CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea -- The Command Team from U.S. Army Sustainment Command (ASC) conducted a whirlwind battlefield circulation visit of the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade in South Korea, Feb. 28 to March 2.
Maj. Gen. David Wilson, commanding general, ASC, accompanied by Command Sgt. Maj. Jorge Escobedo, ASC command sergeant major, toured multiple sites and visited with key leaders and brigade personnel across the peninsula.
To kick things off, Wilson met with key logistics leaders at Camp Humphreys including Brig. Gen. Steven Allen, director, J4, U.S. Forces Korea, who is a former ASC chief of staff; Maj. Gen. Joseph D’costa, deputy commanding general – Sustainment, Eighth Army; and Lt. Gen. Willard Burleson III, commanding general, Eighth Army, and chief of staff, Combined Forces Command.
For lunch, Wilson conducted a leader professional development session with Army Field Support Battalion-Korea and Logistics Readiness Center-North key leaders at the Provider Grill Warrior Restaurant.
While at the Provider Grill, Wilson had the opportunity to use the newly installed Card Acquiring Services system, which includes a credit card reader device, a credit card receipt printer, and a point-of-sale system. The CAS provides Soldiers and community members the option to pay with their debit/credit cards in addition to cash payments. The 403rd AFSB and its subordinate units are installing the systems at Warrior Restaurants throughout South Korea and Japan.
The ASC Command Team, escorted by Colonel Lisa Rennard, commander, 403rd Army Field Support Brigade, and Command Sergeant Major Christopher Reaves, command sergeant major, 403rd AFSB, then took a helicopter flight to Camp Carroll where they visited a variety of sites including Army Field Support Battalion–Northeast Asia Prepositioned Stocks-4, where they were briefed on AFSBn-NEA operations by Lt. Col. Marissa Reed, battalion commander.
“The brigade commander has clearly conveyed her vision and intent and that's cascaded all the way down to the lowest level within the organization,” Wilson said. “I often say we can't run the flea flicker unless we can block and tackle. The prevailing thing that this organization is doing well is blocking and tackling those domain things that Army Materiel Command is responsible for delivering. At the end of the day, if a Soldier drives it, flies it, shoots it, eats it, or communicates with the it, AMC provides it.”
After concluding the tour of Camp Carroll, Wilson conducted an LPD session with 403rd AFSB, AFSBn-NEA, and LRC-Daegu personnel during dinner at the Grill 303 Warrior Restaurant.
A flight back to Camp Humphreys capped-off the busy day.
The next day kicked-off with a visit to AFSBn-Korea where Wilson presented awards to several high-performing personnel and received a briefing on Anvil Battalion capabilities and operations from Lt. Col. Justin Darnell, commander, AFSBn-Korea. The ASC team also visited the Central Issue Facility and Installation Supply Division.
“My overall assessment is that the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade and its associated battalions and logistics readiness centers that provide support to Eighth Army and United States Forces Korea is well postured in delivering Army Materiel Command’s material enterprise capabilities in support of the unit's here exceptionally well,” Wilson said.
“I think the thing that stood out most [during the visit] was the teamwork. You know, team means together, everyone achieves more and you can really see the synergy here,” Wilson continued. “The teamwork amongst this team of professionals, whether it’s the group at Camp Carroll working the APS set and how is maintained and how it's delivered, or the group here at Camp Humphreys, providing installation services to the combined Republic of Korea/U.S. alliance. That teamwork, that synergy, I saw amongst the entire team, I think is a true difference maker. You see people putting the interests of the organization ahead of themselves.”
Due to scheduling considerations, the distinguished visitors were unable to visit 403rd AFSB assets in Japan including AFSBn-NEA (Forward), LRC-Honshu and LRC-Okinawa.
“On behalf of all the Soldiers, Department of the Army Civilians, Local National employees and contractors we truly want to thank Major General Wilson and Command Sergeant Major Escobedo for visiting us here on the Korean Peninsula,” Rennard said. “They are a dynamic leadership team that is focused on people, mentorship, and delivering AMC and ASC capabilities and readiness at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels. We gained a lot of insight and lessons from his visit.”
ASC is headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., and is a subordinate command of AMC (a 4-star command) located at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
To view and download more photos of the visit (and other brigade events), go to the 403rd AFSB Flickr page at: