Over 20 members of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) said goodbye to their families, friends, and unit team members May 31 at a deployment ceremony held at Sadowski Center on post.
The team, comprised of Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians, deployed to Kuwait where they will assume the Strategic Operations and Plans (SOaP) mission.
Maj. Gen. Flem B. "Donnie" Walker Jr., the commanding general of 1st Theater Sustainment Command, spoke at the ceremony and explained the purpose of the SOaP team is to ensure the 1st TSC remains synched with current and future battlefield priorities in the Central Command area of responsibility.
"I want to tell you how proud Command Sergeant Major Jason Willett and I are of this exceptional team," Walker said.
Since 2006, the 1st TSC has been perpetually deployed to the 20-country, six-million-square mile where it conducts sustainment operations ensuring warfighters have the supplies and transportation capabilities they need to accomplish their missions.
Every six months, the command deploys a team of Soldiers to the region, which it designates the Red, White, or Blue team. This team, the Blue Team, will replace the White Team, scheduled to redeploy in June. The Red Team will begin training to replace the Blue Team in the coming months.
To prepare for this deployment, the Blue Team, led by Lt. Col. Barry Murray and Sgt. 1st Class Jason Matthews, completed 42 separate events, such as weapons qualifications, medical readiness, and threat briefings. The train-up concluded with a culminating exercise that put the final changes on the Blue Team's cohesion.
Walker praised the hard work and dedication the team went through to prepare for the mission and gave them some final guidance to ensure mission success. "Stay focused, enforce standards, and be disciplined," he said.
Before the ceremony, attendees took photos with Cpl. Blackjack, a live pony mule, serving as the unit's mascot.
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