405th AFSB holds employee town hall to discuss informational updates, future posture

Photo By Cameron Porter | The 405th Army Field Support Brigade conducted an employee town hall March 25, both in person at the brigade headquarters and virtually for much of the workforce located across Europe. Army Col. Ernest Lane II, the commander of the 405th AFSB, led the town hall discussion and took questions from participants. Lane said the focus of the town hall was to discuss information gained from recent Presidential Executive Orders, much of which will likely affect the brigade and its workforce in the near- and long-term future.  

KAISERSLAUTERN, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, GERMANY

03.26.2025

Story by Cameron Porter 

405th Army Field Support Brigade - Europe & Africa

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – The 405th Army Field Support Brigade conducted an employee town hall March 25 – both in person at the brigade headquarters and virtually for much of the workforce located across Europe – to discuss recent informational updates and the future posture of the brigade, moving forward.

Army Col. Ernest Lane II, the commander of the 405th AFSB, led the town hall discussion and answered questions from the more than 650 participants. Lane said the focus of the town hall was to discuss information gained from recent Presidential Executive Orders, much of which will likely affect the brigade and its workforce in the near- and long-term future.

“What I want to do today is just talk. I don’t want to use a lot of big words. I don’t want to talk about things we don’t have information on. I just want to give you the facts of what I know and what we see from the AFSB headquarters, and then I'll leave some time at the end, most importantly, to answer some of your questions,” Lane said.

Discussion during the town hall went from the Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 program – one of brigade’s biggest missions in support of U.S. Army Europe and Africa – to fiscal year 2025 budget constraints, readiness, priorities, and details pertaining to the series of recently issued Presidential Executive Orders, plus more.

There's a lot of information contained in these executive orders, and the Department of Defense is doing the best it can to make sure the U.S. military in operating in accordance with these orders and supporting the orders of the Commander in Chief, said Lane.

Consistent throughout the town hall, as communicated by Lane and the brigade’s deputy to the commander, James “Mac” McGinnis, was taking care of people. They both stressed the importance of looking out for one and other and keeping people a priority.

“There has to be self-care involved in everything we do,” said Lane. “Whether it's going on a run, whether it’s going for a hike, whether it's going on a trip – these are the things we should continue to do. We all have families, and they have expectations and needs.”

During the town hall, questions from the workforce varied. There were questions about government travel for mandatory training, questions about benefits and entitlements, questions about the current DOD hiring freeze, priority placement program, return rights and exceptions to policy, plus more. There were also comments about the importance of holding town halls and communicating to the workforce.

“I want to thank you for putting this forum on,” said Reginald King to Lane and McGinnis at the end of the town hall. “It was very informative, and I think for a lot of folks who are sitting around this table with me, we really appreciate it. We do understand it's a challenge. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedules to share this information with us.”

Lane said moving forward, updated information will be shared on the brigade’s SharePoint portal, a one stop shop for 405th AFSB employees to go and review frequently asked questions and responses and get the newest, most up to date information.

The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.

• Date Taken: 03.26.2025
• Date Posted: 03.26.2025 03:39
• Story ID: 493753
• Location: KAISERSLAUTERN, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE