The 336th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Task Force Red Ball, cased their colors and the 382nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Task Force Legion, uncased their colors during a transfer of authority (TOA) ceremony held in the Warrior Tent on Camp Buehring, Kuwait, March 30, 2023.
The ceremony signified the end of the duties and responsibilities of the 336th CSSB, commanded by U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lewis Gray, and the assumption of those duties and responsibilities by the 382nd, commanded by Lt. Col. Scott Eberle.
In attendance were distinguished guests Brig. Gen. Maria Juarez, commanding general of the 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command and Command Sgt. Maj. Ricardo Saunders, principal enlisted advisor of the 143rd ESC.
Col. Seth Morgulas, commander of the 369th Sustainment Brigade, conducted the transfer of authority ceremony.
Morgulas said that the 336th CSSB led the largest battalion task force in the brigade with over 12 hundred Soldiers that occupied 17 locations in seven countries and accomplished challenges and operations head on.
The 336th CSSB conducted a critical security mission at the Shuaiba Port, Kuwait’s main industrial port. They conducted tactical convoy training and supported the warfighter throughout their area of operations during their time in theatre with ammunition operations, supporting ammunition supply ship missions, equipment transport, establishing Forward Logistics Elements for precise solutions to mission needs and supported the brigade’s Tactical Action Center in Saudi Arabia, among other duties and accomplishments.
Gray said that his success is connected to the support of the 143rd ESC and the brigade who share in the same goal of taking care of Soldiers, equipment and completing the mission.
Nine months prior, in sweltering summer heat, Gray remembered watching his guidon bearer struggle through the unit’s uncasing TOA, and it made him wonder what was in store for Task Force Red Ball.
But just as that guidon bearer stayed strong despite the heat and sweat, Task Force Red Ball got on a roll with military trucks rolling up and down roads in Southwest Asia.
“If you saw a green truck these past months in this area of operations and there was a Soldier driving it, most likely it was a Task Force Red Ball trucking company,” Gray said.
The support and services that CSSBs provide include maintenance operations, ammunition operations, supply support activity operations, water operations, petroleum operations, aerial delivery operations and mortuary affairs, according to the Army.
Everly thanked Gray for providing him a great team of companies to provide operational reach and extend operational endurance to sustainment operations.
The 336th CSSB cased their colors and will return to the U.S. after about 10 months deployed.
The 382nd CSSB uncased their colors as they begin their new mission.
Casing and uncasing colors is a military tradition that originated centuries ago so that Soldiers on the battlefield could recognize and follow their units into battle.
“I wish all of you in the 336th well—get home safe, you have much to be proud of,” Morgulas said. “Task Force Legion—welcome to the Hellfighter team!”
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