CINCU, Romania - The 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, conducted a change of command ceremony as the logistical unit prepares for multinational exercise Getica Saber 17, at Cincu Joint National Training Center, Romania, July 6.
Lt. Col. Julie Maxwell assumed duties as the 64th BSB commander, as Lt. Col. Robert Rochon relinquished command after two years leading the "Mountaineer" Battalion.
"This gathering today for a change of command of our 64th BSB, the mighty Mountaineers, couldn't be timelier as we also kick off the multinational exercise Getica Saber 17 in this very spot tomorrow morning," said Col. Christopher Norrie, 3/4 ABCT commander. "Bringing the majority of the Iron Brigade to Romania from Germany has been a massive logistical effort, and at the heart of everything we do in terms of moving Soldiers, moving equipment, and moving parts, is the 64th BSB."
Getica Saber, which runs from July 7-15 here, is designed to strengthen interoperability among the six participating nations of host Romania, Armenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Ukraine and the United States.
The arrival of roughly 1,200 3/4 ABCT Soldiers to Romania from Germany - and almost as many to neighboring Hungary and Bulgaria for other Saber Guardian 17 multination exercises - was the eighth movement of a battalion or larger across international borders by the "Iron Brigade" since arriving in Europe to serve as the regionally allocated land force for Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Logistics - the 64th BSB's specialty - in an area of operations as long as the U.S. East Coast has been key to the brigade's success since January in providing a persistent presence to deter aggression, said Norrie.
"Throughout this entire rotation in Europe, the Mountaineers have without fail provided the critical support needed to sustain our brigade as we stretched at one point from Estonia in the northernmost reaches of the Baltics, all the way down to Bulgaria," said Norrie.
Rochon, the outgoing commander, noted during his farewell speech that the Mountaineers are making history by helping the 3/4 ABCT demonstrate that a heavy brigade can sustain itself over such a large area of operations.
"We were deployed together in Kuwait for Operation Spartan Shield (in 2015) where you supported the Iron Brigade in seven countries," Rochon told his formation for the last time. "While deployed, we established the first expeditionary SSA (supply support activity) in Kuwait that is still used today by the rotational armored brigade combat teams."
In Europe, he said: "You synchronized logistics and supported the BDE while they were arrayed in eight countries. To date, you have traveled over 70,000 miles. Our SSA is on the glide path to process over 27,000 parts. ... No other SSA in the Army can touch these stats."
Maxwell, the new BSB commander, is an 18-year U.S. Army and Army Reserve veteran. She last served as brigade support operations officer with the 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade at Fort Riley, Kansas.
"Mountaineers, we are the 'lifeblood' of the Iron Brigade, integrating, synchronizing and echeloning sustainment effects that deliver combat power across the depth of the operational area with an unrelenting endurance," Maxwell said upon assuming command.
"Thank you to each of you who are standing in formation today, representing the very best our nation has to offer (as) the American Soldier! I am most proud today to officially become a Mountaineer and will humbly serve as your leader for the next chapter in the great legacy of this battalion," she said.
The Iron Brigade represents the first of a continuous rotation of heavy brigades based in the United States that are bringing their entire equipment set to Europe to train alongside allies and partners as a demonstration of the U.S. commitment to NATO.
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