| 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Active | 13 January 1941 – Present |
| Country | United States of America |
| Allegiance | United States Army |
| Branch | Regular Army |
| Type | Battalion |
| Role | Force sustainment |
| Part of | Forces Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Lewis |
| Nickname(s) | The Pioneers |
| Motto(s) | "Find a way" |
| Colors | Blue, White, & Silver |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | LTC R. Douglas Henry |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive unit insignia |
 |
13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB) is a modular, corps-level support organization responsible for providing multifunctional logistics support to maneuver, fires, and effects organizations as well as multifunctional logistics assistance to other support organizations. The 13th CSSB was formerly stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was a subordinate unit of the 3rd Sustainment Brigade. The battalion was deactivated in October 2011 at Ft Benning and reflagged from the former 80th Ordnance Battalion at Joint Base Lewis/McChord. The battalion is now subordinate to the 593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command.[1]
Mission
13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion is a combat-ready modular organization delivering innovative world-class logistics support to the Warfighter while maintaining unsurpassed quality care to Soldiers and Families.
History
The Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment was constituted on 13 January 1941 in the Regular Army as part of the 60th Quartermaster Battalion (Laundry) and activated on 25 May 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The unit was de-activated on 20 June 1948 in England.
On 18 November 1948, the unit was re-designated as the 13th Quartermaster Battalion and activated 4 January 1949 at Camp Lee, Virginia. The unit was re-designated 1 January 1966 as part of the 13th Supply and Service Battalion, activated 21 October 1977 in Augsburg, Germany and assigned to the 2nd Support Command (Corps).
On 30 October 1981, the battalion was organized under the command and control of the 7th Support Group. On 1 April 1982, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company relocated from Reese Kaserne, Augsburg to Flak Kaserne, Ludwigsburg, Germany. The unit moved to Fort Benning, Georgia on 15 November 1991 and was attached to the 36th Engineer Group (Combat).
The unit participated in World War II in Northern France and Rhineland and in the Korean War. Decorations include: two Meritorious Unit Commendations, embroidered; the Army Superior Unit Award; Korea and Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations. The Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD) deployed to Southwest Asia on 11 December 1990 and returned 7 May 1991. On 16 August 1993, the unit deployed soldiers to Somalia in support of Operation Continue Hope and returned 22 December 1993.
More recently, the detachment has deployed soldiers to Taszar, Hungary in support of Operation Joint Forge, South America in support of Hurricane Mitch relief efforts, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia with Task Force 1–15 for Intrinsic Action. The Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment has recently returned from Kuwait and Iraq where they supported the 42nd Infantry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom III, the HHD, 13th Corps Support Battalion (CSB) operated out of FOB Speicher,Iraq providing command and control for 11 subordinate units and attachments while planning and supervising the administration, training, and internal logistical support for the battalion. 13th CSB conducted over 3,000 combat logistics patrols logging over 3 million miles, completed over 85 recovery missions, and issued over 26 million US gallons (98,000 m3) of fuel. They also completed 3,094 direct support level maintenance job orders, processed 56,525 material release orders, produced 47.5 million US gallons (180,000 m3) of water, and issued over 4.9 million bottles of water and 1.9 million meals.
On 17 October 2006, the HHD, 13th CSB reflagged as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB) and attached to the 3rd Sustainment Brigade of Fort Stewart, GA. On 27 June 2007, the HHC deployed to LSA Anaconda, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (07-09) providing command and control to ten subordinate units and attachments. During OIF (07-09), 13th CSSB executes logistic support to MNC-I forces by operating the major distribution activities at LSAA, including the Corps Storage Area (CSA), Corps Distribution Center (CDC), Central Receiving and Shipping Point (CRSP), Central Issue Facility (CIF), Aerial Delivery, and Mortuary Affairs Collection Point (MACP). 13th CSSB provides reinforcing maintenance, water, and cargo handling support through forward-echeloned team operating at 11 Forward Operating Bases (FOB) through the Iraqi theater. 13th CSSB provided CSS training to Iraqi Security Forces to support the transition to national Iraqi control (Logistics Transition Teams).[2]
In October 2011 the unit relocated from Fort Benning, GA to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA.[1]
Honors
Unit decorations
| Ribbon | Award |
|---|---|
|
Meritorious Unit Commendation |
|
Army Superior Unit Award |
Campaigns
| Conflict | Streamer |
|---|---|
| World War II | Northern France |
| World War II | Rhineland |
| Korean War | Summer Offensive of 1953 |
| Vietnam War | Southwest Asia |
| Persian Gulf War | Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield |
| Global War on Terror | Operation Iraqi Freedom |
Task organization
Subordinate units
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company
- 542d Support Maintenance Company
- 295th Quartermaster Company
- 63d Ordnance Company
- 24th Quartermaster Company
- 513th Transportation Company
- 21st Cargo Transfer Company
Battalion Commanders
- Lt. Col. Murray "Spike" Rupert, May 1992 - May 1994
- Lt. Col. Michael Ramirez, May 1994 – April 1996
- Lt. Col. Gerald Bates, Jr., April 1996 – May 1997
- Lt. Col. Michael G. Bettez, May 1997 – May 1999
- Lt. Col. Anthony Swain, May 1999 – April 2001
- Lt. Col. Scott D. Fabozzi, April 2001 – June 2003
- Lt. Col. Matthew T. Higginbotham, June 2003 – May 2006
- Lt. Col. Timothy Sullivan, May 2006 – September 2008
- Lt. Col. Anthony P. Bohn, September 2008 - October 2011
- Lt. Col. Katherine J. Graef, October 2011 - June 2012
- Lt. Col. R. Douglas Henry, June 2012 -
Command Sergeants-Major
- Command Sgt. Maj. Wood, February 1994 – April 1996
- Command Sgt. Maj. Saunders, April 1996 – May 1997
- Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Spates, May 1997 – May 1999
- Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Camper, May 1999 – February 2001
- Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey J. Talley, April 2001 – September 2006
- Command Sgt. Maj. Stanley O. Richards, September 2006 (?) - October 2011
- Command Sgt. Maj. Terry E. Moten, October 2011 - May 2013
- Command Sgt. Maj. Robert E. Townes, June 2013 -
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Support battalion unveils new colors". Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. http://www.webcitation.org/65r1hubMI. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ↑ 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion – History
External links
The original article can be found at 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (United States) and the edit history here.