European edition, Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Army transformation marched forward on Monday in Bamberg, Germany, with the activation of the 16th Sustainment Brigade. The brigade held a ceremony at Warner Barracks to mark the occasion with about 400 soldiers participating.
The unit has about 1,000 soldiers and will eventually number 1,500. Their jobs will include providing for transportation, maintenance, supplies and other support to Europe-based units that are embarking on missions outside the theater.
The new brigade was formerly known as the 7th Corps Support Group. Before, it primarily served the garrisons in Germany as part of the Wiesbaden-based 3rd Corps Support Command. The 3rd COSCOM in June moved to Fort Knox, Ky.
The 16th Sustainment will be the only enduring, brigade-sized logistics unit in Europe, according to Lt. Col. Russell Cole, the brigade’s deputy commander.
Among the brigade’s jobs could be helping to provide troops rotating into Joint Task Force East in Romania with adequate transportation, maintenance, supplies and weaponry, and ensuring those going on humanitarian missions in Africa have enough water, fuel and food.
The brigade will be adding soldiers from units that were based elsewhere in Germany, including the Kaiserslautern-based 1st Cargo Transfer Company, 5th Maintenance Company, and 574th Quartermaster Company, as well as the Hanau-based 106th Finance Company and Miesau-based 191st Ordnance Battalion.
Some of the brigade’s soldiers from the 240th Quartermasters Company are deployed to Balad, Iraq, with two more units deploying soon, Cole said.
