground in advance of their arrival, setting up logistics support for the port visit, and remained to wrap things up after the ships' Aug. 3 departure.

Moving amid the bustling activity on Pier 90 where USS Boxer was moored, NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound logistics support representative Joe Vallido and his team of technicians oversaw the people, vehicles, and equipment involved with the receipt and transfer of deliveries to the ship.

Over the last several days, NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound departments in several locations throughout the Puget Sound region were cutting purchase orders, writing contracts, ordering supplies, and negotiating with local businesses to align the delivery of logistic support and husbanding services to provide the ships everything they needed for a smooth port visit. Over the course of the next several days, NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound personnel delivered food, fuel, and parts and furnished postal services, pierside trash removal, fresh water, tugboat services, and more.

Logistics support representatives from NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound were present before, during, and after a port visit to act as the units' point of contact for logistics requirements. They are the liaison between service providers and the ship, and they are the primary advocate for coordinating regional port visits in the Pacific Northwest, including Canada.

"We've looked forward to this port visit as we do every year. The Boxer, Dewey, and Gridley are here at Seafair to represent the Navy, showcase our people, tell our story, and build relationships with the people of Seattle. It's exciting to be part of making it all a success," said Capt. Tim Jett, NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound commanding officer.

"It's a little crazy and hectic out here today," Augusto "Tito" Nogoy grins as he walks along the wharf with a mobile phone in one hand and a stack of shipping documents in the other.

He's a subsistence prime vendor representative, and his specialty is arranging the purchase, shipment, and delivery of provisions to the ships. His major concern at the moment was coordinating the offload of a semi-trailer packed with pallets of fresh produce to the pier in order for a crane and its crew contracted specifically for this evolution to be able to move the pallets to the ship.

"We delivered about $150,000 worth of food provisions to the Boxer, almost $50,000 for the Dewey, and about $10,000 for the Gridley," said Nogoy. At the same time, the logistics team is also coordinating the delivery, transfer, and setup of furniture, carpets and party supplies to support a reception that Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet hosted aboard the Boxer for government representatives and civilian dignitaries from the area.

According to Vallido, the challenge for a logistics team is in the coordination -- making sure that all the involved parties are ready for the evolution.

"NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound arranges everything, from purchase to delivery. We also coordinate unloading, and we arrange for the crane company to come and safely move the pallets aboard the ship," said Vallido.

Timeliness is critical, and everyone has to arrive in the right place at the right time, complete the job, and depart within the time block allotted on the ships' busy schedule.

"There is a specific window for deliveries to show up, and we can't accept late ones due to other scheduled evolutions," said Vallido.

As with any undertaking of this size, there are challenges that arise when trying to coordinate multiple groups of people and organizations to accomplish a task. Vallido and his team specialize in ironing out the inevitable "small challenges" that come up. During the mission to support Seattle Seafair they had to quickly figure out how to schedule around a delayed delivery as well as unload a full semi that wasn't equipped with a lift for unloading pallets.

For Vallido and his crew, it's all in a day's work.

All three ships were hosting public tours during their visit, and Vallido's goal was to get the job done and get all the players and equipment clear before the tours start. Crowds were already lining up at the pier entrance for a look as the last food pallet was placed on the USS Boxer's flight deck.

As the deliveries concluded on Pier 90, Vallido went aboard the Boxer to supervise the assembly and setup for the next evening's reception while Nogoy climbed in his pickup and headed over to Pier 66 for the next scheduled food delivery to the USS Dewey and USS Gridley.

When Nogoy arrived at Pier 66, NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound LSRs Sebrin Jones and Ron Serica were already on the pier with a team of civilian stevedores waiting for the delivery truck. There wasn't going to be a crane to move all the food to the ships. With heavy pedestrian traffic along the congested pier provisions would have to be hand carried aboard the ship.

"The major thing here is safety... We need to make sure we do this safely with all the other activity going on around the pier," said Jones.

Late Friday afternoon on the ferry back to Bremerton, Nogoy received a call from one of the ships making a last minute order. They needed 30 loaves of bread for the crew. Nogoy immediately started making calls and taking notes. Twenty minutes later, he snapped his phone case shut. "It's done," he said. The vendor would be pierside in the morning to deliver the bread. The crew had their provisions and now it was only a matter of catching up the paperwork.

NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound, one of eight fleet logistics centers under NAVSUP GLS, provides operational logistics, business and support services to Navy, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, and other Joint and Allied Forces. Products and services include contracting, fuels, global logistics, hazardous material management, household goods, integrated logistics support, material management, postal, regional transportation and warehousing.

NAVSUP GLS provides global logistics for a global Navy. The organization is made up of more than 6,500 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 105 locations worldwide providing an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units, and allied forces across all warfare enterprises.

For news and information about NAVSUP FLC Puget Sound, visit www.navsup.navy.mil/navsup/ourteam/navsupgls/navsupflcps or find it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/navsupflcps.

For more news from Naval Supply Systems Command, visit www.navy.mil/.