Over 40 members of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) said goodbye to their families, friends, and unit team members Nov. 19 at a deployment ceremony held at Sadowski Center on post.

The team, comprised of Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians, deploying to Kuwait where they will assume the Strategic Operations and Plans (SOaP) mission.

Col. Sidney Melton, chief of staff for the 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 would like to start by outlining the importance of the 1st TSC Strategic Operations and Plans mission this team will perform,” said Melton. “Known to the 1st TSC as the ‘SOaP’ the enabling capabilities this team provides is an absolute game-changer.”

Since 2006, the 1st TSC has been perpetually deployed to the 20-country, six-million-square mile region where it conducts sustainment operations ensuring 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 Red Team, will replace the Blue Team, scheduled to redeploy in December. The White Team will begin training to replace the Red Team in the coming months.

To prepare for this deployment, the Red Team, led by Lt. Col. Robyn Deatherage and noncommissioned officer-in-charge Sgt. Maj. Marvin Martin as well as Special Troops Battalion’s Alpha Company, led by Capt. Petro Mycio and 1st Sgt. Catherine Adams, completed 42 separate events, such as weapons qualifications, medical readiness, and threat briefings. The eight-week train-up concluded with a weeklong academic seminar and Military Decision Making Process exercise.