Photo By Sgt. Adrianne Lopez | Soldiers with the 17th Sustainment Brigade stand in formation during the 17th SB's...... read more read more
The final day of summer Saturday concurrently marked the ceremonial start of a year-long mission for several hundred Nevada Army Guard Soldiers as the North Las Vegas-based 17th Sustainment Brigade began its international mission with a mobilization ceremony at Sierra Vista High School. The unit’s Soldiers will have the monumental task of overseeing and managing the supplies and services throughout the U.S. Army’s Central Command Area of Responsibility for the next year; that area includes the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of South Asia. A sustainment brigade manages the flow of logistics into an area of operations and provides support to other services for common logistics including fuel, ammunition, medical supplies and repair parts.
It was standing room only in the Sierra Vista High School gymnasium as family and friends bid farewell to the brigade’s Soldiers in the ceremony that recognized the Nevada Citizen-Soldiers’ call to active duty. The ceremony featured speeches by the current Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry, and the future Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. D. Rodger Waters, as well as brigade commander Lt. Col. Joseph Claros.
“I have no doubt that the 17th will excel in this mission and represent Nevada with pride,” said Claros, who is embarking on his fifth Army Guard deployment. “The nation has called and we stand ready – always there – as a proud Nevada Guard formation dedicated to serving both our community and our country.”
Established in 2011, the North Las Vegas-based brigade completed a very similar mission in 2016. Many of the unit’s Soldiers, including Claros, participated in the 2016 deployment. More than two-thirds of the 3,200 Soldiers in the Nevada Army Guard are assigned to the brigade’s subordinate units.
The senior enlisted Soldier in the contingent, Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Quintana, said the unit was eager to match the success of the 2016 deployment.
“The 17th Sustainment Brigade is fully prepared for the deployment,” Quintana said. “We boast the finest sustainers in the logistics field, not only in Nevada but globally.
“Our strength and commitment were demonstrated in 2016 and we continue to uphold that talent and determination. Although the landscape in that region has evolved and new challenges have been introduced, we embrace those challenges as Citizen-Soldiers and Nevadans.”
Maj. Mike Bryson, the brigade’s personnel services officer, was also on the 2016 mission as an information technology officer. The Reno resident said he’s eager to return to the region albeit in a new capacity.
“It’s exciting to be involved in such a dynamic environment in such a newsworthy region,” said Bryson, a graduate of Brigham Young University. “There’s definitely going to be some challenges that will force me to grow as both an officer and person.”
In 2016, the 17th was the first National Guard unit to complete the sustainment oversight mission in CENTCOM. That year, 17th Soldiers tracked over 2,000 missions, transported over $200 million worth of ammunition weighing over 1.5 million pounds, processed over 3 million pounds of mail, and delivered over 2 million bottles of water.
| Date Taken: | 09.21.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2024 13:05 |
| Story ID: | 482615 |
| Location: | LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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