Twenty-two Sailors from the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command Europe & Africa (MSCEURAF) reserve unit gathered at Naval Station Rota, Spain to conduct exercise Tuscan Trident 25 (TT25) April 26 to May 7, 2025, according to a press release yesterday.
Tuscan Trident is Military Sealift Command Europe & Africa’s annual training exercise, consisting of a broad array of scenario based evolutions and table top exercises focused on qualifying Sailors to conduct Expeditionary Port Unit (EPU) operations.
“The Tuscan Trident training exercise was developed by our EPU unit leadership and RPD [Reserve Program Director] a few years ago as our primary annual training evolution where our new Sailors get a ton of hands on training in all of the valuable skill sets they are required to know as an EPU Team Member,” said Capt. James Conway, commanding officer, Navy Reserve Military Sealift Command Europe & Africa Expeditionary Port Unit.
According to Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania native, Lt. Cmdr. Ted Pease, Tuscan Trident 25 officer-in-charge, “EPUs are highly mobile units staffed by reservists that can quickly deploy ISO [in support of] contingency operations to locations with no MSC or Navy presence, establish port operations, and manage the arrivals and departures of cargo ships for MSC.”
EPU missions are conducted exclusively by reserve Sailors, and with MSC’s New Castle, Delaware-based reserve unit turnover rate exceeding twenty percent each year, qualifying new EPU Sailors is vital to maintaining the mission.
“TT25’s goal is to train and qualify new sailors who joined MSC EPU EURAF’s unit within the last year. This directly increases our unit’s warfighting readiness, and allows us to continuously support MSC cargo operations throughout the EURAF AOR [Europe and Africa area of responsibility],” said Pease.
“The Sailors will learn through 56 hours of classroom topics, multiple hours of practical homework exercises, real world and simulated cargo operations, a comprehension test, and an oral board. Topics include, MSC Operations, EPU Operations, MARAD [United States Maritime Administration], C2 [Command and Control], Communications, TRANSCOM [U.S. Transportation Command], SDDC [Surface Deployment and Distribution Command], mission requirements and day-to-day operational procedures,” outlined Pease.
A new mission set tested during this year’s exercise was the deployment of a Mobile Expeditionary Communications Kit, or MECK, which facilitates voice, video and data communications for deployed units. Responsible for leading the establishment of the MECK and providing initial training was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native, Information Systems Technician Seaman Aiden Lowe.
“I was chosen to be the first Sailor under MSC to transport the MECK overseas and get it up and running here in Spain,” said Lowe. “With the transportation and deployment [of the MECK] being so new to the EPU, it was me they tasked with learning and then training others here at Tuscan Trident 25,” continued Lowe.
The team’s Departmental Leading Chief Petty Officer, Chief Yeoman Mellissa Virgo-Davis, from Old Bridge, New Jersey, described the desire to broaden her knowledge on how the unit’s reservists work together with MSCERUAF to accomplish the EPU mission.
“I’m especially looking forward to deepening my understanding of how Navy reservists integrate with and support the daily operations of MSCEURAF. It’s exciting to work alongside the active duty and civilian personnel who keep things running smoothly both administratively and operationally,” said Virgo-Davis.
According to Conway, the efforts of the EPU instructors and Marine Transportation Specialists were integral to the success of this year’s Tuscan Trident exercise.
“We have such limited time as reservists to train and become proficient at what we do, but thanks to our EPU training instructors and MSCEURAF Marine Transportation Specialists, this year has been one of the most successful evolutions to date that result[ed] in multiple JQR qualifications, greatly enhancing our warfighting readiness!” continued Conway.
The original announcement can be found here.