402nd AFSB conducts 4 changes of command

By Master Sgt. Betheny Jones, 402nd AFSB Public AffairsAugust 29, 2013

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1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Maj. Gen. John Wharton (right), commanding general, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, passes the guidon to the incoming 402nd Army Field Support Brigade commander, Col. James Kinkade, July 14. Col. John Kuenzli, the outgoing commander, looks on. (U.S. A... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – 402nd Army Field Support Brigade's outgoing command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Nathaniel Bartee, transfers the NCO sword to Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Ferdinand, incoming command sergeant major, while Col. James Kinkade observes during the brig... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- The 402nd Army Field Support Brigade and its three battalions all have new leadership in a grand slam of changes of command this summer.

On July 3, the Army Field Support Battalion-Kuwait held a change of command ceremony at the new Army Materiel Command Forward Facility 1. Surrounded by Army Prepositioned Stocks-5 vehicles, Lt. Col. Manuel Jimenez relinquished command to Lt. Col. Marc Staats, who arrived from the NATO Rapid Reaction Corps, Headquartered in Lille, France.

Jimenez will now serve as an instructor at the U. S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

Within two weeks, the 402nd AFSB held a joint change of command/change of responsibility ceremony on July 14, with Maj. Gen. John Wharton, commanding general, U.S. Army Sustainment Command, presiding.

Col. James Kinkade took over from Col. John Kuenzli, and Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Ferdinand replaced Command Sgt. Maj. Nathaniel Bartee.

Kinkade and Kuenzli are literally switching positions, with Kuenzli taking over Kinkade's former position as the G-3 (Operations) executive officer at the Army Materiel Command's headquarters in Huntsville, Ala.

Ferdinand arrived in Kuwait from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, as the command sergeant major of the 225th Brigade Support Battalion. Bartee has headed to 18th Headquarters Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.

The Army Field Support Battalion-Southwest Asia also conducted a joint change of command/change of responsibility ceremony July 23 at the Zone 1 gym.

Battalion colors were passed from Lt. Col Michael Sauer and Command Sgt. Maj. Mary Jackson to newcomers Lt. Col. Kevin Smith and Sgt. Maj. June Spinler.

Smith is coming from Headquarters, Department of the Army, as a strategic analyst for the Secretary of the Army Commission, Institutional Army Transformation Commission. Spinler's last assignment was director of instruction for the 9th Battalion (Quartermaster), 94th Division, out of Des Moines, Iowa.

Sauer will move to U.S. Army South at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, while Jackson returns to Fort Eustis, Va.

Finally, the AFSBn-Qatar saw the departure of Lt. Col. Aaron Cook and welcomed Lt. Col. Roy Banzon as its new commander in June.

The 402nd AFSB falls under the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill. ASC is the operational arm of its higher headquarters, Army Materiel Command, Huntsville, Ala.

The Army Sustainment Command supports Army and joint forces in support of the combat commanders around the world.