10th Brigade Support Battalion
10th Forward Support Battalion
The 10th FSB is the support of the Warrior Brigade, the 1st Infantry Brigade (Light Infantry) located at Ft Drum, NY. They completed a successful rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center in October of 1998.
The 10th Forward Support Battalion rapidly deploys, secures a Brigade Support Area, and provides comprehensive direct support combat service support to 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry).
The unit was constituted during World War II in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 145th Quartermaster Battalion. It was activated 29 March 1944 at Camp Swift, Texas. On 6 November 1944, the unit was reorganized and redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 10th Mountain Quartermaster Battalion, and assigned to the 10th Mountain Division.
The unit deployed to the European Theater in January 1945 and supported the Division throughout the Po Valley and Apennines Campaigns in Italy. The Division returned to the United States in August 1945 following victory in Europe and the battalion was inactivated at Camp Carson, Colorado on November 30, 1945.
In June of 1948, the unit was redesignated as the 10th Quartermaster Company, an element of the 10th Infantry Division, and was allotted to the Regular Army, activating 1 July 1948. For the next ten years, it supported the Division at Fort Riley, Kansas and in Germany as part of NATO forces. The unit returned to the United States and was inactivated 14 June 1958 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
On 16 October 1991, the battalion was reorganized to provide multifunctional logistics. The redesignated 10th Support Battalion (Forward) was formed from elements of the 10th Supply and Transport Battalion, the 10th Medical Battalion, and the 710th Maintenance Battalion.
In September 1992, the battalion deployed to south Florida to provide essential services to victims of Hurricane Andrew. The battalion deployed with 1st Brigade to Somalia in April 1993 for Operation RESTORE HOPE, where it was awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for its mission performance. On 19 September 1994, 10th Forward Support Battalion air assaulted with 1st Brigade from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower into Port-au-Prince, Haiti for Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY.
The 10th FSB established a forward operating base for the Warrior Brigade at Bowen Military Airfield, a Haitian Air Force facility that is located approximately 3 kilometers south of Port-au-Prince International Airport. In a remote area of Bowen Military Airfield, engineers constructed an ammunition storage point measuring 100 meters by 100 meters, complete with drainage ditches and 8-foot-high berms, and surrounded the area with triple-strand concertina wire. The 10th FSB immediately established the first theater ammunition storage point and began receipt, storage, and issue of ammunition.
Just days later, the division ammunition officer coordinated with the XVIII Airborne Corps 8th Ordnance Company for removal of the ammunition from Bowen Military Airfield to their newly constructed theater ammunition storage point. With the transfer of the ammunition, the 10th FSB was relieved of its ammunition storage point mission. The battalion provided combat service support to 1st Brigade and base security at Bowen Airfield until it returned to Fort Drum in January 1995.
The 10th Forward Support Battalion was inducted as a Distinguished Unit of the Quartermaster Regiment on 28 September 1995 at Fort Lee, Virginia. The 10th Forward Support Battalion's campaign participation credits were earned in the North Apennines and Po River Valley, both in Italy during World War II. The 10th Forward Support Battalion decorations are the Joint Meritorious Unit Award and a campaign streamer embroidered RESTORE HOPE.
As of mid-2001, the battalion was preparing for deployment to the KFOR mission, Kosovo in November 2001.
