Maj. Gen. Duane Gamble, commander of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, speaks to the media in Bremerhaven, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017. Gamble will be heading to U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island, Illinois. He will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Steven A. Shapiro. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Maj. Gen. Duane Gamble, commander of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, speaks to the media in Bremerhaven, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017. Gamble will be heading to U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island, Illinois. He will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Steven A. Shapiro. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Maj. Gen. Steven A. Shapiro, deputy chief of staff for logistics and operations, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., will take command of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command from Lt. Gen. Duane A. Gamble. (Tammy Nooner/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — Maj. Gen. Steven A. Shapiro will serve as the next commander of the Army’s 21st Theater Sustainment Command in Germany, which has facilitated a growing presence of U.S. forces in eastern Europe.
Shaprio will replace Maj. Gen. Duane A. Gamble, who has led the 21st TSC since 2015 from its headquarters in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the Defense Department announced.
During the past two years, the 21st TSC has played a key role in facilitating one of the largest post-Cold War movement of forces, tanks and equipment into Europe. That has included the recent arrival of a heavy armored brigade and a combat aviation brigade complete with a fleet of attack helicopters, all mobilized in response to concerns about a more assertive Russia.
Shapiro, now a deputy chief of staff for logistics at Army Materiel Command I in Alabama, will be tasked with continuing the Army’s logistical part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a show of force and commitment to regional stability. A key upcoming effort will be helping to oversee the movement of a replacement force for the 3rd Armored Combat Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, which now operates on NATO’s eastern edge.
Gamble also has aided U.S. Army Europe in an effort to better chart the geographic terrain of the Baltics and Poland, improving the Army’s understanding of logistical logjams that can slow the movement of troops in a crisis.
On investigative “terrain walks,” USAREUR and its 21st TSC have spent the past year-and-a half streamlining the logistical chain, identifying bottlenecks and setting up a deeper network of ports, river barges and air cargo hubs to give commanders options when troops and equipment need to be mobilized.
On his next assignment, Gamble is slated to lead the U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, Ill. A change-of-command date has not yet been announced.
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