Supplies are moved every day through ladderwells, passageways and a number of decks. Many Sailors see box after box being moved off the mess decks by the cargo team in black and green shirts. Taking boxes to and from storerooms around the ship during a replenishment-at-sea (RAS) or while in port, the cargo team is responsible for making sure the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) gets everything it needs for the Sailors to stay fueled up and ready to complete the mission.

The Cargo Assistant Leading Petty Officer, Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Grabenschroer, from Omaha, Nebraska, manages and leads his team in all of the division's responsibilities. Grabenschroer says there is much more to their job than just moving boxes.

"We have a total of about 17 Sailors in this division," Grabenschroer said. "I'll get the plan on what we need to do and my job is to make sure everything gets done smoothly and safely. I am in charge of each and every storeroom and general inventory. We have over 15,000 line items and 10 different storerooms, so everything has to be accounted for and watched over carefully."

The work that goes into the everyday operations of the unit can be challenging and physically demanding, much of which can be attributed to the long hours and calculating the logistics of moving a large breakout through heavy traffic inside the ship.

"My Sailors are great, they work hard for me and give me their all every single day," Grabenschroer said of his team. "They're the best group to come to cargo in my one and a half years of being in this division. No matter what task we throw at them, they make sure to get it done. There are some nights where we may not be done until two or three a.m.while underway; they still come in the next day at 7 a.m. ready to go."

The Sailors who work with Grabenschroer have developed an appreciation for being in cargo. Culinary Specialist Seaman Shada Henry, from Roanoke Rapids, N.C., says that being a member of the team is a distinct privilege.

"If you want to be in cargo, you have to have a good attitude. I wake up in the morning and I'm ready and wanting to work," Henry said. "It has its difficulties though. You have to be strong-minded. There will be times when you're tired or when the work may seem to non-stop, but you have to push through it."

Culinary Specialist Seaman Matthew Tyndall, from Pinellas Park, Florida, says that the cargo division as a whole has a sense of pride and family.

"We're all family here and we're all extremely proud of being in this division. Cargo is kind of the heart of S-2," said Tyndall. "Without cargo, no one would be able to make the food for the Sailors, and the food doesn't magically appear in the galleys. When people are enjoying their food and being satisfied, knowing that it wouldn't have happened without us doing our job makes us pretty proud of what we do."

One of the primary functions of cargo is handling supplies during a RAS. They take all supplies and make sure they're placed in the appropriate storerooms.

"The RASs, especially the ones we had during deployment, were pretty interesting," Grabenschroer recalled. "Each and every time we had a RAS, I was always motivated. Receiving stores and seeing how many pallets we were getting, knowing that we had to take care of it, it was awesome. Seeing all the Sailors working together and getting things done, they're some of the most memorable events on the ship for me."

The cargo division is busy more often than not. For them, the job is not just moving boxes, but more things that support the ship in ways Sailors don't see from the outside. They may be up late into the next day, they may be carrying boxes through the passageways or counting inventory of the ship. One thing that all of cargo is sure of is they will be supporting Ike every day.

Ike is underway during the maintenance phase of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP).

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