JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- (April 26, 2017) Leaders from the 412th Contracting Support Brigade cased their organizational colors signaling the brigade's inactivation during a ceremony April 26 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
"In its almost eight years of existence, the 412th Contracting Support Brigade has built a legacy of delivering acquisition excellence to its customers that reinforced the Army's capability to carry out operations worldwide," said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Gabbert, MICC commanding general, who officiated the ceremony. "The contract management and oversight that has allowed the MICC to become a premier contracting organization for our Army will continue seamlessly because of the true civilian professionals in place to carry on this organization's vital mission."
The inactivation ceremony also served as a transition for the activation of Field Directorate Office Fort Sam Houston, subordinate to the Mission and Installation Contracting Command. FDO-Fort Sam Houston will continue to provide contract support for the brigade's mission partners and oversight of contracting offices at six military installations.
As part of the ceremony, Col. Dennis McGowan relinquished command of the 412th CSB and April Miller-Dietrich assumed the position as deputy director of FDO-Fort Sam Houston.
"Departing the 412th is a bittersweet moment. The unit accomplished much in the past 19 months," McGowan said. "However, I think there is still more growth and change to come. Fortunately, I am leaving the organization in the capable hands of leaders such as April Miller-Dietrich and Charles Trumpfheller, and all of the office directors. I look forward to seeing the new heights they are able to reach."
McGowan, who took command of the 412th CSB in September 2015, plans to retire later this year after more than 28 years of active service. Prior to commanding the 412th CSB, he served as the commander of the 418th CSB. There, he played a central role in the 2015 transition of the U.S. Central Command Joint Theater Support Contracting Command as the Army became the lead service for contracting in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel. C-JTSCC became Expeditionary Contract Command-Afghanistan, which today continues to provide operational contract support for combatant commanders and coalition forces.
Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Jerry Charles assumed the position as interim MICC command sergeant major following the reassignment last week of Command Sgt. Maj. Tomeka O'Neal.
The 412th CSB inactivation is the result of force structure changes approved by the secretary of the Army. At the direction of Army Materiel Command, Army Contracting Command officials reorganized its force, to include military units attached to the MICC. Changes in force structure have also included the inactivation of subordinate contracting teams and the relocation of a battalion throughout the command over the past year. Soldiers assigned to the brigade headquarters element will continue to attrite from the unit through traditional change-of-station moves and retirements in the coming months.
The MICC now consists of two contracting support brigades at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and two field directorate offices at Fort Sam Houston and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
The MICC is made up of about 1,500 military and civilian members across the United States and Puerto Rico who are responsible for contracting good and services in support of Soldiers' readiness. The MICC also is responsible for readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, preparing more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintain more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
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