22d Area Support Group
The 22d Area Support Group (ASG) provides command and control of Vicenza, Livorno, and Verona BASOPS activities. It is responsible for the development and execution of plans, training, and operations including information and personnel security, readiness training, and support of contingency plans. It is responsible for logistics activities of assigned units, managing supply, services, maintenance, contracts, transportation activities, real estate, real property maintenance, facilities, and installation utilities. The ASG controls matters relating to law and order and provides quality of life support activities to the US Army Southern European Task Force (USASETAF) and supported units. Caserma Ederle, home of the US Army Southern European Task Force and the 22d Area Support Group headquarters, is located on the east side of Vicenza, Italy, about a half hour's drive west of Venice and two hours south of the Alps.
Attention to detail is also the hallmark of SETAF's 22nd Area Support Group. The Vicenza-based organization provides two-tiered support. First, the 22nd ASG provides installation management for the military communities in Vicenza and Camp Darby in Livorno, as well as for U.S. personnel assigned to the NATO headquarters in Verona. That entails everything from facilities engineering, firefighting and public works to housing and child care. Such base operations support contributes directly to SETAF's readiness. By ensuring that the quality of life for soldiers and family members in Italy is the best the Army can provide, SETAF allows soldiers to stop worrying about their loved ones and get on with the jobs the Army asks them to do.
The second tier of support is tactical. The 22nd Area Support Group is unique in the sense that it's the only area support group in Europe, and possibly in the Army, that has tactical MTOE units assigned to it. So it has a responsibility not only to manage and lead installations, but also has soldiers who supply combat support and combat service support to the 173rd Abn. Bde. and the 1-508th ABCT. That tactical support covers a range of specialized fields. The parachute riggers of the 22nd ASG's 24th Quartermaster Co., for example, are indispensable in preparing equipment and soldiers for the mass airdrops that are SETAF's hallmark. And the 13th Military Police Co. not only provides law-enforcement support for the military communities in Vicenza and Livorno, it also contributes MPs for exercises and real-world deployments.
When the brigade deploys, it draws its logistical support from task forces that are assigned to it. It provides its tactical combat service support while it's in Italy. The 22nd ASG provides essential services both in garrison and in the field. The group's support is vital to both SETAF's operational effectiveness and the quality of life for its soldiers and family members.
Operating an intermediate staging base (ISB) is a mission not normally assigned to an area support group (ASG). However, for Quartermasters in the 22d ASG in Vicenza, Italy, planning and executing ISB operations is a key link in the capability of the Joint Task Force, commanded by the Southern European Task Force (SETAF), to project power south of the Alps, around the Mediterranean and into the African continent. Multifunctional Quartermasters need to be familiar with the setup and operation of an ISB because most Quartermaster officers and noncommissioned officers will help plan or execute ISB operations many times throughout their careers.
Exercise Peaceful Eagle '96 in Albania in Summer 1996 drew support from an ISB in Ancona, Italy. Units crafted in the ISB were the 22d ASG, two movement control teams from the 14th Transportation Battalion at Vicenza, US Army Reserve (USAR) soldiers from the 314th Support Center at Vicenza, and a port management team from the 1321st Medium Port Command at Livorno, Italy.
The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 27 January 1986, consisting of a buff oval within a scarlet border having a red bar across the center on which are two gold "Lions of St. Mark" each facing a gold pale at center charged in base with three light blue five-pointed stars one above the other and topped by a representation of the tower of the Basilica of Vicenza. Scarlet and buff are the colors associated with support units. The red fess alludes to the Meritorious Unit Commendation awarded the unit for service in Italy during World War II. The tower suggests the Basilica of Vicenza and represents the unit's headquarters location. The lion of St. Mark is symbolic of the Venetial State in whose area the group operates. The tower, placed between the two lions, indicates the link with the Veneto region. The lion of St. Mark also refers to the unit's higher headquarters, U.S. Army SETAF, which bears it on the shoulder sleeve insignia. The stars represent the three campaign credits authorized the unit for World War II service in Italy. The stars are blue, recalling the unit's former designation as the 22d Quartermaster Group whose colors are light blue and buff.
