Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command ( SDDC ) provides ocean terminal , commercial ocean liner service and traffic management services to deploy , sustain and redeploy U . S . forces on a global basis . The command is responsible for surface transportation and is the interface between DOD shippers and the commercial transportation carrier industry . This includes movement of DOD member household goods and privately owned vehicles . SDDC is the USA ' s largest customer to the moving industry with more than 500 , 000 household goods moves a year . The command also provides transportation for troops and materiel ( materials ) to ports of departure in the U . S . and overseas and provides SPM ( Single Port Manager ) functions at ports worldwide in support of the surface movement of United States Department of Defense cargo , including military terminals at Sunny Point , North Carolina , and Concord , California . History . Organizational development . Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command ( SDDC ) traces its organizational lineage to the Army ' s former Office of the Chief of Transportation , established 31 July 1942 . Fourteen years later , the Defense Department established a separate agency to carry out traffic management functions . On 1 May 1956 , SDDCs original mandate began when the Secretary of Defense designated the Secretary of the Army as the single manager for military traffic within the United States . Military Traffic Management Agency / US Army Transportation Terminal Command . On 1 July 1956 , the Army established the Military Traffic Management Agency ( MTMA ) to carry out those single - manager functions . Originally , MTMA did not operate military ocean terminals , a function held by the U . S . Army Transportation Terminal Command ( a Transportation Corps component ) . The original MTMA did not feature port commands but did include five regional offices : eastern ( Pittsburgh , PA ) , western ( Oakland , CA ) , central ( St . Louis , MO ) , southwestern ( Dallas , TX ) , and southeastern ( Atlanta , GA ) . This arrangement essentially lasted until 1965 . Only the Oakland headquarters remained the same after that time . MTMA and then DTMS called the field offices " traffic regions . " Defense Traffic Management Service . MTMA lasted only five and one half years . Then , as part of his overall DOD restructuring , Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara transferred the organization to the newly established Defense Supply Agency ( DSA ) . On 1 January 1962 , he re - designated MTMA as the Defense Traffic Management Service ( DTMS ) . The United States Army Materiel Command then took over the military ocean terminals . However , DOD and congressional concerns over duplication in military logistics soon led to further reorganizations . After a detailed reexamination of the Defense Transportation System , McNamara designated the Secretary of the Army as the single manager for military traffic , land transportation , and common - user ocean terminals on 19 November 1964 . Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service . To execute this centralized management concept , a joint service planning staff formed up to establish and agency , the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service ( MTMTS ) . DOD then formally activated MTMTS as a jointly staffed Army major command on 15 February 1965 . MTMTS assumed all responsibilities assigned to the Defense Traffic Management Service and the terminal operations functions of the U . S . Army Supply and Maintenance Command ( a component of the Army Materiel Command ) . With the approval and publication of its single - manager charter on 24 June 1965 , MTMTS joined the Military Air Transport Service ( now Air Mobility Command ) and the Military Sea Transport Service ( now Military Sealift Command ) in providing complete transportation services to the Department of Defense . The formation of the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service resulted in tremendous change in the command ' s organization . Since MTMTS now operated military ocean terminals , it focused its area command structure on ports . Upon the command ' s formation the former eastern traffic region headquarters moved to Brooklyn Army Terminal in Brooklyn , NY , and became Eastern Area . Western Area ( formerly a traffic region ) headquarters remained at Oakland , CA . MTMTS abolished the southwestern and southeastern field offices . For two years , however , MTMTS retained its central area command in St . Louis , MO . To streamline operations further , the command then disestablished that headquarters in early 1967 and transferred its functions to Eastern Area . MTMS maintained its Eastern Area Headquarters at Brooklyn , N . Y . until September 1975 when it moved Bayonne N . J . In 1966 the Transportation Engineering Agency , Fort Eustis , VA , the Army ' s only activity with traffic and transportability engineering expertise became a major component of MTMTS . MTMTS provided support for the Vietnam War through cargo operations at its Military Ocean Terminals at Oakland CA , ( MOTBA ) , Bayonne , New Jersey ( MOTBY ) and Sunny Point , NC ( MOTSU ) as well as commercial ports . In the earlier years of the war MTMTS shipped soldiers by surface from its Western Area ( primarily Oakland ) . By 1967 as troops rotated to Vietnam in small groups or individually , fewer soldiers went by surface ; most were airlifted to the theater . As a means of easing serious congestion and ship delay , MTMTS in 1966 initiated a practice of sending full shiploads to single ports of debarkation in theater whenever possible . It continued this practice throughout the war . Between 1965 and 1969 MTMS in conjunction with the Military Sealift Command transported over of dry cargo and over of bulk petroleum to Vietnam . Military Traffic Management Command . On 31 July 1974 , MTMTS was re - designated as the Military Traffic Management Command ( MTMC ) to make its title more readily identifiable with its mission . United States Transportation Command . On 1 October 1988 , MTMC , along with the Military Sealift Command and the Military Airlift Command officially became components of the United States Transportation Command ( TRANSCOM ) . Created on 18 April 1987 , TRANSCOM began official operations on 1 October 1987 , as DOD ' s single unified transportation command . TRANSCOM ' s mission was to integrate global air , land and sea transportation in support of national security objectives . MTMC , MSC and AMC remained as major commands of their parent services and have continued to perform service - unique missions under the direction of their military departments . On 1992 — 02 - 14 DOD gave TRANSCOM control of service - operated transportation in both peace and war . The first Gulf war . The millions of tons of cargo and thousands of troops moved to support Operation DESERT SHIELD / DESERT STORM marked the largest test of the military ' s logistical capability since the World War II Normandy invasion . During the Gulf War , MTMC personnel successfully managed the movement of 85 % of the unit equipment shipped to Saudi Arabia . They operated out of 33 ports world wide and loaded more than 945 , 000 pieces of equipment equaling 6 . 