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JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. – In December 2021, the 404th Army Field Support Brigade marked 19 years of integrating and synchronizing materiel support and sustainment to the warfighter at the tactical point of need.
The 404th AFSB, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, is a subordinate unit of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, the executing arm of the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s equipping mission.
“The 404th AFSB executes mission command of subordinate units to integrate and synchronize AMC strategic capabilities in support of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army North, I Corps, garrisons, and other Army/Joint organizations within its area of operation,” said Col. John Rotante, 404th AFSB commander. “This is integral in order to increase materiel readiness and deliver capability at the operational and tactical point of need.”
The 404th AFSB’s mission’s focus areas include, but are not limited to:
• Operationalization through Corps Logistics Support Element/ Division Logistics Support Element
• Integration with I Corps and USARNORTH (DSCA OPS)
• Army Prepositioned Stock-3
• Forward AMC element to both CONUS Combat Training Centers
• Installation Logistics Baseline Services
• Logistics Civil Augmentation Program and Contracting Management Oversight
• Mobilization Force Generation Installation and Power Project Platform Strategic collaborative planning
• Provide Support through DEPOT capabilities (regional logistics readiness center and PM Stryker)
• Tactical observation and Data Collection to the Industry Base for research and improvements.
The 404th AFSB span of control ranges from coast to coast, across the continental United States.
To the untrained eye, it may seem as though a blindfolded staff member threw darts on the U.S. map to determine the 404th AFSB's area of responsibility. In actuality, the 404th is strategically and geographically dispersed within the continental U.S. to sustain the warfighter in U.S. Army Installation Management Command’s “buckets” of training, readiness, sustainment, and operational support.
Some of the critical events that occurred in 2020-2021 and tested the capabilities and capacity of the 404th AFSB include:
• LOGCAP COVID-19 vaccine test sites across the western region of the continental U.S.
• Transportation and logistics support of CenturyLink Field, recently renamed Lumen Field, and complex COVID-19 response hospital set-up
• Multiple APS-3 operations (ship downloads and uploads)
• Equipment maintenance cycles
• Establishing Modernization Displacement and Repair Sites (the Army initiative of excess mitigation) at three prominent sites
• Participating in Pacific Pathways 21 with Life Cycle Management Command logistics assistance representative support
• Conducting a proof of concept with a team, forward, to be integrated with I Corps
• Assisting with Operation Allies Refugee/ Welcome through LOGCAP and logistics readiness centers capabilities support
• Rapidly fielding initiatives associated with the Multi-Domain Task Force.
The 404th AFSB Support Operations officer, Steven Pate, can attest to a myriad of events he and his team participated in to help shape the operational environment.
As he reflects on the challenging last two years and looks forward to 2022, he understands the brigade’s mission is never stagnant.
“The 404th AFSB is a reliable switchboard operator to the enterprise capabilities of AMC and the LCMCs, Depots, and Arsenals,” Pate said.
The past 12 months tested the brigade’s reliability, responsiveness, continuous learning/improvement, and endurance.
Its employees – more than 3,000 Army Civilians, Soldiers, and contractors working as a team – accomplish a broad spectrum of sustainment support at 17 different posts, camps, and stations nationwide. Their success is a combination of subject matter expertise and predictive sustainment analysis.
The 404th AFSB’s strength of character is in its lineage.
December 2002: AMC Forward Stryker at Fort Lewis, Washington, is established. The mission is to provide the 3/2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team a single point of entry to address both AMC and Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ALT) integration and sustainment support.
June 2003: The first AMC Brigade Logistics Support Team is created and begins preparation to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In October 2003, AMC Forward- Stryker re-organizes as a direct support subordinate unit of Army Field Support Command (now ASC). The primary mission of AMC Forward Stryker is to establish, train, and combat-certify all Stryker BLSTs. Now, the BLST concept is antiquated and is revised into a Division Logistics Support Element, a mission tailored element formed from a battalion structure and deploys with its aligned Division; providing ALT unique planning and coordinating capabilities (ATP 4-98, 30 June 2021).
October 2004: AMC Forward Stryker is redesignated as Army Field Support Brigade-Stryker (Provisional). Additionally, the 404th AFSB subordinate Logistics Assistance Offices are redesignated as Logistic Support Elements. The 404th LSEs provided support to Joint Base Lewis McChord; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Presently, the LSE naming convention changed to Logistics Support Teams and are only physically located in the Combat Training Centers at Fort Irwin, California, and at Fort Polk, Louisiana, consisting of an O-4/O-5, LCMC LARs and FSRs.
May 2005 to August 2015: Army Forward Stryker becomes AFSB-Pacific. The area of responsibility includes Hawaii-based Army commands and the first BLSTs are formed. In 2008, AFSB-P is deactivated and rebranded as the 404th AFSB. This authorization constitutes the unit’s birth certificate, its service record, and its deed to organizational properties.
In 2015, the 404th AFSB assumes command of 12 Logistics Readiness Centers. LRCs supporting the Pacific-based commands in Hawaii and Alaska are transferred to the 402nd AFSB as that brigade redeploys from Kuwait and activate at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.
July 2018: The Army Strategic Logistics Activity-Charleston (ASLAC) and the AFSBn-Charleston in North Carolina are realigned from the 406th AFSB to the 404th AFSB, which is the only CONUS-based brigade assigned an APS battalion.
In the third quarter of FY22, the APS on the vessels will transition from the legacy system of record (Army War Reserve Deployment System), to Global Combat Support System-Army. Additionally, with augmentation from the brigade, AFSBn-Charleston is scheduled to conduct a full-scale Equipment Configuration Handoff Area operation (ATP 3-35-1, October 2015) in support of Persistent Pathways in FY22.
October 2021: The 404th AFSB officially regains LRC-Presidio of Monterey from the 407th AFSB. This addition expanded the brigade to a current total of 15 LRCs, one readiness battalion, one APS battalion, and two Combat Training Center-LSTs.
Ian Lopez, a logistics management specialist in the SPO section, is excited to participate in the APS-3 ECHA proof of principle to occur in over 10 years.
“This is a great opportunity to validate capabilities, shortfalls, and execute on the main purposes of APS-3, which is quickly projected power to contingency areas,” he said, “and to have available support to all combatant commander’s missions, including major exercises and humanitarian assistance support.”
Under the guidance of ASC, the 404th AFSB continues to be an integral part of AMC, as well as the Strategic Sustainment Enterprise and the Industrial Base.
The 404th AFSB’s approach to organization change management, operational readiness, and satisfying requirements, 19 years ago to present day, embodies its motto – “Sustain to Win!”
| Date Taken: | 12.16.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2021 15:31 |
| Story ID: | 411361 |
| Location: | ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 373 |
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