News from the 3rd SC(E)

You may remember that TSO and I went to the Colors casing ceremony when the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) prepared to deploy to Afghanistan from Fort Knox. They’ve been sending us updates from their work there, and I’ve been delinquent in telling y’all about their doings. So let me catch you up.

First of all, they uncased their colors when they arrived and sent us this picture;

Their commander, Kristen French, made her star over there;

And they send us this report on taking over logistics for the theater;

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (May 7, 2012) – The 3d Sustainment Command
(Expeditionary) officially took command of the Joint Sustainment Command –
Afghanistan (JSC-A) during a Transfer of Authority at Kandahar Air Field,
Afghanistan, on May 7.

The 3d ESC, based out of Fort Knox, Ky., took over operations from the 4th
Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), who is headquartered at Fort Sam
Houston, Texas, and commanded by Brig. Gen. Les J. Carroll.

Reviewing the ceremony was Maj. Gen. William E. Rapp, the deputy
commander-support for United States Forces – Afghanistan, who thanked the
4th ESC for their hard work and diligence during their tour and expressed
confidence in the 3d ESC’s ability to carry on the mission.

“As the 4th ESC reflects over their past 12 months they can take great pride
in their numerous accomplishments and find solace in the fact that as simple
as it may sound, they made a difference and they made everything count,”
said Rapp. “To the Soldiers of the 3d ESC, the theater of operations is a
constantly evolving one. I know that each one of you are multifunctional and
there are no one-trick ponies and I’m confident that you are up to the
task.”

With the transfer, the Sustainers are now the senior logisticians in county
and are responsible for all logistics operations within the Afghanistan
theater. As the commanding element of JSC-A, the 3d ESC will oversee more
than 40,000 logistics Soldiers, civilians and contractors providing support
to United States forces, Coalition partners and Afghan forces in theater.

While the 3d ESC’s mission will be similar to that of the 4th ESC, Brig.
Gen. Kristin K. French, commanding general of the 3d ESC, said that she was
confident in her Sustainer’s abilities to take charge.

“The 3d ESC is ready to conduct our two critical missions, to support and
sustain all U.S. and selected Coalition Forces throughout the country, as
well as to assist in the responsible return of equipment and personnel,”
said French. “I am confident we will succeed in both tasks.”

With its main mission being sustainment and logistics operations, the 3d
ESC’s support operations section will play a major role in the deployment.
Col. Gregory Koller, the 3d ESC’s support operations officer in charge, said
that his section is ready and willing to fulfill the command’s mission.

“The transfer of authority means we’re ready, that we’re large and in
charge,” said Koller. “It now falls on us to continue the challenging
logistics mission we face here in Afghanistan.”

This deployment for the 3d ESC marks the third since the command moved to
Fort Knox from Wiesbaden, Germany in 2007. Before deploying to Afghanistan
in April, the 3d ESC deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom
and to Haiti in support of Operation Unified Response.

Command Sgt. Maj. Karl A. Roberts Sr., the 3d ESC’s senior enlisted leader
said that the transfer of authority is important to the command and the
Soldiers to which it supports.

“The ceremony is the culmination of all our pre-deployment training, relief
in place and our commitment to the mission in accordance with the
commander’s guidance,” Roberts said.

French said that she looked forward to leading the JSC-A, and thanked the
4th ESC for setting a high standard during their time in theater. She
promised to improve operations even more during her time in command.

For the 4th ESC, the ceremony marked the end of a successful campaign in
which Brig. Gen. Les J. Carroll, the commanding general of the 4th ESC, said
that he appreciated everything that his Soldiers accomplished during their
deployment.

Fully trained and ready to assume the mission, the 3d ESC and its Soldiers
are ready to assume the mission of JSC-A.

I apologize for being so slow on this one. Every soldier in Afghanistan deserves our complete attention all of the time, whether they pull a trigger or pull a trailer. Thanks to SFC Strain for sending these to us. We do appreciate that he keeps us up-to-date on our new friends and how they’re kicking asses and contributing to getting our friends and families what they need, and bringing them home.

Category: Support the troops, Terror War