FORT KNOX, KY --
Over 30 members of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) said goodbye to their families, friends, and unit team members Nov. 30 at a deployment ceremony held at Sadowski Center on post.
The team, which is comprised of Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians, deployed to Kuwait where they will assume the Strategic Operations and Plans (SOaP) mission.
Maj. Gen. Flem B. Donnie Walker Jr., the commanding general of 1st Theater Sustainment Command, spoke at the ceremony and explained the purpose of the SOaP team is to ensure the 1st TSC remains synched with current and future battlefield priorities in the Central Command area of responsibility.
“I want to tell you how proud Command Sergeant Major Jason Willett and I are of this exceptional team,” Walker said.
Since 2006, the 1st TSC has been perpetually deployed to the 20-country, six-million-square mile where it conducts sustainment operations to ensure warfighters have the supplies and transportation capabilities they need to accomplish their missions.
Every six months, the command deploys a team of Soldiers to the region, which it designates the Red, White, or Blue team. This team, the White Team, will replace the Red Team, which is scheduled to redeploy in mid-December. The Blue Team will begin training to replace the White Team in the coming months.
To prepare for this deployment, the White Team, led by Lt. Col. Jason House and Master Sgt. Carlos Johnson, completed 42 separate events, such as weapons qualifications, medical readiness, and threat briefings. The train-up concluded with a culminating exercise that put the finishing touches on the White Team’s cohesion.
Walker praised the hard work and dedication the team went through to prepare for the mission and gave them some final guidance to ensure mission success. “Stay focused, enforce standards, and be disciplined,” he said.
After the ceremony, attendees were invited to take pictures with Cpl. Blackjack, a live miniature mule who serves as the unit’s mascot.