SHILOH, Ill. -- The U.S. Army Military Surface Deployment and Distribution command’s 596th Transportation Brigade ushered in their new commander, Col. William Arnold, during a change of command ceremony August 10, 2020 at the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in Southport, North Carolina.
Arnold assumed command of the unit and the MOTSU from Col. Heather J. Carlisle, who will transition to a new assignment at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois as the deputy support operations officer for the Army Sustainment Command. Previous to this assignment, Arnold served as the deputy and acting director for Installation Services at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
“Together we will continue to deliver readiness and lethality across the globe to our combatant commanders,” said Arnold. “Our nation’s ability to project and sustain forces globally is how we win.”
The 596th Transportation Brigade, headquartered at MOTSU, safely provides ammunition terminal services to meet the nation’s objectives. It has teams spread across the United States made up of over 500 military and civilian Surface Warriors.
“Getting our mission right and being effective deployment and distribution integrators requires a team-of-teams approach, allowing us to respond quickly, communicate freely and make good and timely decisions,” said Brig. Gen. Heidi J. Hoyle, SDDC commanding general and host for ceremony.
SDDC is the Army service component command of the United States Transportation Command and is a major subordinate command to Army Materiel Command. The 596th is one of five active-duty SDDC transportation brigades located around the world.
SDDC is the premier total-force strategic surface deployment and distribution synchronizer, a key member of our nation’s Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise and is always ready with capabilities to project and sustain our nation’s combat power, even in the most austere conditions.
Arnold is hitting the ground running at his new command. Later this week, the 596th will conduct large-volume, commercial-line-haul reception at MOTSU in support of an upcoming ammunition mission.
“Rather than using rail, this truck surge into MOTSU will involve the reception and processing of more than 300 commercial trucks transporting almost 400 20-foot equivalent units originating from 6 separate Army depots located across the country,” said Hoyle. “A massive undertaking, but one that I am confident will be accomplished with precision and purpose.”
Hoyle said during the ceremony that the 596th team is a world-class organization, delivering readiness and lethality to the point of need.
“The brigade will continue to answer the call to deliver integrated and synchronized deployment and distribution capabilities to meet our national strategic objectives,” said Arnold.
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