Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Gaelen Lowers | Lt. Col. Giulia Giacoppe, commander of the 373rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion,...... read more read more
Subscribe
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq— The 373rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), cased their colors on Aug. 17 at Hope Chapel at Victory Base Complex, Iraq, during an end-of-mission ceremony.
More than 1,100 Iron Star Soldiers who fell under the 373rd CSSB will redeploy without replacement, keeping up with the U.S. Forces’ plan for a responsible drawdown of forces and equipment in Iraq, and transitioning to Operation New Dawn, by Sept. 1.
“The significance of the 373rd.’s end-of-mission is really a great indication of the success of the responsible reduction of forces,” said Col. Shawn Morrissey, commander of the 3rd Sust. Bde., and a Boston native. “As we know, there’s a presidential directive of being down to 50,000 Soldiers by Sept. 1; the 373rd is part of that. This means that more of the Iraqi Security Forces will be taking over the mission in Baghdad.”
The reserve battalion, out of Beaumont, Texas, had units assigned to them from all across the United States, including Fort Eustis, Va., Fort Riley, Kan., Mississippi, Florida, Iowa, and Alabama, just to name a few. All have been “vital lynchpins” in the drawdown of troops and equipment over the past five months, said Lt. Col. Giulia Giacoppe, the commander of the 373rd CSSB, and a Sugarland, Texas, native.
“We’ve had a pretty broad range of geographic regions that have blended together to make this mission a success,” said Giacoppe. “They did incredible work. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Giacoppe wasn’t the only one proud of the hard work and dedication the 373rd CSSB has shown during their tour.
“We managed to build and maintain a team of more than 1,100 Soldiers, and that’s no small feat,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Montgomery, the 373rd CSSB command sergeant major, and a Houston native “They have done a lot of hard work and accomplished what they set out to do.”
The 373rd CSSB will be handing their missions off to ISF and the 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, and will head home to their families and friends more than six months earlier than originally intended.
“We were all a little bit disappointed,” said Giacoppe. “With a reserve unit, you go through a lot of preparation at home to get ready for a deployment: notifying employers, training and all of the coordination to get ready. Once you get here, you want to see it through. On one hand, it’s tough, but in the same token, it’s great to get home and see our families.”
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2010 02:07 |
| Story ID: | 55375 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 432 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, 373rd CSSB leaves lasting impression on Iraq, by SFC Gaelen Lowers, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
