FORT LEE, Va. - The 2nd Brigade, a down-trace unit of the 94th Training Division-Force Sustainment, bid farewell to Col. Stephanie Howard and welcomed Col. Keith Barta as the new brigade commander on Apr. 14, 2018, in a change of command ceremony held here at the 1st Logistical Command Memorial site.
Having built up the capabilities and reputation of 2nd Brigade after two years of command as a Troop Program Unit service member, Howard relinquished command to Barta, taking over as an active duty operational support service member.
The change of command coincides with 2nd Brigade's transformation from an Army Reserve training brigade to a multicomponent unit including both Reserve and Active Duty battalions under the command. The 2nd Brigade will be the first multicomponent training brigade under the Reserve Command, according to Barta.
"I took this command because of this exciting transition," Barta said regarding giving up his position as a power plant operator in New Prague, Minnesota, to command the 2nd Brigade full-time. "My biggest thing is a smooth transition to a multicomponent brigade, making it so students see no difference in quality of instruction."
The brigade will be taking on one Active Duty battalion in addition to the five Reserve battalions currently under the 2nd Brigade. The 2nd Brigade will take over school training for all transportation Soldiers in the Army Transportation Corps, National Guard, Reserve, and Active Duty components.
This is all possible because of the conditions Howard set as commander, according to Brig. Gen. Hector Lopez, 94th TD commanding general.
"She spent countless hours working with the proponent to make gains across the One Army School System Enterprise," said Lopez.
Despite all those hours, Howard was still a TPU service member, the "one weekend a month, two weeks a year" Soldier. Her position brought distinct challenges from her time as a battalion commander deployed to Afghanistan.
"TPU still demands hours every day," Howard said.
Howard led the 2nd Brigade in a headquarters relocation from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Fort Lee, Virginia, along with leading the brigade to full accreditation. As a result of these changes, the 2nd Brigade is now based out of Fort Lee consisting of five subordinate battalions in Fort Eustis, Virginia; Shreveport, Louisiana; Fort Sheridan, Illinois; Bell, California, and Jackson, Mississippi. On top of the 100 miles Howard travelled each battle assembly weekend to reach Fort Lee, volumes are spoken of her commitment to her Soldiers, readiness and mission execution.
"You can't reach out and touch them;" said Barta of the Soldiers and units under his command, "You have to rely on Soldiers to do things themselves."
Before this transition, the 2nd Brigade provided training to all Army components for reclassification of military occupational specialties and non-commissioned officer professional development schools. Under Howard's command, the brigade trained 8,573 students across three different training locations.
"We graduated over 7,000 students from the Army Reserve, National Guard, and Active Duty, and about one third of those were transitioning into transportation," said Howard, "but what I'll remember most are my interactions with individual soldiers."
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