Photo By Staff Sgt. Walter Lowell | Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher S. Kepner, right, the 11th sergeant major of the Army...... read more read more
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher S. Kepner, the 11th sergeant major of the Army National Guard, visited the 17th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), August 10, 2016.
The 17th SB is a Nevada Army National Guard unit from Las Vegas, Nevada, currently deployed to Southwest Asia to provide logistical support to units in theater, such as those supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
During his visit, Kepner received a briefing from the 17th SB’s staff noncommissioned officers and a tour of the unit’s work area to meet with Soldiers.
Kepner wanted to know what National Guard Soldiers are doing in support of Iraq, specifically how they are delivering supplies to the Iraqi security forces battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
“It’s been a great overview of the complexities of what is going on here,” said Kepner as he addressed the NCO leadership after the briefing. “I really appreciate you all for being very informative.”
Kepner said he was impressed with how well the 17th SB has been functioning given the unit’s level of responsibility in theater.
“We are the single largest sustainment brigade in this theater,” said Command Sgt. Major James Richardson, the brigade’s senior enlisted advisor.
“We showed him the entire battlespace in which we operate,” said Richardson. “We showed the personnel totals for the countries we are in and the forward operating bases we have in Iraq. We introduced him to the senior NCO leadership of the organization to give him a better feel for where our Soldiers are and what they are doing.”
Richardson said that along with understanding the 17th SB’s mission, Kepner wanted to visit and interact with Guard Soldiers, check on life support, and address any issues that may be going on within the enlisted side of the organization.
During his tour, Kepner talked to Soldiers about their individual contributions and gave them advice about how to deal with the direction and future expansion of the Army National Guard.
“There is a strategic gap that can only be filled by the National Guard Soldiers,” he said. “Some people do not realize that our Soldiers are still deploying all across the world.”
At the end of his tour of the 17th SB work area, Kepner gave his coin of excellence to Sgt. Quentin Davis, the 17th SB’s resiliency center NCOIC, for his efforts in building up the unit’s resiliency program.
“I heard about everything you had done here, and I think no one deserves this more than you,” Kepner said to Davis as he presented him with one of his coins.
| Date Taken: | 08.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2016 10:05 |
| Story ID: | 207105 |
| Location: | KW |
| Hometown: | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 361 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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