The U.S. military likes to talk about "joint operations" and "joint basing" — essentially services working together.

Since January, an Army watercraft has made a lot of trips from the Navy's Alpha docks at Hickam Air Force Base to transport Stryker armored vehicles to and from the Big Island.

"If that's not joint, I don't know what is," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Patrick Deck, executive officer of Logistics Support Vessel CW3 Harold C. Clinger.

The 273-foot Clinger performed yeoman's duty since the end of January, when it was under way for 75 days repeatedly making the 14-hour trip to and from Waipi'o Peninsula and Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island.

The Army recently rotated several hundred Stryker vehicles and the 2nd Brigade soldiers who use them to Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island for maneuver and live-fire training ahead of an expected December deployment to Iraq.

The "roll-on, roll-off" cargo ship, with a crew of 32 soldiers, made about 11 mph.

"It's a slow boat to PTA, but it's the most cost-effective and efficient means of transportation," Deck said.

Last week, the Clinger pulled up to the gravel ramp and dirt road at Waipi'o Peninsula that serves as a dock, dropped its bow ramp, and within an hour, had off-loaded 13 Strykers, 25 other vehicles and some cargo containers.

Onboard, the Strykers and other equipment were packed like jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Three of the Army's eight logistics support vessels, or LSVs, are based at Bishop's Point at Hickam, including the Clinger, MG Charles P. Gross, and the SSGT Robert T. Kuroda.

The Clinger and Gross are operated by active-duty soldiers, while the Kuroda is an Army Reserve vessel named after a World War II Medal of Honor recipient.

Kuroda, who graduated from Honolulu Vocational School as an electrician but was denied a job at Pearl Harbor because of his Japanese ancestry, enlisted in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

The 21-year-old volunteered to rescue other troops who had been ambushed on Oct. 20, 1944, in Bruyeres, France. He was fatally wounded in the effort and later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Since January, the Clinger has been the only Hawai'i-based LSV available. The Kuroda, which arrived last August, hasn't been released for duty, and the Gross is in the shipyard on the West Coast, Deck said.

The Clinger was sidelined for shipyard work last year, and Deck said "it was a huge blow to the budget, because they had to go with Young Brothers, and you are paying three to four times more than what an Army landing craft would cost to sustain its own assets."

The Clinger usually sails about 200 to 250 days a year, Deck said.

The military is experimenting with faster transports, such as the 319-foot "wave-piercing" catamaran Spearhead, which was tested in Hawai'i and can reach 46 mph. Eventually, such a ship could be used to transport Strykers and soldiers for missions.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.