JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Aug. 29, 2017) -- Members of the 419th Contracting Support Brigade welcomed their new leader during a ceremony Aug. 25 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Col. Brad Hodge assumed command of the 419th Contracting Support Brigade from Col. Carol Tschida in a ceremony officiated by Col. William Boruff, commander of the Mission and Installation Contracting Command.
"You have an immense responsibility to the airborne and special operations forces communities as well as installation support to 10 Army installations," Boruff said of the expectations of the new brigade commander "This is an incredible responsibility, and with your experience and training, I have confidence you will be able to superbly lead our contracting professionals and continue to operationalize contracting to ensure the materiel readiness of our Army."
Hodge comes to the 419th CSB following his recent graduation from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He previously served as the product manager for the Abrams tank for the Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems at Detroit Arsenal.
"It is an honor to command this brigade," Hodge said during the ceremony. "We will stay mission-focused and continue to adapt as the world changes, through developing innovative, acquisition professionals working in an environment of dignity and respect, able to meet the requirements of the 18th Airborne Corps and the other units and agencies we are responsible to support."
Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Armor branch, Hodge has served in a variety of positions of increasing responsibility to include establishing the 623rd Contingency Contracting Team at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 2008 and deploying the team in 2009 to Iraq. He also deployed as the PEO Ground Combat Systems Afghanistan lead and officer in charge of the Joint Robotic Repair Detachment-Afghanistan. The new commander is Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Level III certified in both acquisition and program management.
Tschida, who has commanded the brigade since July 2014, plans to begin her new assignment with the Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in October 2017. Boruff thanked her for her service with the 419th CSB over the last three years and commended her on the oversight of innovative contracting solutions adopted by the MICC. That oversight included the teams developing the Contracting Tactical Operations Center application, MICC Marketplace web initiative, and Simplified Acquisition Threshold pilot program. He also praised her operational support throughout her tenure, deploying the brigade headquarters, four contracting battalions, and 11 contracting teams in support of operations Inherent Resolve, Freedom's Sentinel and United Assistance.
Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the MICC is made up of two contracting support brigades and two field directorate offices responsible for 31 subordinate contracting activities across the United States and Puerto Rico. The command consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. 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 maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
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