ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – Behind every operation are stories worth telling. At U.S. Army Sustainment Command, the Public and Congressional Affairs Office ensure stories are both told and preserved.
ASC is the logistics arm of U.S. Army Materiel Command, responsible for delivering critical supplies, services, and support to Soldiers across the globe. From providing food and uniforms to offering technical expertise and equipment storage, ASC enables readiness wherever the Army operates. Within this vast mission, PCA, which includes Public Affairs, Congressional Affairs and History, play a vital role in shaping how ASC communicates its purpose and remembers its journey.
Led by Kimberly Conrad, the chief of PCA, the team works with a shared purpose to document, share, and safeguard ASC’s story, whether it’s the past, present, or future.
“We’re ASC’s storytellers,” Conrad said. “Public Affairs, Congressional Affairs and History each play a unique role, but together we connect with people, preserve our history, and shine a light on ASC’s role in sustaining the Army.”
Amplifying ASC’s Voice
The PCA office serves as ASC’s strategic communicator, responsible for delivering timely, accurate, and engaging information to internal and external audiences. As the principal advisor to ASC’s commanding general on communication, Conrad and her team ensure ASC’s messaging is clear and credible. PCA fulfills the Army’s obligation to inform and educate the American people, keep Army personnel informed, and establish trust in and understanding of the Army. They do this by engaging with media and local communities, communicating with the workforce and their families and the public, and fostering relationships with Congress. The team’s focus begins with ASC, but its storytelling branches across AMC and the Army, reinforcing shared purpose and strategic alignment.
In fact, the PCA team works closely with others across ASC subordinate organizations to amplify what’s happening around the globe, both from behind a desk and where boots are on the ground. Whether it’s assisting with messaging efforts, managing social media pages, or noticing a bigger story beneath what’s shared at lower levels, communication efforts go both up and down the chain.
PCA shares how Soldiers and Civilians work tirelessly to maintain equipment in warehouses with Army Prepositioned Stocks, move shipments across the world efficiently, and set up town-like areas that have essentials such as food, housing and water within hours. They show who is behind efforts and explain how the preparation helps Soldiers be ready at a moment’s notice regardless of what essentials they need.
Community outreach is another important function of PCA, bringing Soldiers and citizens together through events, partnerships and engagements. These connections build trust, deepen understanding, and showcase the Army’s activities, initiatives, and enduring commitment to the communities it serves.
They’re the experts in getting the message across in the most effective way. It’s their job to not only share important information, but to determine how it’s best shared to reach those who want or need to know the information, whether that’s through a post or reel on social media, a written story, a speech, an interview with the media or command newsletter. They touch nearly every surface of the command’s messaging.
Preserving ASC and the Rock Island Arsenal’s Legacy
ASC’s history office is small, but it has a big mission. It is responsible for not only preserving ASC’s institutional memory, but for the history of Rock Island Arsenal in partnership with RIA’s museum. They manage over 7,000 square feet of documents, narratives and microfilm that cover nearly 200 years of military history, innovation and transformation.
From leading staff rides to immersive historical tours to combing through endless amounts of documents to add to the understanding of RIA’s history, the history section of PCA ensures that ASC’s story is not only preserved, but actively shared. They deliver tours and presentations, conduct research on how events and strategies in the past apply to the present, publish a monthly newsletter, write articles and share photos and artifacts. Whether guiding visitors through RIA’s historic buildings, hosting lunch-and-learn sessions, or walking the grounds to recount Civil War-era prison barrack stories, the team brings a wide range of topics to audiences in memorable, meaningful ways.
“While we work to preserve records, what we’re really doing is keeping the ASC and RIA’s story alive,” Command Historian Kevin Braafladt said. “All the documents we have are used to better tell our own story and to help us understand how the command has changed and evolved over time. ASC and RIA have both weathered their fair share of challenges over time, and together we have helped support and shape the Army to what it is today. History matters, not just for leadership decisions, but for everyone who’s part of the community. By understanding where we have come from, it allows us to be better informed when shaping where we are headed.”
Braafladt is passionate about sharing his knowledge.
“Once people understand the story, they start asking questions, making connections, and even sharing their own experiences,” he said. “That’s when history becomes more than just words on paper, it becomes a conversation and starts to have its own life. That’s what we’re aiming for, a culture where ASC and RIA’s legacy isn’t just remembered but is actively lived and passed on into the future.”
“Our history team’s impact is far-reaching,” said Conrad. “They do more than preserve records, they bring our past to life. By uncovering, interpreting, and sharing ASC’s story, they give meaning to our mission, show how we’ve evolved, and help us see our place in the Army’s larger story.”
A Unified Mission
In a command that spans continents and supports thousands, the team tells ASC’s story from every angle. They weave together the Army’s past and present, ensuring that the Soldiers, Civilians, and communities of today are connected to the legacy of those who came before, and that future generations will understand the mission they carried forward.
“Everyone at ASC has a story worth sharing,” Conrad explained. “Whether it’s a mission success story or individual achievements, we encourage anyone interested in sharing their story to reach out.”
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