5 million measurement tons ( 7 . 4 million m³ ) onto 564 ships bound for Saudi Arabia . At the peak of operations , MTMC activated 12 transportation units , 225 volunteers , and 73 Individual Mobilization Augmentees from the Reserve components to support DESERT SHIELD missions . Under the Special Middle East Shipping Agreements , MTMC booked 37 , 000 forty - foot commercial containers with sustainment supplies aboard commercial liners bound for Southwest Asia . After the Gulf war : organizational changes . The Gulf War resulted in changes for MTMC . In 1991 , MTMC re - designated its Transportation Terminal Command Far East as MTMC Pacific and moved it from Korea to Hawaii . Headquarters then assigned MTMC Europe as a subordinate command of MTMC Eastern Area in July 1992 . This arrangement meshed with HQMTMC ' s relationships with Western Area and MTMC Pacific . The Command ' s February 1993 reorganization created an organization that provided improved quality service and optimum strategic deployability of America ' s forces in support of national defense . The Commands directorates of international traffic , inland traffic , passenger traffic , personal property and safety and security were centralized into a single Operations Directorate . The reorganization also combined personnel and logistics into a single directorate . MTMC supported several contingency operations in the 1990s . Among them were to Operation Restore Hope , Somalia in 1993 , Operation Support Hope , Rwanda , in 1994 , Operation Uphold Democracy Haiti in 1994 , Operation Vigilant Warrior in Damman , Saudi Arabia , 1994 – 95 and Operation Joint Endeavor , Bosnia - Herzegovina in 1996 . In general , the Cold War ' s end meant continuous change for MTMC . Even before the Berlin Wall fell , Congress had established the Base Realignment and Closing Commission ( BRAC ) . Throughout the 1990s , this group shuttered growing numbers of well - established but less - used bases around the country . MTMC survived the first few BRAC cycles ( 1988 , 1991 , 1993 ) , but not the 1995 round of proposals . At that time the Defense Department recommended closing the Oakland and Bayonne military ocean terminals . BRAC accepted its recommendations , which meant abolishing MTMC ' s Eastern and Western Area Commands . According to plan , MTMC would close down those ocean terminals by 2001 . To replace its two area headquarters , HQMTMC planned to establish a single continental United States ( CONUS ) command . HQMTMC formed a selection team , which evaluated a large variety of sites . In early 1997 , Secretary of the Army Togo D . West reviewed the site team recommendations and decided on Fort Eustis , Virginia as the single area command ' s headquarters . The loss of the area commands meant gain in other areas . As a result of the recommendations by its Organizational Excellence team , HQMTMC made MTMC Europe ( since 1992 a component of Eastern Area ) and MTMC Pacific ( a component of Western Area ) separate commands in late 1996 . In an effort to make its organizations more recognizable as regular Army units , MTMC re - designated its port units on 1 October 1997 . The previous four - digit designations changed to three digits and the major and medium port commands changed to groups , battalions , and companies . For example , MTMC Europe became the 598th Transportation Group ( Terminal ) and MTMC Pacific became the 599th Transportation Group ( Terminal ) . Relocations & reorganizations . On 15 October 1997 , MTMC established the Deployment Support Command ( DSC ) at Fort Eustis . Its Eastern and Western Area Commands were consolidated into the DSC . On 30 September 31 September 1999 , MTMC closed its Military Ocean Terminals at Bayonne and Oakland . The Commands headquarters moved the following year . For the 35 years MTMC headquarters operated out of the Nassif Building in Falls Church , VA . From May through October 2000 , the Headquarters relocated to the Hoffman II Building in Alexandria , VA . Continuing with its streamlining operations , MTMC began in 2000 to standardize the size and organization of its groups , battalions and companies worldwide . Prior to these changes , MTMCs transportation battalions varied in strength from 19 to 84 persons . During the following year MTMC reorganized into a single operating headquarters , split - based in Alexandria VA and Fort Eustis VA . The Command concurrently deactivated its Deployment Support Command and stood up its Operations Center in November 2001 . During 2001 and throughout 2002 , MTMC mobilized Reserve Transportation units and organized Deployment Support Teams as part of its support for the Global War on Terrorism . From October 2002 thru May 2003 , the Command supported Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom , moving over of cargo , operating from 16 seaports and power projection platforms worldwide . Throughout the 1990s the Command worked continuously to reengineer its Household Goods Moving Program . In November 2002 it began developing a new program titled , Families First to be the revised DOD Household Goods Program . Families Firsts objective is three fold ( 1 ) to improve the liability / claims process ; ( 2 ) to improve carrier performance through performance based acquisitions and ( 3 ) to implement an integrated move management system . SDDC continues to work with the Household Goods Moving Industry to provide best quality moves for service members , Department of Defense civilians and their families . Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command . With TRANSCOM ' s designation as the DOD ' s Joint Distribution Process Owner in the fall of 2003 and as a result of MTMC ' s changed missions to meet the demands of the Global War on Terror , the Command changed its name officially on 1 January 2004 to Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command . The name change better reflects its increased emphasis on deployment operations and end - to - end distribution of surface cargoes from depots to the war fighters . Since the command ' s establishment on 15 February 1965 , there has hardly been a transportation or logistics issue within DOD that SDDC ' s actions have not influenced positively . Sources . Surface Deployment and Distribution Command ( SDDC ) Home Page http : / / www . dawn . com / 2012 / 01 / 02 / ship - with - nato - supplies - berths - at - port . html