Major military exercise this week in Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A South Carolina city’s highways, seaports, airspace and railways are all part of a large military exercise this week.

The Charleston area exercise has been named “Dragon Lifeline.” The Post and Courier reports that it involves more than 200 soldiers from more than 114 job fields. It also involves dozens of Humvees, ships and airplanes arriving in the Charleston area.

Plans called for the exercise to get started Monday with a massive convoy of soldiers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, travelling more than 200 miles to Joint Base Charleston. The convoy includes trailers, refrigeration units and cargo containers.

On Tuesday, the soldiers will unload and reload the equipment at Charleston’s ports and railways near the Naval Weapons Station. On Wednesday, C-17 planes from Charleston will fly the equipment back to Fort Bragg. Thursday, the final day of the operation, will involve shipping equipment by boat to Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

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Charleston has been a part of a similar operation before. In 2018, between July 30 and Aug. 3, soldiers utilized the rails around the Naval Weapons Station to practice loading and unloading equipment. Last year, about 127 vehicles trekked from Bragg to Joint Base Charleston, according to the Fayetteville Observer. The convoy reportedly stopped at National Guard armories in Dillon and Manning to refuel.

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