SEASIDE, Calif. -- During a change of command ceremony held in Seaside, Calif., Oct. 23, Lt. Col. Marvin R. Green III relinquished command of the 340th Brigade Support Battalion to Lt. Col. John T. Preston. Preston takes command of the battalion as the unit goes through a realignment and restructuring.
Now aligned under the 115th Regional Support Group, the 340th BSB gained the 49th Personnel Support Company and the 69th Public Affairs Detachment and consolidated two companies into one headquarters service company.
The 340th is no stranger to realignments or to the 115th RSG. Before its previous alignment with the 224th Sustainment Brigade, it was part of the 115th.
"For support reasons [at that time], they were moved under the 224th, forming what turned out to be the largest logistics brigade in the U.S. Army," Col. Bruce C. Balzano, the commander of the 115th RSG, said. "It was certainly unprecedented."
Balzano said the California National Guard commanding general, Maj. Gen. David S. Baldwin, now wants to increase command and control capabilities and mission command by aligning units geographically and regionally.
"We're very happy to have the 340th back," Balzano said. "They are a very storied unit."
Organized Aug. 5, 1895 as Troop C, Cavalry in the California National Guard, the unit has since been designated a machine gun battalion, a tank battalion, an armor battalion and a support battalion, serving in World War I, World War II in the Philippines during the Bataan Death March, and the War on Terror.
As the unit's designation has changed, so too has its mission. Outgoing commander Green said his two years in command focused on transitioning from contingency operations during times of war to support operations for full-spectrum maneuvers.
"It's a totally different picture for a sustainment Soldier to operate in," Green said. "So we started training up on that."
In May, the battalion participated in a multi-state exercise in Wyoming where it ran a brigade support area providing support to maneuver units.
"We expected to go out there and learn a lot -- to make a lot of mistakes and learn from it, but that's not what happened," Green said. "The battalion did an awesome job. The Soldiers and noncommissioned officer corps brought their a-game; they never missed a beat."
As he stood on the parade field during the ceremony, looking out at the troops in formation, he reflected on everything they had accomplished during his time in command.
"When you're an officer, you spend most of your time in staff assignments," Green said. "So you cherish the time you spend as a commander because you're with the troops and you get go to the field and be where the actual action is happening. It's very hard to leave that; anybody coming out of command will tell you that."
However, Green said he is pleased to be leaving the battalion in the capable hands of incoming commander Preston.
"I'm excited for him," Green said. "He's a really good officer and he's got a personality where the Soldiers are just going to take to him and they're going to keep getting better and better."
Preston is returning to the unit he began his California National Guard career in. After serving as a construction mechanic in the Navy Seabees, he enlisted in the Guard as a wheeled vehicle repairer in the 340th Support Battalion in 1988.
He said the first thing he plans to do as commander is finalize the transition so the battalion can "get into a more steady state of operations."
He is excited for this new position, saying "there's nothing like being trusted to be a leader of Soldiers. It's a big responsibility and it's a big commitment and I take both of them seriously."
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