REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Some 250,000 Soldiers and Marines have graduated from the Ordnance school at Redstone in the past 58 years.
That tradition will end with the move of the Ordnance Munitions and Electronics Maintenance School to Fort Lee, Va., under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decisions. The 59th Ordnance Brigade cased its colors in a ceremony Oct. 1 on the Redstone Activity Field. The colors will be uncased Oct. 15 at Fort Lee, when the 61st Ordnance Brigade will become the 59th Ordnance Brigade at Fort Lee.
The school, a longtime member of the Redstone family, is moving by Sept. 15, 2011 as part of BRAC.
"The 59th Ordnance Brigade has benefited greatly from this historic bond. And again although the bell has tolled, you will not be forgotten," Col. Clark LeMasters Jr., commandant of the Ordnance School at Fort Lee, said.
The unit's colors were encased by 59th commander Col. Lee Merritt and Command Sgt. Maj. Angel Clark-Davis.
"This partnership (with Redstone) has been truly special throughout the years," Merritt said.
The school's training mission for the approximately 850 students continues at Redstone until June, when most of it begins at Fort Lee. Some training will start there as early as March or April.
Units assembled on the activity field included HHC 59th, the 73rd Ordnance Battalion from Fort Gordon, Ga., 832nd Ordnance Battalion, Army EOD Training Battalion (Provisional) from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and the Marine Corps Detachment. The 214th Army Ground Forces Band from Fort McPherson, Ga., performed.
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